Posts by LoneWolf

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untitled
by LoneWolf in
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back in the uniter part 2, the statement was made, "one man wrote a piece he called, my girl (to be posted soon) about how he had found inspiration and joy in his wife.

" i want to follow through on that.

first, though, there is a reason i wrote this story.
LoneWolf

Dang! I forgot to post a title again!
1
untitled
by LoneWolf in
1. jw
2. friends
back in the uniter part 2, the statement was made, "one man wrote a piece he called, my girl (to be posted soon) about how he had found inspiration and joy in his wife.

" i want to follow through on that.

first, though, there is a reason i wrote this story.
LoneWolf

Back in “The Uniter – Part 2”, the statement was made, "One man wrote a piece he called, “My Girl” (to be posted soon) about how he had found inspiration and joy in his wife." I want to follow through on that.
First, though, there is a reason I wrote this story. It seems to me that the youth of today are being hemmed in on all sides by rules, regulations, and adults looking down on them, expecting them to be perfect. This they cannot be, as they are human beings too.
It has been my experience as a father and grandfather that any time we older folks get together and tell stories of our youth that our kids flock together from all directions to listen avidly. It seems to be something that builds unity between the generations as the youth can see that we aren’t perfect either. They can identify with our youthful mistakes and feelings.
Then again, it seems to help them come to terms with their own imperfections.
My Girl
I’m not a perfect husband and father – no man is, just as there is no such thing as a perfect wife. I won’t go into those imperfections except to say that I am able to look directly into the eyes of my wife and daughters, and it feels good.
The subject of my little freckle-faced girl comes up quite often in my conversation with others, and most will recognize that I love her dearly. It’s the conditions under which we met, fell in love, and eventually married that are a little different than usual. We violated nearly every bit of modern conventional wisdom there is in the process.
I suppose it started long before I met her. I was in high school, and it seemed to be the “in” thing to laugh and joke about girls. The guys would laughingly advocate the “4-F” policy (“Find them, feel them, f--- them, forget them”), and the very concept revolted me so much that I’d just shake my head and walk away. All I could think of was that these were the most beautiful creatures ever created, meant to be our mates and partners, and it simply boggled the mind that anyone could be so stupid as to treat them in such a contemptuous manner. The result was that anything I learned from my peers was suspect and almost automatically thrown out.
This impression was strengthened later on. I graduated and moved to Southern California, where I became apprenticed to my Grandfather as a house painter. There were just the two of us working together, and the relationship became very close. Few were the subjects that we didn’t cover in depth, as he was easy to talk to and interested in what was said.
One day in particular we were speaking of women and romance in general and he told me something that echoes in my mind still. “Tom, when you marry, don’t corrupt her with the things you see and hear in the world. Those men who do find out later that they have defecated in their own bed.” I had a sense of his meaning then, but later it became very clear.
I’d headed for Southern California about three days after graduating from high school. As luck would have it, I arrived on a Thursday, and the religious denomination we belonged to was having a wedding on Saturday. I couldn’t but help grin at myself, because the bride was now obviously out of circulation and that cut down on the possible choices. How disappointing! I probably wouldn’t have gone due to having never met them, but strangely enough, the bride’s last name was the same as mine, Howell. Then too, I heard she had some sisters.
So I went out of curiosity – and was disappointed again. Yes, she had sisters. One was sixteen and pretty as a picture, but she already had a boyfriend. The next one younger was only thirteen. Sure, she was cute, but she was just too young. I lost interest and moved on.
I dated a couple of times during the next six months. They were strictly the hamburger and a drive-in movie type of things and I never dated the same girl twice. I didn’t do anything questionable during those dates, but they would be so nervous and suspicious that I was made to feel that I couldn’t even scratch my nose without having them drop into a karate stance, figuratively speaking. Forget it.
So I concentrated on learning the painting trade and spending time with a couple of buddies exploring the desert and chasing jackrabbits with an old Model A Ford pickup.
But there was something that bothered me and it was one of those types of things that seem to creep into your consciousness from who knows where and makes you restless. I’d see the Howell girls at our services about once a week and it dawned on me that while the 13 year-old was extremely quiet and shy, there was also an air of sadness about her. I . . . no, that should not be. Something’s wrong.
After a time I learned what. Her father had died of leukemia two years previously, and she was skipping huge amounts of school in order to care for the house and her younger brother and sister while her Mom worked to support them. No wonder.
So again with no idea of romance, I would approach her and make some comment, hoping to brighten her day a little. Sometimes it would be a joke about her last name (which, of course, was the same as mine, which made it a safe subject) sometimes something else. Most of the time I’d get a smile, but not once did I get a word out of her. But those smiles! It reminded me of the sun coming out on a gloomy day and would simply transfigure her into another person entirely. That was all I was asking.
So the six months passed. Our faith had an arrangement where numerous congregations would gather together a few times a year for a convention and one was scheduled for about that time. We all went and on Saturday something happened that I’ll never forget as long as I live.
I’d been assigned as an usher. Walking in the front door well before the sessions and spotting her and her family already sitting in the front row, I waved, then headed towards the back where my post was, not thinking anything more about it.
About 5 minutes later her little 8 year-old brother Vernon trotted up to me with a big grin and chirped. “Linda wants to talk to you.” That blew me away! I’d never gotten a word out of her the entire time I knew her! What’s going on here???
So I headed back up front with my brain hammering like a boiler factory – and then I knew. Turning to Vern, I fixed him with a fishy eye and shook my finger under his nose. “Who told you to tell me that Linda wanted to talk to me?”
That grin spread from ear to ear. “Donna and Johnny!”
“That’s what I figured,” I drawled, looking at him all askance. They were teasing her and had set her up. I started to turn back and save the poor kid the mortification when I looked up and saw her coming. What could I do?
To my utter astonishment she walked directly up in front of me and, while blushing as pretty as a picture, her eyes met mine without wavering. Then I heard these quiet words: “Donna and Johnny were teasing me because I like you.”
Never in my entire life had I seen such honesty and courage as was reflected in that little girl’s eyes!
Yes, there was five years between us, but I had found what I was looking for. I took her hand and now, 50 years later, I am still holding it.
At the end of the assembly on Sunday we arranged for our first date to take place on the next Saturday evening. On Thursday I received a letter. “I can’t go! I have the measles!”
So we waited for yet another week. I drove the 25 miles to her home and picked her up, then headed back as there were no movies being shown in her small town.
Sure enough, the silence continued just like the first six months. I tried to start a conversation, but I could get no word out of her at all – until about half way back. Then suddenly and with no warning at all, she turned to me with shining eyes and said in a breathless voice, “You know, I’m afraid my two older sisters will have the whole world populated before I have a chance!” Talk about knocking a fellow for a loop! From that moment on I knew who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!
We continued to date about once a week and those dates were vastly different than any dates I’d ever had before. She was glad to be with me and told me that she felt safe in my presence. Her trust and faith was the most refreshing and inspiring thing I had ever known and was the greatest complement of which I could conceive. There just seemed to be no question in her mind.
But did I want her? You bet I did! But at the same time I would have rather cut an arm off than betray that trust! I figured it this way: Proving myself trustworthy before marriage will provide a solid foundation for the rest of our lives.
