TrueTomHarley

I was surprised that Watchtower had so little impact. At the time, I thought that here and there beards would soon be appearing. Didn’t happen. Beards occurred rarely among the publishers and never (in my area) among the elders or servants. A part of me thinks the latest video is just reiterating what was written back then in Sept 2016, almost a ‘doubling down,’ made advisable since ‘an object in motion tends to stay in motion.’ Once ‘no-beards’ was a thing, as it was for decades, it would take more than a single paragraph for our thinking to change. I remember that Watchtower well because just afterward I wrote a gag post about conducting a Bible Study with Santa Claus. He was making reasonably good progress, was even attending meetings, but he eventually was stumbled and discontinued his study. Now, maybe, just maybe, he will resume it. Of course, I’ll still have to help him with the holiday thing, but at least the beard thing is no more. https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2016/12/how-is-mr-claus-doing-on-his-bible-study.html

People drop off aged relatives in nursing homes, never to be contacted again, for reasons no greater than they have become inconvenient. Disfellowshipping is a last ditch effort, when all else has failed, of ensuring that members stay true to biblically required conduct. Essentially, it is a tool to stay ‘no part of the world.’ Is it necessary? No group has been able to stay true to biblical standards of conduct without some form of it. Anything done can be done differently, but the move to outlaw it is a tool to impede staying separate from the world, as though none should be able to excuse themselves from the ruinous experiment of human self-rule. Few things that are done must be done to the nth degree. Some time after a certain teen I knew well was disfellowshipped, he, who was learning to drive, dropped his family off at the carport, parked the car himself, and strode back into the hall. Without a coat—it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit! Throwing protocol to the wind, I said to him privately, ‘Wow, I know there’s to be no contact and all, but did they even have to take your coat?’ He smiled at that one, not too long afterwards was reinstated, and is doing well to this day. There is also pushback over those disfellowshipped who were baptized as teens or even younger, as in, could they possibly have understood the consequences of their actions at that young age? I suspect that in such instances, they are already being cut a bit extra slack should they err as they are growing up, but it is another matter of legal contention.

Anything by ‘The Righteous Brothers’ ought to work.

No more counting time so I decided to go out with a bang and reported 50,000 hours to the secretary.

“Those of the Enlightenment laud the “human experiment” that is democracy, Jehovah’s Witnesses laud the human experiment that is worldwide family. Theirs is John Lennon’s brotherhood of man not rejoicing that there is above us only skybut instead seeking direction from that sky. A family all but solving racism, a family uniting nationalities and social classes. Who wouldn’t want a double-shot of it? But even a recent circuit overseer likened it to “one big, united, happy, somewhat dysfunctional family,” a phrase I suspect is not in any outline. “Witnesses are ordinary folk, with all the foibles of ordinary folk, and maybe a few extra thrown in since “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are ill do: I [Jesus] came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” “What makes the Witnesses tick? Examine the pressures facing these ordinary folk who star in a world-stage role that is alternately noble and strange. Some pressure is external: “A large door that leads to activity has been opened to me, but there are many opposers.” Some pressure is internal: “We have this treasure [of the ministry] in earthen vessels.” Translation: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” “Either way, “Do not be puzzled at the burning among you . . . as though a strange thing were befalling you,” says Peter. Don‘t be puzzled. Tackle it head-on. Start with the pure bonus, ‘Things that drive you crazy about the faith--and how to view them,’ for the goal is to endure: “When the Son of man arrives, will he really find the faith on the earth?” says Jesus. ‘Not if we have anything to do with it,’ reply ever increasing enemies. "If errors were what you watch, O Jah, O Jehovah, who could stand?” asks the psalm. Is watching errors not the mission statement of today’s culture, typified in its media? Nobody stands as their enemies magnify, enhance, and even concoct evil reports—see it play out on the internet with any public figure, “admiring personalities,” until they destroy them. Ought Christians play that game? "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I am not incensed? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,” says Paul. Three times the apostle entreated God to remove a “thorn in his flesh” Nothing doing, God said. I look better when you are flawed. If brilliant people achieve brilliant things, it’s easy to see why. But when flawed people do it . . .” “Tips on the ministry within. How did Witnesses fare in the face of COVID-19? How to regard ever-present conspiracy theories that ripple through society? And what about those overlapping generations? How long can they overlap? What is at stake? What facts on the ground identify the times? Venturing to the edge of the universe, rewriting the textbooks, and dressing down the god of good luck is all in a day's work. Meet Mephibosheth, that faithful man of old whom nobody can pronounce his name at the New System Dinner Table. A bad boy turns over a new leaf, a theodicy that works, and my favorite circuit overseer finish up the offerings.” I have indulged a hobby to write a few books in the past, the first being Tom Irregardless and I. The preceding is the metadata for the latest: ‘In the Last of the Last Days: Faith in the Age of Dysfunction.’ Searchable in print at Amazon, also digital at other ebook retailers.

