Terry

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Posts by Terry

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  22

  Saving "mark" on forehead: A CROSS?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ezekiel 9:4.

  “go throughout the city of jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

  in the script used during old testament times it was either in x shape or a + shape.

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• 

  Terry

  
  
  

  Ezekiel 9:4

  “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” In the script used during Old Testament times it was either in X shape or a + shape.
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  1

  A WIDER PALE of SHADE (or: don't fall asleep while working on a poem)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  drinking white zinfandel last night (i know, i know - but it is affordable) i fell asleep typinga kind of boomer 60s psychedelic poem.

  when i woke this morning i had a good laughand left it the way it is __________.

  a wider pale of shade by terry walstrom

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  Terry

  Drinking White Zinfandel last night (I know, I know - but it is affordable) I fell asleep typing
  a kind of Boomer 60s psychedelic poem. When I woke this morning I had a good laugh
  and left it the way it is
  __________

  A WIDER PALE of SHADE by Terry Walstrom
  
  

  Prattling on insipidly about Cicero and Truth

  We’d hold our Wednesday meetings in an English Tardis booth

  Those remembered fun days when the lot of us were sane

  Rock n’ roll garage bands; ice cream sundaes with champagne

  Dylan’s lyrics (much like Byron’s) captivated local Sirens

  Sprawling on our hardwood floor shouting, “Dude, that’s true!”

  (Broken things are beautiful if you are broken too)

  “Hey Man, Procol Harum has a crazy, wicked, tune

  And it’s deep like Rilke’s poetry- mysterious as DUNE

  Stranger in a Strange Land blew my mind, so “Far Out, Man!”

  We’d handle it much better if we’d only had a plan

  Take a “chill pill” settle in and take a bow for being wise

  Turn on, tune in, drop out - like, that’s just a crock of lies

  Flower Power? Flowers wilt!

  Vietnam can get you kilt

  This Old System is the token of a broken paradise

  Take your chances with a better plan or roll the deadly dice

  Sprawling in a prison cell shouting, “Dude, what’s true?”

  (Broken things are beautiful if you are broken too)

  n;aawwwwupppppuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu43333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

  

  
  
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  4

  Is ACTIVISM destroying Christianity itself?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in this video (i watched this morning when i woke up) i suddenly discovered something i was only slightly aware ofwhich is bedeviling mainstream christianity and that a different kind of activism is at work.a different sort of "religious" movement than the one ex-jw's engage in.i'd like to get your thoughts on this.

  i'm still thinking about it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gviljk-fnn0&t=616s.

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  Terry

  In this video (I watched this morning when I woke up) I suddenly discovered something I was only slightly aware of
  which is bedeviling mainstream Christianity and that a different kind of ACTIVISM is at work.
  
  A different sort of "religious" movement than the one Ex-JW's engage in.
  
  I'd like to get your thoughts on this. I'm still thinking about it.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gViljk-Fnn0&t=616s
• 
  3

  Jehovah's Witness History TRIVIA QUESTIONS

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've wanted to compile a trivia quiz pertaining to watchtower / jehovah's witnesses for a long time.look over the start of the quiz (so far) and see how many you can answer and provide corrections for anything i may havecompiled in error.

  next, come up with suggestions of your own for good questions (and answers).. the purpose of this trivia quiz is to get currently active jw's to test their knowledge of their own religion and its doctrines and to see how radically quixotic the doctrines have been (as well as seeing how the leaders have been very weird)!__________.

  jehovah’s witness history (trivia) 1. who was the first president of the watchtower society?

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  Terry

  A Quiz appeals to the ego and it is a fly-fishing dazzler lure.
  Any additional questions and answers you want to suggest would round out the quiz (with my goal being 20 questions.)
• 
  8

  Awake magazine 1980 -Movie "The Exorcist" caused demonic possessions and murders!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  awake 12/8 p.11 "since the release of the movie the excorsist some years ago many reports are on file of the adverse effects on those who saw it...mareen was an atheist who went to see it saying it was the most terrifying thing i had ever seen.

  i was shaking all over.

  during the coming weeks i was frightened to go to bed.

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  Terry

  I left Jehovah's Witnesses 6 years after THE EXORCIST was released and I saw firsthand
  how Watchtower leaders jumped at the opportunity to exploit fear and loathing in JW's from that date forward.
  The power of suggestion was devastating.
  Suddenly the organization was filled with anecdotal gossip about DEMON ATTACKS and a crackdown
  of a superstitious magnitude you would not believe was commenced.
  Anything and everything became suspected of DEMON possession.
  