So I walked the straight and narrow and it was one of the hardest things I ever did. I remember one time (she’s gonna clobber me for telling this story!) we got back to her place after the movie and sat in the car hating to part. We’d talk for a while, then smooch for a while, etc., until it was finally so late that we had no choice. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a goodbye kiss that was something to remember!
And now I had a problem. “Uh, honey, would you mind if I don’t walk you to the door?”
“Why?”
“Um, well, I think it would be best.”
“But why?”
“Uh, well, umm . . .” and I proceeded to stumble all over myself in trying to come up with some believable excuse – and failed utterly.
Now she was getting concerned. “Don’t you feel well?” She asked, feeling my forehead to see if I had a fever.
“No, no. That’s not the problem. I feel just fine!”
“Then why?”
It was becoming quite apparent that there was no way I was going to get out of there without some explanation, but how in heck was I going to tell this little girl that I had a boner about the size of a redwood tree and still retain her trust? I racked my mind for something, anything, even a little white lie, but nothing came.
Finally out of desperation I thought I might use a simile to get the point across without being too crass about it, and managed to stammer out, “Uh . . . well . . . uh . . . umm – do you know what rigor mortis is?”
A look of utter bewilderment crossed her face. “No.” Aww, man!
So I had to explain rigor mortis. “Have you ever walked out on the desert and run across a dead animal and seen how they get stiff as a board after they die?”
There was a look of absolute horror on her face as she slowly nodded her head yes. Was I dying? It seemed the further I went the deeper I got! However, I managed to continue, “When an animal gets stiff like that, we say that it has rigor mortis, and – and I guess you could say that in a way a certain portion of my anatomy has rigor mortis right now.”
It took a second or two and then the light dawned. Oh, man, did it dawn! A glorious look of joy and happiness lit up her face, she threw her arms around me again, and gave me a kiss that curled my toenails all the way up to my knees! Then she happily trotted into the house.
Me? I managed to start the car and took off, floating about 10 feet above the pavement. About a mile down the road I crossed a railroad track and promptly got ran over by a train. (Okay, okay, so it was 3 switch engines and they were only moving about 5 mph. They put a dent in the fender and knocked the wheels out of line, but I couldn’t have cared less.)
About six months after our first date I moved back north. We wrote often and I lived for those letters. It was through the mail that I proposed and she accepted.
Another year and a half passed. She came north and we married. I was 20, and she was 15, four months shy of 16.
I was concerned about her age, so we planned on waiting for about 5 years before having any kids. We studied up on contraception, took the most recommended method, and followed it faithfully. Sure enough, she was pregnant within the month! It was a textbook pregnancy, and one of the most beautiful things I ever saw was the look on her face when the nurse put the baby in her arms.
Afterwards we were especially careful with the contraceptive, yet three months later she was pregnant again! It seemed that all I had to do was look at her cross-eyed and she’d be pregnant! All went well this time too. Now I was 22 and she was seventeen, we had two little kids, very little money and a whole lot of growing up to do. It wasn’t easy, but there was only one thing that counted: We had each other.
This time we figured out what was causing the pregnancies. (Actually, we switched contraceptives.) I swore to myself that I wasn’t going to allow my girl to be run ragged by our kids like so many women are and that she was going to enjoy her motherhood. I tried hard to accomplish that end and the results were beyond all expectations!
Every five years after the second was born she would want another one, so it wasn’t long before we had five. Another eight years passed and then one day she came to me and looked up into my eyes. “Just one more?” Now we have six kids ranging in age from 50 to 26.
I suppose that the “politically correct” crowd will have a fit about our ages during our romance and when we married, and the religious prudes will get all huffy about the “rigor mortis” part, but I’ve got a little message for them: "Get stuffed." When you figure out how to make your relationships with your “significant others” last as long as ours has, when you learn the meaning of commitment and responsibility that we already knew in our teens, and when you pass those values on to your kids as we have – then and only then will you have the right to speak.
But there is a special reason why I tell this tale.
I spent a lot of years driving truck, and I have no idea how many nights I spent on the road pondering and marveling over the beauty I had seen through this girl and the things we were able to accomplish together. Gradually I came to understand that I had seen a lot more than just her.
For instance, in her words on that first date, I had a window straight into her heart and realized that in a very real way I was seeing both the girl and our Creator. Think of it this way: If I had asked her why she felt that way, she couldn’t have answered. That desire was just there, an integral part of what she was, and it was placed there by the one who formed her. Just as one can tell things about an artist by looking at their work, so I could identify things about our Creator’s personality by examining the things he made. In both parties I saw a breathtaking amount of beauty.
Later on, the warm response of some of the hard-bitten and bitter women to whom I spoke of these things reinforced this impression. The quiet and wistful words of a woman truck driver on a bus, and a hooker’s lamented “little girl dreams” haunt me. This appears to be the natural manner in which women were designed and will respond to – if given a chance. But unfortunately all too often bitterness, suspicion, and cynicism inhibit the expression of those natural tendencies before they even begin.
It was here that I realized I had an advantage over most other men. This girl came to me before the world had a chance to corrupt her, and I was seeing what she was meant to be and could experience the power to inspire that is inherent within her. Preserving that was of paramount importance.
I think I sensed that even then. I remember thinking to myself that my role here was similar to a gardener. He might be able to plant a seed and may even know the type of flower that will come from it, but he has no idea exactly how it will turn out. Like him, I could cultivate the ground, provide plenty of nutrients, water, and sunlight, but I didn’t have the knowledge and wisdom to micromanage the growth process or determine exactly what she would become. So it was that she grew and I grew right along with her.
Sometimes I’ll hear someone today speaking against marriage saying: “She’s all right now, but what will she be like in 10 years?” I’ll just shake my head, appalled. Growing up together, watching each other’s progress, leaning on and encouraging each other during the hard times – is a wonderful and unforgettable joy. The thought “What do I get out of it?” doesn’t even come into play. Rather, both realize that what they can build together is far greater than anything they could build separately. They are partners in the true sense, each with their own unique strengths.
Another memory came back, that of a scripture that was almost always interpreted as pertaining to sex, but that had always left me feeling that we’re missing something here. I refer to Proverbs 5: 15-20.
“Drink water out of your own cistern, and tricklings out of the midst of your own well. Should your springs be scattered out of doors, (your) streams of water in the public squares themselves? Let them prove to be for you alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your water source prove to be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth, a lovable hind and a charming mountain goat. Let her own breasts intoxicate you at all times. With her love may you be in an ecstasy constantly. So why should you, my son, be in an ecstasy with a strange woman or embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?”
I sensed this scripture referred to more than just sex. We associate springs and water with refreshment, and while sex can be refreshing, only those men who are fools think that sex is the only type of refreshment to be gained in this arrangement. The females of the human race appear to be the storehouses of the gentler qualities that make life worth living. To butt one’s head against the world all day and come home tired, discouraged, and angry, only to meet her and see the care and faith in her eyes, is a restorative that is unmatched anywhere and is the stuff of legend and song. Without it, the harshness of life builds up in a man until he becomes as hard and unfeeling as it is.
And perhaps that’s a lesson in itself.
I don’t agree that men come from Mars and women come from Venus. We both come from the Earth. We both respond to the influences around us in much the same manner. Sometimes horrible situations come up that must be dealt with, and if there is no antidote handy the same hardening effect happens to both. If we both become hard and unfeeling, then what?
Perhaps we should reexamine the man/woman relationship and show it a little more respect.
11
Are there any
by Aussie Oz in
1. jw
2. friends
LoneWolf

