Letters to Russia: False report

[Bob]

4 hours ago, Tortuga said:

There is a picture circulating that appears to show letters that a Russian Embassy in Colombia returned to the sender because it was from Jehovah's Witnesses. It was reported that all Russian Embassies have been instructed to return letters from Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

The picture and report have not been confirmed yet.

Not directed at you or anyone here, but good grief, how can a simple letter-writing campaign now turn into a fiasco about determining whats true and whats not after letters have been mailed?

 

Personally, I sent me and my wife's letter, and didn't worry about it. Sometimes, I wonder what may happen if we're alerted about the start of the GT though JWB. Will some of our "compulsive forwarding" brothers be fooled about certain direction given and unintentionally fool others to their own detriment?

 

What's been disturbing me personally is seeing brothers and sisters arguing over who's being "obedient" to the Slave regarding non-existing direction on social media, and outright accusing others of being "disobedient" when no such direction exists.

 

I just wonder sometimes that if we're making up rules where they do not exist as regard a simple and easy letter-writing campaign, what will happen when we're given direction that could determine life or death?

 

Something to think about.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Bob

[Bob]

On 3/30/2017 at 11:03 PM, TrueTomHarley said:

 Why have they never written before? Weren't they last week part of the general world calling him (in the U.S) a thug and a murderer?

 

This is an outstanding point.

[Tortuga]

2 hours ago, Bob said:

Not directed at you or anyone here, but good grief, how can a simple letter-writing campaign now turn into a fiasco about determining whats true and whats not after letters have been mailed?

How does a simple letter campaign turn into a fiasco?

Simple- let your joy and enthusiasm override your training and common sense.  We seem to forget the first part of this scripture. “. . .so prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

 

Why is it important to determine what is true or false?

Personally I was dismayed to find out the picture of boxes of letters that claimed to be mail received by the Russian post office was actually boxes of Christmas cards.  The spiritually mature friends that sent us the picture were also dismayed. It would have prevented a lot of heartache If the source of the picture had been exposed sooner.

[Bob]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

How does a simple letter campaign turn into a fiasco?

Simple- let your joy and enthusiasm override your training and common sense.  We seem to forget the first part of this scripture. “. . .so prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

 

Why is it important to determine what is true or false?

Personally I was dismayed to find out the picture of boxes of letters that claimed to be mail received by the Russian post office was actually boxes of Christmas cards.  The spiritually mature friends that sent us the picture were also dismayed. It would have prevented a lot of heartache If the source of the picture had been exposed sooner.

I get what you're saying, and I was also very enthusiastic and still am, to be honest. I guess what I am saying that we can use this as a learning lesson generally speaking, to learn to verify and scrutinize certain information that comes across our social media feeds before "forwarding" them on to others before they're verified.

 

That takes trail and error to become more disciplined.

[Tortuga]

6 minutes ago, Bob said:

I get what you're saying, and I was also very enthusiastic and still am, to be honest. I guess what I am saying that we can use this as a learning lesson generally speaking, to learn to verify and scrutinize certain information that comes across our social media feeds before "forwarding" them on to others before they're verified.

 

That takes trail and error to become more disciplined.

I agree 100%. I think the recent "glance and forward" mentality was a good test of our gullibility.  We should learn from it.

 

That's why I started this thread, I hope to raise awareness that not everything we see or hear has been verified no matter how many spiritually mature people send it to us.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Tortuga

[TrueTomHarley]

5 hours ago, Bob said:

 

What's been disturbing me personally is seeing brothers and sisters arguing over who's being "obedient" to the Slave regarding non-existing direction on social media, and outright accusing others of being "disobedient" when no such direction exists.

 

 

They are probably not thrilled about any of us being online but they acquiese because they know it's going to happen. It's not 'disobedient' if we're online. It's just uncharted. We must use good judgement.

