Posts by TonusOH

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

I think his previous low on patrons was 430, and it had grown back to 445 or so recently. So this is a significant drop, this far into the year.

75

Is the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses REALLY the "faithful and discreet slave" of Matt. 24:45-47?

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

thesis: when someone who is given a responsibility mistakes that responsibility for authority, bullying is very likely to occur.. jesus spoke an illustration recorded at matthew 24: 45-51 which well illustrates this thesis.. jesus asked, “who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over all his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so.

truly i say to you, he will appoint him over all his belongings.

TonusOH

Witness 007: Rutherford bought a mansion for Moses and David

The WTS bought the mansion for the 'worthies' who would soon take possession of it. In the meantime, Rutherford wanted to make sure it was kept tidy and neat, and so he spent quite a bit of time visiting there. I wonder if the two expensive cars the WTS bought (and that Rutherford made liberal use of) were for Moses and David to drive around in and pick up girls. I kind of feel bad for those old time greats; they will finally arrive and learn that their house was sold off and the cars were either scrapped or became museum pieces.

Maybe the WTS can buy them Teslas!

25

Sexual abuse and Jehovah's witnesses- the gift that keep on giving

by wannaexit in

there seems to be no end to the many jw's who sexually abused minors.

here is another story:.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pa-jehovahs-witnesses-sex-assault-attorney-general-shapiro-20221027.html.

TonusOH

Thank you for the updates, Earnest!

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

LMsA: But this is a tangible amount, i.e. something that can be proven that the plaintiff actually lost in cash value as a direct result of the respondent’s actions.

And also: he did not offer specifics. He just made the general charge and asked for a settlement amount. That would be like saying "your child threw a rock at my house, I want $X as compensation" without explaining whether the rock bounced harmlessly off of the steps or shattered a window. And then, when the parent asks for specifics, is told that the homeowner is under no obligation to provide them, insisting that they ask the child instead. Most people would regard the plaintiff in this matter to be something of a clown, at best. A grifter, at worst.

So, we wait to see if he will ever reveal (to the defendants) what he is accusing them of saying, that he felt was worth 3,000 or 8,000 Euro. My guess: he will never reveal it since he knows the case will be dismissed, or he will reveal it and the mockery will begin anew. I'm not sure he can handle the latter.

36

“Hanging the earth upon nothing”

by FFGhost in

for those of you not up to speed on the latest jw trends, one of the key scriptures the jws are using in field serve-us lately is job 26:7, wherein the writer describes the earth as “hanging upon nothing”.. this text is used to indicate the bible’s “reliability”.

the reasoning goes something like this:.

“see, centuries ago, people thought the world was flat, or was resting on elephants or turtles, or some such nonsense.

TonusOH

If they were being guided by a being who literally knew everything, it would have been useful for the book to offer some of this knowledge clearly and directly. Imagine telling us that the Earth was a sphere that rotated around the sun, part of a galaxy of planets that were in orbits around a star. No interpretation required, just information that would make it clear that these men had access to a source of knowledge that transcended us.

The vagueness of these passages only becomes evident as humanity learns more and realizes that the initial impressions were wrong. No firmament. No corners. No foundation. I've seen Islamic believers explaining how a modern interpretation of the Quran shows it to bear scientific knowledge that could only have come from God (apparently, they believe that the Quran explains the motion of the deep ocean currents, something men of the time could not possibly know about). Does the Christian accept these verses and the new interpretation?

25

Sexual abuse and Jehovah's witnesses- the gift that keep on giving

by wannaexit in

there seems to be no end to the many jw's who sexually abused minors.

here is another story:.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pa-jehovahs-witnesses-sex-assault-attorney-general-shapiro-20221027.html.