  Books were burned.
  Yard sales were out-of-the-question sources of items that might connect you with a demon.
  It was bat shit crazy.
  I began to see evidence that many (if not most) of Jehovah's people were LUNATICS filled with
  superstitious fear.
• 
  3

  Jehovah's Witness History TRIVIA QUESTIONS

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've wanted to compile a trivia quiz pertaining to watchtower / jehovah's witnesses for a long time.look over the start of the quiz (so far) and see how many you can answer and provide corrections for anything i may havecompiled in error.

  next, come up with suggestions of your own for good questions (and answers).. the purpose of this trivia quiz is to get currently active jw's to test their knowledge of their own religion and its doctrines and to see how radically quixotic the doctrines have been (as well as seeing how the leaders have been very weird)!__________.

  jehovah’s witness history (trivia) 1. who was the first president of the watchtower society?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I've wanted to compile a TRIVIA QUIZ pertaining to Watchtower / Jehovah's Witnesses for a long time.
  Look over the start of the Quiz (so far) and see how many you can answer and provide corrections for anything I may have
  compiled in error. Next, come up with suggestions of your own for good questions (and answers).

  The PURPOSE of this TRIVIA QUIZ is to get currently active JW's to test their knowledge of their own religion and its doctrines and to see how radically quixotic the doctrines have been (as well as seeing how the leaders have been very weird)!
  
  __________
  

  JEHOVAH’s WITNESS HISTORY (Trivia)
  
  1. Who was the first President of the Watchtower Society?
  
  *1. William H. Conley, an Allegheny, Pennsylvania banker. Conley was the first president of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, from 1881 to 1884. Conley was a member of the board of managers of the non-denominational Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA), and was instrumental in funding and organizing it at local, state, and national levels through the International Missionary Alliance (IMA).
  
  

  2. When was the Watch Tower Association first formed? (What year?)
  
  *2. 1881. In 1884, Russell incorporated the society as a non-profit business to distribute tracts and Bibles.
  
  

  3. Who was the first Vice-President of the Society and who was the secretary-treasurer?
  
  *3. C.T.Russell's father, Joseph was Vice-President and C.T.Russell himself was secretary-treasurer (Note: each man purchased shares. Conley purchased +/- 350 shares, Joseph Lytel Russell purchased 100 shares and C.T. Russell purchased 50 shares; each at $10 apiece. (Roughly equivalent to $100 per share in current dollar values.)

  4. When did Fred Franz join the editorial staff as a Bible "researcher" and writer for the Society's publications?
  
  *4. 1926. Bethel staff research member Barbara Anderson discovered letters at the Brooklyn headquarters demonstrating that Franz wrote Rutherford's "answers' ' to bible questions and ‘ghost-wrote’ his books as well while Rutherford insisted on the writing credit.
  
  

  5. Who won the Olin R.Moyle lawsuit against 12 Watchtower executives in 1943 and what $$ was awarded?
  
  *5. Moyle won his lawsuit and the court awarded him $30,000 in damages. (the equivalent of a 1/4 of a million in today's buying power.)

  
  6. Who was Olin R. Moyle?
  
  *6. Olin Moyle was the Watchtower Society's attorney representing the Society in the 1940 flag salute case in public schools. Rutherford ousted him to install his own choice, Hayden C. Covington.
  
  

  7. What was the cause of Rutherford's anger at Olin Moyle leading to firing and insulting him in print?
  
  *7. According to the trial transcript: In July 1939 Olin R. Moyle, legal counsel for the Society, wrote an open letter of resignation to the president, in which he complained about behavior of some members of the Watch Tower Society, including Rutherford himself, that he considered excessive and inappropriate. Moyle mentioned California when discussing "the difference between the accommodations furnished to you, and your personal attendants, compared with those furnished to some of your brethren." Moyle also accused Rutherford of "unkind treatment of the staff, outbursts of anger, discrimination and vulgar language" and condemned his allowing the "glorification of alcohol" at Bethel.
  
  8. True or False?: J.F.Rutherford refused to compromise his integrity (when passages from the Finished Mystery book were found to be in violation of the Espionage Act) and would not censor any part of the book or stop the distribution and this landed him in prison.
  