I ate mine.
13
Ann Barnhardt on the MF Global collapse...........and her warning.
by Judge Dread in
1. jw
2. friends
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/2011/12/02/ann-barnhardt/interview-transcript.

jdw .
LoneWolf

I must echo the question Berengaria. "Why?" It appears to me that she did the only honorable thing she could.
32
The biggest lie
by sizemik in
1. jw
2. friends
it's the biggest lie that's ever been told .

a lie i've heard more than any other .

all through my life i keep hearing it.. everybody tells it .
LoneWolf

I think that one of the reasons that people are so afraid of death is not death itself, but it is the realization that they haven’t accomplished all that they should have yet, and there is more that they should do.
A Challenge
by LoneWolf in
1. jw
2. friends
a challenge.

and now for the totchwower spies and their masters:.

please note two things: the suggested court petition mentioned at the end of "the uniter - part 2", and the elements within it.
LoneWolf
A Challenge
And now for the Totchwower spies and their masters:
Please note two things: The suggested court petition mentioned at the end of "The Uniter - Part 2", and the elements within it.
If indeed you are Jehovah's servants as you endlessly claim and attempt to force your followers to acknowledge, then YOU should be the ones who should speak up for Jehovah in that heavenly court. If you do not, then you are telling everyone in heaven AND on earth that you are not Jehovah's servants and have no loyalty to Him. Instead, you will be telling them that you are cowards and that you are ashamed of your Creator. (Mark 8:38)
This is especially true when the major pieces of the puzzle and even the main elements of that petition have been handed to you on the proverbial silver platter. For your convenience, here they are again:
1. "The Uniter - Part 1" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216396/1/The-Uniter-Part-1-It-was-sent-with-my-Declaration-of-War
2. "The Uniter - Part 2" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/219042/1/The-Uniter-Part-2
3. "Satan's Achilles' Heel" aka "Satan - The little piss-ant panty-waist 'god'" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216795/1/Satan-The-little-piss-ant-panty-waist-god
4. "Answer to DTRT - Part 1" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/217242/1/Answer-to-DTRT-Part-1
5. "Answer to DTRT - Part 2" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/217479/1/Answer-to-DTRT-Part-2
6. "Answer to DTRT - Part 3" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/217690/1/Answer-to-DTRT-Part-3
7. "Answer to DTRT - Part 4" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/217937/1/untitled-topic
8. "A Role for Humankind" aka "The Importance of Freedom of Thought" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216507/1/The-Importance-of-Freedom-of-Thought
9. "What Happens When We Die" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/218492/1/What-Happens-When-We-Die
If you can improve on these, please do so.

Now, while I certainly have an opinion of you, I am not so foolish as to claim to be able to pass judgment on you in Jehovah's name. Therefore I am not going to submit that petition - yet. I'm going to "hang fire" for a short while to give you a chance to live up to what you say you are. Why? Two reasons:
In order to give you enough rope to hang yourselves and/or prove me wrong in my opinion of you, and....
Because there are two more pieces of the puzzle that I wish to explore before I do that, in order to have a more complete picture of what Satan has done.

The first is the role of science in Jehovah's plans. A brief idea of that would be as mentioned back in "The Uniter - Part 1", in that apparently Jehovah had intended for mankind to regulate the earth's atmosphere in such a way as to maintain the water canopy. Satan, in his role of overseer, refused to do his job of imparting the knowledge necessary for us to do that, with disastrous results.
Remember Genesis 1:28? "Further, God blessed them and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.'"
Please note that "subduing the earth" is mentioned separately from the instructions about the animals, thereby suggesting that part of what we should "subdue" could be the physical planet itself. Ask yourself this: would Jehovah want Adam and Eve to follow his instructions to make the earth into a paradise, only to destroy all of that work with The Flood? No? Then would this not indicate that mankind would have been given enough knowledge of atmospheric science to prevent it and thereby retain the greenhouse conditions?
Furthermore, if they were to "subdue the earth", would other natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and tsunamis be allowed to wreck havoc as they do now?
And what about the animals and other living things? Right now we are barely scratching the surface in animal husbandry and other such sciences.
So while we think we're pretty smart in this day and age due to our level of scientific knowledge, in actuality, what we have is only a drop in a bucket compared to what we would have had if Satan hadn't screwed things up. Even what we have now, we had to scrape together by our own efforts, with no assistance from anyone.
Right now, we only have enough scientific knowledge to give us an inkling of how much is available but hasn't been touched yet. Imagine what we could have if our heavenly father was teaching us! As the last half of Isaiah 11:9 says: ". . . because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea." These possibilities stun the mind.

