TrueTomHarley

From Jeremiah 26:7-16:
"And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.
"So when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him and said: “You will surely die…
"The priests and the prophets said to the princes and to all the people: “This man deserves the death penalty, because he has prophesied against this city just as you have heard with your own ears.”…
"Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets: “This man does not deserve the death penalty, for he spoke to us in the name of Jehovah our God.”   
……….
It is always this way. The princes have no problem with it. It is the priests and the prophets that oppose religious freedom.
Perhaps it will be that way with Putin, if he can withdraw his head from the lock of the Church.
 

For @JW Insider's sake, I will be very bold and predict that Trump will bring in socialized medicine, though it will not be called that. Even I do not think this likely, but most do not think it possible, so I still come off as being bold, though JTR will say insane.
Trump is pragmatic and has shown he is not bound by ideologies. I can't imagine how healthcare could work via competition among insurance companies when healthy persons can opt out. Obamacare, though it will surely crash of its own weight, has planted the notion, accepted everywhere else, that everyone deserves access to healthcare. Trump himself seems to embrace the idea. He may take the bull by the horns, figure he can craft a system that incorporates the private sector better than any Democrat can, for they distrust the private sector, and charge ahead.
It will be a very hard sell. He will lose many of his own people, but may gain from the other side. Even then it may be doomed. Americans are used to Cadillac treatment, and while universal health care is universal, its quality goes down. Pharma too, may scream, because they are used to soaking Americans to offset the modest profits they must take elsewhere. They will carry on about 'choking innovation,' and so forth. As it is, they don't bother innovating unless they see a substantial buck in it; that's why there is MRSA will no new antibiotics to fight it. It's hard to be optimistic here, but I can imagine Trump may try tackling it.
Maybe he can still sell it. Overall healthcare quality in America is well above that of any third world country. But among the developed countries, it comes in dead last. I'm tired of playing Russian Roulette with my modest net worth for every sliver I have removed. Perhaps other people are, too.

I have not seen any direct evidence that it was sarin gas. The evidence for such things has been proffered before by "white helmets" whose members have been caught involved in the heinous types of crimes they want to pretend are only being perpetrated by others. They have kidnapped and beheaded children and then used children in their humanitarian PR to see if they can get powers like the US to intercede on their behalf. Some of the first proofs were made by showing undamaged canisters as if that was the way to drop sarin gas from airplanes. And if the amounts necessary to cause the kinds of death displayed on videos were from exploded canisters over such an area then the perfectly placed video makers forgot that they were not supposed to touch the bodies so soon, and not all remembered that they needed to show themselves with masks on, and other necessary protective gear. This was only slightly better done (with mistakes) than previous attempts to make a toxic gas video. I also have heard that some intelligence also picked up on conversations from the day before of people claiming they were preparing toxic gas announcements for the following day - the day of the attack. The right way to make such a video of course is to get to a scene of an actual conventional bombing and then bring some actors who are willing to "writhe to death" among the dead bodies. Naturally, we will believe that a cameraman (or crew) is filming during a live sarin gas attack close enough to the toxicity to kill themselves.
I can't say that it didn't happen, or will not happen. Obviously, even the US has used toxic gases and chemicals for years, and has even manufactured and sold such weapons for years. But Assad and Russia also know the stakes, and the timing is suspicious. What we think is based on what media we pay attention to, and right now there is too much confusion and past fraud to call anything 'direct evidence.'

This is very clever. I like it.
I like it when someone has looked beneath the surface, though it is at best a hobby, by no means necessary to the faith, and can be divisive when people push views. So I never do. And it seems you never do as well, or I would have known about it before now. Rarely do I mention this stuff among the friends and never to I press it. Other people disagree. No matter. The area king, the area media, and our own prior experiences all influence our current opinion, as does geography. What do brothers in the mid-East think?
Some of our people barely know such a thing as politics exist, and to the extent they were aware of it, were inclined to say of Trump: 'He's bombastic and I try to be polite.'
Though I can think of one PERSON who may not have reasoned that WAY, at least not while the FOUNDING FATHERS were using his facilities on a PIT STOP during their TIME TRAVELS!!!

