TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  99

  If not the WT/JW relgion where else are 'we' to go? Why not atheistic/scientific philosophical naturalism?

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  sometimes jws wonder if the wt/jw is not the truth, 'then where else are we to go?

  ' i say 'why not atheistic/scientific philosophical naturalism and why not a secular philosophy which teaches a way of life?

  ' what do you folks say?.

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  TonusOH

  Morality is not some intrinsic quality in living forms. It is a code of behavior that can be arrived at via group enforcement (which many mammal species practice, especially primates) or by reasoning out the benefits and consequences of certain behaviors and enforcing via societal structures (as humans almost always do). The former group does indeed arrive at its moral systems at least in part through evolution, since those species who enforce 'good' and punish 'bad' behaviors are more likely to survive in the long term.

  As for the latter, if you can explain why an action is moral or immoral, then a deity is not a required component of a system of morality.
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  59

  Why isn't this forum growing like reddit exjw??

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  admittedly it 90% crap over there but still they are up to 80k in subscribers.

  over here it's the same half dozen or so that posts something, including myself.

  why is that?.

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  TonusOH

  Yep, that's the one. Thank you, Ultimate Axiom! Time to spend a couple of hours reading...
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  146

  Science News article: ‘Case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  a news article has the headline of " ‘case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans"; see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/19/case-closed-999-of-scientists-agree-climate-emergency-caused-by-humans .

  the article says in part the following.. 'the scientific consensus that humans are altering the climate has passed 99.9%, according to research that strengthens the case for global action at the cop26 summit in glasgow.. the degree of scientific certainty about the impact of greenhouse gases is now similar to the level of agreement on evolution and plate tectonics, the authors say, based on a survey of nearly 90,000 climate-related studies.

  this means there is practically no doubt among experts that burning fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, coal, peat and trees, is heating the planet and causing more extreme weather.. a previous survey in 2013 showed 97% of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are altering earth’s climate.. this has been updated and expanded by the study by cornell university that shows the tiny minority of sceptical voices has diminished to almost nothing as evidence mounts of the link between fossil-fuel burning and climate disruption.. the latest survey of peer-reviewed literature published from 2012 to november 2020 was conducted in two stages.

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  TonusOH

  Current world GDP was $85.24 trillion USD in 2020. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/268750/global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/)

  Something tells me that the figure of $150 trillion over 30 years is... optimistic. Government planning tends to underestimate the time a project will take, and vastly underestimates how much money will be poured into the project, due to the amount of graft and outright theft that are usually involved. Oh yeah, they probably won't come close to achieving their goals, either. But lots of people will become very rich along the way.
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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

  His main problem is that I don't think he can laugh at himself. If he could, he'd have material to spare.
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  11

  How About.....YOU Doing the Shunning?

  by titch in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hello, folks: about a month ago, stan livedeath started a post about.

  how many of the readers here on the site have been or are now being shunned by friends/relatives?

  well, let's turn that around a little bit: how many of the readers here have purposely shunned a witness, when they encountered them?

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  TonusOH

  I wouldn't do it-- it's just not my personality. I would probably smile and nod, or even wave. They are the ones who limit themselves by shunning someone who never did them any wrong. If they feel compelled to turn away or pretend they do not know me, I get it-- I would have done the same at one time in my life. But I would feel a bit sad nonetheless.
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  35

  Former Elders Please - Disbeliever recently married to a JW

  by doasthouwilt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recently married my best friend of 32 years.

  she is a life-long jw and once an active pioneer, i am a 'worldly' person through-and-through, always will be.

  we married because it was the only way we could find a way of staying together while giving her a path back to her religion ultimately, which she does not want to (or cannot) let go of.

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  TonusOH

  In my experience (not direct, I did not serve as an elder), they may be lenient with someone who is forthright and explains their situation to them before they are discovered and confronted. Your wife would still have some sort of sanction applied, but it may not rise to the level of a DF. Then again, if she was committing fornication for a period of years before marrying a non-JW, they may feel that they have to DF her as an example.

  The impression I get is that she understands that this may happen and is hoping that she can get back in the org's good graces with an eye towards convincing you to join her. I think her long-term goal is for both of you to be PIMI JWs. But if you're happy together and the only friction is from what the organization will do, it might be the wakeup call she needs, at long last.
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  15

  Future

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i wonder what this earth will really be like in 500 years from now?.

  what are your thoughts?.

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  TonusOH

  I think the planet will be fine, but life on it will be tested. Then again, that's how things have always been. 500 years is a short geological timespan, so there may not be any supervolcanic explosions or major shifts in the Earth's crust that cause massive changes and large scale death and destruction. And the next major meteor strike might still be millions of years away. Or a week...

  I do wonder if the world will be in some backwards state due to a war or other man-made cataclysm. The human population is still growing, and that means a need for more resources (food, land, clean water, etc) and a greater temptation to take what is needed by force. I'd love to think that we'll end up solving all of our problems and building a utopia, but our minds aren't built that way and we won't have evolved enough in 500 years to fix the many issues that keep us from taking that next step.

  On the other hand, we'll have technology that can display a movie directly on your retinas and deliver sound directly to your brain. So we might not even notice that the world is disintegrating around us.
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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 websites that he has to pay to keep running are shut down, and the website that can generate cash through sales is still online. Not really a surprise.
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  13

  Does anybody ever wonder why ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  supposedly, god jehovah, el , or whatever else he may have been called many thousands of years ago, or so the storys goes ,dealt with humans on a regular basis communicating with them for either good or bad.according to how they pleased him or displeased him.. so the bible record says.. how is it that god , jehovah or whatever other name you want to call him has not communicated with humans on any level for the past 2000 years ???.

  in this scientific ,technological age ,wouldn`t you think this would be the time he would communicate with the potential dangers we face in potentially destroying ourselves and ruining the planets wildlife unless he interveined ?.

  that`s if you even beleive that such a god actually exists .. and if he does why so silent in this day and age,?.

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  TonusOH

  I've heard some people say that for God to reveal himself today would affect our free will. I don't think that would matter. The free will of the people who got to see God and hear his voice directly was not affected, and some of them used their freedom to turn from God. And frankly, would it be so bad if God revealed himself and we were able to make our choices with the full confidence of knowing? This is the same God who wishes for all to be saved. Why not take a step that would bring far more people to salvation?
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  14

  New rules for inactive ones?

  by Lynnie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  have the rules changed as far as disfellowshipping inactive ones when it's clear they are engaged in "wrongdoing?".

  i have a cousin in seattle who was disfellowshipped about 3 years ago or so and then went through the process of being reinstated (took only 6 months) and then proceeded to fade and do nothing regarding the jw's .

  fast forward to today and now she's had a baby out of wedlock and the uber jw elder father and mother are all on board somehow.

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  TonusOH

  Sometimes it's easy to see the favoritism at work. If you are in long enough, you will see examples of it. And if you are close to some of the elders, you get to hear about a lot more of it. Not only is it always a bit surprising that it is happening, it is even more shocking when you realize that they are fine with breaking certain rules or looking the other way, even though the Sunday sermons are all about minding those little things and not chipping away at one another's faith.

  I think it is one of the things that very quietly undermined my own faith. How can you say "no exceptions, you must be perfect like God" on Sunday and then shrug your shoulders when you see people who don't even try, and nothing happens to them?