The second item is even more fascinating. It was only after Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad that they became aware of being naked. Nearly all religious teachings condemning human sexuality have been predicated on this one incident, for the first thing that happened after eating the fruit was their horrified realization that they were naked. The conclusion most people will jump to is that being naked is wrong.
But is it? Perhaps we should look at this a little closer. Think of it this way:
After Adam and Eve were created (Gen. 1:27) Jehovah made a proclamation. "After that God saw everything he had made and, look! It was very good. . ." (Gen. 1:31) This was said in spite of the fact that they were naked at this time.
The record enlarges on this: "That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh. And both of them continued to be naked, the man and his wife, and yet they did not become ashamed." (Gen. 2:24-25) The question before the house is "Why on earth they would feel ashamed in the first place"? After all, they are married, they are the only people on Earth, and they have been given the commission to "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth. . ." (Gen. 1:28) How are they supposed to do that without seeing each other naked?
There's a further concern here. Who would be so arrogant as to claim that this is bad after Jehovah had declared it was "very good"? (Compare Acts 10:15) What would anyone hope to gain by saying such a thing? We know that Jehovah didn't change his mind and decide that they should now wear clothes, because Adam and Eve were the ones who took the initiative. (Gen. 3:7) Note what Adam said when Jehovah was looking for them, ". . . I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid myself"
Jehovah's answer, "Who told you that you were naked?" pretty much precludes the idea that He was the one who suggested it was wrong. Moreover, it doesn't stand to reason that Adam and Eve came up with the idea on their own, for none of the other animals have clothes, thereby giving them a precedent to go by. That doesn't leave many other sources available.
Sure, they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. But how does that work? Most of us have heard people condemn Jehovah for creating it, but there is one possibility that hasn't occurred to most of us. The things that Jehovah makes are useful, and are meant to be used. Could it be that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is like that too, but that it's use is complicated enough that no one should use it without training, and it was therefore banned until that training could be given? If so, then Satan's words caused our forebears to jump the gun. They exercised that faculty without the proper training, and jumped to an erroneous conclusion due to their inexperience.
Would Satan want to do that? Yes, because it would advance his cause. He has arranged things so that the only way that his rebellion could be successfully counteracted would be with the use of an answer from us human beings. Sabotaging our unity would go a long way towards his goal of screwing us up enough to keep us from forming one. It would be easy to do, too. An askance glance, a snide joke, a raised eyebrow, or any of a thousand other things could make Adam and Eve self-conscious and ashamed of their nakedness.
We see the same process today. Tease a young girl about her freckles and she will grow to hate them and go through all kinds of agony to get rid of them. Point out someone's red hair and they will hate it and try to hide it or change it to a more "acceptable" color. Do we even need to mention skin color?
Transforming the naked body from something that is beautiful, clean, and healthy into something that is shameful and dirty would transform everything related to it into shameful and dirty things too. That would include everything having to do with human sexuality.
"Divide and conquer", as the saying goes. We've already covered this in regards to different tribes, nations, languages, etc., but what more fundamental division could he make than to skew the natural man/woman relationship into something that it was not meant to be? By that one small thing alone Satan transformed Jehovah's beautiful, clean, and upbuilding blessing into something dirty and shameful, and nearly destroyed the unity that we should have with our mates.
It only takes a small amount of computer programming to make a computer virus that will totally mess up any computer it gets into. Likewise, our "programming" was messed with, and organized religion has been the prime vector Satan has used to maintain and spread this "virus" to all of humanity.
If this be the case, then what would human sexuality and our relationships with the opposite sex be like, with that shame and vulgarity removed? This is what I wish to explore further before telling the Totchwower knuckleheads to take a hike and then do their job for them.

Sooo - you Totchwower officials: There it is. You will give an answer whether you wish to or not. The only choice you have is which answer it will be.
Will it be the Apostate's Answer where you continue to sit on your dead butts, stick your snouts in the air and maintain a hostile silence while basking in your imaginary dignity and holiness? Do that and you make my day, as well as make my job easier. You will have passed judgment on yourselves and forfeited any claims you have maintained that you are serving Jehovah. I won't have to say a word.
Or will you actually try to give Jehovah an answer as he requested us to do in Proverbs 27:11?
Make your minds up, but don't take too long. I'll be exploring the two subjects mentioned above, but once that is done I'll be refining my answer to Jehovah and publishing it. After that it will be too late, and you will be exposed to the world as nothing but snotty-nosed little brats that are full of hot air. You, as well as your master Satan, will be the laughingstock of the universe.
P.S. This, "A Challenge" will be copied along with "The Uniter - Part 2", and be distributed as an open letter to the same parties the previous open letter was sent to. http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216287/1/Declaring-War
The Uniter - Part 2
by LoneWolf in
1. jw
2. friends
to the totchwower spies: i'm going to save my comments to you until a few days after this piece of the puzzle is posted.

i will be laying down a challenge then, wherein if you do not take it up, it will strip you naked in the eyes of all who read it, including even the heavens.

they will see clearly that you are not servants of jehovah as you claim, but faithful servants of satan instead.
LoneWolf
To the Totchwower spies: I'm going to save my comments to you until a few days after this piece of the puzzle is posted. I will be laying down a challenge then, wherein if you do NOT take it up, it will strip you naked in the eyes of all who read it, including even the heavens. They will see clearly that you are NOT servants of Jehovah as you claim, but faithful servants of Satan instead. If you want that reputation, then all you need to do is to continue giving the Apostate's Answer, namely the hostile silence that you maintain whenever someone brings your wrongdoings to your attention, followed - when pressed, with name-calling and slander.
But now for the second part of "The Uniter"