Trump bombed Syria and made a lot of people mad. How can you not make them mad when you’ve killed 15 people? He broke a lot of things, too, but he can always say: “Look, Vlad, what’s the big deal? I’m a billionaire. You’re a billionaire. But them some new planes out of your own pocket if it takes that to placate them.” The people are a different matter. But even that is mitigated by pointing out they were all (or almost all?) military people who have signed on to the program.
For some inexplicable reason, I feel I have a read on this guy. I long have. It surprises me to think so few do. Even that is hard to know for sure because in this scenario, as in all others, liars spin the facts this way and that for their own purposes. In the case of a President, the motivation to do so is high.
At any rate, his actions clearly turn a lot of memes on their head. Clearly, he is not a pawn of Putin, as U.S. media has insisted for months. Clearly, he does not hate Muslims, as they have also insisted. It is now spun that he is impulsive and acts from the heart. “Trump said he would not do Syria! No way! No how! Then he saw a picture,” I have heard.
Or perhaps it is all spin. The trouble with conspiracy theories is that, once a few of them prove to be true, you readily swallow the next one coming down the pipe. There are cabals hanging about and they do try to skew things. But these cabals have hated Trump from the beginning. I think it is because he is not one of them and they don’t feel able to control him. We all know that Trump is not a Republican. He took over the Republican party. It might just as well have been the Democratic party. He simply read the tea leaves and saw that, at the moment, the Republican party was easier to commandeer. When he says ‘drain the swamp,’ he is not referring to one party or the other.
Anyone in small business, which I have been, can easily conceive of a businessman who loves his country but thinks the slippery boobs have ruined it, saying: “There!  I built my business. Now let’s see if I can fix the country.” A BIG businessman can easily miss this because he is primarily worried about Trump’s effect on the stock market, but a small businessman doesn’t care, or at least it is not his chief concern. If you’re experience is something else entirely, you heard the ‘grab them by the you-know-what’ and concluded life around him was a 24/7 brothel. I always thought It was nonsense. I always agreed with him that it was ‘locker room’ talk. I did this because I have been in the locker room and they do not read Plato in there.
He can spin this as I believe it really is. There are some things so barbarous that you cannot go there. Chemical weapons are among them. They are not good, especially when you have just had photos of the victims thrust under your nose.  He did what he did impulsively, from the heart. Yet even that cannot be determined with certainty. Insiders said he leaned on and took options from the military people. He didn’t hastily tell them what to do. He let them tell him, and chose from the choices they presented.
It is easy to conclude that they, however are swayed by the business model. When BigDefence gets too big, it must keep the profits rolling in. If it does not, the stockholders will bolt for some noble competitor – say, BigPharma. So if the world threatens to get too peaceful, they must stir up the pot. It is the United States, not Russia, that is bombing many countries. It will never be fixed because money drives everything here. You solve nothing by taking out a bad guy. Another bad guy simply sees a fine new career opening. It is the play that must be changed, not the actors in the play, who simply follow the script given them – sometimes begrudginly, sometimes with gusto. Human reformers can change the actors, but they cannot change the play. Only God’s Kingdom will do that.
In a world where barbarities are commonplace, it is tough to know where to draw the line. “What’s one more slaughter in the greater scheme of things?” is easy to say. Is it preferred for Trump to say: “Ah, well – shit happens?” Obama drew a line in the sand and it was instantly crossed. Perhaps leaders should keep their mouths shut over such things, and not make grandiose remarks about slaughter being ‘unacceptable’ (duh) and how people will ‘be held accountable.’ They won’t be, usually. Why carry on as though they will, except so as not to look like a helpless fool. And don’t carry on about people being ‘cowardly.’ They may be despicable, but surely it is not cowardly to be willing to die for a cause – any cause, from Boy Scout to Barbarians-R-Us. Also, don’t whine on about how the terrorists are trying to change our way of life, but we won’t let that happen. If anything, they want us to maintain our way of life and thereby be easier targets to kill. And even the terrorists will say: “Look, they elect their leaders over there, and the leaders come over and kill all our loved ones. That makes them not so innocent after all.” Victims of massive suffering and evil, many turn into unreasoning animals that must be taken out, like putting down a vicious dog. But that doesn’t mean you must judge them for it; many in the West become unreasoning animals with far less provocation.
A man that recoils at the use of chemical weapons and reacts immediately can be spun as not such a bad thing. He can say to Putin: “Sorry. I lost it. but nothing has changed in the big picture. Let’s work together when it is expedient to fix the world.”
It’s not my cause. I am a neutral Jehovah’s Witness, interested in these things only as ‘current history.’ All human governments will drop the ball; the only question to be answered is upon which toe will if fall. The Kingdom arrangement, as detailed in the Bible, is the only permanent answer. So if you have read these words and said: “Harley is an idiot! I’ll write to tell him so,” please don’t. I will respond by saying: “you forgot to mention that I am also a moron.”

