TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  The "live from the clunker" line made me laugh out loud.
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  42

  Were JWs Right That There Would Be A Time When Governments Would Go After All Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they have predicted this for years.

  religions of the world would become attacked by the governments.

  the only difference is when they go after jehovah’s witnesses, then jehovah god will step in and destroy the governments..

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  TonusOH

  If I am remembering correctly, the prophecy about the nations attacking religion is based on a vision in the book of Revelations. Like so many such visions, it is open to interpretation and does not deliver a clear message as to what will specifically happen. How do the nations mount an attack on religion? What does it mean that they utterly destroy it? Is it just legal restrictions? Removal of any beneficial status? A spoken/written condemnation? A direct attack on its followers? How would that work, considering that even now, something like 2/3s or 3/4s of the world's population identifies as religious?

  The vagueness of the meaning makes it easy to point at any event and say that it is part of the fulfillment of the prophecy. Like so many prophecies and predictions from the past, it gets reinterpreted every time it is convenient to do so.
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  85

  My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.

  following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.

  i used only watchtower publications in my research.

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  TonusOH

  As far as the WTS is concerned, "asking questions" is the problem. It means you're not satisfied with their explanation, and they don't like it when people don't accept their explanations. Next thing you know, people are thinking for themselves and the whole thing comes apart.
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  The "flawed individual" bit also doesn't work very well for someone who has made a healthy living off of pointing out the flaws of an entire organization and its leadership. Anthony Morris didn't kill or rape anyone, did he? So why make an issue of his purchase of some booze? Couldn't Morris make his next speech about how he is a flawed individual, but it's not like he cheated on his wife with hookers or made embarrassing YT videos about how he can't control his dick?

  Maybe that's the way to make the point? For anyone he criticizes or attacks to point out that whatever issue he has is not nearly as serious as being an atrociously bad husband and father?
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  34

  Here's a question that I guarantee no one has ever thought of!

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  unlike men who took no note, surely the fallen angels knew of gods plan to flood the earth, so why didn't they build an ark(s) for their nephilum sons?

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  TonusOH

  Having them wiped out in the flood meant no messy child support payments. Bunch of deadbeat angels...
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  ...a girlfriend cum travel companion...

  Now that is an unfortunate turn of a phrase, given the context...
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  35

  What are your thoughts about Mormons?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any takers?

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  TonusOH

  The story of the creation of the Mormon church is pretty interesting and entertaining. Joseph Smith seemed to have been as clever as he was insane. Not a good combination, but a lot of fun to read about.
  
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  49

  Jehovah's Witnesses: remembering the weird and wacky!

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do you remember some of the weird and wacky stuff emanating from the watchtower society?

  let's make a list from memory that we can use to inject a little humor into our discussions with jehovah's witnesses.

  - venus may be an enormous jurassic park.. - germs don't cause disease.. - no beards allowed.

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  TonusOH

  I think a stupid thing is to not do jury duty.

  I agree. And the excuse about being on a possible death penalty case doesn't hold water- it's very easy to get out of a particular petit jury by explaining how your personal beliefs or conscience would affect your decision-making.

  This issue resonates for be because, for some reason, I get called to jury duty with annoying regularity. Never served on a petit jury, but I did do a month on a grand jury. Learned a lot, it was a good experience.
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  I wouldn't be surprised if he was underpaid, since as a college student it's not unusual to work as an intern or for a lower-than-market wage. He gets valuable experience while building an online resume of real-world work that can be checked and critiqued. With something like a YouTube channel, there is the added benefit that it can serve as a timeline, letting prospective employers see his progress over time.

  Until recently, he would also have been able to take advantage of the recommendation of a content creator who was doing important work and had made a name for himself, even if it was in a relatively small pond. Now that Evans has set fire to the pond (and burned his reputation to a crisp in the process), the recommendation won't be as useful, but at least the body of work is still there.
  
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  61

  Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how many times did you see elders hounding congregation members to quit their jobs due to missing meetings?.

  my brother worked at a grocery store at 16 years old.

  he would miss tuesday's ministry school due to his work schedule.

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  TonusOH

  Convincing members to quit good jobs that conflicted with the meeting schedules creates a version of the sunk-cost fallacy. Having given up something of value, it will be much more difficult to leave the JWs if they happen to have doubts or issues with the organization. The fear of having given up something and end up with nothing can cause us to mentally imprison ourselves.

  It's no accident that the weekly/monthly schedule of a JW is kept busy with meetings or field work. Plenty of time to keep an eye on people, and plenty of ways to make sure they are conforming.