TrueTomHarley

If the tone has turned comedic, it is because this is at root a farce with a decidedly tragic outcome. @Jay Witness's friends try to recruit Tom Cruise on their mission to take out the Watchtower. Tom Cruise turns them down, not because the mission is impossible, but because it is ridiculous. He knows they are mostly hacks trying to settle old scores and work off grudges - who should have moved on in life ages ago. So they recruit a young woman, who they knew or should have known, had some instability to her personality, and they manage to secure her cooperation. 'Don't worry. If you or any of your friends are caught or killed,' they tell her, 'if that happens, we will issue a SPECIAL REPORT!' Did they try to set up their poster at her funeral? So she rifles through the confidential files and is caught. Jay appears flabbergasted that headquarters is not cool with this. They 'interrogate her' for two days - it's all he can do to refrain from saying they waterboarded her. The 'interrogation' was so grueling that she reported for a second day. On the second day, it was discovered that her pilfering was not for some innocuous cause or due to some misunderstanding, but to spirit whatever she found to Jay's friends who have dedicated their lives to working against kingdom interests. Bethel showed her the door. "It was reported that when she arrived home, her Jehovah's Witness family and friends treated her terribly," Jay's SPECIAL REPORT tells us, as though they should have been cool with it or even commended her. "Treated her terribly' is a bit vague, isn't it? Look, they probably were not happy with her, but the point is, Jay can't even be bothered to check on that, so eager is he to besmirch his enemies. "It is reported" they "treated her terribly" is enough. If Jay's friends must assign blame for the young woman's death - beyond the young woman herself - surely it is they themselves they should point to. Recruiting someone once a fine servant of Jehovah, perhaps someone dismayed upon finding all was not Santa and the elves - that they were real people there at Bethel, instead - and using her for their own ends. I'm tired of their hate. And now it has cost the life of a young woman. Many of these ones have turned to atheism, so they are beyond all question "fighters against God." Some higher up here once told me I should use honey talking to these people, not vinegar. I am not able to do it. "Can't we all get along?" he apparently felt. No. We can't.

And now for the ultimate mia culpa: I am - gasp! - @The Librarian!!!! I got tossed out of Bethel decades ago for trying to sneak a red-hot bikini photograph, clad only in horn-rimmed glasses, of myself in the Watchtower centerfold. It almost made it out the door, but then some narrow-minded brothers spotted it. I'll bet it still hangs upon their dorm walls - the sickos!! I could have been famous - FAMOUS, I tell you. But now I send photos of myself to apostate rags and even they return it unopened!!

You are obviously a FALSE PROPHET!!! THERE IS ONLY ONE JAMES THOMAS ROOK!!! His is a PERSONALITY IMPOSSIBLE TO INVENT!!!!

Nope. Just me again, big boy, in yet another guise. So is Allen. So is O'Maly. "Was I not having fun?" Actually, every one of them is me, except @The Librarian. And I once dated her. You should have seen her when she would don her big round horn-rimmed librarian glasses. What a woman she once was! But when I proposed marriage, she turned me down, saying she wanted to pursue a life of knowledge and books. It would have served her well to admit she was human, for a change. Just look at what has become of her, the old hen. What becomes of the BAs post service, to your knowledge? Do they remain or leave the faith? Does their BA intensify or mitigate?