The public talk at my meeting today was on "Babylon the Great"..........the talk was based mostly on Revelation 17 and 18.......naturally............although the speaker did not mention it, I thought boy! With events that have come to a head, particularly in the last few weeks, show how the Russian Orthodox Church fits neatly into these chapters as one of the prostitutes that make up the great harlot............those chapters of Revelation are well worth reading again, with that in view.

I like tacos

Driving home, listening to the college station, all the songs and artists are unfamiliar to me. I was intrigued by one, singing lyrics she had written that didn’t quite work, yet she made them work through sheer intensity. Encountering a situation depressing,’ noting it makes a not good ‘impression’ doesn’t quite cut it, so when an artist successfully runs it through anyway, like a stauros through the eye of a needle, you respect her for it.
I would have called the DJs, carrying on as though stoned-out, and asked about it, but I didn’t have their number. I like, as I get older, stepping out of my comfort zone, seeking out persons I might normally not have much in common with. I even have done it here on the WorldMediaForum. Unfortunately, I have also tried to smash their kneecaps, but I have been helped to see the error of my ways. I am a writer, and I sometimes enjoy navigating dangerous shoals just to see if I can get away with it.
But if the brothers want me to ‘step out of my comfort zone,’ by – say, witnessing to swimmers on the beach, I tell them to take a hike. “I’m not even comfortable in my comfort zone,” I tell them.

"Perhaps I will observe toward the end how - isn't it strange how if I were a Marine myself, I would feel the same way about my country as they. Yet if I were a Marine in any other country, I would feel the same way about that country. Isn't it strange for the world to be carved up that way? Sometimes they find nothing strange about that at all, but sometimes they do."
Tom, in Australia on April 25th they celebrate the "glorification of war," it is called ANZAC Day, (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - but, involves the 3 armed services, with marches of servicemen and ex-servicemen through cities and towns, services at war memorials and churches, etc............around that day some people get a little "uppity" with "us pacifists," I do not have a problem with that..........I usually tell them that I had served in the Royal Australian Navy for over 13 years, before I saw the error of my ways..........I find that most times we can then have a friendly chat about the words recorded for us at James 4:1-3, if they let me go to the scriptures.........it may go to the point of discussing where both they and I served in various war zones, sometimes medals are mentioned, my reply is usually........."I had 3, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Indonesian confrontation, (something like that-I think), I gave them to my kids to play with and I have not seen them since 1970" .............it is also good to ask them whether or not the war(s) that they fought in actually achieved anything - except a lot of death, destruction and misery -...........the answer in the main is "not much," but, occasionally you get the real patriot, who will "stand up on his soap box" and start "singing the National Anthem." so to speak.
We so look forward to the time when all this will be a thing of the past, and see the words outside the United Nations HQ in New York quoted from Isaiah 2:4 come to their literal fulfillment under God's Kingdom.