The Uniter
Part 2
Who to Blame
Down over the centuries we humans have been carefully brainwashed into believing that sin is the result of some inner defect for which we, and we alone, are responsible. Endless guilt trips have been imposed on us by the religious clergy as they threaten us with hell fire, brimstone and other dire consequences if we do not "behave" ourselves and follow their every instruction, and that these, of course, would be inflicted upon us by the God of Abraham himself. Worse, it has transformed Him in our eyes from a loving god into an austere, vindictive god who would gleefully take advantage of our slightest defect to seek revenge.
This has left most of us with a sense of hopelessness and despair, for if we are so fundamentally flawed, what can we do? Why try?
It raises a question that doesn't occur to most people. One of the purposes behind Satan's words to Eve back in the Garden of Eden was to demonstrate that the God of Abraham, Jehovah, had messed up when creating mankind and is therefore imperfect. (See The Uniter - Part 1 http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216396/1/The-Uniter-Part-1-It-was-sent-with-my-Declaration-of-War) Just as some sports fans taunt the opposing team, "Overrated! Overrated!" so Satan has continually played up this apparent "mistake" that he says Jehovah made. The question then, is a simple one: If indeed we are so fundamentally flawed, then didn't Satan tell the truth in claiming that Jehovah made a mistake when he created us?
That leads to a further question: If Satan is a liar, then would not this teaching that the clergy has been cramming down our throats, be nothing more than a continuation of this original lie, one that he is still maintaining? How can we reconcile these questions? Where does the truth lie? Let's get a little more evidence before we make up our minds.
Jehovah's Mercy
As this is covered fairly well in A Role for Humankind (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/216507/1/The-Importance-of-Freedom-of-Thought) there is little need to go into it in a major way here. Nevertheless, the question stands as to why such things as the Ransom Sacrifice, etc. should have been provided. If we are indeed as bad as we are made out to be, why would the God of Abraham (aka: Jehovah - See Exodus 6:3) care? Apparently he sees something in us that we don't.
One question that He would likely take into consideration would be whether our imperfections were deliberate - or if they were imposed upon us. Let's illustrate:
Taking Advantage of Our Instincts
Some things are common to all of humankind. King David expressed one of them well in Psalm 139:14. "I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware." Who of us has not looked at our life and body and wondered "How?" and "Why?" at the intelligence manifest in its design?
Another would be the stunningly beautiful arrangement for a man and woman to fall in love. Songs and poems are extent in all races and languages where men and women have tried to express their awe at its breathtaking beauty.
And what of the products of that partnership? What society in this world does not treasure their children?
These three things go to the very core of the reason for our existence, are considered sacred, and human beings of all kinds will do everything in their power to preserve them, even sacrificing their own lives if necessary.
Satan knew this and decided to capitalize on it. If he can create a threat to these things we hold sacred, he can force us into doing horrifying things. How? By keeping us ignorant of each other's humanity and pitting us against each other. Why? So that he can keep pointing to the resulting violence and saying, "See! They are flawed. Jehovah screwed up."
Once violence and injustice start, it is hard to stop. Each group's value system teaches them that they are "The People", and indeed, many of the names that the tribes of the world call themselves will translate into those very words in their native language. The trouble with this is the unspoken implication that if they are indeed "The People", then everyone else is something less and can be expendable if necessary. This devaluing of other people is part of the head trip Satan inflicts upon us in order to keep us in constant conflict with one other, as well as enables us to justify it in our own minds.
In this way, our ancestors were kept endlessly preoccupied with safety. They constructed walled cities and built on the tops of mountains in their efforts to protect themselves and the priceless treasures the God of Abraham had given them, safe from those who would pillage and rape and kill. Then came the siege engines and other methods to breech those walls, until finally explosives made them useless altogether.
So other methods were turned to. Huge armies and technical weapons of all sorts, from submarines to satellites to atomic weapons - those are only a few. The trouble is, each new weapon is only effective temporarily. Soon, some counter measure makes them obsolete.
By now we've reached a point where defenses no longer mean much. If we want to kill someone, we can. If others want to kill us, they can.
Furthermore, the world is tied together in so many ways that while a certain place may be someone else's country, the things they do within that country affect all of us. You could say the ship is much smaller now, and there are more of us. So genocide like the Holocaust and in Uganda, affects us all. So does air and water pollution, the repression of people causing floods of refugees, the drug trade, and any of a hundred other things have made it so that it is everybody's business what goes on in other countries. There's no way out of it anymore, like there has always been in all other eras of human history. There is no place of refuge left.
The bottom line is that we have no choice as to whether or not we face the original cause - the differing value systems - and that means dealing with religion itself. If the devaluing of other peoples and nations continues, these factors will force us into a conflict that will make World War II look like a Sunday School picnic - and we will be fighting the wrong enemy.
Two Case Histories
But this head trip that Satan inflicts upon us - let's examine it a little more.
A friend told me her story a while back. It was heart rending and made one think about the implications behind it, for again it makes one feel that there must be some fatal flaw within us.
One day when she was just a little girl of about 7 years old, a man of another race came in her house when no adults were there to protect her. He then proceeded to torture her by pressing lit cigarettes against her bare legs. Her father walked in and caught him. Without hesitation, he shot and killed the man on the spot. He later stated that it was like shooting a dog.
The story is disturbing on many levels. Part of it is understandable. What that man did went far beyond the pale. The fool figured her father was a coward and would run frantically in the other direction - and paid for his miscalculation with his life. In reality, he got what he asked for.
Nevertheless, what would possess a man to so coldly and deliberately injure a helpless child? That takes no courage and it is a disgrace to anyone who would do such a thing, regardless of culture. It is without honor of any kind.
Another situation comes to mind that is even more horrifying.
Some years ago a young man and woman fell in love, got married, and had a son. Years passed and the son grew to be a young man himself. One day the father and son tied up the mother, threw her in their vehicle and drove into the deep woods where they dug a hole in the ground and buried her alive. At one point they were starting to fill in the hole but the mother was struggling to get out and wiggling her head around. That complicated matters, so the son used his foot to hold her head down while he threw the dirt in on top. She was soon dead.
It would be easy to write these two men off as monsters, as mere psychopaths who have no consciences at all, and it would be nice if we could. However, what they did next increases the horror. They went home and called the police, confessed the entire thing, and even took them out and showed them the grave.
Later during trial they gave no defense and never explained why they did it.
When looking at this from a profiler's standpoint, there is only one thing that fits. Her conduct had apparently been such that they both felt it necessary to sacrifice the rest of their lives in order to rid the earth of an abomination. Then once that was accomplished, they felt that they themselves had become unworthy of associating with normal human beings.
Both cases are haunting. How is it that one man can do such a thing, but another man, perhaps even his own brother might be a fine, loving individual? Why the difference?
Character is a factor of course, but there must be more. The best immediate answer could be a combination of the memories of past injustices, along with an intense feeling of hopelessness and despair. These can overwhelm a perpetrator with rage, and like a wild animal that feels trapped, he will lash out. These are the most common factors in the mass killings that have been happening the past few decades, from the gunmen who walk in stores, workplaces, and courthouses shooting in all directions, to the kids shooting up their schools, to the men (and a few women) who kill their entire families and then themselves.
But there is something else here, something that is much bigger. One can sense its presence but can't put a finger on it, like a word that is on the tip of our tongue but can't quite grasp, and the harder we try the further it slips away. What is it? It is this uneasy feeling that Satan wants us to have: that there is a fundamental flaw within the human race itself. He knows that many of us will buy into this deception and conclude that it's hopeless to resist. In the resulting despair we will resort to similar conduct, and the vicious cycle continues as it feeds upon itself.
