Schizm: Well, whatever happened to OldSoul?!?! I supplied him with an example, after he claimed that I couldn't, then he just up and disappears. Must have gotten cold feet. In the fifties we called people like him "chicken".
Poor Schizm. Were you feeling like I had abandoned the thread? I do not have access to the Internet from my home and must wait until I can access it before replying. I have mentioned this current limitation of mine several times on JWD.
As to the name calling, that went out of vogue with adulthood. Mature humans don't let pettiness ruffle their ability to present reasoned arguments.
Schizm: Ever read the story about how Ehud took care of that other Old Fart named Eglon
Yes. Have you ever studied it? You know, have you ever gone beyond "reading" the Bible daily and actually "studied" it?
What deception was used? Those who sent Ehud as the carrier of the yearly tribute to the Israelite's enemy captor King, Eglon, did so because he was left handed. Why was that detail included? They knew Ehud would be checked for weapons because Eglon's men would recognize him as a captive enemy of the King. The Moabites knew full well the possibility of exactly what happened, they simply checked the wrong leg for a weapon. Had they found the weapon, Ehud would surely have been slaughtered and that would have been the end of the story.
Look it up on the 2003 Watchtower Library CD-ROM, if you need their approval for that view. You will find it.
Ehud was fulfilling a requirement of the Moabite King's law in bringing the tribute. Ehud did not express any praise for Eglon, did he? He never agreed to support Eglon, did he? He announced merely that he had a secret errand for him. A message from God. It was true. He did. No deceit whatsoever.
So, I disagree with your use of this as an example of what you hint at. This is certainly not an example of the sort of Theocratic Warfare you describe. Besides, in the case of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society becoming an NGO Affiliate associated to the UN/DPI and maintaining that relationship for ten years, the WTS says there was criteria "to which they could not subscribe" and that because of this "criteria" they "disassociated [them]selves."
So, are they lying to me when they state why they disassociated themselves? To what end? Am I their Theocratic enemy, as well? Sorry, sport. It doesn't come out in the wash. The big, ugly, easily provable stain is still right there so that anyone who cares to look can see it. Blemish? More like indelible red dye.
So much for keeping themselves "without spot from the world."
Schizm: David pretended to be insane when he wasn't, and that was deceitful ... blah, blah, blah (summarized by OldSoul)
Now, really, Schizm. Could you only find one example of this supposedly unremarkably common method of accomplishing Jehovah's will? Still, your example is a gross stretch outside context, at that. I asked for a very specific class of example:
OldSoul: I would need a reference to any account involving intentional deception and/or direct contravention of God's directions to his people by the leadership of Israel, by Jesus, or by the early Christian congregation that resulted in Jehovah's favor and blessing.
David was not Israel's King, therefore he was not "the leadership of Israel" while fleeing for his life from King Saul. He was also not "Jesus Christ." Nor was he the early Christian congregation. Please, by all means try harder next time.
Although, I am confident that your efforts will be completely and utterly futile, I welcome your entertaining attempts to establish some meager scrap of precedent for the outrageous behavior you have witnessed. I await what I hope to be a more thoroughly considered reply.
OldSoul