This system of things has failed its young people in countless ways, with the predictable result that they are committing suicide in record numbers. Suicide rate of that age group has tripled since the 1950's. One Millennial site puts it: "Every generation uses the ceiling of the generation before them to become their floor to build off of. Instead, it feels like our generation is dodging the crumbling remains of the ceiling exploding above us." (allgroanup.com) Exactly. That being the case, it is misguided to try to impede the one organization proclaiming the solution from the Bible. If they ceased doing it, there is no one else to take over. So plain does this seem to me that I have sometimes crossed a line and asserted it is done for exactly that reason: to prevent the proclaiming of God's kingdom - remarks that have not gone down well in all quarters. But it seems either that or a cutting off of one's nose to spite one's face. it seems either that or the 'unreasoning animals' of Peter's description who act contrary to their own interests. I used to love giving the talk: 'Acquiring a Heart of Wisdom.' I led off with the by-now-trite illustration I've heard of how treasure-seekers dig through the dirt to find the tiniest bit of diamond, and how foolish it would be to reverse it - dig through the diamonds to find the tiniest bit of dirt. I then stated that, nonetheless, we would be doing exactly that for the next 45 minutes, since, with any time in the faith, you are going to come across some dirt,, and if you are not prepared, you will be floored, for it is the one place you do not expect to find any. Then I reveled in tearing things apart for 45 minutes, both in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. I hit my stride with Revelation 2 and 3, considering absolute basket cases of congregations, guilty of every horrible thing, and yet they were still congregations. The idea was to encourage the audience to have a realistic outlook on what they will always eventually encounter anywhere there are people. Arguably, mature ones here who sometimes veer into discussing organizational flaws are not impeding anything, but by 'shining the bright light of journalistic truth' are encouraging everyone to shape up. Though that sometimes works, as often it is as when you shine a bright light upon cockroaches. They don't stop being cockroaches when you do that. They just go somewhere else. Arguably, everyone is doing just fine here, and it may even benefit some opposers to hear frank admissions of faults by persons of good motive. However, it is another thing entirely to 'smuggle' confidential stuff, whatever that may be, so that Jay can put it on his website. He has pretty well demonstrated where his interests lie. JTR, the strangest of all birds to me, regales us tirelessly with war scenarios about the boldness and courage and glory of men who SACRIFICED THEIR ALL in the greatest theater of existence. He would be shot in a heartbeat as a traitor if he carried on there as he does here. Does he think the military generals that sent thousands into battle were above the petty miscues that he lambastes others for here? All this is not to be unkind to the young woman in question, who I did not know. She is caught up in the spirit of the age, most likely, that holds that revealing faults is somehow a sacred quest - that only good can come of it. Even Jay's breathless banner conveys his enthusiasm for tearing down: it is a SPECIAL REPORT! Just like the banning of the entire religion merited a SPECIAL REPORT on the broadcast site. It is not hard to see whose interests he serves. It's regrettable, of course, but hardly a special report, as though she was a freedom fighter lost in the most noble of causes. Otherwise, every downed soldier would also merit a special report, every millennial suicide would also merit a special report, and whoever they last engaged with would merit special attention as the villain of our age. Can they get insular at Bethel? Can there be intrigues? Of course. It is the common bane of people. But I am loath to offer counsel because A.) I'm not qualified, B.) I don't have 5% of the information they do, C.) it's not my place, D.) Even when I identify a problem, that does not mean I have any idea how to fix it. The world's obsession with firing people for miscues results only in inexperienced clods running show - Jesus fired only Judas, E.) I don't think such matters are fixed though the democratic means of public journalism. It hasn't worked that way in the general world; drawbacks are as numerous as successes, and on balance, it is no better than hoping you get a nice king and not a mean one. F.) I tend to think these matters are self-correcting. If it truly is something from God, as I conclude it is based upon the proclamation of truth that they alone spearhead, then entities other than me will take care of troubles.

They were respectful, but they did weigh in on some topics that have been discussed in this forum. None were written simply to offer compliments. Of course I DID NOT TELL THEM WHAT JERKS THEY WERE and how they MUST COME AROUND to my way of thinking, seeing that it WAS AND IS INDISPUTABLY RIGHT!!!!

I have written 3 or 4 in the course of 40 years. Each one was answered.

Is this ever not the case? Any report of suicide evokes sympathy. People are left to wonder of inner turmoil and so forth. Still, any mental health professional will say that the inability to move on after a perceived negative experience puts one at increased risk for self-harm. People who can't 'move on' in life suffer more often than those who can and do. What we have here, assuming matters are objectively reported - which I do not assume because I have seen Jay's other posts and he has made his intent clear - is a correlation augmented by a possible trigger, but hardly cause and effect. Does anyone think when Kathy Griffin held aloft the severed head of the President, it caused no ripples in her Republican (if they were that) family? She is trying to destroy what they hold of paramount importance. Of course, I knew neither the young woman, nor the circumstances, nor what 'mission' she was on when she was thwarted. (I suspected the latter is exaggerated by Jay becasue he exaggerates anything he deems harmful to the visible organization) Therefore, I can only speak in the abstract. To a degree that may be true, but 2 Timothy 3:1-5 also must be factored in - how persons in the last days would be not open to any agreement, impossible to satisfy, fierce, disloyal, betrayers, headstrong, and so forth. Many today have no interest in reform but seek only to destroy. Divorce it from the field of religion for a moment, for it is clearly seen anywhere - the urge to tear down with no corresponding interest in building. Obama suffered it. Trump suffers it It hardly follows that a group that merely wants to protect confidential information is villainous because someone takes her own life when she is stymied trying to extract it.

Let's see - get up, kiss wife, shower, shave, eat breakfast, pick a fight with JTR - what has he posted lately?