TonusOH

Lost in the fog: The abused children are confronted by a 3 man tribunal (always males) who have no training in counseling or how to talk to a trauma sufferer

I think this is the worst part of it, which often adds suffering and pain to an already traumatic experience. Victims are frequently forced to face their attacker without any concern for their own mental and emotional wellbeing, and possibly even without any supporters to help them through it. The questions can be very invasive and personal, being asked by a group of men with no training or understanding of how to deal with such situations. How will the victim feel when they are in a room with their tormentor, plus three men who seem unsympathetic or even hostile?

And these men sleep easy, believing that they are doing the Lord's work.

10

Apostate Hunter?

by Lost in the fog in

has anyone heard of this jw guy?.

apparently he writes a weekly (weakly?

) blog as well as having written this book where he claims he disses the claims of "apostates".. to know what apostates are saying he has to be engaging with them or tuning into websites like this one, contravening the gb's direction not to do so.

TonusOH

If it's just a book about apostasy and how it affects small religious groups like the JWs, I doubt anyone will care much. That is just more of the usual WTS propaganda. If it is an attempt to engage with anti-JW or anti-WTS claims or accusations, it could end up working against the WTS. The last thing they want is JWs hearing those arguments, since it could lead them to search for more info outside of the organization, and that could lead them right out of the organization.

Either way, I doubt the GB is happy about it. They consider themselves the only legitimate conduit for information and teaching, and they really do not like it when anyone (especially a JW) tries to 'add any spiritual food' to the JW table. If they let this guy do it, then any JW can write a book to "help" other JWs out. If anyone is likely to stop this guy from ever publishing again, it's the WTS. How long before a trio of elders visits him to 'provide necessary guidance' and save his eternal soul?

10

JW apologist

by jhine in

jehovah’s witnesses and sexual abuse: 3. some common misunderstandings.

a chap called terrill hamons who l am taking to be a jw apologist on quora sent me this link along with many others .

the sites are all about how misunderstood and unfairly treated the wt is .

TonusOH

One could say that the reason they are misunderstood is because they don't make sense.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

We should keep in mind that there are issues of jurisdiction that apply to many of the possible actions being considered. Evans's criminal complaint will almost certainly be dismissed because the law doesn't apply to the seven, since they did not do anything (much less anything illegal) on Croatian soil, and the crime of insult is not a crime in most/all of the countries they actually live in.

Unlike, say... paying prostitutes for sex every couple of months for three or four years.

The letter threatening legal action unless a hefty sum was paid could be considered an extortion attempt. Interesting how the only actionable crimes have been committed by Evans.

As for what he is accusing Kim --or any of the seven-- of doing, no one knows for sure. He refuses to state what it is they did. For all we know, he has not provided the necessary details to the court, which would require an actual crime to have been committed in order to decide if they will prosecute anyone. There is reason to think that he is hoping people forget about the whole case.

23

"The Truth"

by Ding in

we all know that jws consider the wt religion to be "the truth" and refer to it as such.. granted, that phrase is used repeatedly in the literature and from the platform.. but it's obvious that much of what the organization used to require jws to teach house-to-house as important truths--even within our own lifetimes--has been abandoned.

it's been replaced by "new light" and "refined understanding.

what's meant by "the 1914 generation" is a prime example.. in fact, i think it would be hard to find another religion that has changed so many of its teachings, especially in such a short period of time.. so why do jws still believe their religion to be "the truth"?.

TonusOH

I like the idea that the JWs call God by a nickname.

In any case, "The Truth" is a broad and context-dependent term. When we refer to the truth of a matter, we are likely referring to known facts. But we can also use the word to refer to how we interpret a situation, such as the classic "you know it's the truth," used to try to convince someone to see things a different way.

JWs are claiming that they have the correct facts about God- who He is, what He wants, Why he wants it, How he intends to act, and so on. In this, they're like any other religion. They do seem to really harp on it, though. I think it is another of those mantras that they want the rank-and-file to keep repeating, so that it sinks in ever deeper. It's another way to isolate people- if you are convinced that the JWs have the truth, then you have nowhere else to go.