Fact is that humans have given their lives for all manner of causes, real and imagined, religious and secular, admired and condemned by others. 
It is an extraordinary feature of humans that, throughout history, some are prepared to place principle above immediate personal survival. This has been exploited by religious and political schemers throughout that same history.
Jehovah made man this way, and recognised it in tolerating Satan's cynical and false assertion that “Skin for skin. A man will give everything that he has for his life" (Job 2:4). In fact, and to the contrary, a man will give his life for everything that he holds dear.
In his attempt to prove otherwise, Satan has caused many lives to be sacrificed, not the least those described at Ps.116:15: "Costly [Lit. Precious] in the eyes of Jehovah Is the death of his loyal ones.".
It is true that the relative, though sadly often only temporary, peace many of us presently enjoy has been hard won by the sacrifice of brave men and women, who regardless of their ignorance of the real issue, have served to prove the Devil's lie. It is reassuring to contemplate that their lives have not been wasted. In the coming Messianic kingdom, even those countless "Unknown Soldiers" will be back to tell their stories, and to embrace at last "the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ" 2Cor. 4:4. This is something far better than plaques and statues, memorial days and moments of mass silence. Or the embittered tears of fatherless, motherless, brotherless, sisterless families.
Then they will learn about the greatest and most efficacious sacrifice ever made, the Ransom Sacrifice of Jehovahs greatest warrior, His Son, Jesus Christ. And that event all who love Jehovah in the world today will be commemorating on Tuesday 11 April 2017 after sundown. And we can now do this shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Russia, knowing that Jehovah has given them this brief respite. And we can pray that Jehovah will fortify them for the uncertainty of the coming days as they too prove the lie to Satan's claim that “Skin for skin. A man will give everything that he has for his life".

There are ways to use this fact to better effect than the stack of letters themselves.

As much as I admire JTR, I feel I must call him on this one.
At times in the ministry I will come across a Marine family, as is obvious by flags, stickers, stars, and slogans. I ask them their story. Perhaps they may look at me suspiciously. "I'm serious," I tell them, "I'm not trying to pick a fight; I'm not in the mood. It's obvious if you've fought for your country that you have a story to tell. Let's hear it."
Everyone has a story to tell but nobody wants to hear it. We are in the people business. If anyone deserves a listening ear, it is someone who has sacrificed for what they believe in. Essentially, that is among the reasons we ask them to give us a listening ear. We are not just on the internet trying to steal someone else's disciples; we are out there sacrificing, and that in and of itself suggests someone ought to give us a listening ear. Same with them.
The circumstances have to be right. I can't do it, or at least must scale back, if the car group is waiting. But I will hear them out as much as I am able to. It is disarming, for even their friends will not do it. 
I say one word for every ten of theirs. Perhaps I will observe toward the end how - isn't it strange how if I were a Marine myself, I would feel the same way about my country as they. Yet if I were a Marine in any other country, I would feel the same way about that country. Isn't it strange for the world to be carved up that way? Sometimes they find nothing strange about that at all, but sometimes they do.
Our happiness comes from our worship and service to God. It has little to do with the rule of the king we live under. Ask him what his ground rules are for maintaining public order, and then follow them. That is the pattern our brothers set around the world and they do not all wear long faces because they are not in the USA.
I would even argue with: "the reason YOU live in peace..." Do we? It's not Syria here, to be sure, but neither is is Shagnri-La.
I am here, and I like it here. But if I was there, I would like it there, especially if I was born there.

