TrueTomHarley

@b4ucuhear: "Is that what I should have told my sister? My younger sister was sexually molested by an elder. She stayed despite that without making waves, until she started to see other things she found deeply disturbing and then she did "move on" as you say. Actually, she shouldn't have "moved on" because later on, most of the elders (the bad ones) were either removed or disfellowshipped - half of them were apostate (but that's not all they were up to).... Still, 1 Timothy 5:24 will prove to be true if you wait, in one way or another." Though I didn't think of it at the time, the passage I quoted had to do with the "superfine apostles" Paul had to battle. Elsewhere I said he was like Diatrophes. These jerks existed in the first century. It shouldn't be unexpected that they may have cropped up from time to time in the present. I re-listened to An Important Reminder recently. I loved that talk. Why does God permit suffering? Easy to answer. Why does God permit MY suffering? Suddenly hard to answer. You might remember the speaker develops three scriptural scenarios. The third is Uriah in the new system reading of how the letter he carried was from David to Joab authorizing his (Uriah's) murder. Wouldn't THAT be a hard one to forgive? But it get's worse. He would learn how Jehovah exalted David in time, even the son born to him and drop dead gorgeous Bath-Sheba, Uriah's stolen wife. [the obvious lesson here is to marry an unattractive woman, such as @The Librarian] Who could blame him if he concluded that with Jehovah, a Jew could do anything, but a Hittite, a man of the nations, was but dirt in his eyes. The 'important reminder' referred to time and again is that it's not about us. It never has been. It is about the vindication of Jehovah's purposes. Even Abraham and Jacob (the other two examples offered) were not exempt from the ordinary travails - up and downs and injustices and hardships of this system of things. In fact, their special assignment brought on some troubles in excess of the run-of-the-mill stuff their contemporaries faced. It's actually from @The Librarian - fine woman - that I learned our personal salvation was recognized as the issue of secondary importance to the vindication of God's name from as far back as Brother Rutherford's time. This is a good point. MY personal salvation as the topic that is the buzz of the universe doesn't quite cut it. Sanctification of God's name does. Thus (and here is the 6th reason I remain with the truth, come what may) the Jehovah's Witness faith is not, at root, selfish. Other church branches are. 'Me and Jesus' is the focus of most of them.

The other way to look at it is that everyone writes about what they know best. I do. You, presumably, would be with your book. It seems silly that only JW writers should not be able to write about their topic of expertise. I can and do write of other things but it typically comes down to the same conclusion: 'such-and-such is a mess because we need God's kingdom to straighten things out." Write in such a way that you are not in competition - either offer personal accounts, anecdotes, current news items and how they relate - research that they would not likely do. You said: "and I will not use what I learnt from the organization (even if I have a lot of my own ideas - to make money for myself" I wrestled with this, too. But I am not Bethel and I have to pay the light bill. it's either write or Mickey D for me. Believe me, book proceeds do not make a significant dent, unless you hit mainstream, which is unlikely. It's just a hobby. A university professor who has written a tome about Witnesses, as well as other books, tells me he is glad he did not quit the university - they don't exactly fly off the shelf. Nonetheless, conscience of the moneymaking concern, I am working on a book "Dear Mr. Putin - Jehovah's Witnesses write Russia." It will be free for some months. (I tried to put this in a thread b/c I think what's-her-name would want me to do, but I can't figure out where to do it. It seemed obvious at one time)

This is Brian Brexit. I'm in Police Headquarters reporting on efforts to rescue @The Librarian, being held for ransom by TrueTom. Officer O'Maly, I imagine there has been much public outrage and pleadings that she be returned safely. Well, not really, but you never know when that may start. What progress have you made in locating her? Zilch so far. However, a Dunkin Donuts has reported increased orders, 3 extra boxes a day picked up by a man in trench coat and dark glasses. So we planted a very clever electronic GPS listening device in one of the donuts and we expect the case to break wide open momentarily. Ah - we're picking up a signal now. Let's listen in! CRUNCH!! What the....There's a pebble in this donut!! Are you trying to kill me, TrueTom? I think I cracked a molar! You'd better pray you have a kidnapping rider on your dental plan. I'll clean you out! For tomsheepandgoats.com, this is Brian Brexit reporting

It's a little too soon to tell.