  *8. False! Rutherford cooperated with authorities by censoring the offending passages, stopping the distribution of the book to mollify the authorities. Reprints were expurgated
  
  

  9. True or False? C.T. Russell and his wife, Maria divorced because Maria would not render her proper marriage "dues."
  
  *9. False! Russell never engaged in sex with Maria; he was accused by his wife in court (lawsuit) of improperly entering into an "affectionate" relationship with a young ward who lived with them (named Rose Ball). The couple had never consummated their marriage so, instead of divorce, an annulment was granted.(source: court transcript)
  
  10. What year did the Governing Body allow cannibalism to become a matter of conscience?
  
  *10. Background:
  The subject in question references ORGAN TRANSPLANTS which the Dec. 22, 1949 p.20 AWAKE! Called "wonderful and useful" ...until ...

  New Light forbade transplants as "cannibalism" on Nov. 15, 1967, Watchtower pp.702-704

  " What year did the Governing Body make cannibalism acceptable?" can rightly be answered as:
  As a result of Newer New Light:

  "The year the Governing Body made their own definition of cannibalism conscience-acceptable was Mar. 15, 1980 p.31 (Watchtower).

  (In effect, providing cannibal food at the proper time.)
  
  
  11. Was Watchtower ever confused about Jesus having a beard and why the injunction on men with facial hair? Isn’t shaving a pagan tradition?
  
  *11. Watchtower 1954 p.511 "Why do Watchtower publications now show Jesus with short hair and no beard? Because he is shown that way in older representations of him that are older than the traditional effeminate looking pictures."

  Watchtower 1968 p.286 "Bible evidence and a recent review shows that Jesus DID have a beard..."
  Note:
  “Brother Balzereit asked Brother Rutherford for permission to buy a rotary press. Brother Rutherford saw the necessity and agreed, but on one condition. He had noticed that over the years Brother Balzereit had grown a beard very similar to the one that had been worn by Brother Russell. His example soon caught on, for there were others who also wanted to look like Brother Russell.
  Somehow or other this could give rise to a tendency toward creature worship, and Brother Rutherford wanted to prevent this.
  So during his next visit, within hearing of all the Bible House family, he told Brother Balzereit that he could buy the rotary press but only on the condition that he shave off his beard.
  Brother Balzereit sadly agreed and afterward went to the barber.
  During the next few days, there were several cases of mistaken identity and some funny situations because of the "stranger" who was sometimes not recognized by his fellow workers." 1974 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses pp.97-98
  
  Today the Witness beard injunction seems to continue. When the Society is asked directly a deflective response is customary:
  “Will men wear beards again in Paradise? … These are typical questions to which Jehovah has not provided answers at this time. Do you think it wise for Christians to take time from more profitable Bible study to speculate on the answers?" Watchtower 1962 Jun 15 p.381
  A directive to shave appears in the 2001 Theocratic Ministry School Book.

  "For men, a neat personal appearance may include being clean-shaven. In areas where mustaches are widely viewed as dignified, any who wear these should keep them neatly trimmed." Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education (2001) p.133
  For assignments at conventions and assemblies, specific instruction is given against using brothers with beards.

  "Dress and Grooming

  Those giving talks should wear suits. If your talk calls for an interview or a demonstration, please do not use any brother who wears a beard and make sure your participants are aware of the importance of good grooming and modest dress." 2009 Talk Outline

  “False beards should be prepared or obtained. It is not proper for brothers to grow their own beards.” 2002 “Zealous Kingdom Proclaimers” District Convention Drama “Stand Firm in Troublesome Times (Jeremiah)” booklet with the script and guidelines.

  

  Ironically, in the Scriptures, it is the pagan nations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome where clean-shaven men were the norm.

  
  12. Who decided Jesus’ return was an invisible presence and when?
  
  

  *12. B.W.Keith came up with the idea and Nathan Barbour published it. Pastor Russell was convinced by the argument and adopted teaching it…
  
  in January of 1876, the years that his attention was drawn to the subject of prophetic time. Russell came across a publication called “The Midnight Cry and The Herald of the Morning,” written and edited by Nelson Barbour.
  
  From Barbour’s calculations of Biblical prophecy, Russell was convinced that Jesus returned not in the visible but invisible. Both men met in Philadelphia, in the autumn of 1876, when Barbour presented Russell with his own homebrew doctrines addressing the return of Jesus Christ.
  