No need for one of those just yet

Great. Just great. My car breaks down exactly at the door of the Assembly Hall as I am dropping someone off! The downside? It’s embarrassing! The upside? (which almost became a downside; it was so frequent) For the next 2 hours, until the tow truck arrived, (trust me on this—it needed a tow) brothers kept coming out to see if I needed help. They are all so nice and I am reminded of my non believing dad 40 years ago at my wedding saying to his own brother, ‘C’mon Joe, let’s go out in the parking lot for a smoke. These people are so nice I can’t stand it.’ Being brothers, many of them assumed they could get me going right them and there. I had to explain it to each one to assure them they couldn’t. Among brothers, there are always some who really are mechanical. One of them diagnosed the issue. No, it probably wasn’t the slave cylinder, he said, but the master cylinder, since the clutch pedal wouldn’t rise on its own. At 194K the car has a right to misbehave. But the tow truck took so long in coming that I sent someone in to the chairman’s office to say if they needed an afternoon interview for the ‘Exercise Patience’ theme, I was available. The Assembly Hall was then being used for the Regional. No, it wasn’t all the fault of the towing company. Some of it was the roadside assistance app that couldn’t fathom how Tom Harley could possibly be the same as Thomas Harley and so kept issuing denials of service without comment. With a person, you could straighten in out in 2 seconds, but in the AI world it is not that way. It is, instead, like when your wife, though she has always been friendly, one day locks you out of the house without the hint of a reason. And no, I hadn’t waited till the last minute to address the issue. I had been nursing it for a week or two. Sometimes problems go away on their own. Besides, when I looked at the new models, the asking price was over $2500 more than what their own website says. ‘Yeah, well, there’s extra doo-dads that come with it,’ the salesperson says. Well, since I can order one—he’s already told me that—I’ll just order one without the extra doo-dads. You know how I am with a car. I check for cruise control. Everything else it has or doesn’t have, I get used to it. ‘So even though it says I can order a car, I really can’t,’ I tell the man after he says no. ‘Yes and no,’ he says. I can order if it’s something like color I want to change. But if I’m ordering because I think it’s going to be a penny cheaper—what hallucinogen am I taking?

To find kids unfamiliar with phone books and convince them that a comic book is one.

This is my problem too—lack of time. Still, I have ripping muscles and can rip a phone book in two as easily as looking at it. (Youngsters ask: ‘What’s a phone book?’) A fine looking bunch of people are Jehovah’s people. Women outside are pretty too, but one must never forget the following scripture, much more likely to be true there than here: “As a gold nose ring in the snout of a pig, so is a woman that is pretty but that is turning away from sensibleness.” (Prov 11:22)

There are few things more conducive to stable mental health than writing. Any mental health practitioner worth his salt will suggest it in some form. Some very expressive verses you have penned.

Here’s a Pittsburg sign that still stands—unmolested and sans pyramids. In front of old Carnegie Hall, taken about 2 months ago:

Appeals to governmental powers do not always fall on deaf ears. The JW archives tell of a slandered Witness in danger of losing her son: “The brothers and sisters in Anna’s congregation composed a letter attesting to her good example as a mother. A brother carried the letter to Moscow and delivered it to then-leader Nikita Khrushchev. Remarkably, Khrushchev ordered an inquiry into the matter. Anna was exonerated, and her son was not taken by the authorities.” Something similar has happened with Putin. [See prior post.] Today “the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia must be fully restored…..The Russian Supreme Court has taken the first step in this direction, …[ruling that] recognition of a religious organization as extremist does not prohibit its followers from exercising their right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.” In other words, do you want to arrest them? You first have to establish they have done something illegal. It is not enough that they exist. (Copy and paste all Russian language articles into https://www.deepl.com/translator for translation.) Maybe it just became too outrageous. Letters of support for Timothy Zhukov painted Russian “justice” as too much a word belonging in quotes. He had appealed his arrest based upon the constitution that guarantees freedom of worship. For that he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. It prompted these published letters: “A citizen of the Russian Federation wanted to use the article of the Constitution and this is his right. However, the law enforcement agencies decided to condemn the citizen for this, and even recognize him as mentally ill. Where is the Law? Where is the justice? Night arrest, interrogation - continuous violations of the law. As it recalls the events of the first century: "Then Jesus said to them: as if you went out against a robber with swords and stakes to take Me" (Bible, Gospel of Mark chapter 14 verse 48). I would like to praise Timothy, in such a terrible situation he remains a faithful Christian, he endures everything courageously!” Miroslava, November 11, 2021 and “Marvelous! A person shows respect for the highest law of the state, using the 51st article of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and the investigating authorities themselves see this as a reason to doubt his sanity. It is as if a mirror image of the events of bygone days described in the Bible: “When he defended himself in this way, Festus interrupted him.“ You are out of your mind, Paul, ”he shouted,“ great learning drove you to madness! ”(Acts of the Apostles 26: 24, New Russian translation) …Victor, November 12, 2021. Zhukov himself is a lawyer—thus, even from the secular perspective, the “great learning” works. He has recently been compensated for his confinement. One thing the Witness organization can be depended upon: They will not allow villainies to be “done in a corner.” (Acts 26:26) Did continual denunciations, each time highlighting the absurdity and thus painting the country itself as absurd, finally trigger a tipping point? Such as this recent item in the Washington Post? A few days after the November 2021 Supreme Court reinterpretation, a Witness was acquitted of extremism—the first Witness to be acquitted of that charge. The ultimate results of the High Court’s decision wait to be seen. “Few believe this is a signal to an end to mass repression against Jehovah's Witnesses,” one source says. Another speaks of theologian Andrei Kuraev, who is asked to interpret just what the Court’s ruling will mean in practical terms. He is hopeful—guardedly—“that this document of the whole Supreme Court may be evidence of some serious changes in approach.” Kuraev is included in I Don’t Know Why We Persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses: Searching for the Why, as is Timothy Zhukov. He is no friend of Jehovah’s Witnsees, but he is a friend of common sense. He has maintained all along that the original 2017 declaration equating Jehovah’s Witness with extremism is ridiculous. That decision “is far-fetched and very unconscionable. Because the Jehovists are radical in only one respect: they are radical pacifists.” Of the current decision that you can’t just beat up on them if they aren’t doing anything wrong, he agrees. But he knows where he lives. “The Supreme Court's decision is one thing and policy may be something entirely different. I am afraid that in Russia when there is a conflict between a legislative document and the order of an immediate superior, the latter will win." So time will tell. Kuraev’s forces of common sense are up against some truly bizarre thinking. Graniru.org* reports (November 23, 2021) that the charge of "eschatological extremism," for which prosecutors were seeking a 9 year prison term before the latest Court opinion thwarted them, must be upheld “since the end of the world, which these political prisoners [Jehovah’s Witnesses] expect, will result in mass disturbances and violations of Russia's territorial integrity.” The prosecution’s “independent experts objected in all seriousness: ‘Violent acts committed by Jehovah, who is not a subject of law and cannot, due to his divine nature, be influenced by the texts presented for examination, can in no way be prevented by applying anti-extremist legislation. Moreover, any acts committed by Jehovah, even if they are violent, cannot be unlawful.’" *https://graniru.org, (https://www.facebook.com/achivchalov, Nov 23rd entry) It recalls to mind a cartoon I once saw of God preparing to hurl a lightning bolt. He is stopped when an angel tugs at his sleeve: “Not America! Think of the lawsuits.” Seems the angel should have said it of Russia.

And never do they admit to the ridiculous charge of ‘extremism.’

A fine life saving strategy, methinks.

Okay. My bad. I’ll yield on the point. It was just a throwaway transitional remark anyway.

Not to worry. That is understood here. I’m flying no flags. Depending on context, we can be part of a greater “we” or not. Being from Florida, would you strenuously deny you are a Floridian? You are a Witness living in Florida to me. Your neutrality is understood, as I hope is mine.