I must not be sharp here in reply, and I will not be. I have been told to play nice.
Instead, let us focus on how Putin will shake in his boots as he reads a letter on the business stationary of Bob's Cleaning Service. 
Okay, there are elements of comedy in everything, but one must not be distracted from the big picture. Paul said to Agrippa: 'I know you know about this, for it has not been done in a corner." Same here with the Russian situation.
It is clear that it is accomplished by God's organization. Not only does the organization brilliantly coordinate this campaign, prompting front page coverage from the NY Times, and Time Magazine on 'day of delivery,' but it is intensified because they have already succeeded in unifying a loyal people. All they had to do is ask individual JWs once to write - they did nothing else - and the response is more than anyone could ever have imagined. Clearly, organization is not a bad thing. It is a good thing.
Our Russian brothers will know that they triggered a worldwide flock to jw.org - "is this website really extremist, as I've been told?" people will ask. Who knows what will happen when millions discover that it is not?
It even thwarts opposers who were hoping to spin their pissy Austrailain story forever, but now it has been replaced in everyone's attention by a situation that makes Jehovah's Witnesses the good guys in the eyes of almost everyone.
Mitigating this somewhat is that the fact that newbies screw up everywhere. It is part of the learning process. Unfortunately, it is a constant of life and is not unique to our people. People learn, and learn well, by making mistakes.
As Mark Twain said: 'A cat that sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. Nor will it sit on a cold one, for they all look hot.'

No. I do not. I am serious about this (for once) 
He is in danger of being made to look like an ass due to the machinations of the house church. I would spare him.
I do not share the common sentiment of maligning him. Nor is he my buddy. He is the leader of another form of government, that's all. 
Look, all human governments will drop the ball. Recognition of this fact explains why we are where we are. The other question unclear is upon which toe will it land.
Jesus is Jesus and he can read hearts and slam villains. I can't and I won't.
Even when I have carried on about apostates, it is not personal. They are fulfilling a role, and it is the role I don't like.

No. I do not. I am serious about this (for once) 
He is in danger of being made to look like an ass due to the machinations of the house church. I would spare him.
I do not share the common sentiment of maligning him. Nor is he my buddy. He is the leader of another form of government, that's all. 
Look, all human governments will drop the ball. Recognition of this fact explains why we are where we are. The other question unclear is upon which toe will it land.
Jesus is Jesus and he can read hearts and slam villains. I can't and I won't.
Even when I have carried on about apostates, it is not personal. They are fulfilling a role, and it is the role I don't like.

No. I do not. I am serious about this (for once) 
He is in danger of being made to look like an ass due to the machinations of the house church. I would spare him.
I do not share the common sentiment of maligning him. Nor is he my buddy. He is the leader of another form of government, that's all. 
Look, all human governments will drop the ball. Recognition of this fact explains why we are where we are. The other question unclear is upon which toe will it land.
Jesus is Jesus and he can read hearts and slam villains. I can't and I won't.
Even when I have carried on about apostates, it is not personal. They are fulfilling a role, and it is the role I don't like.

Where were you when we needed you? I saw the COBE's letter:
"Alright, big man, lets settle this right here, right now! You think you're a tough guy? Running a country? Well, I run a congregation back here in the States!"
He wasn't even flagged for Abuse!

I must not be sharp here in reply, and I will not be. I have been told to play nice.
Instead, let us focus on how Putin will shake in his boots as he reads a letter on the business stationary of Bob's Cleaning Service. 
Okay, there are elements of comedy in everything, but one must not be distracted from the big picture. Paul said to Agrippa: 'I know you know about this, for it has not been done in a corner." Same here with the Russian situation.
It is clear that it is accomplished by God's organization. Not only does the organization brilliantly coordinate this campaign, prompting front page coverage from the NY Times, and Time Magazine on 'day of delivery,' but it is intensified because they have already succeeded in unifying a loyal people. All they had to do is ask individual JWs once to write - they did nothing else - and the response is more than anyone could ever have imagined. Clearly, organization is not a bad thing. It is a good thing.
Our Russian brothers will know that they triggered a worldwide flock to jw.org - "is this website really extremist, as I've been told?" people will ask. Who knows what will happen when millions discover that it is not?
It even thwarts opposers who were hoping to spin their pissy Austrailain story forever, but now it has been replaced in everyone's attention by a situation that makes Jehovah's Witnesses the good guys in the eyes of almost everyone.
Mitigating this somewhat is that the fact that newbies screw up everywhere. It is part of the learning process. Unfortunately, it is a constant of life and is not unique to our people. People learn, and learn well, by making mistakes.
As Mark Twain said: 'A cat that sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. Nor will it sit on a cold one, for they all look hot.'