  Barbour explained that his time prophecies had passed unfulfilled, and he according to his calculations could not find any flaw that set 1874 as the year that Jesus Christ would return.
  However…when nothing visible had happened in that year, they were at first quite perplexed until B.W. Keith, a reader of the Herald, discovered Benjamin Wilson's translation of parousia as "presence" and who, by using the Emphatic Diaglott, interpreted Matthew 24:27, 37, 39 to read {presence} instead of {coming}.
  At this prompting, Pastor Russell commenced publishing the borrowed thesis that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874, to start the 40 years of harvest that would conclude with Armageddon in 1914.
  
  It was Brother Rutherford who later shifted everything forward in time to explain the seeming failure of 1914 as taught by Russell as the End and not the beginning of Christ’s kingdom. Thus, 1874 to 1914 was the new date of Jesus’ invisible return.
  
  
  13, Who was Rose Ball and how did she become connected to lawsuits and scandal?
  
  *13. Rose Ball (1869–1950) of Buffalo, New York, first encountered the religious enterprise of Charles T Russell in 1884, at the age of 15.

  She lived with Russell and his wife Maria in their apartment, 1889-1897, as their supposed foster daughter, and worked in their religious headquarters, "Bible House", in Allegheny-Pittsburgh, sorting mail.
  Maria Russell identified Rose Ball as contributing to the marriage breakup. (New York's Brooklyn Daily Eagle (October 29, 1911) stated:
  “... one of the most sensational court proceedings in the history of Allegheny County.”
  This testimony was given by Mrs. Russell on direct examination on Thursday, April 26, 1906.

  The verbatim record of this testimony taken from the official report of the case on file in the office of the Prothonotary of Allegheny County is as follows:

  Q. I want you to tell us what your husband did in company with this woman Rose, in your presence and in your home…

  A. One evening he spent the evening downstairs and our library and bedroom were next to each other upstairs on the second floor, and I spent the evening downstairs reading, and I went upstairs about 10 o'clock to my room, and I supposed that: he was either in the library or had retired, and when I went up there I found that he was in neither place, and I stepped out in the hall, and I found that he was in his night robe, sitting beside Miss Ball's bed and she was in bed. On other occasions, I found him going in there and I found she called him in and said she wasn't well and wanted him in, and I objected to this, and I said that it was highly improper, and I said: "We have people about the house, and what kind of a name will be attached in this house if you do that sort of thing?" and he got angry…

  Q. You state that you found him doing this at other times. How often after that?

  A. I found him a number of times; I don't remember how often.

  Q. In her room?

  A. Yes, sir. And I found him in the servant girl's room as well. And I found him locked in the servant girl's room.

  Q. Did he make any explanation why he was in the girl's room?

  A. No. He did not; he just got angry.

  Q. What did you say to him about this conduct and what did he say.

  A. I said to him, "We have a great work on our hands," and I said, "In this work you and I have to walk very circumspectly before the world and if you are going to do things like this, what will happen? Suppose you are all right, don't you suppose people will talk about things like this?" and I said, "I am not satisfied with it," and he said he wasn't going to be ruled by me. But I felt distressed about that.

  Q. What did Rose do at the Watch Tower.

  A. She attended to the correspondence.

  Q. When would he go to the Watch Tower, in the morning?

  A. I don't remember; he generally went down alone.

  Q. Who would return with him?

  A. She came with him in the evening and they came about 11 o'clock and the young men that were in the office — she was the only girl, and the young men would go home, and he wouldn't allow her to go home with them, and she must wait and always go with him.

  (Objected to.)

  Q. I want the mere fact, did this girl Rose go home with your husband?

  A. Yes, Sir.

  Q. What year was that?

  A. In the fall of 1894… She said one evening when she came home with him, just as she got inside the hall, it was late in the evening, about 11 o'clock, he put his arms around her and kissed her. This was in the vestibule before they entered the hall, and he called her his little wife, but she said "I am not your wife." and he said, "I will call you daughter, and a daughter has nearly all the privileges of a wife."

  Q. What other terms were used?

  A. Then he said, "I am like a jellyfish. I float around here and there. I touch this one and that one, and if she responds I take her to me, and if not, I float on to others"; and she wrote that out so that I could remember it for sure when I would speak to him about it. And he confessed that he said those things.