For about two decades, I was a really skilled janitor. I never cleaned for any kings. More later

The 1914 collection

I am reluctant to upvote or downvote anything. If I upvote, it implies I agree with everything. If I downvote, it implies I agree with nothing. That is seldom the case either way.

Would not a ramp need to have been built to haul the stones upwards? Regardless of how many slaves employed, I have read it would have to be absurdly long for the pitch to be slight enough for the blocks to move - and even then, the blocks are heavy enough so as to destroy any inclined plane built. There is no trace of any ramp today. Just once, I would like to hear archeologists say: "My God, these people were stupid! It's a wonder they figured out how to procreate!" But no - it's always about how amazingly advanced they were! - a circumstance that surely flies in the face of evolution.

"As we enter day 3 - or is it 4, 5, or 6? - I mean, who really misses the old hen enough to keep track? - of the disappearance of @The Librarian, there are reports that her kidnapper, TrueTom, has become disheartened because his demand for ransom money has been met with laughter. This may be the least of his woes. The Librarian's personal physician, Dr. Mike 'Ace' Inhibitor, has contacted tomsheepandgoats.com to warn that the woman is a walking pharmacy and cutting her off from the drugs she is on will have dire consequences. Dr Inhibitor:" "This is the problem you get into when you kidnap wheezing windbags like my patient. Without an adequate cushion, a friendly kidnapping and turn deadly. Even if we only count legal prescription drugs, it takes a dump truck to supply her." Brexit: "What will happen when the effects of her current medications wear off?" Dr. Inhibitor: "Let me put it this way: I'd prefer to be downwind of Chernobyl." Brexit: "Thanks, Ace. A major escalation of the case that has captured everyone's - well, many of us - well, a few - well....oh alright, just my (sometimes) attention. For tomsheepandgoats.com this is Brian Brexit reporting.

Nevertheless, a believer should never be cremated. What if you were resurrected on a windy day?

She's nuts. IBID is the radicalized version of ISIS. I don't like them.

This is the verse we have not taken into account. I will. The end will come in the year 2000017 - just around the corner.

I can't believe I am putting in a good word for that ignorant and disgusting, donut-gorging, wine imbibing, pig-headed, gouty, anal-retentive, over-promiscuous, sorry excuse for a woman known as @The Librarian, but when her cohort slapped an A on me for abuse - an A that never ever ever ever ever ever goes away (oh - I just checked my profile - it did. Rats. She told me at the time it would not), I had to admit that I had it coming. It also helped me to improve my writing. I learned to make my points as forceful without triggering any alarms for abuse. In fact, they are more forceful, for when someone detects you have stepped over the line and 'lost it,' they will discard your entire argument on that account. "No discipline is joyous for the present, but grievous, but it makes for fine training, and besides, you wouldn't be disciplined if you weren't loved" or something like that. Now I know that The Librarian loves me, the old hen. You never had an entire thread taken down, Allen, as I have. Benefit from the old hag. You post fine content and you put much work into it. Don't allow it to be dismissed because of a too aggressive manner. If I can stand up with a appreciation for the filthy overbearing opinionated perpetually semi-drunken wench, so can you. But now, no more on this from me, since she is getting her hackles up, discerning someone straying from theme. Even JWI is saying - 'Oh no! TTH! He always drags that JTR along with him and then it's goodbye to decorum!' The trouble is, much as I HATE to admit it and will disagree elsewhere, JTR has a point. If my off-topic remarks are going to be consigned to some tiny backwater, I won't bother making them in the first place. Everyone's time is worth something, even mine. ......"This is why I like the idea of writing committees because this ensures that most agree with what must be written before it is published. Yes there are always domineering individuals but I do think that this is eventually sorted out - and when it comes to history or evaluating ideas - one has to evaluate everything that is available." I like this point, too, from @Arauna. I am a lightweight here, and I like that she brings this out for balance.