Whenever the elders come around to pester me about running the sound system, I ask them: "Just how much to you value the concpt of the congregation being able to hear because some idiot did not flip the wrong switch? Are you sure you want me to do this?"

While some of our brothers are not the sharpest tools in the drawer, I doubt this is because of their Witness training. More likely, their Witness training sharpens their skills.
You have only to look at the news media or political world, where highly educated persons routinely reveal  themselves to be dumber than plants. If our people conduct themselves unwisely on the internet, so does everyone else. 
Enemies will always find something to pounce on. if two letters go to the judge, whether they actually stem from our people or not, haters can seize upon those two letters and ignore the 50 million others. It happens all the time in the political world and most other venues.

@TrueTomHarley Pray about it, I will. We have the most miraculous power in the Universe, Jehovah can perform miracles if a donkey can speak and 1 angel can destroy 185,000 in one night! We are in for fireworks ? Remember at the edge of the Red Sea? It seemed hopeless? Jehovah is a mighty warrior and we have never witnessed His power! We will all be amazed and proud of who we are! Pick up the weak and carry them, they maybe complainers but Jehovah knows their heart. Life is a bowl ? of cherries ? with the pits! Let's pray for strength for the Brotherhood and proclaim Jehovah's Name loud and clear. No fear He is near!
?????⚔️???

While some of our brothers are not the sharpest tools in the drawer, I doubt this is because of their Witness training. More likely, their Witness training sharpens their skills.
You have only to look at the news media or political world, where highly educated persons routinely reveal  themselves to be dumber than plants. If our people conduct themselves unwisely on the internet, so does everyone else. 
Enemies will always find something to pounce on. if two letters go to the judge, whether they actually stem from our people or not, haters can seize upon those two letters and ignore the 50 million others. It happens all the time in the political world and most other venues.

That disgusting hag of an anal-retentive old biddy of a Librarian was never my downfall. Without specifically clearing her, one might suppose that she eventually blew her top. In fact, he was always cool with it.
He yelled at me when I was new and I hawked my book one time too many. My first two jibes in return, not necessarily on that same thread, were sharp, and I was somewhat surprised (favorably) that they were allowed to remain. But after that it was all play. I made peace with him privately and asked him what the ground rules were. “I plan to really insult the ugly old librarian,” I said. “Tell me if that gets old or if you don’t want me to do it in the first place.” But he said he rather enjoyed that part.
I was flagged for abuse by someone. I am guilty of it, though perhaps not more so than the foes I battled are on other threads. But I clearly was the aggressor on the thread that was removed, and I was called on it.
Nonetheless, it’s the ideas that interest me, not the people involved. Is it possible to address those same ideas in a venue that is 100% lacking in any rude conduct?

In a number of photos you can see the presence in the room of brother Sanderson from the governing body, along with those responsible for the work in the Russian Federation.




http://time.com/4723456/jehovahs-witness-russia-supreme-court/
 
 

 
NBC news report on Jehovah's Witnesses letter writing campaign to Russia #stopjwban #jw

It's hard to imagine that traffic to jw.org will not increase, perhaps even explode. In view of the publicity, people will want to see if it is truly extremist. This may be especially true with those we find difficult to reach: the newsworthy and well-connected. What will be the result when they discover that it is not?
Perhaps that is the greatest contribution our Russian brothers make to Jehovah.
True, some are preaching the Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter are proclaiming the Christ out of love, for they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news; but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are intending to create trouble for me in my prison bonds. With what result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over this. ...  Phillipians 1:15-18