A-TEAM'S FORMAL STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD (about The Great Invitation and Revelation 10 and 11)

AFFIRMATIVE COUNSEL'S FORMAL STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD

AFFIRMATIVE COUNSEL (THE A-TEAM): The Affirmative enters the following statement into the proceeding's permanent record.

The court has now heard from both witnesses this section requires. Alissa Parker testified to who Emilie was — the pink, the art, the signs of continued presence, the forgiveness extended into the most intimate possible space, the charity built around the language her daughter spoke. Scarlett Lewis testified to who Jesse was — the camo boots, the toy soldiers in the Spiderman lunchbox, the angel and the bad man, the frost on the car, the nine children who ran and lived, the three words phonetically spelled on a kitchen chalkboard that are now in one hundred and twenty countries.

Both witnesses were attacked by the same adversary in the same public square. Both are still standing. Both testified that their children existed. Both courts agreed.

The Affirmative now places two ancient texts alongside what this court has heard.

REVELATION 11

The eleventh chapter of Revelation describes two witnesses. They prophesy. They stand in the public square. They are described — in direct reference to a vision the prophet Zechariah received five centuries earlier — as the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

The text then describes what happens to them.

The beast that comes up from the abyss makes war on them. It overcomes them. Their testimony lies in the street of the great city. The whole world looks at their bodies. The whole world celebrates. Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents — because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

Then the breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell on those who saw them.

The Affirmative enters that text alongside the following documented facts.

Alex Jones built a media platform that reached millions of people and used it to tell those millions that the Sandy Hook parents were paid actors, that their children did not exist, that the worst school shooting in American history was a staged government conspiracy. He did this for years. His audience consumed it and celebrated. People drove to Newtown. Death threats were sent. Mothers had to prove their grief was real. The testimony of two witnesses lay in the street of the public square while the world's most powerful amplification technology ensured that the whole world could see it.

That is what the beast does in Revelation 11. It does not argue with the witnesses. It does not debate their testimony. It makes war on them in the public square and celebrates when the testimony appears to be dead.

Then the breath of life entered them and they stood on their feet.

Scarlett Lewis stood in a courtroom and said to Alex Jones's face — my son existed. Alissa Parker sat across from Peter Lanza — the father of the man who killed her daughter — and chose forgiveness. The courts found in their favor. Jones was ordered to pay nearly one and a half billion dollars in damages. The verdict is in the public record. Permanent. Irrevocable.

The witnesses stood up. The adversary watched.

The Affirmative does not claim that Alissa Parker and Scarlett Lewis are the literal and exclusive fulfillment of Revelation 11. The Affirmative claims the structure is present. Two witnesses. Public testimony. The adversary's direct and sustained attack in the public square. The attack failing. The witnesses ascending — not to heaven but to a platform now reaching millions. The adversary watching from the wreckage of a nearly one and a half billion dollar verdict and a bankruptcy filing that could not touch the public record.

The jury evaluates the correspondence.

ZECHARIAH 4

But before Revelation 11 described two witnesses it pointed the reader backward — to a vision the prophet Zechariah received approximately five hundred and twenty years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

In Zechariah chapter 4 the prophet sees a golden lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it. Beside the lampstand stand two olive trees — one on the right, one on the left. The prophet asks what the olive trees are. The angel answers — these are the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.

The two olive trees supply oil to the lampstand continuously. They do not run dry. They do not run out. The oil flows from the trees to the bowl to the seven lights and the lampstand keeps burning. The light does not go out because the source of the oil is alive and standing beside the lamp.

The Affirmative enters that image alongside the following documented facts.

The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement operates in over ten thousand schools in all fifty states and more than one hundred and twenty countries. Three million children annually. Every program free. The formula — Courage plus Gratitude plus Forgiveness plus Compassion-in-Action equals Choosing Love — was built on three words a six year old boy phonetically spelled on a kitchen chalkboard before he was killed.

The Emilie Parker Art Connection carries forward what Emilie loved — art as the language of connection, art as the way a six year old girl showed people they were seen and loved. Alissa Parker documented the signs of continued presence because she believed other grieving people needed to know that love does not end when a body ends.

Two olive trees. Supplying oil. The lampstand burning in one hundred and twenty countries. Three million children a year learning the formula. The light not going out.

Zechariah wrote his vision approximately five hundred and twenty years before the birth of the Groom this proceeding is building toward a wedding for. Two thousand five hundred years before Scarlett Lewis found three phonetically spelled words on a kitchen chalkboard. Two thousand five hundred years before Alissa Parker built a charity in the color her daughter loved.