Nobody, but nobody, assembles their entire membership as JWs did at their most recent Regional Conventions, and reviews detailed scenarios under which child sexual abuse might happen, so that parents can train their children - obviously the first line of defense. Especially emphasized was the fact the the perpetrator is likely to be someone a child knows and trusts. If a relative, or friend, or anyone, seems overly attentive to your child. If there are tickling sessions. If there are sleepovers. If there are trips alone to the public restroom. If ....there were several others. These are all potential red flags, maybe harmless, but maybe not, for the parent to be aware of. 'The wise one sees the [potential] calamity approaching, and takes action' is the verse repeatedly applied. JTR saw it too. But he likes his cartoon and wants to spin it around the world a few more times.

do they now position themselves as champion of gay rights? I fear that one will not go over too well with gays.

They were going through their difficult teenage years then. They sat around playing video games and let the old man do all the work. Just kidding, of course, but as you say, there are often things added to our portrayal of events that weren't stated in verse. It is unavoidable any time you do a drama. When that jerk in the dungeon demanded to see Hezekiah, did the latter really drop what he was doing to put up with his tirade? Did he really routinely take time out during his busy king day to play with the small children? And don't get me going on cleanliness. When I see a half dozen full time servants toiling half a day to remove an ounce of dirt, I realize that my more relaxed view of clean doesn't stand a snowball's chance in you-know-where of prevailing.

I am crazy. I know I am.

It would be hard for Noah to avoid a warning component to his preaching when answering the question "What's that big boat doing in your back yard?" and of course, he would have been known for nothing else. Today it is hard to slip it in. I don't tell anyone "only a short time and all will be destroyed." There is too much preliminary stuff to cover. I'll get around to it eventually, but it's down the road a bit - more so than it would be if I dragged an ark along with me in service.

It means nothing in itself. Laudable people are there. But also some scoundrels. It's a big enough place. Maybe someday there will be a hoeing out. But for now they remain even when in serious financial arrears. I live and die for the 'like' meter.

The public ministry grounds a person. Stray from it at your personal spiritual peril.

Hey, you big so-and-so @James Thomas Rook Jr.. For all your carrying on about being prolific, I just noticed that I have more posts than you.* How did that happen? Though, you get some sort of prize when your posts are liked here. I'm not sure if I have any of those. Have you? And you once accused me of tracking you down via FB and I responded by asking what had you been smoking. But when, within a post, you referred to yourself as 'Tom Rook,' that rang a bell. I don't know from where, but it may be I have run across (not over) you elsewhere. *That is NOT counting Vic Vomidog, A Nice Guy, and the learned Dr. Adhominum.

I like when Riker was on the Klingon ship under the 'exchange student' program and had to eat their stuff.

This is subjective, as are my observations. But to the extent it is true, I'm not sure just how terrible it is. Obviously, it is not the ideal. Nonetheless, door-to-door never comes easily to some. Not everyone is a communicator. It can't be easy to carry around weighty responsibilities affording one respect, and routinely shifting to the field where there is not one grain of respect. Some always find it a struggle, and I will love them for trying, even when they do not knock the ball out of the park. Back before the LDC and its predecessor, If you wanted to build a Kingdom Hall, there were certain brothers, builders by trade, that you just had to get onboard. Everyone else was all-thumbs in comparison. These brothers had the expertise and willingness, and they roamed about instrumental in many a building project. But some considered them 'second tier' because their formal ministry wasn't that hot. Let them bring their gift to the altar, even if public preaching has become a bit of a sideline from them. I fancy myself comfortable at communicating these days, yet I could not build a Kingdom Hall model out of Lego blocks.

I will make the job easier by supplying #14 myself: 14.) "And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire...." (Rev 20:10) That's supposed to bother him? I believe he has a summer cottage on the Lake of Fire.

Disfellowshipped or disassociated persons do accumulate. And they don't always pine for the day they will be reinstated. Sometimes they go on the attack. When they do, like people anywhere, they play down whatever responsibility they had in favor of how others done them in. You would think that the BBC would get the accurate scoop on what circumstances can lead to this most extreme form of discipline and what ones cannot. It's not as though the process is hidden.

Nonsense. Are you in jail? Has your home been burned down or confiscated? Have you been fired? But now this lion will become a kitty cat. Sorry. Assuming no more....

Did the Brothers (and Sisters) who saved up or borrowed money to build the tabernacle, and used their sweat and time to build it .. often with the help of Friends ... did they specifically have the right to sell it as they see fit, and use the money as they saw fit? Yes, or no?" CHOOSE.

Davey the Kid was annoyed at those who carry on about 'hours,' asserting that we should focus on 'people' instead. The hours are people, he said.

Now the wicked Western powers will spot a way to defeat the Surly Bear. Simply keep submitting false JW reports. The Russians will go apoplectic, taking their eye off the ball while they chase each one down.