ROME operated on the principle of NEVER STRIKE FIRST.
The Roman military sought pretext.
A vassal would cry out for protection and straightaway there was a World Power ready and able to kick ass and take names.
In modern times, the U.S. (usually with C.I.A. busy at work) creates false pretexts such as THE GULF OF TONKIN
in the days of JFK.
It is a game all "great" powers play.
Posts by Terry
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27
"Somebody" needs to do "Something!"
by Terry init'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
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27
"Somebody" needs to do "Something!"
by Terry init'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
"SOMEBODY" needs to do something"!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 youcriticize other countries for doing what you have done.Simply stated: If you've been doing "it"you are in no moral position to condemn others for doing "it" too.Moral Leadership?Who is Moral Leader qualified to punish others for doing"it"?Would a powerful hypocrite fill that role nicely?"Let him without sin cast the first stone."Oops. Guess not.If a country cannot credibly invoke legal or moral principlesas justifications for military action - it should shut the hell up, hang its sorry head and step aside - so that morally fit non-hypocrites can take the lead. IF SUCH EXIST.The United States over the last 20 years has attacked other countries that did NOT commit the first attack.Before you shout: NINE ELEVEN! Stop.No "country" performed that foul deed. The perpetrators died in the attack, and the mastermind was hunted down and executed.MEDIA was used to LIE about "WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and we all know that now.The United States invaded AfghanistanThe United States invaded IraqThe United States engaged in drone attacks in PakistanThe United States attacked Somalia and N. KenyaThe United States "intervened" in LibyaThe United States "intervened" in UgandaThe United States "intervened" in SyriaThe United States "intervened" in YemenOur Media is complicit in drumming up emotional consentin the American Public for each act of moral hypocrisy in the name of Righteous Indignation.Conclusion?Here we go again.The lessons we do not learn from our history have doomed us to repeat the consequences. -
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Any in-house word on Ukrainian Witnesses form HQ?
by careful inhas anyone heard any word on active witnesses inside the ukraine and what has been happening with them the last week or so?
i checked the official org website but there was just the expected "fulfilling bible prophecy" stuff.
perhaps someone here has bethel contacts who have leaked some info on what the gb is trying to do for these victims of putin's madness?.
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What year did the Governing Body make cannibalism acceptable?
by Terry inyes - it is a kind of "trick" question!the subject in question is really organ transplants which the dec. 22, 1949 p.20 awake!
called"wonderful and useful" ...until ...by the magic of new light suddenly became "cannibalism" on nov. 15, 1967, watchtower pp.702-704consequently, the answer to the question" what year did the governing body make cannibalism acceptable?
"can rightly be answered as: "the year the governing body made their own definition of cannibalism acceptable was mar.
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Terry
The longer you are inside this Organization the more dulled are your natural sympathies or empathy
for ordinary people. Even when a close friend in the JW community dies everybody goes about their day
confident they'll see them again.
Cold-hearted? No. Just empty-hearted. -
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What year did the Governing Body make cannibalism acceptable?
by Terry inyes - it is a kind of "trick" question!the subject in question is really organ transplants which the dec. 22, 1949 p.20 awake!
called"wonderful and useful" ...until ...by the magic of new light suddenly became "cannibalism" on nov. 15, 1967, watchtower pp.702-704consequently, the answer to the question" what year did the governing body make cannibalism acceptable?
"can rightly be answered as: "the year the governing body made their own definition of cannibalism acceptable was mar.
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Terry
What is "true" and from Jehovah (i.e. whatever the GB says) becomes no longer true when New Light appears.
Is there any better condemnation of the foundation of Watchtower's "guidance" by God? -
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What year did the Governing Body make cannibalism acceptable?
by Terry inyes - it is a kind of "trick" question!the subject in question is really organ transplants which the dec. 22, 1949 p.20 awake!
called"wonderful and useful" ...until ...by the magic of new light suddenly became "cannibalism" on nov. 15, 1967, watchtower pp.702-704consequently, the answer to the question" what year did the governing body make cannibalism acceptable?
"can rightly be answered as: "the year the governing body made their own definition of cannibalism acceptable was mar.
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Terry
Yes - it is a kind of "trick" question!
The subject in question is really ORGAN TRANSPLANTS which the Dec. 22, 1949 p.20 AWAKE! called
"wonderful and useful" ...until ...
by the magic of New Light
suddenly became "cannibalism" on Nov. 15, 1967, Watchtower pp.702-704
Consequently, the answer to the question" What year did the Governing Body make cannibalism acceptable?"
can rightly be answered as:
"The year the Governing Body made their own definition of cannibalism acceptable was Mar. 15, 1980 p.31 (Watchtower).
Simply stated, the 'spirit-led" leaders provided cannibal food at the proper time on that date. -
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How the Good work of Russell became the curse of the Watchtower today
by Terry inthe greatest benefit to come from jehovah's witnesses was the introduction of honest investigation into the.
claims of christianity based on the bible.. exposing error was the gimmick.. replacing doctrine or ritual with door to door activity was the greatest failure to follow truth where it leads.. .
mainstream religion in pastor russell's day was set in stone.