We in the US excel at amazing people for a boundless capacity to make things political. It would probably be easier for authorities here if they strongly recommended the vax & left it at that—as a choice, as I think is done in. Sweden (per the website below). Instead, they seek to mandate it, and Americans are not people given to obedience. https://www.reuters.com/world/countries-make-covid-19-vaccines-mandatory-2021-07-13/

Thank you Thomas. I hope it is understood that what I wrote is an attempt to reconcile the two different views, which can get extreme in either direction.

“We know it can be difficult to make a wise decision when there are various opinions and conflicting reports that the world provides, perhaps making it hard to know what to believe,” said Stephen Lett on jw.org. Boy, he sure got that right! There have been adverse reactions to Covid vaccines. How common are they? One in a hundred or one in a million? How serious are they? Like stubbing your toe? Or like being struck by lightening? These are the questions that matter. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to find answers to them, but it is. So Bethel tells what it knows, which is not everything, but it does fill in a lot of blanks. They tell of those they find easiest to track—fellow Bethelites and special full-time servants—22,000 of the first and 44,000 of the second who have gone ahead with vaccination. Of the 66,000, four reported “severe adverse reactions that may be linked” to the vaccine. Those four are now all “stable and their conditions under control.” These “statistics have been collected by our brothers, so we can trust these figures,” Lett says. And we can. It’s not a scientific study. It’s data. As data, it may be better than a scientific study. Alas, “follow the science” has become a joke these days, with everyone spinning it their preferred way and calling it “the science.” We have all learned from experience that if one study doesn’t go our way, just hold out for the next one that may. Four out of 66,000 works out to .006%. I wouldn’t want to be that in that .006% but it seems pretty unlikely I would be. How much comfort I would take in my condition being “stable and under control” would depend upon just what that condition was. But doesn’t it roughly correspond to the odds of being struck by lightning or going down in a plane crash? In a world of 8 billion people you can find countless examples of anything. At Bethel they are Bible-only people, and they are chomping at the bit to get back to their sole reason for being. Their special mandate is to prepare and distribute the spiritual food. Covid-19 just gets in their way. Take the vaccine and be done with it, seems their position. They can look around themselves and see people are not dropping dead once they take it. Might it cause long-term problems down the road? Well, so will Armageddon if left unannounced, so they don’t dare unannounce it. Bro Lett concludes with the line, using gestures peculiarly his, “The coronavirus is not the worst trial to strike out at all mankind and it won’t be the last. We can expect things to deteriorate even further as these last days march on till their end.” In this eighth Governing Body update since Covid-19 began, he also relates some disaster relief efforts and introduces the next year’s text: “Those seeking Jehovah will lack nothing good.” (Ps 34:10) They are putting the pandemic behind them. Were lockdowns the answer and had the world followed their lead, Covid-19 would be a distant memory by now, since they locked down almost immediately. Been there, done that, they say of lockdown, it’s time to move on. They invite everyone to “get behind” them, which led one bro to say, “get behind them in what?” Take the vaccine is the first interpretation that comes to mind. I admit this has not gone down the way I thought it would—you can’t always get your way. Several months ago, it was ‘vaccination is a health care matter and we do not presume to choose for others on such things.’ Later the statement was made that Witnesses were not anti-vaccine, apparently to counter the impression of some that they were, and it was pointed out some at Bethel have chosen to accept the vaccine. Then that “some” turned out to be just about everyone—99% in the U.S! It’s ‘pedal to the metal’ time there. You are not allowed to do stuff without the vaccine. You are allowed to do stuff with it. So they take it and move on. If it hasn’t gone down the way I thought it would, it has gone down in a way to get things done, so maybe I should have figured it. Now, the trouble with all this, if there is one, is that you may suspect the Bethel brothers haven’t looked deeply into what’s cautionary of the vaccine. It is a downside of being single-minded. Do you suspect they just monitor media that ardently cheers the one hand and does all in its power to proclaim Tevye-like that “there IS no other hand”—which satisfies them because they want to get back to serious work? If there’s one thing Witnesses are convinced of, it’s that this whole system of things is going down. Whoever looks aside from the plow is not well-suited for the kingdom of God—you know they’re not going to forget that Luke 9:62 verse. If one set of scoundrels isn’t driving the whole world into this ditch, then another set is driving it into that ditch. Who cares about winning a shoving match with Big Pharma or the conniving globalists? Losing out to the “normal” ungodly state of things is just as bad, and that’s what the pharma and globalist enemies want to get back to. Of course, Bethel will never tell people to get vaccinated. They will not forget that “we are fellow