The Serena Williams Child Doesn't Do Birthdays. Part 2

[TrueTomHarley]

No sooner did I liken Serena Williams to Queen Esther for her possible future role of exposing the evildoers, than someone said: “Um, sheÂ’s not exactly Queen Esther, you know. DidnÂ’t she appear bare-naked, unmarried, and pregnant on that Vanity Fair cover? And you know that birth is not like the one of Mary.”

Well, I actually hadnÂ’t thought of that, if I ever knew it in the first place. Still, it changes nothing. She openly acknowledges she likes the faith but has not practiced it. Now she means to. Is it a bad thing when she has, in the past, called herself a JehovahÂ’s Witness?

You know, ordinarily, yes. But in this case, not necessarily. People love celebrities and will usually concede that they live in a world of their own, facing unique pressures.

For better or for worse, nobody makes a big deal of sex before marriage anymore. I don't even think the news writer of the article that her child wonÂ’t do birthdays thought to mention it, or maybe she did and it didnÂ’t register. That people do not make a big deal of it is 'for worse,' usually, because Word says that they should, the but in this case, it is 'for better.'

Totally without evidence, based only upon a feel for the way people are, I think her vehement critics are ones who dislike JehovahÂ’s Witnesses, who spot the disparity of conduct and want to slam us with it. Besides these ones are many Witnesses themselves, who also spot it. Few others care.

Has she lived up to the faith in the past? She says very openly that she has not. Now she reaches a point where she says she will. I think it is a very good thing. Okay, okay, so she is no Queen Esther. Call her the Samaritan woman by the well, a women who carried on more than Serena ever did off the court, yet lived to be a powerful witness for the Lord.

Do we have a woman who is a mixed bag, having done things good and bad, and who now wants to make them all good? I'll take it every time. it is in the spirit of Jesus, I think, who came to save persons ill who had become aware of their spiritual need. She will straighten out all those things before baptism, of course, should she continue on the path she now says she was to pursue more single-mindedly. Love hopes all things and believes all things. Sometimes it is even proved wrong. But it keeps hoping and believing

Moreover, to go back to the original point of my post, part one, this Reddit group has done Witnesses huge mischief. The Philly reporter used it as his source to write four incendiary anti-JW articles in a row to present a seeming scandal without the context that illuminates it.

This group is trying with all its might to equate Jehovah's Witnesses with the sins of the Catholic church. It is a stretch, because abusers in the Church are clergy. Even after making adjustments for size, if you want to get the same 'catch' among Jehovah's people, you must broaden your net to include, not just 'clergy,' but everybody. That doesn't mean that some are not diligently trying to do it, and equate some 'non-reporting to authorities' in previous years to being actual incubators of child abuse. They are up to no good, and the alleged sin in such cases is generally  'failing to go beyond the law' in reporting such cases to police. I continually make the point that if it is so crucial to 'go beyond the law' then that should become the law, the same point that Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the Witnesses’ Governing Body, made to a recent inquiry.

If Serena was to prompt her husband, the Reddit founder, to weigh in on that group in our favor and expose them for what they are (see upcoming Part 3), I believe she would be forgiven 'a multitude of sins,' even if she never did manage to get it all together in her own life, as she seems to want to do. In fact, in the event of that outcome, and to bring matters full circle, that would be an example of something else Mordecai said to his niece. If salvation does not come through spotless Esther, it will come from some other source. Either way, I’ll take it and say ‘thank you’ to the Lord and see if there is more ammunition lying around.

(Thanks to the Librarian, that noble embodiment of stately womankind, for providing a raucous forum in which I can test arguments and even write a book. For that reason, I put this post here as well as on my own blog.)

(the old hen)

[JW Insider]

I used to watch sports a bit but have lost interest now that I'm retired. But the company I worked for was a major sponsor for the U.S.Open, both golf and tennis, so I went to plenty of those particular matches for about 20 years running because they always had lots of free unused tickets. Now my daughter and son-in-law are stepping into my tennis shoes with a different company that she works for. My wife and I babysat for them so that they could go on Tuesday night to see Serena Williams and Nadal -- two of their favorite players. Her interview speech on Tuesday after the match wasn't much of a "witness" but she did dress a bit more modestly (except for the price of the outfit).

In the conversation, that's me in blue. They loved the matches.

 

[Space Merchant]

@TrueTomHarley Sadly people do not know why some others avoid celebration of one's birth, of which birthdays is in this category, perhaps probably in the coming days I will post something in Bible Discussion about Holidays or something, which will include birthdays. I had something I wanted to post before, but it is a bit out of date and perhaps needs a bit of research just to make sure everything is correct.