My only Bethel contact, and one I've let grow cold, as I've not kept in touch, once told me that the closer one gets to the 'inside,' the more challenge it can be perceiving God's direction. Friends will marvel at how God has supplied just the right understanding at just the right time, and he will say "yeah, it's only because so-and-so is too stubborn to...." THIS is how God 'works in mysterious ways,' to borrow a phrase the churches use when their doctrines have painted them into corners they cannot get out of. Jehovah does use an organization - it is evident if only by its accomplishments and unity - he uses imperfect men who have differences and opinions, and somehow hammers out leadership from them. To suggest otherwise is to suggest our critics are right - that JWs are brain-controlled zombies. No, they are regular people, with differences even at 'the top' and yet somehow God makes it all work. If there is one thing I would gingerly suggest we do wrong, it is the frequently repeated admonition to stay away from any 'apostate reasoning' because it is like poison. I see why they do it - because the scriptures state they should - and yet it leads to almost a superstition among some of us that mere ideas are poisonous. In fact, the ideas are not poisonous; what is poisonous is many of the people who are pushing them. So when you get off-the-grid thinking from someone who is decidedly not poisonous, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Whether it's great to put such stuff out there publicly is for others to say, but since countless persons have served in capacities in which they gain a glimpse into the inner workings, and there is an internet upon which they can write, it is unavoidable that some will. Frankly, the best way to handle such writing if someone deems it objectionable is to ignore it and let it drown in the boundless sea of online verbiage. You (and I) by our frequent comments are ensuring that does not happen, somewhat to the chagrin of JWI himself, I suspect, who says he deliberately chose a obscure forum to unload without being in-your-face about it. He assists in his own mission by posting comments so long that 98.9% will pass over them. I do. That is, I skim - not because I am uninterested, but because I have too much on my plate. No one can do everything and I leave such matters to those who have more affinity for it than I. They will refine and shift and ultimately something will come down through theocratic channels and I will say: "yep, it must work, because of the '900 languages.'" Is it possible to become full-of-oneself or proud from too much expounding? Of course. "Knowledge puffs up," Paul says. But that is a caution, not a direction to avoid thought on that account. Theocratic publications are also a product of thinking. There are other factors that serve to keep one humble, such as full participation in the ministry, the drubbing one takes from life experiences, and the recognition that we ought not get too big for our britches ever because we can all go Alzheimer's, cancer, or run over by a truck, at a moment's notice. I like this. I have added the italics. It is the reason that John differs from Matthew, Mark and Luke - the former was written decades later and the needs of the Christian community had changed. So it is with theocratic writings. Sometimes you can spirit away the old hen and see if anyone will pony up to get her back. I have found she is not in such demand as she apparently thinks she is. Incidentally, humor, IMO, flavored with just the right mix of ridicule, is a great way to confront the poisonous persons I speak of, (though one must be careful with humor, especially ridicule, because it does not translate well) if you are unlucky enough to run across them. Expressing outrage and accusations - please forgive me for this because I know where you do it, it is because you are jealous for pure worship, as we should be - only makes them gleeful at getting such a rise out of us and encourages them to do more. Again, to quote you: "My only concern here is to allow visitors to this website NOT read here what they would normally be accustomed to reading in apostate sites." Hopefully, they don't. I don't. (Having said that, the best way to get someone to do something is to tell them they shouldn't) The one time I deliberately did as an experiment, I was met with such nastiness that I backed out after a few days. They weren't nasty at first. They were effusive in their greetings until they perceived that I was not about to jump ship.

Back when we used to date and she was known as the 'Bombshell from Bethel', she was not known for her brains. But after being booted from Bethel, she landed this gig at the library, a post she had held for many decades. So I just assumed she was now smart. Nobody said she was. I just assumed it Sigh - she's still dumb as a plank. Helping her pass the time while she is in my custody awaiting WorldNews readers to pay up a ransom for her release, a course that they have been surprisingly reluctant to embark on, I have offered her reading material, as a purely humanitarian gesture. Since she is @The Librarianat the library, I offered her a choice of brainy reading - writings from learned Greeks like Socrates and Hippocrates. "Oh, I hate the Crate brothers! I don't know which one is worse, So or Hippo!" she complained. She said she would rather try some Homer. So I fetched her The Odyssey, only to find that she meant Homer Simpson. I then said I would get her whatever she wanted, and she is binge-watching episodes of Duck Dynasty. And - I don't know how she did it - she is under lock at key awaiting my ransom demands to be met - and my house is one and a half miles away, but she still managed to clean out my liquor cabinet.