workers for your joy” and not “masters over your faith.” (2 Corinthians 1:24) They will remember well: “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls.” But they will lead by example, and this they are doing. Maybe it’s because I hang out online a lot that I have come across a lot of friends aghast that the organization would so quickly embrace the Covid vaccine. Some of these friends are not listening to “the voice of strangers,” but they have vetted those strangers to separate the relative sheep from goats. They know, or at least they think they know, that Covid 19 responds readily to early treatment with mostly cheap (though increasingly hard-to-get) drugs). They cheer when the Nebraska Attorney General kicks back at the “official” storyline. The doctor who wrote the White House with the medical regimen that quickly cured Trump thinks there will one day be the equivalent of Nuremberg trials for those who let hundreds of thousands die by discrediting and even withholding treatment of an eminently treatable disease. Moreover, their concern on vaccines is for long-term safety. Short term safety appears okay, per the Bethel stats, but on the long term these “hesitant” ones are dubious. They’re not moved by official promises of safety. They know that Vioxx was perfectly “safe” until the day it was pulled from the market to reveal a phalanx of Pharma lawyers empowered to beat away all its injured customers. They know the new vaccines are not like the old vaccines that when you took them it meant you didn’t get the disease. They don’t think they’re safe. Some of these hesitant ones feel arm-twisted. Bethel explicitly says no one should be made to feel arm-twisted, but they feel it nonetheless. It is simply the nature of peer-pressure. One local bro reminds all at the meeting how we ought submit to government mandates, apparently misunderstanding that there are no government mandates in the US at present, but only a mandate that certain employers fire those unvaxxed. Feel strongly enough about the issue to walk away from your job and your have violated no mandate. Another speaks of how “our loyalty and obedience really allows us to get back together,” implying that those not onboard are disloyal and disobedient. Relax. Not to worry. The game is the same, its just up on another level. If the concern is one of safety, a whole different set of Bible principles come into play. Nobody would dispute that Jehovah’s Witnesses are among the most safety-conscious in the world. And with safety principles on the front burner, even ‘obey the superior authorities’ principles begins to fade. Madame Moaaga pointedly did not obey the secular authority when she convinced herself that obedience to them would cause her harm. These things happen. It’s human nature. Nothing to get all excited about. Indeed, if meetings should open with vax requirements and without a Zoom option , or even if there is a Zoom option, just how far will people go in sticking to their conscientious guns? It is a question some are asking of themselves. As much as we are concerned about safety these days, what if someone does research and concludes they can best stay safe by relying upon distancing and other preventative measures? Stand your ground, if you think best, but be respectful standing it. That way you become an informed voice on something that is not the specialty of the Bethel brothers. So long as you do not get strident over it, who knows? In the event you are on to something, maybe they will one day take some pointers from you. In the event you are not, maybe you will take some pointers from them. “Get behind the Governing Body” the bro said in Update #7, but get behind them in what? How about get behind them in remaining undistracted from the main mission? Don’t let it become our new cause, for we already have one. That is something everyone can agree on, and it doesn’t call for any decision as to vaccination. Through Zoom, informal, letters, phone & other non-contact means, many have proven to themselves that they can yet have a meaningful share in the ministry regardless of vaccination status. Research the matter all you want, for those so inclined, in case you’re cursed with being one of those high-information people who has to know everything about everything, but don’t become emotionally divided. You don’t want to be distracted from the good news. More: To Jab or Not to Jab: Part 1

Just came across this post from the U.S. Shoah Foundation: Reflections of Brother Kempler, who survived the Nazi camps as a Jew. There, he observed Jehovah’s Witnesses in a “camp within a camp” (to counter their preaching). After the war, he became one. This short clip is a must-see: https://fb.watch/7Hctxjx0mK/ This brother was featured in the documentary movie Knocking. Fourteen years ago I wrote up a post about it. His quoted words from that post are reproduced here: "It's difficult to speak to Jews. They say I became a traitor. Six million Jews died and I joined the other side. "I was among those survivors who felt that God was really responsible and guilty. He was the one who permitted the Holocaust. So we didn't fail him, we didn't do anything wrong. He failed us. And this is a very common belief. "God is being maligned and misunderstood and in many different ways looked down upon as being uncaring or dead or whatever, and there are all kinds of distortions as to what God is and who he is. To be able to speak up in his defense....what a powerful turnaround from somebody where I was to become a defender of God...what a wonderful privilege this is." https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2007/12/knocking-highli.html

