Why doesn't the Society translate and provide the Russian Court Transcripts for us?

[Pudgy]

I wish HGP had been around when the subject was first discussed, it might’ve saved about 1 million words.

But, willy-nilly, I still would like to have accurate information of exactly what went on during the court cases, so I suppose I’ll have to write the Russian embassy in Washington DC.

I will do that later on this weekend.

[Srecko Sostar]

3 hours ago, Pudgy said:

Why would any sane person have 5 of 8 million Brothers write 48 million letters,

Also. We must keep in mind that millions of these JW letters are not in Russian language. Why should someone/anyone in the office of the Russian government translate these letters into Russian language, for free or for a commercial price?

[Srecko Sostar]

1 hour ago, hgp said:

The letter, where the Governing Body asked the JW to write those letters contained the following goals:

1. drawing international attention to the situation.

It must be acknowledged that every individual and every group of like-minded people are looking for a way to draw attention to themselves. It is done in different circumstances and in different ways. And with certain goals.
In this endeavor, one thinks first of oneself and not of others. So what I want to say. Which religious group wants to draw the attention of political authorities, the judiciary and the executive power on different/opposite religious community who are under persecution?

Did WTJWorg launch an international campaign, of any kind, against the persecution of Jews, Muslims, Protestants, or other ideological groups (in Russia or elsewhere)? As far as I know they are not. Has WTJWorg launched an international campaign against some other type of oppression or crime that concerns people other than JW?

So the point is that we are selfish by nature and just think of ourselves. WTJWorg is no better at this than others, although it is declaratively said that we are all equal before God. Through the theology of the JW Church seen, all JW members are equal before the God YHVH. But all who do not belong to the JW church have a little worse position before their God YHVH.

Writing letters organized by the WTJWorg Administration is a political decision. With the aim of influencing the political power of the secular state. So, human life is generally imbued with politics of any kind. The story of JW’s “political neutrality” is irrelevant, it’s ridiculous. We are all part of something that creates, in an active or passive way, politics. 

Whenever WTJWorg acts on the decisions of a secular state, it supports the policy of that state. So there is no neutrality here. Neutrality? It is most often demagoguery and delusion.

[Pudgy]

That’s a very good point.

The sword cuts both ways.

What’s good for the Goose is good for the Gander. 
 

 

[John 12.24to28]

Hi, James! @Pudgy

Here is the website Derek was talking about:

https://jw-russia.org

Back in around 2019/2020 I used to go to that website quite frequently, and it had a large percentage of court transcripts available, as well as translation into English.

When I visited that website just now, it has changed a bit. There are less court documents available, it seems mostly just the "last word" from each case. Also, the translation tool on the website didn't work as well, only the beginning of the pages would translate. I had that happen before on that website, sometimes the translation tool worked, other times it was slow or seemed to not be working properly.

I don't know about that "wayback machine" website, if you could go back and look at the jw-russia.org site from 2020, there would be more court documents available.

 (I am always too late for the party!)

[TrueTomHarley]

34 minutes ago, AudreyAnnaNana said:

and it had a large percentage of court transcripts available,

During the trials to ban the Witness organization, to ban the NWT, and to confiscate St Petersburg Bethel, Anton Chivchalov summarized the events by tweets at intervals of every few minutes. He said I could make whatever use of them I wished, and they appear almost in their entirety in 

https://mybook.to/Dontknowwhywepersecute

A labor of love, the ebook version is still free or nearly so.

[John 12.24to28]

Thank you, @TrueTomHarley☺️

 

During the pandemic my kids and I got a lot of strength from reading the statements of the brothers in the court transcripts.💖

[John 12.24to28]

I'm enjoying it already...😁 (I love My Fair Lady, and beavers are cool😎)

 

"“Dam, dam, dam, dam!” to misquote Professor
Higgins. “They’ve grown accustomed to my face.” And I have
customers to face. How am I going to face them with a new book I
say is stellar when I have firmly planted the notion that I
originate rubbish? Someone should have told me the ebook needed
work. Then the present salvage would be unnecessary. That’s the
trouble with the friends—they’re either too polite to tell you that
your work stinks, or they have such a low bar of approval, happy to
read anything complimentary, that they don’t think it does. And no,
I did not misspell dam. I spelled it the friendly beaver way
for the sake of my people. Not only does the homonym not trigger
offense, but it puts in a plug for education. Everyone knows that
beavers are highly educated, graduates of Dam U, every one of
them.”  😆

Excerpt From
I Don't Know Why We Persecute Jehovah's Witnesses: Searching for the Why
Tom Harley
https://books.apple.com/us/book/i-dont-know-why-we-persecute-jehovahs-witnesses-searching/id1560211086
This material may be protected by copyright.

 

Thank you!☺️

[John 12.24to28]

(Hey, @TrueTomHarley, just wanted to let you know we are adding your book to our homeschool curriculum for this year, since my kids tablets are connected to mine I shared the book with them and they are already enjoying it - my son liked the part "about the author" where you mentioned you have a brother who you play Scrabble with who cheats😆...Anyway, in addition to reading the Bible out loud together my kids and I read a life story together before bed at night, and during the school year we also read selected works by Jehovah's Witnesses out loud together, some of the books we've done that with are Facing the Lion by Simone Arnold Liebster, No Greater Love by Tharcisse Seminega, Faith on the March by A H Macmillan, and Beyond Courage by Robert Aros. Thanks for giving us another one to add to the list!☺️)

[TrueTomHarley]