On 7/31/2017 at 11:07 AM, TrueTomHarley said: There comes a time when one must suck it up and move on - either stay or leave, but move on. @b4ucuhear: Is that what I should have told my sister? My younger sister was sexually molested by an elder. She stayed despite that without making waves, until she started to see other things she found deeply disturbing and then she did "move on" as you say. Actually, she shouldn't have "moved on" because later on, most of the elders (the bad ones) were either removed or disfellowshipped - half of them were apostate (but that's not all they were up to). Of course nobody wanted to believe anything (even with concrete evidence) since they were regulars on the circuit assembly platform and on even on the district convention. It took about 10 years to sort itself out (should have been much quicker considering the evidence), but it did, (although it took other elders to step in and do what actually had to be done.) Still, 1 Timothy 5:24 will prove to be true if you wait, in one way or another. ……. TTH: "This ‘superfine apostle’ in the 2 Corinthians 11:5 mold was a big honcho in the HVAC world and would freeze everyone out of the Kingdom Hall because he liked it cool - even locking the thermostat so nobody not under his control could touch it. One elderly sister declared she would no longer attend meetings – where was the love? "It developed that this man planned to poison his wife so as to move in with another woman, and all the while maintain his position in the congregation. Joe Merlin sniffed him out in a heartbeat. ‘How can you guys be so naïve?’ he cried before one Body of Elders who could not believe what was right before them. But when the dust at last settled, one of them approached him: ‘You’re right, Joe - we are naïve.’ Sometimes Jehovah’s people are naïve. They are the ‘sons of the light’ whom the ‘sons of this system of things’ do end runs around." From the chapter 'Dirty Rotten Lowlifes' in 'No Fake News But Plenty of Hogwash.' …… @b4ucuhear I respect you for that. Knowing bad things can happen yet having the strength of faith and character to stay - as you seem - spiritually strong in the truth. Might I ask you to share with us what enables you to maintain your faith and dedication despite faith testing situations (whether you were personally in that congregation or not?) …….. Why Remain a Witness when Bad Things Happen? Here are things that have helped me. I’ll add some others, maybe. First, the psalm that says if you love God’s law, there is no stumbling block. (Ps 119:165) Humans will let you down from time to time. God never does. Second, Peter’s statement to Jesus when the latter said something outrageous. “Lord, where else shall we go?” (John 6:68) Exactly. Who else enjoys the basic spiritual truths and does the scripturally appointed work of Jehovah’s Witnesses? (Why would Jesus say what he did, knowing it could so easily be misconstrued? Can it be that he does so to separate the keepers from the bad fish?) Third, recognition that the key is, not to try to sanitize the present, but to unsanitize the past. Meaning the congregation, Paul says that in any house there are vessels for uses both honorable and dishonorable, and one must keep away from the latter. (2 Timothy 2:20) Plenty of riff-raff back then, he is saying. The Hebrew scriptures even point to times and situations when God's people acted worse than the nations, so if they are instances today here or there, it should hardly be a shocker, even if it goes on for a few years. In OT times, it went on for decades. Fourth, I like it that God mocks the wisdom of this world - wisdom which has given us the disaster we all must live in. From where is that wisdom dispensed but in the world’s system of higher education? Only Jehovah’s Witnesses eschew it, and despite that (or because of it) they have constructed a seamless system the envy of human governments that can’t reliably provide the most basic of services. We are the one religion of size that have not strayed from its ‘working class’ roots so as to suck up to the ‘better’ people. Acts 4:13 says the elites were astonished how the leaders of Christianity were ordinary and unlearned by their standards. That remains so today. Current GB members start out, not from a lofty perch above others, like in any other organization today, but from humble full-time service below that of most persons they later lead. Fifth, a recognition that the crowd is always wrong. While some fear the prevalence of apostates will harm the true faith, I think, to the discerning one, it strengthens it. Hostility over Jehovah’s Witnesses is way out of proportion to any sins they have committed, and are often entirely bogus. Ann mentioned Muslims. They have tendency to produce murderous extremists and they have a sharia law that, taken seriously, does far more than shun transgressors, and savages Western notions of woman’s rights. Write an article about Muslims and you will receive many hostile comments. Write one about Jehovah's Witnesses and you will drown in hostile comments, though their numbers are far fewer and their transgressions far less serious. Don’t follow the crowd for evil ends, Exodus 23:2 says, or, as everyone’s mother said: if everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you jump too? If the crowd says the religion stinks, it must be good. That’s for starters.