Isn’t horse paste ivermectin administered orally to horses? You are not (hopefully) the size of a horse. Were you to go this route you must make sure any amount to take is proportional. Here is a chart that helps. Scroll down. This is from the ‘frontline doctors’ organization. It is doctors who have treated hundreds of patients. One of them, Pierre Kors, pleaded before (US) Congress to make the drug widely available, since his colleagues had all taken it for protection with good results. https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FLCCC-Alliance-I-MASKplus-Protocol-ENGLISH.pdf

No. Don’t apologize. Finally this thread’s getting interesting.

I heard one of the ‘frontline’ doctors in the trenches, treating and coming into close proximity with countless Covid patients, testify before Congress and pleading for the approval of Ivermectin. He was passionate and he knew it from experience, even saying: “If you take this drug you won’t get sick.” He had made his staff take it (in combination vitamin C and D), and they hadn’t gotten sick in the course of treating hundreds. In time, however, the powers-that-be ruled the findings “inconclusive,” and the video of his testimony was removed from social media. A record of it is here, however (paragraphs 6-8): https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n747 It has also been pointed out that none of the epidemiologists advising the (US) government has ever actually treated a Covid patient. This is so common in human society today: the ones who have experience are ignored in favor of the theorists. If anyone goes his route, taking the drugs he said worked, it seems to me they are still obligated to society (love of neighbor) to mask up in public and maintain social distancing. Even if you are protected, your neighbor doesn’t know that—you mustn’t scare the wits out of him. Another website recommends a similar protocol, both for treatment and prevention: https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FLCCC-Alliance-I-MASKplus-Protocol-ENGLISH.pdf You would hope so, but it is worth noting that the FDA has not formally approved any vaccine. Individuals of that body will recommend them, and they have been authorized on a emergency basis, but they still are not approved by the agency itself, possibly because it wants time to assess the things @Anthonypointed out.

No. I think not. Don’t try it. The few times I have, (I sometimes write for a mixed audience) even starring out the letters, I am met with such protest that I don’t do it anymore. “To the Romans I became a Roman” and all—but there are limits. But I agree with you and @Hopethat for Nita to be flummoxed upon hearing ‘wicked’ is a tad unrealistic. It strikes just a little bit of overplaying the ‘goody goody’ card, as though ‘worldly’ slang is not something a Christian would ever use. It comes off as just a little too pious, though I barely noticed it at the time so it is hardly a big deal. It is hard to make a video for everybody. Though you and I and Hope and DP are undoubtedly cool, (and don’t get me stated on @Dages)there is no requirement to be cool and many are not. A significant part of the world’s population will not get that slang use of ‘wicked.’ They don’t hang out in cool circles, their grasp of English is not so good to begin with, or they may guard their association to such an extent—think a long-term Bethelite—that they truly hear that use so seldom that it sets them back. Why take a chance of stumbling such ones by suggesting that Nita has no problem with what is wicked? Addressing a large audience is near impossible. One person says, ‘thanks for the new rule!’ and his neighbor says, ‘huh? Did you say something?.’ There not much for subtlety at Bethel. They lay on counsel with a trowel. They don’t want to find themselves in Lot’s shoes, whose sons-in-law thought he was joking. Their material will not win any Emmys; they are primarily teaching videos. Clear communication is the goal, with no one failing to get the point.

I wouldn’t want to strain the gnat here, Carlos. You are probably right. Nor would I want to suggest that they should make special accommodation. But given the uniqueness of the present situation, and the effort that goes into training a missionary, I wonder if they would hold to that position regardless. Many firsts are being done in these days of the pandemic. And it is also true that circuit overseers will often be assigned circuits in the proximity of ailing parents; the branch does accommodate when they deem the cause reasonable. Whether they would think this reasonable or not—your guess is as good as mine.