41 minutes ago, AudreyAnnaNana said:

we also read selected works by Jehovah's Witnesses out loud together, some of the books we've done that with are Facing the Lion by Simone Arnold Liebster, No Greater Love by Tharcisse Seminega

Good choices. Here is my book review of No Greater Love:

https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2020/07/no-greater-lovehow-my-family-survived-the-genocide-in-rwanda-a-book-by-tharcisse-seminega.html

[John 12.24to28]

16 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Good choices. Here is my book review of No Greater Love:

https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2020/07/no-greater-lovehow-my-family-survived-the-genocide-in-rwanda-a-book-by-tharcisse-seminega.html

 

I think it was last year sometime that we read Tharcisse's book, but from what I recall (and please forgive me because I really don't remember all the details exactly so I might get it a little mixed up without checking it again) wasn't it a non-Witness that hid them most of the time? And wasn't it non-Witnesses that helped them a lot of the time? And didn't one of the guys that was a Witness later stop helping them? I have to look it up again, but to me it seemed Tharcisse was just reporting the facts of how it all played out.

 

It has been my experience with the trials my family has faced in the past few years (nothing like what he went through) but the people that were here for me and my kids, a lot of the time it was Witnesses who abandoned us and treated us the worst, and it was so-called "worldly people" who showed us the most love and practical help when we needed it most. 

 

It was just like in Jesus' illustration, where instead of the Levite and the priest walking by the beat up person on the road, it was the elder and the pioneer and the "Jehovah's Witnesses in good-standing" who walked right by. The "Samaritans" in my case were sometimes the figurative "tax collectors and prostitutes". 

 

I learned that lesson, and I can see that Tharcisse did too. Each person is an individual, and to assume that the label "Jehovah's Witnesses" is merely an exterior one that can be applied by men and relied upon is fallacious.

 

Who really is a witness of Jehovah? In Tharcisse's book, the non-Witness who helped them gave witness of Jehovah's holy spirit. In my case, the "worldly people" who helped me gave evidence of Jehovah's holy spirit. It was love that motivated them to help me and my kids. Love is a fruitage of Jehovah's holy spirit. Therefore they were being Jehovah's witnesses when they helped us, more than the ones with the official label "Jehovah's Witnesses".

 

(Just my opinion on the book.🙂But thank you for sharing yours!)

[John 12.24to28]

 

If "worldly people" are recipients of Jehovah's holy spirit and show love to us, how much more so we, claiming to be Jehovah's representatives and witnesses, we should show love to them, not just by measured "love" through a time-counting system of literature placements and hours "in the ministry", but by real affection for and attention to our fellow humans made in God's image. How much more so we shouldn't view them in our hearts as the "am-haarets" and "lepers" of the world, but as children of God with gifts and potential, rather than something to be despised and avoided.

 

"We have opened our mouth to speak to you, Corinthians, and we have opened wide our heart.  We are not restricted in our affections for you, but you are restricted in your own tender affections for us.  So in response—I speak as to my children—you too open your hearts wide." (2 Corinthians 6:11-13)

 

The verses that follow that are often misapplied. Here is what they say:

 

"Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness?  Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Beʹli·al? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever?  And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I will reside among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”   “‘Therefore, get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’”; “‘and I will take you in.’”  “‘And I will become a father to you, and you will become sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah, the Almighty.”" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

 

The Watchtower will misapply this as a way of creating physical divisions. But Paul was talking about, not a physical wall, but our hearts. In our hearts we must not be unevenly yoked with unbelievers. Unbelievers don't have faith in the power of Christ's redeeming blood. Unbelievers look to physical things to lead them. We are not to be that way.

 

"Righteousness" means doing what is right. It is right to love. Jesus said to even love your enemies, feeding them, taking care of them, showing them compassion.

 

"Light" means the glory of Jehovah, the sunshine of His love reflected off our hearts to light a glow in the lives of others. The sunshine is not partial. It doesn't just shine on specific people. It shines wherever it goes.

 

"We are a temple of a living God." Jehovah's spirit in us makes us alive in love. To be "sons and daughters" to Him we have to remain connected to Him, in union with Him through being in union with the Christ. We imitate Jesus, we cling to him, we walk with him, we try our best to do what he would do in each situation.

 

That's not saying we purposely go do a bunch of "worldly" things and hang out at bars or something. That's not what it means. But just remembering it's not men we follow. If we were to follow men, then we would be following idols. That's what the unbelievers do - follow idols. The GB has become an idol. "The Faithful and Discreet Slave" is what people follow rather than the Christ. "This is your god, oh Israel, that led you out of Egypt!" (Sound familiar?) That idol is about to be removed. "What agreement does God's temple have with idols?"

 

We are a people for Jehovah's Name. It's Jehovah's spirit that guides us, not some men made of dust. 

 

Organization is good. It has its place. Jesus said there would be a congregational arrangement in our day. We just have to be careful to see where the boundary lines are, when the organizational tool ends and the danger of crossing over into worship of men takes place. That is not a good place to go, that idol worship. It negates sacrifices in God's eyes.

 

"For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have?"

 

The law of the Christ is what guides us. Those who disobey the law of the Christ, the kingly law of love, are the lawless ones. It doesn't matter if they have the label "one of Jehovah's Witnesses" or "The Faithful and Discreet Slave". It matters if they obey the law of love.

 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal.  And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

 

"The one who exercises faith in the Son has everlasting life; the one who disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." (John 3:36)

 

Many of Jehovah's Witnesses are in a dangerous situation. They have forgotten how to show Christlike love.

 

"Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness." (Revelation 16:15)

 

"Clothe yourselves with love." (Colossians 3:14)