And that is exactly what he wants.
The impression events like these force upon us - that we are fundamentally flawed - is in error. Let's go back and look at this situation again.
A Deeper Factor
One man wrote a piece he called, "My Girl" (to be posted soon) about how he had found inspiration and joy in his wife. One passage is relevant here. He was enthralled with the astonishing inner beauty of his young girl when she expressed her innocent desire for children. She couldn't have explained why she felt that way - she just did. Therefore, he felt that he was seeing more than just the girl. He was also seeing our Creator's handiwork in her, and through this window he could see the beauty of the Creator's qualities themselves.
Through this we began to realize that maybe we're looking at the wrong things here. Instead of looking at a grown man who burns little girls, look at the innocent little boy he once was, for THAT was the way the Creator made him. He used to be a little boy with big eyes who found himself in this wonderful new world with myriad things to taste, touch, and explore - and that was all he was interested in. He was like all little boys everywhere. He had no desire to hurt others by burning them or by any other method. He just wanted to play and explore.
But he grew up and did hurt her. What was it that made him change to the extent that he would do such a thing? He obviously had come to view others as being like dogs too, as having no value and therefore, expendable.
Then again, instead of looking at a father and son who would bury the mother alive, look at the beauty of the marriage arrangement (that the Creator himself invented) that they tried - and failed - to live up to. Then ask yourself who or what created the conditions that were so horrible that they felt it necessary to became monsters in their own minds. (Keep in mind that this applies to the mother too, for if she was indeed horrible enough that her husband and son felt it necessary to kill her, what were the factors that caused her to become that way? She too was an innocent little girl at one time.)
Perhaps the thought at 1 John 5:19 should be mentioned here: "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one." Not only does Satan have the motive (simple survival) to keep us at each other's throat, but he has the opportunity too, for he is controlling the environment in which we must grow to adulthood. He deliberately nurtures an environment that will spawn unnatural conduct and corrupt the innocent.
So instead of doubting our own worthiness, perhaps we should look closer at the silent testimony that these creations present, for through them we can come to know His personality as well as realize that the fault lies elsewhere. Sure, we are sinners, but that does not necessarily mean that we are damned. Otherwise, He would not have arranged for the ransom sacrifice. Remember Paul's words?
"For what I am working out I do not know. For what I wish, this I do not practice; but what I hate is what I do. However, if what I do not wish is what I do, I agree that the Law is fine. But now the one working it out is no longer I, but sin that resides in me. . . . I find, then, this law in my case: that when I wish to do what is right, what is bad is present with me. I really delight in the law of God according to the man I am within, but I behold in my members another law warring against the law of my mind and leading me captive to sin's law that is in my members. Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death? Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:15-17, 21-25)
Now we have two witnesses, the Bible and the creations themselves that testify that, while we may be in bad shape, the true fault lies elsewhere. Otherwise, the Creator would not have made any arrangements for our rescue at all.
Something else should be mentioned here. While what is written above applies to us as individuals, it applies equally well to all peoples and tongues of any kind. What culture or race is it that does not appreciate and treasure the innocence of children and the beauty of the man/woman relationship?
Isn't one of the most exquisite buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal, best described as a prayer written in white marble to thank the Creator for the beauty in form and spirit that a man saw in his wife? Apparently he too realized that when he looked at her, he saw more than the creature; that he was also seeing the qualities of the One who had made her, for once it was built, he said:
"In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory."
(See Taj Mahal in the Wikipedia)
A Counter Attack
According to the Bible book of Job, there was a time when Satan entered into the heavenly court and taunted the God of Abraham about a man's desires, implying that the only reason he would serve his Creator would be for personal gain. (Job 1:8-11) If the hypothesis in The Outline is correct, the reason for that taunt is obvious. Satan must maintain the fiction that our Creator made a mistake when He made us, and therefore mankind prefers his (Satan's) way of doing things. If he doesn't, he dies, for this unanswered question is the only thing preventing him from being executed as a traitor.
If it was possible for a human being to stand in that same court, (Who knows, perhaps it is. Does not Isaiah 66:1 say that the earth is the God of Abraham's footstool? How much more front and center can one get?) how good it would be to take our stand and give our human answer to that question! We could approach it in this manner:
"Our heavenly Father" (or however He should be appropriately addressed), "your opponent, this little self-styled 'god' who claims to be your equal; this one who is commonly called Satan the Devil - but is more accurately described by one interpretation of the name Beelzebul , 'The Lord of Dung' - has claimed that we human beings prefer his ways of doing things to yours, and his way of ruling over yours. Worse, he claims that we prefer his ways because you made an error in the way you made us. He then points to our wars, hatreds, and strife as a proof of that claim.
"We maintain loudly and clearly that he is a liar and that he has stacked the deck in this matter, in the same way as he did to our ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
"We would like to submit the following specifics for the court's consideration:
1. That he has done everything possible to prevent us from knowing you and your ways, to such an extent that much of what we know of you comes from the study of your creations themselves.
2. That even though we love peace and beauty, he continually arranges things so that we have to fight one another in order to prevent the beautiful things you have given us from being destroyed.
3. That he has kept us ignorant of one another so that it will be easier for us to believe that our brothers are evil.
4. That he has kept us ignorant of you and your ways by arranging for the religious organizations who claim to serve you, to feed us flawed and incomplete information instead.
5. That he has constantly imposed such hideous conditions upon us that we experience overwhelming hopelessness and despair. Due to that, many of us give up and surrender to conduct and methods that we detest, and that includes those times when we don't even know your ways. We just hate his.
6. That he endlessly 'spins' the good to be bad and the bad to be good, thereby keeping us in a confused fog where we don't know what is real and what is not.
"We would suggest, then, that all of his claims as to our 'preferences', and his accusation that you erred in the way you created us, are bogus, for no fair and proper chance has ever been given us to even know the specifics of this question, let alone weigh the merits of both sides.
"Therefore, we submit a petition to this court by paraphrasing Satan's own words to you in his challenge concerning Job, as recorded in Job 1:11, to wit:
"But, for a change, thrust out your hand, please, and touch this individual who has made such claims.
- Force him to back off so that we can formulate an answer that is from the heart and is not coerced.
- We already know everything he has to offer - all too well - and it stinks. So please give us access to an accurate knowledge of you and your ways so that we can clearly see the contrast and make an informed decision.
- Make him shut up and sit down, so that we can concentrate on answering this question instead of endlessly fighting simply to survive. He has already given all the testimony he has, and there is no need for repetition.
"In Proverbs 27:11 you request of us to give you an answer to the one who is taunting you. Please, grant us the request above and see if we do not give you an answer that will ring in the ears of all creation until the end of time."
In the most sacred of Muslim shrines, Mecca, there is a ritual performed by the pilgrims during the Hajj. It is known as the Stoning of the Devil, wherein they throw seven pebbles at each of three walls that represent the devil's temptations.
It would be nice to know if the Sons of Ishmael would be interested in joining their half-brothers, the Sons of Isaac, and others like us, in taking a more direct action against this "Lord of Dung". They too should have the opportunity to give their testimony.
13
Songs everyone should hear--at least once in their lives
by WTWizard in
1. jw
2. friends
and no, the sxxx that comes out of the kingdumb hell is not among that.. with all the rubbish you hear on the radio these days, one wonders if there are any decent songs out there.