She eats like a horse - that's all I have to say. "I can't help it; I get hungry when I'm nervous. Pass me two more of those donuts, please," @The Librariansays. So far I've raised only $2 from admin, who declared it an acceptable risk, since she owes him 20.

"This is Brian Brexit reporting for tomsheepandgoats.com. I am at the world headquarters of TheWorldNewsMedia company to report on the missing report of a strange person - uh, I mean, the strange report of a missing person (sorry). I am speaking with the company president, Allen Admin. Mr. @admin, what do you make of this report?" Not much, to tell the truth. She's probably just off on another binge. Happens all the time. But we have credible information that she has been kidnapped by TrueTom and is being held for ransom. If that idiot thinks anyone's going to pay to get her back, he should change his name to DumbTom. Still, her disappearance is a little hard to fathom. You mean that she didn't have a enemy in the world? No, not that - everyone was her enemy. I mean that, if he kidnapped the woman, he's going to have to put up with her. Even if his ransom demands bring in tens of thousands, it's probably not worth it. Does this create a hardship for WorldNews replacing someone with her technical expertise on short notice? Your joking! Look, we were trying to roll out simple thread technology and she managed to get everyone confused. Alright, so TrueTom is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but there were others. Even @Annawas having a hard time, and @b4ucuhear. Who will replace her? The janitor always does when she is tanked. I imagine he will do so now. You know, it's strange... You mean, about @The Librarian? No, I mean about the janitor. He's a janitor, right? And yet he owns 15 suits. I don't care anything about the corporate agenda of that sect he's with - it's not my business - but it is still strange. Thank you, Mr. Admin. For tomsheepandgoats.com, this is Brian Brexit reporting.

To tell you the truth, he or she or it is so flabby it is hard to tell.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I have kidnapped @The Librarian If you ever want to see her again, (and I know I am taking a risk in saying this) you are going to have to dig down into your pockets and pony up. I figure if each reader pays $1000, that should be enough to secure her release. There will be no special rates for those in full time service. I'm playing hardball. Updates periodically.

Okay, @The Librarian, I have worked through today's backlog. FROM NOW ON I WILL CONFORM - MORE OR LESS - TO YOUR NEW IMPROVED SYSTEM. You can even blow this comment to smithereens if you want. DO YOU HEAR THAT, BIG BOY? @James Thomas Rook Jr.LET'S TAKE IT OUT ON THE STREET! YOU AND ME, BIG FELLA! NO MORE PUBLIC FIGHTING! Let the poor librarian repair her busted furniture, tape up spines on the damaged books, put the 33 rpm records away that you have hurled at me as frisbees, and start afresh!

Why would they want to? Is it not a house of worship? Would you transform yours into a "JTR'S INSPIRATIONAL SAYINGS" storefront?

Ha Ha. Pity the poor @The Librarian! Just when she is seething in rage that nobody regards her system and comments have veered off to Pluto, one unpredictably leads right back to the threads theme!

'Ozzie's Operating System' and 'Bob's Browser Service' Doesn't that work here? I'm going to behave. Honestly I am. After I get though a few comments I see have stacked up. It's a good explanation your provided. Hopefully easy to use. Will @The Librariansuceed in her mission to impose ORDER and make her library NEAT AND TIDY? Good l**k on that, especially when people drop bombshells with leads going 10 different directions. Nonetheless, I vow (strike that: promise....strike that: intend....strike that: hope....strike that: will comply if it is easy) to comply with her wishes (the old hen) so that, while I may be a rabblerouser, there will be 20 others worse than I for her to harass.

perhaps this displays differently on different screens. I see no option other than to comment as I have been.