  Q. State to the court and jury…what you stated to your husband that Rose had said and his reply to you…

  A. …I said, "Rose has told me that you have been intimate with her, that you have been in the habit of hugging and kissing her and having her sit on your knee and fondling each other, and she tells me you bid her under no account to tell me, but she couldn't keep it any longer. She said if I was distressed about it she felt that she would have to come and make a confession to me, and she has done that.

  Q. What did he say?

  A. He tried to make light of it at first and I said, "Husband, you can't do that. I know the whole thing. She has told me straight and I know it to be true." Well, he said he was sorry; it was true, but he was sorry. He said he didn't mean any harm. I said, "I don't see how you could do an act like that without meaning harm."
  
  
  (The Extra Edition of Zion's Watch Tower for April 25, 1894, titled A Conspiracy Exposed lists Rose Ball among the seven directors of the WTS! (p56) In 1894 when he "kissed…his little wife" she was 25 and he 42!)
  Some apostate writings claim she was an under-age 15 and that obviously is a lie.
  
  

  Mrs. Russell was forcibly ejected from Bible House with the words "Get out of here, you blasphemer." Another time when she complained of having fewer rights than a dog Russell told her, "You have no rights at all that I am bound to respect." In a letter of July 1896, Russell wrote: "…under the circumstances it properly devolves upon you to make the advances on the line of social amenities between us. It would be improper for me to take the initiative in the matter of amenities such as, 'good morning,' 'good night,' etc."
  
  
  14. Question: How do secular bible researchers' views of Daniel 11: “ the King of the North/South” differ from Jehovah’s Witnesses historically?
  
  *14. (The New Bible Commentary Revised 1970; Dictionary of the Bible 1965 J L McKenzie; The Companion Bible; Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on the Bible) : Scholars generally agree that the "king of the south" refers to the Ptolemies of Egypt and the "king of the north" refers to the Seleucids of the Seleucid Empire to the north and east of Judah. Daniel chapter 11 refers to the wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids for control of what had been the land of Canaan.
  
  On the other hand, Jehovah’s Witnesses have identified things at various times, differently.
  
  1. The book called Thy Kingdom Come (1891) applied the latter part of Daniel's chapter 11 to: the Napoleonic period in 1799.
  2. WTS book called The New World (1942) "The king of the north included the Central Powers, or imperial Germany, Roman-Catholic Austria-Hungary, Roman Catholic Italy, and the Vatican…Japan…" (p. 324)
  3. WTS book called Your Will Be Done On Earth (1958,) pp 263 & 278)
  "king of the south" is fulfilled in present-day Britain and America, and "king of the north" in the Soviet Union.
  4. 2018 the Governing Body on JW.org identified Russia and its allies as the king of the north. The Anglo-Americans are identified as King of the South.

  
  
• 
  27

  "Somebody" needs to do "Something!"

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's always unjustifiable for a country to attack another country without having first been attacked itself.. the nuremberg trials at the end of wwii made this clear.. more vividly too: following orders as a patriotic duty is never secondary to the pangs of your personal conscience.. .

  worst of all, hypocrisy destroys credibility when you.

  criticize other countries for doing what you have done.. .

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  Terry

  JHine: Conscience only comes into play when it's other folks troops that we are talking about.

  _______
  When I was 20 years old my "conscience" was hijacked by Watchtower leaders working through local congregation leaders who took me aside in the Kingdom Hall library for a confidential conference concerning the proper strategy for dealing with Military conscription and Conscientious Objector deferral.
  1. I could not / should not ever tell anyone in authority that I had been "advised" by Watchtower to comply or refuse to comply with the Universal Military Training and Service requirements as a citizen of the U.S.
  2. I was to insist I was an individual whose personal conscience was directing my actions
  The Irony of this is obvious.
  Lying is righteous if you protect Watchtower leaders. Theocratic "strategy" is parroting what you are told and omitting the source of your instruction.
  