and "rubbish" doesn't mean debased music or music with satanic messages encoded in it.

it means the crap that is thrown together, auto-tune'd for homogenization, and stuffed onto the radio.
LoneWolf

Wal, there's one new singer I'll stack up against any of the ones you folks have mentioned.
Have any of you heard Jackie Evancho sing? Someone like that comes along about once every 100 years.
She's only 11 years old, but what comes out of that little kid is unbelieveable!
29
How was the singing in your congro?
by karter in
1. jw
2. experiences
mine as best abysmal.. we had brother ..i can't sing in tune but will sing louder than anyone else.. sister trained opera voice that sang a note or 3 above everyone else.. the rest were just down rite dreadfull..
LoneWolf

LOL! Actually, I'm a true baritone, and the lead was just too high for me. It would make my throat ache.
I fixed that by remembering when I was in highschool and took choir where we became familiar with all the parts. Therefore, I'd sing the bass line (it was a little low, but I could usually reach them) and all went well. I'd get a lot of strange looks, but I didn't care. I was actually hoping that some dingbat elder would object, but I think they knew I was laying for them Hehehehe!!! A few people would come up and express how pretty it was, but they seemed to be careful about it.
Finally they came out with newer songbooks that didn't carry the four parts, so I became creative. What got me is that I can't remember anyone else in any of the congregations that I attended that sang harmony!
Tom
1
What Happens When We Die?
by LoneWolf in
1. jw
2. friends
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a factor not taught.

it was back in the garden of eden that jehovah first spoke of the purpose he had for the earth, and that has never changed.. (see isaiah 55:11 again.
LoneWolf
Again, a message to the Totchwower spies to be delivered to the Governing Body:
Much of what is said under this heading agrees with what you teach. However, you have never (that I have seen) put the pieces together in a concise presentation that demonstrates continuity throughout, so that the big picture can be easily seen. Rather, you present it in bits and pieces, thereby making it difficult for the "sheep" to connect them in their own minds. This spiritual and mental sloppiness simply screams of phony "leaders" who are not really interested in leading, as much as they are in the perks of the position.
This is what I'm calling you on. There is no reason that you couldn't have done this a long time ago. The reason you didn't was that you were far too busy kissing each other's asses, establishing pecking orders, and stealing the honor and glory that belongs to Jehovah and keeping it for yourselves, to be bothered with feeding the sheep.
Is the following perfect? Of course not. Improve on it, if you can.