 

It's best to ASSUME up front that everyone is a liar. The Internet is not the congregation. No elders here. No channel of spiritual food. No established relationships with those we know personally. Plenty of liars lurking about. If we choose to go online, for there are pluses, we must not be naive. Figure 'they're all out to con me' is a good start.

[Tortuga]

4 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

They are probably not thrilled about any of us being online but they acquiese because they know it's going to happen. It's not 'disobedient' if we're online. It's just uncharted. We must use good judgement.

 

It's best to ASSUME up front that everyone is a liar. The Internet is not the congregation. No elders here. No channel of spiritual food. No established relationships with those we know personally. Plenty of liars lurking about. If we choose to go online, for there are pluses, we must not be naive. Figure 'they're all out to con me' is a good start.

Once we know we are dealing with our brothers and sisters, we need to assume they are being obedient until proven otherwise.

Some walk a narrow path, some walk a wider path but we are on the same path, there is no reason to push, shove or trip anyone....

[TrueTomHarley]

3 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Once we know we are dealing with our brothers and sisters, we need to assume they are being obedient until proven otherwise.

Some walk a narrow path, some walk a wider path but we are on the same path, there is no reason to push, shove or trip anyone....

Yes. The 'liar' rule is relaxed here, for mods work hard to take out the villains. It is different on general web.

[carlos]

17 hours ago, Tortuga said:

There is a picture circulating that appears to show letters that a Russian Embassy in Colombia returned to the sender because it was from Jehovah's Witnesses. It was reported that all Russian Embassies have been instructed to return letters from Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

The picture and report have not been confirmed yet.

Actually the address in that picture doesn't correspond to the Russian embassy in Colombia (even the city is wrong) and the recipient's name is not the name of the Russian ambassador. It doesn't say "Russian embassy" anywhere either.  It might be a consulate in a smaller city, or it may not have anything to do at all with Russia, simply a guy who is refusing some letters from Witnesses.

Edited April 5, 2017 by carlos

[esctec]

On 1-4-2017 at 6:09 PM, Tortuga said:

Can you explain your post please?

A link without an explanation is confusing. 

wel it has been said jw.org is the only official website  @ whois  you  find the register of the jw-russia.org 

 

[jayrtom]

23 minutes ago, esctec said:

wel it has been said jw.org is the only official website  @ whois  you  find the register of the jw-russia.org 

 

Edited April 5, 2017 by jayrtom
missed pic

[Tortuga]

42 minutes ago, esctec said:

wel it has been said jw.org is the only official website  @ whois  you  find the register of the jw-russia.org 

 

Jayrtom beat me to it but the bottom of the jw-russia.org site shows who owns it, you can show that to anyone that doesn't realize it is an authorized site.

[ChrisC]

4 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Jayrtom beat me to it but the bottom of the jw-russia.org site shows who owns it, you can show that to anyone that doesn't realize it is an authorized site.

I thought there was a link from jw.org somewhere. That would really clinch it for those still wary.

[Old]

10 minutes ago, ChrisTheConfused said:

I thought there was a link from jw.org somewhere. That would really clinch it for those still wary.

A link to JW.org would likely get it banned. 

[juliansan]

But there is a jw-russia link on jw.org  

https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/russia/vasiliy-kalin-statement-on-ban-of-jehovahs-witnesses/

[carlos]

7 hours ago, esctec said:

wel it has been said jw.org is the only official website  @ whois  you  find the register of the jw-russia.org

JW.org is not the only official website. There are a lot more. It is the main one, though.

[TrueTomHarley]

On another forum, where some bad people hang out, though I didn't know that when I wiped my feet on the Welcome Mat, a sister says she wrote her letter straight away and some others wanted to see it. She declined, saying they do better writing their own, but revealed the two scriptures she had used. I answered her:

 

Where were you when we needed you? I saw the COBE's letter:

"Alright, big man, lets settle this right here, right now! You think you're a tough guy? Running a country? Well, I run a congregation back here in the States!"