  The worst part of this is as follows.
  Jehovah's Witness boys were NOT required by law to serve in the Military because of a generous provision of ALTERNATE SERVICE available.
  Romans 13: 1,2 set the Bible standard for compliance with Superior Authorities.
  The insidiously hidden secret instructions defied Romans 13 by a SECONDARY REFUSAL of that Alternate Service as well.
  I was sentenced in District Court to an Indeterminate sentence (up to 6 years) and I went to prison from 1967 to 1969 when the LAW only required that I serve the same amount of time working in a hospital on behalf of the community.
  Double Refusal when compliance with the law only required singular refusal was NOT MY CONSCIENCE but the Watchtower's undue influence and coercion by hijack.
  _____
  After parole, I gave a Public Talk on a Sunday before the Watchtower Study.
  The title was something like SHOULD YOUR CONSCIENCE BE YOUR GUIDE?
  The outline for the talk reasoned this way:
  1. Only a Bible-trained conscience is reliable
  2. Only the FDS/GB is able to interpret what the Bible really teaches
  3. Conscience = WT doctrine.
  
  The United States leaders operate under a false idea of conscience and morality about themselves and Good and Evil concepts are invoked to control a narrative (backed up by Media) that we are Leaders of the Free World duty-bound to rush to the aid of any people with a democratic impulse
  to self-govern.
  That is surface propaganda.
  In reality, we have subverted democratic elections all over the world and installed our own puppet leaders while hypocritically spouting Conscience nonsense (not unlike the Watchtower).
  
  Sending our children to die for disguised political and economic interests is an open secret.
  Who doesn't do that?
  25% of the American Public answered poll questions saying they favor a NO FLY ZONE over Ukraine. Shooting down Russian jets, in other words.
  Is this anything but madness leading to nuclear confrontation?
  News outlets are pretty much bought off by $$ from Corporate interests. Advertising money has dried up and only Sugar Daddy money keeps Media alive.
  
  So?
  Our futures are in the hands of Oligarchs. What is profitable to THEM is what dictates policies.
  Putin was installed by Oligarchs. U.S. sanctions have driven Putin into monetary alignment with China subverting the American petro dollar.
  Oil and Gas prices are up up and away as Russian resources will now be sold to China. Europe will pay, pay, pay through the nose for energy.
  Gas Prices everyplace may exceed our wildest imaginings.
  
  Remember this: when we vote we always vote for the Lesser of Two Evils and logically speaking the result is incompetent evil runs the show.
  Leaders in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. are truly clowns. Russia and China are run by
  tyrant-o-saurs with an iron grip on vast populations.
  
  I don't know about you, but I'm not at all worried. Why not? World happenings are all out of my hands.
  Worry is a dividend paid to disaster before it ever occurs.
  
  I have simplified my life down to bare essentials. That's about all I can do.
  
  
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  15

  WATCHTOWER extracts 104 million from Trust in U.K. Plan to ditch Kingdom Halls at play??

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  {brother ?, a copy of this is being passed around here in bristol, kent, london, etc.

  to “certain” elders by way of heads up.

  feel free to ignore it or investigate it.

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• 

  Terry

  A thing that "must be done or else" is a test of competence, commitment, oversight (i.e. leadership).
  The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.
  As far as Watchtower is concerned, there goes the ballgame right there!
  
  Very poor leadership at the top means very poor performance at the bottom.
  GREAT LEADERS produce more great leaders.
  BAD LEADERS produce only followers.
• 
  15

  WATCHTOWER extracts 104 million from Trust in U.K. Plan to ditch Kingdom Halls at play??

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  {brother ?, a copy of this is being passed around here in bristol, kent, london, etc.

  to “certain” elders by way of heads up.

  feel free to ignore it or investigate it.

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• 

  Terry

  {Brother ?, a copy of this is being passed around here in Bristol, Kent, London, etc. to “certain” Elders by way of Heads Up. Feel free to ignore it or investigate it.}
  Do not pass it on to any of the Friends who might be stumbled.
  Do NOT allow any suspected apostates to get hold of this, of course.
  Let us hope this is all hysteria and things will be back to normal soon.
  G.L. Bristol
  
  In the United Kingdom England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all Kingdom Hall are individually registered as a separate “charity” with the Charity Commission.
  
  Each year, registered Kingdom Halls must surrender an annual report of accounts as a non-profit in much the same manner as any for-profit business or corporation.
  
  Reporting is not voluntary. Expenses and expenditures, etc. must appear for the entire year.
  However -
  If you go online and check with the local Charity Commission under the heading TRUSTEES and list the names/location of any/all Kingdom Halls you discover:
  every last one of them has breached the deadline by {as of this date} 37 days and counting.
  