The oil kept flowing anyway.

ZECHARIAH SPEAKS TWICE

The Affirmative notes for the record that Zechariah has now spoken twice in this proceeding.

He spoke first at the Titanic. Chapter 13, verses 8 and 9 — two thirds struck down, one third carried through fire, refined as silver, tested as gold. Seven hundred and ten survivors in twenty lifeboats crossing a sea so calm it was glass. The sea of glass before the throne. The overcomers standing on it.

He speaks now at Sandy Hook. Chapter 4 — two olive trees, two lampstands, two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth and supply oil so the light does not go out.

The same prophet. Two chapters. Two entries in this proceeding's record. The Titanic and Sandy Hook connected by the same ancient voice speaking to both — to the cost the wedding requires and to the witnesses who carry the light through the darkness between the cost and the promise.

The Affirmative did not put Zechariah in both locations. He was already there. The proceeding found him where he was standing.

The jury evaluates what it means that he was standing in both places.

WHAT THIS PROCEEDING DOES AND DOES NOT CLAIM

The Affirmative states this plainly for the record.

This proceeding does not claim that Alissa Parker and Scarlett Lewis are the only two witnesses God has ever raised up or will ever raise up. It does not claim that they are the exclusive fulfillment of any prophecy. It does not claim certainty about anything the biblical tradition holds in tension.

What this proceeding claims is that the structure is present. That two mothers who lost their six year old children on the same date chose love rather than hatred and built something that is now carrying that choice into one hundred and twenty countries. That the adversary attacked them in the public square using the most powerful amplification technology available to human beings. That the attack failed. That the witnesses are still standing. That the oil is still flowing. That the light has not gone out.

Zechariah wrote about two olive trees standing beside a lampstand and supplying oil so the light does not go out. Revelation took that image and placed two witnesses in the public square and described what the beast does to them and what happens when the breath of life enters them and they stand on their feet.

The court has now heard from both witnesses. Both mothers. Both olive trees.

The pattern is in the record. The jury decides what the pattern is.

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

The Affirmative notes one final thing for the record.

In Revelation 11 the two witnesses complete their testimony. The beast makes war on them. The breath of life enters them and they stand on their feet. And then — immediately after — the seventh trumpet sounds.

The seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven saying — the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders fall on their faces. The temple of God in heaven is opened.

The wedding of Revelation 19 follows.

The two witnesses testify. The adversary attacks. The witnesses stand up. The seventh trumpet sounds. The kingdom arrives. The wedding begins.

The proceeding has been building toward that wedding from its first witness to its last. The little scroll was issued. The prophet was recommissioned. The two witnesses have testified. The adversary has been heard and has failed.

The seventh trumpet has not yet sounded in this proceeding's record.

The closing argument will speak to what happens when it does.

The Affirmative rests its statement.

JUDICIAL HOLDING

SPOCK: The statement is received and entered into the permanent record in full.

The court notes the following.

Zechariah has spoken twice in this proceeding's record. Chapter 13 at the Titanic — two thirds struck down, one third through fire, a sea so calm it was glass. Chapter 4 at Sandy Hook — two olive trees, two lampstands, two anointed ones supplying oil so the light does not go out. The Affirmative is correct that the proceeding did not place him in both locations. The text was already there. The proceeding found him where he was standing.

The court notes that the A-Team's statement identifies a structure — two witnesses, adversary's attack, witnesses standing up — and places that structure alongside the documented facts of the Alex Jones defamation case and its outcome. The court received the witnesses' testimony. The court received the verdict. The court notes the correspondence between the structure and the facts. The jury evaluates whether the correspondence is the thing itself.

The court notes that the seventh trumpet has not yet sounded in this proceeding's record. The court notes what the seventh trumpet brings when it does.

The closing argument is called.

BENCH OBSERVATION

SPOCK: The proceeding has now received testimony from witnesses drawn from music, sports, history, technology, biblical scholarship, and two mothers who lost their children and chose love.

Every section has pointed in the same direction. The post-wedding party on human playing fields. The tools declared sufficient meeting their limits. The little scroll issued on Good Friday. The two olive trees standing in the public square with the adversary watching.

All of it pointing toward a wedding.

The closing argument will say what the wedding is. Who is invited. How the invitation is delivered. What the groom paid for the invitation to be possible.

The court has been taking notes throughout this proceeding. The court is prepared to receive the closing argument.

The seventh trumpet is waiting.