 

Another seemingly trustworthy person said the trial had again been postponed, this time for a week. This, he said, would allow our Russian brothers to do the Memorial in peace. I wasn't able to confirm it, and you must always confirm things - you don't just post a big stack of mail that someone says is from our brothers. Nevertheless, if it is true, it allows tons more of letters to arrive before the final hearing. Once again, someone says, Jehovah is doing it IN STYLE!

 

And there is always the scenario, not very likely, that Putin will say:

 

"Yesterday, St Petersburg. Today, Syria! What an obscene world! What do I care if the Jehovahs want to preach? I've got things to do. Tell the House Church to go to hell!"

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Another seemingly trustworthy person said the trial had again been postponed, this time for a week.

There is an ongoing discussion in another thread that is monitoring the updates from the courtroom. Court has been adjourned until 4/12/17.

[GeordieGirl]

10 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Court has been adjourned until 4/12/17.

And for those in different parts of the world,  that is 12th April not 4th December.  

Edited April 7, 2017 by GeordieGirl

[TrueTomHarley]

3 hours ago, Tortuga said:

There is an ongoing discussion in another thread that is monitoring the updates from the courtroom. Court has been adjourned until 4/12/17.

If you would be so kind, tell me where it is. Sorry. I should do my own legwork and I am looking forward to explore and contribute, even in the lonely hearts section if there is one. Alas, time contraints press upon me, as upon many of us, but the 'many of us' may know which way is up and be able to help me out.

 

(Don't take the lonely hearts comment seriously. You mess with Sister Harley and you will wish you were vacationing in Syria.)

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, TrueTomHarley said:

If you would be so kind, tell me where it is. Sorry. I should do my own legwork and I am looking forward to explore and contribute, even in the lonely hearts section if there is one. Alas, time contraints press upon me, as upon many of us, but the 'many of us' may know which way is up and be able to help me out.

 

(Don't take the lonely hearts comment seriously. You mess with Sister Harley and you will wish you were vacationing in Syria.)

Here you go. We try to hide it as much as we could so don't let the title fool you.  

It's a short thread, it wont take long for you t catch up...

 

[jwhess]

2 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

If you would be so kind, tell me where it is. Sorry. I should do my own legwork and I am looking forward to explore and contribute, even in the lonely hearts section if there is one. Alas, time contraints press upon me, as upon many of us, but the 'many of us' may know which way is up and be able to help me out.

 

(Don't take the lonely hearts comment seriously. You mess with Sister Harley and you will wish you were vacationing in Syria.)

It is in the thread right below this one (currently).  entitled: 

 

DISCUSS COURT CASE HERE JW.org - Jehovah’s Witnesses Mobilize Global Response to Threat of Ban in Russia 

Br. Richard, just seconds apart.

[Old]

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

Here you go. We try to hide it as much as we could so don't let the title fool you.  

It's a short thread, it wont take long for you t catch up...

 

[timpin]

upstate New York, c'mon - seriously / so close to HQ - or way upstate?

 we'll send up a flare if you don't find it - it'll be flamin' hot again next Wednesday 

Edited April 7, 2017 by timpin

[TrueTomHarley]

37 minutes ago, timpin said:

upstate New York, c'mon - seriously / so close to HQ - or way upstate?

 we'll send up a flare if you don't find it - it'll be flamin' hot again next Wednesday 

 

Patterson,  Warwick, and Wallkill are so near New York City that much of the area is the 2nd homes of rich people & their playground.  Real estate can get pricey. 'kill' is a Dutch word, I think, that means 'water.' Many towns in the area are suffixed with 'kill.' But I am about 300 miles away in Rochester, and 'kill' here means only dead people. Many who are even not dead actually are; it's a depressed, though pretty, area. Some politician held up a chart the other day for his own reasons that pointed out, whereas the national job growth rate is 11%, in my part of NY, it is under 3. Former Governor Patterson once stated that New York had a 'social services - based economy.

 

I have also lived 100 yards, but also 100 years, away from the old church of Nelson Barbour.

Edited April 7, 2017 by TrueTomHarley