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Terry
Disillusioned JW Thanks for your kind words. Without knowing it active and faithful Jehovah's Witnesses today
are in a copycat organization of Catholic hierarchy rejiggered and jerry-built as wave after wave of wacky opinions come and go under the banner of WE SAY SO and WE ARE ALL YOU'VE GOT!
Each iteration of Watchtower President (and eventual Governing Body leader) has a crack at the guessing game called NEW LIGHT.
An investment counselor whose advice resulted in bankruptcy after bankruptcy would be fired. His suggestions prove themselves right or wrong by real-world results.
Getting it wrong is the best proof there is of ERROR.
However ...
Religious dependency cultivated by a cult is a psychological problem and not a logical problem.
Goebbels said it best on behalf of the Nazi Reich self-promotion:"Tell the masses a lie often enough and for long enough, sooner or later they will all believe it. "
~ Joseph Goebbels
The strangest change to policy and doctrine is the GB setting themselves up as a substitute for Christ (i.e. like the Pope who is the vicar of Christ (i.e. "stand-in.).
JW's have a POPE and do not realize it.
The anointed GB are OUR MEDIATOR and not Jesus Christ!!
Ask any JW the following question: "If our Mediator is the Faithful Slave (anointed), why do we not end our prayers in THEIR NAME instead of Jesus? Isn't that jumping the shark?" -
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What Happened to Jehovah's Witness Young Men - and WHY did it Happen?
by Terry inhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1lo9jtmhf4b1-j9cn0enojshyw0rogv-qswxnrme-k6e/edit?usp=sharing.
_____within the last 6 months, i was contacted by one of my fellow jw's incarcerated with me and about 50 other bros. in the late 1960s.
we served time as convicted conscientious objectors in seagoville federal correctional institution.surprise surprise!
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Terry
Excellent analogy: disarming a bomb.
There appears to be a line of demarcation, a trip-wire, a no-fly zone.
On the one hand, how could an intelligent human being living inside a cult half a century NOT notice the constant revisions? The awkward analogies and lame, ham-fisted excuses - never-ending self-praise by leaders???
Yet I do understand many of my fellow travelers are humble, simple folk - unquestioning and meek.
NOT STUPID but passive and yielding to what appears to be the vested authority of the one living and true God.
The extraordinary BURDENS, PRESSURES, and goading of the Governing Body mark a striking contrast to the words of Jesus:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Here is a stark true Truth and a bitter one, indeed.
Telling somebody, "Did you know your Mother is a whore?" (even if factual )- it is cruel and vicious truth with no purpose other than inflicting a wound from which they may never recover or escape becoming embittered.
A 75-year-old man whose entire life, friends, family, support structure, and heartfelt loyalty are bound up in a life of religious devotion, service, and self-sacrifice is NOT BEST SERVED by such a revelation as "YOUR RELIGION IS A CULT, your leaders are liars, your friends will shun you, and you will be condemned as a mentally diseased apostate if you acknowledge these facts openly."
It is too late for me. My eyes are open. But should I "save" the others by reverse witnessing?
It is a heart-wrenching decision I do not take lightly! -
6
What Happened to Jehovah's Witness Young Men - and WHY did it Happen?
by Terry inhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1lo9jtmhf4b1-j9cn0enojshyw0rogv-qswxnrme-k6e/edit?usp=sharing.
_____within the last 6 months, i was contacted by one of my fellow jw's incarcerated with me and about 50 other bros. in the late 1960s.
we served time as convicted conscientious objectors in seagoville federal correctional institution.surprise surprise!
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Terry
I find myself whipsawed (if you are familiar with that expression).
Whipsawed: subject to two difficult situations or opposing pressures at the same time.My natural desire is to tell the Brothers how I've traveled, met extraordinary people, lived a creative life in Art and music, and how I've written books, articles, liner notes for music venues; remained healthy, fit, and adventurous WHILE THEY have languished in a mental prison wasting away like pork chop left on a table to rot.
I went from janitor to Beverly Hills.
I've been to London, Paris, Spain. I've composed over three hundred pieces of music.
In other words: I DID SOMETHING rather than "wait on Jehovah."
I want to shout: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
I love these guys and they are good-hearted, stolid, completely abused, abandoned, and over-worked.
But I can't stand here with my fists on my hips like Superman with the wind blowing my cape demanding admiration for leaving the Watchtower ever-ending world of hopeful despair.
As an EX-JW, I can only feasibly be seen as demonic: a condemned and aberrant criminal "dead man walking."
I would like some suggestions for this task I've set before me.
My generation isn't overlapping: it is dying off. These guys are circling the drain and I must figure out what - if anything - is possible for me to do. -
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The Washington Post response to my letter
by Terry inhttps://www.c-span.org/video/?443445-1/qa-lillian-cunningham.
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Terry
Media in general approaches stories concerning Religion by simply accepting a PR statement or by
chasing a titillating story of abuse.
Religious sentiment and push-back are "hot potato."
The GB has cynically steered rank and file members into becoming Martyrs for PR purposes (proving the point by the end result: persecution.)
JW Brothers refused ALTERNATE SERVICE freely offered by the LAW only because the GB declared they must.
Would you suggest Jesus remain behind bars for two years or would you want him out in the community at a hospital?
That's really the insidious bottom line.