  In this past year, the Watchtower Society has required every congregation to send ALL their money to a designated KINGDOM HALL TRUST (Charities Commission).
  A quick check online of that Trust reveals that $104 million has been extracted leaving individual congregations in arrears and overdue for the last 395 days.
  
  Several Local Elders who are Trustees(speaking on the agreement of anonymity) have frantically revealed that All the Kingdom Halls are being hung out to dry and left to their own devices by the Society {local Bethel}.
  [The Kingdom Hall Trust on the other hand has not missed any deadlines for reporting financial activity to the Commission.]
  When a Kingdom Hall loses its designated “charity” status it becomes subject to Taxation locally and at large. Elders will become responsible and the designation of “Trustee” will be meaningless. The Society in past years has taken ownership of all the Kingdom Halls even those built without the use of loans from Watchtower. The local autonomy in communities was signed over as well along with the bank accounts.
  Scuttlebutt [take it for what it’s worth] is that Watchtower will sell off ALL Kingdom Halls for cash and permanently switch all meetings to ZOOM to eliminate the possibility of any continued liability for child molestation lawsuits springing from wrongful handling at local Kingdom Halls by bad actors.
  
  Watchtower payouts for 13 Million, 28 Million, 35 Million in penalty awards plus a host of Non-Disclosure suits settled out of court added to $4k per day for failure to comply with Court ordered subpoenas for pedophiles records from Watchtower is said to be the cause of great financial drain.
  [NYTimes, National Public Radio, NBC] have separately run high-profile stories of abuse in the States whidh were not reported to authorities over many decades because of a 2 Witness loophole resulting in offenders whose abuse was committed repeatedly in secret.
  
  The rumored “return to Kingdom Hall” meetings have recently been suspended. Pilot programs reportedly “didn’t work out” it was officially stated and have been suspended. No new date for resuming physical interaction at the Halls has not been mentioned.
  
  _______
  For Your Eyes Only
  
  Link Below

  Type on your browser: Jehovah's witnesses+trustees+"your congregation's name" :

  
  

  KINGDOM HALL TRUST:

  https://register-of-charities.charity...
  
  Jehovah’s Witnesses now participating in the National Redress Scheme

  10 September 2021

  Jehovah’s Witnesses has now joined the National Redress Scheme allowing survivors of this institution to have their applications progressed.

  In addition to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a further 33 institutions are joining the Scheme including Tennis Australia, Ipswich Girl’s Grammar School, St John Ambulance Australia Queensland, Youth Off the Streets and Scripture Union Tasmania. This announcement means that, in total, 37 applications can be progressed.

  Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston welcomed the commitment from the latest group of institutions to join the Scheme, many of which had not been named in an application.

  "The Morrison Government has been absolutely clear that we expect institutions which have been named by a survivor in an application to join the National Redress Scheme,” Minister Ruston said.

  “It is clear that the powerful financial, reputational and legislative levers the Commonwealth has used have been successful at ensuring institutions understand and recognise their moral obligation to survivors.

  “We are also working hard to make sure that every institution with a history of working with young people joins the Scheme no matter when a survivor comes forward to access redress through the Scheme.”

  Minister Ruston reminded institutions that when the Scheme received an application, that institution then has six months to join the Scheme.

  “Any institution which fails to participate will be named and shamed, become ineligible for Commonwealth grants and risk being stripped of their charitable status and, therefore, lose associated tax concessions,” Minister Ruston said.

  To date, the Commonwealth, all state and territory governments and 526 non-government institutions across Australia are participating in the Scheme.

  As at 3 September 2021, the Scheme has received 11,835 applications. In total 6,208 payments have been made totalling more than $529.3 million.

  Further information about the National Redress Scheme is available on the website: www.nationalredress.gov.au
• 
  27

  "Somebody" needs to do "Something!"

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's always unjustifiable for a country to attack another country without having first been attacked itself.. the nuremberg trials at the end of wwii made this clear.. more vividly too: following orders as a patriotic duty is never secondary to the pangs of your personal conscience.. .

  worst of all, hypocrisy destroys credibility when you.

  criticize other countries for doing what you have done.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  I have no special insight into Kuwait but this article raised a few "sucker punch" suspicions worth listening to.
  https://www.counterpunch.org/2011/01/05/did-the-us-really-give-saddam-fake-ok-to-invade-kuwait/