What Happens When We Die?
A friend's sister passed away not long ago and she was pretty broken up about it. As this is an occurrence common to all, and in view of the eventual ending of our own lives, it would seem to be an appropriate subject for examination.
This goes double in view of all the confusion, conflicting teachings, misconceptions and superstition that surround this subject, for that which is taught in the churches is vastly different than that which is taught in the Bible.
This is the letter that was sent to her.
Hi, Lee,
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. It's a difficult time of life, and it's difficult to talk about it too. That's why many don't say much, as they just don't know how.
I can't say that I do either. Plus, if I talk about God and the Bible, it seems like I would be pushing some faith or another. I've seen so much of other people trying to cram their beliefs down other people's throats that I try to avoid even the appearance of such a thing.
Then on the other hand, is there any greater need to look to our Creator than in the face of death? I don't know of any.
I lost my mother a couple of years ago, and there were a few things that helped me a great deal at the time, but that one rarely if ever hears about from the main stream churches, in spite of the fact that they are in the Bible. Forgive me if I mention a few of them. I hope they help, however, only you can decide if they do.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DEATH
Most preachers preach and most people believe that death is God's will. It isn't. Jesus was so sad at Lazarus's death that he wept. (John, the 11 th chapter, especially the 33 rd through the 35 th verses.)
Rather, death is considered as one of God's enemies that will eventually be disposed of. (1 Corinthians 15:25, 26)
Our condition when dead has been exaggerated and exploited throughout history in an attempt to control our lives. To threaten us with hellfire, etc., has made it much easier for the religious leaders to keep their flocks cowed and obedient to their every whim.
As Ecclesiastes 9:10 puts it, "All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol, the place to which you are going." (The original meaning of the name "Sheol" simply meant the grave.) This thought is re-enforced by Jesus' words about Lazarus in the 11 th chapter of John mentioned above, where he compared death to a deep sleep. (vs. 11-14)
The implications of those two scriptures are simply mind-boggling. "Devising", "knowledge", and "wisdom" are all mental activities, therefore any discussion about whether it applies to the body or soul is moot. Either way, we are unconscious according to those two scriptures.
This makes the two mechanisms used to control mankind for thousands of years, i. e. heaven and hell, highly suspect. If you were bad and your soul was taken to hell and tortured forever, yet the soul itself was unconscious, wouldn't that be much like torturing a fingernail clipping? To what purpose? It seems to me to be a gross waste of effort.
The part about going to heaven if you're good raises questions too. What good would it do to float around on a cloud and play a harp all day when almost no one has learned how to play one? That sounds like cacophony, and it would become boring after a day or two. Plus even if we did like it, we wouldn't be conscious to either enjoy or be bored by it anyway, so what's the point? (There are scriptures that indicate a few select humans may be taken to heaven, apparently to replace the angels who rebelled and followed Satan, but that's another subject.)
This, of course, raises a problem. If there is no reward or punishment, then what's the point of trying to be a good person? Then again, there's that scripture that really sounds weird. Eccl. 7:1 reads, "A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's being born." Really???
THE BIG PICTURE
On the surface, none of this makes sense. However, when we back off and look at the big picture, it starts making all kinds of sense. Let's illustrate:
Say we want to build a big beautiful house (the Garden of Eden) and we hire a contractor to do the work. He gets most of it built, then decides he doesn't want to do it that way, so he wrecks the joint. What would we do? I would suggest the following course of action:
1. Don't change your plans. Jehovah, the God of Abraham doesn't. (Isaiah 55:11)
2. Get rid of the varmit that did the damage.
3. Repair the components that are salvageable and throw away the worthless stuff.
4. Complete the project.
We are towards the end of Step 2 above.
Your sister (and all the rest of us too), is one of the "components" mentioned in step 3. The day of death is better than the day of being born, because at birth we haven't established a name, good or bad. That will come about according to how we live our life. If we die with a good name, we can take pride and satisfaction in a job well done, like the Apostle Paul did. (2 Timothy 4:6 - 8) "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the due time for my releasing is imminent. I have fought the fine fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith. From this time on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation."
Paul had "stored up treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:19-21) and would be in Jehovah's memory as a desirable "component" to be used when he was ready to finish the project. Sure, this particular "component" (Paul) will need some repair, inasmuch as he is dead, but that's no problem with our Creator. He gave us life in the first place, and he can do it again. Ergo: Paul can now rest and sleep in peace until that time comes around. As his words implied, that's just what he intended to do.
Lee, your sister wasn't perfect (no one is), but she did the best she could given her knowledge and strength, did she not? That is what our Creator, Jehovah, is looking for. As such, she would stay in God's memory and would qualify for inclusion when completing His project. Life is hard, but now she can indeed get some rest and sleep in peace. The bottom line is that she is now in good hands, and those hands are far more gentle and caring than Allstate's ever were.
A FACTOR NOT TAUGHT
There is more though. We are leaving a major factor out of the above. There is a strong theme running through the entire Bible that the churches ignore and/or de-emphasize, and for good reason. It runs contrary to their control mechanisms of promising their followers heaven or threatening them with hell, and interferes with their stealing the authority and glory for themselves that rightfully belong to our Creator. This factor is the resurrection hope.
There are many passages that speak of this. Acts 24:15 is a prime example. "and I have hope toward God which hope these men themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous."
Why? There are two reasons that can be identified immediately; the first being that there have been millions of people who lived and died on this earth who have never had a chance to know anything at all about the God of Abraham. Take Don's ancestors (American Indian - Lakota Sioux) of 300 years ago, for instance. They were good people who never had the chance to read the Bible or listen to one of God's prophets. The only thing they had to speak to them of a living Creator were the creations themselves, and they responded with awe and wonder at what they were seeing, then served that Creator in the best manner they knew how.
Does this mean that they were not as important or "approved" as other peoples? No. In some ways they were blessed, for they didn't have as many "wolves in sheep's clothing" who were trying to subvert them. In many ways nature taught them more accurately than did the fools who set themselves up as religious leaders. An exaggeration perhaps? Here are Jesus' words: "But in reply he said: 'I tell you, If these remained silent, the stones would cry out.'" (Luke 19:40) In the case of these folks, the stones (and everything else) did. (Compare Matthew 7:15-23)
Nevertheless, for justice to be served, they have to have the chance to know what happened and then make an informed decision on these matters themselves. The only way that can happen is for them to be resurrected.
THE SECOND REASON
The second reason is an important one too. It was back in the Garden of Eden that Jehovah first spoke of the purpose he had for the earth, and that has never changed.. (See Isaiah 55:11 again.) It has never been accomplished either, and many of those who should have a part in it are dead. Therefore, they need to be brought back to life so that they can do their part in accomplishing the task.
What was that purpose? "Further, God blessed them and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28)
Have we done that? Well - we've filled it after a fashion, but it's spotty and we've made deserts out of vast areas in the process. As to having the animals in "subjection", we've managed to terrorize most of them, but that's about all. Many, like mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, opossums and coyotes seem to thrive no matter what we do to them. Somehow, that doesn't seem to be what our Creator had in mind.
So what did he mean? This: "And the wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together, and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra, and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand. They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9)
And our living conditions during this time? These: "And they will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance; because they are the offspring made up of the blessed ones of Jehovah, and their descendants with them. And it will actually occur that before they call out I myself shall answer; while they are yet speaking, I myself shall hear." (Isaiah 65:21-24)
Now, perhaps, you can understand why the teaching of the resurrection has been cast aside and suppressed as much as possible. It reflects the true personality of our Creator and his desires for us. What can Satan offer us that can compete with this? He has been sucker enough to challenge Jehovah and claim that we human beings prefer his ways instead of Jehovah's, and he knows full well what our choice would be if we become aware of the complete picture. If that happens, as mentioned before, he dies. Therefore he'll use every trick in the book to keep us bamboozled.
HOW WOULD THIS ARRANGEMENT WORK?
There is another intriguing detail that should be mentioned. There are numerous scriptures in the Bible that say something like Luke 13:30, "And, look! There are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last." Most of the time the context leaves one with the impression (and this writer thinks it is accurate) that it is speaking of our attitudes, in that many of us who view ourselves as superior to everyone else will end up being ranked last in God's eyes, while those who are humble will be elevated above anything of which they thought they were worthy. There are a lot of other passages that substantiate this thought.
However, the context here in Luke is a little different and while it could still refer to the same thing, some think there is another way to take it. This could refer to the order in which the resurrection takes place, with those who have died last coming back to life before those who died earlier. Indeed, both could be accurate, and it would be foolishness on our part to reject them out of hand.
Look at the practical aspect of such an arrangement. How would you feel if you were resurrected 100 or even 1,000 years after you died? What kind of a world would it be? Think of all the changes that have occurred just in our lifetime, let alone a millennium! Experiencing something like this cold turkey would scare the living bejabbers out of most normal folks and give them a sense of loneliness that would be utterly overwhelming. Their whole world and everything they knew would be gone.
So who would you like to be there and greet you when you wake up? Most of us would pick our children, for they would have lived beyond our time and would know some of what happened. If they are resurrected first, they would have a chance to acclimatize themselves (with the help of their kids in turn) and figure out how to explain the new phenomena in terms with which we could identify.
This arrangement would do wonders to put the resurrected ones at ease, and it brings up something that would be an utter delight for us, namely, greeting them and figuring out how to teach them the things they need to know. Think of the myriad questions they would have!
Viewing death in this way makes the death of a loved one much easier to take. It's much like they are off on an extended trip and we are looking forward to their return.
So Lee, you be the judge. You knew your sister. If she came back and was assigned a part in making the earth into a paradise and working with the animals, while living under the conditions listed in those scriptures, would she feel put upon? Would you like to be there and help explain how all this came about?
What man or woman could possibly want more than these things mentioned in such a hope?
IS THIS REAL?
There is one way in which our Creator has asked us to test him. "'Bring all the tenth parts into the storehouse, that there may come to be food in my house; and test me out, please, in this respect', Jehovah of armies has said, 'whether I shall not open to you people the floodgates of the heavens and actually empty out upon you a blessing until there is no more want.'" (Malachi 3:10)
Does this sound like the fearsome ogre that the churches have made him out to be? We need to pose a question to all of the clergy: "Why have you refused to teach us these things when they were right there staring you in the face for the past 2,000 years?"
So Lee, keep your chin up (not your nose) and your spirits too. Things aren't anywhere near as bad as they look.
Tom