Posts by TonusOH

46

Bible MIRACLEs!! Are they a Myth or Emeth?

by Fisherman in

the bible records miracles such as resurrections, angels, prophecy and destructive acts of god to mention a few.

are these all a pack of lies?

how do you explain them?

TonusOH

Many ancient books/texts "record" miracles. Vespasian was said to have performed miraculous healing, including restoring the sight of a blind man. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of such "records." Maybe they all happened. More likely, it's a common human tactic to "record" things that didn't happen, or "record" details that are not true.

As cofty points out, this activity continues into the modern day. Ask yourself why you are convinced about one set of 'recordings' and unconvinced about others. That might help you understand those of us who are not convinced about any of them.

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TonusOH

When they made the "generation" change in 1995, where they appeared to try to quietly drop it, that was when they had the opportunity to let it fade away. Once they revived it with the 'overlapping generations' explanation, they effectively doubled down. Now they are committed to it, like it or not. If they try to reverse it now, it would be a glaring admission that they were stumbling about in the dark the whole time.

It's possible that they felt they needed to address it somehow, and adding fifty or so years to the explanation lets it fade away without them having to ever talk about it again. But that just kicks the can down the road. They won't be able to handwave it in 2076, assuming they're still relevant at that time (or that they haven't shut down by then).

170

Staying in physically for all the benefits

by Indoubtbigtime in

i wonder how many are like me staying pimo for the great association and gathering etc.

also find it very interesting having a front row seat watching the collapse of borg.. im not wasting any more time or money on anything i don’t want to do like preaching and mostly just go on zoom .

there is nothing i want to do that would be considered disfellowshiping sin, i’m married and want to live by bible principles but i have serious doubts that the gb were chosen by god and are his one and only spokesmen on earth.

TonusOH

"Perception deception" sounds like confirmation bias, which is just one of the ways that our brain works in order to manage the overwhelming amount of sensory information we gather every waking moment. Unfortunately, our brains aren't very good at figuring out that we've drastically changed our world over the past few thousand years, so it still behaves as it did when we were hunter gatherers out on the plains.

It also means that maintaining a skeptical outlook is very difficult, because we are programmed to bias towards certain info, ideas, views, etc. And we also tend to invest ourselves far deeper than is warranted, given the limited information we usually have. It's recipe for taking a side on an issue and being very reluctant to let go.

6

ChatGPT and all the data in this forum

by StephaneLaliberte in

hey simon, have you considered pushing all the knowledge gathered in this forum into an instance of chatgpt?

since its open source, i believe you could download, install and configure an instance of it.

would be quite interesting to interact with the data gathered in this forum through that medium..

TonusOH

Hmmm, whose posting history would be used to train the AI?

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

So, after stating repeatedly that he wasn't asking for money, he celebrates that he received enough money to keep the ~~grift~~ channel going. But no, he totally wasn't asking for money. Maybe now, Stephen Lett will do a YT video chastising Evans.

And LOL at "due to the events of last year." He has to tread carefully around his donors, lest more of them find out that he has been misleading them in order to keep the money well from completely drying up.

4

Should you confess your sins?

by Fisherman in

confessing to a crime lands a person in jail or worse.

there is a very interesting out of context commentary in a law book under the topic that describes the role of a child advocate that explains how humans intrinsically want and need to be free at all costs without encumbrances.

(in germany for example, the government recognizes this basic need and doesn't penalize jail escapes.

TonusOH

I think that, for Christians, the issue comes down to what is the greater cost. There are social (and potentially legal) costs to be paid if you confess, and you might avoid these if you do not. But if you sin and do not seek forgiveness, your eternal soul may pay the cost. And that can be far greater than whatever would have happened during your life.

An adulterer who confesses faces shame, loss of prestige, and changes to their relationships with their family and friends, and possibly more. But an adulterer who keeps the act a secret could lose out on an eternity in Heaven. If enough secrets have been kept, he may be hell-bound. Confession seems the only rational option.

16

Talked to JWs Today at a Cart Stand

by Sea Breeze in

jw
friends

they were positioned in a walk way and i had to go right pass them.

i tried to keep walking but my legs went straight to them like they had a mind of their own.. they pointed to john 17:3 on how to get saved.

1 peter 3:18. .

TonusOH

I don't think I can bring myself to confront JWs. But that's because I shy away from confrontation in general, and I probably wouldn't feel as if there was enough at stake to challenge them. And seeing my old JW self in their replies would be so weird and awkward.

I do recall a point when I was sitting on a bench waiting to be picked up by a friend, and a JW sat down next to me and started preaching. This was the first time I ever played along, and I was struck at how simplistic the sales pitch was, when I was finally seeing it from the other end instead of delivering it to someone else. I think that's why the GB stress that they are not to engage anyone who challenges them. They realize how poorly prepared they are to defend the JW belief structure.

39

Is Russia Bluffing?

by Fisherman in

“supplies of offensive weapons to the kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe,” state duma chairman vyacheslav volodin said.

“if washington and nato supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons.”.

what is russia implying?

TonusOH

They clearly feel confident in sending tanks, which seems like an escalation. Then again, they've been sending large amounts of munitions and equipment, including the systems that have been allowing Ukraine to bomb Russian units from afar. And they've been training Ukrainian troops in some of the NATO nations.

If they're wrong... it was nice knowing you all.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

KIMSILVIO: the legal case “will be discontinued” due to a lack of funds

Another broken promise!* He was going to pursue it even when he was 84. He didn't even make it to 45. I wonder if 'coming up short' is a common problem for him.

As for getting a job, that's tough to imagine. Especially a job in a service industry. A demanding bully who chafes at the smallest issue and is incapable of letting even a minor disagreement go? That's not the type of person you want facing your customers each day.

*to clarify, I'm aware that this is a prediction from Kim and hasn't happened yet. Gotta keep the record straight.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

He sounded more like "I'm in rough financial shape, so here is where you can donate. Mind you, I'm not suggesting you should send me money, no way! But if you were inclined, you can send it to me here. But really, I'm not asking for money, you don't need to send any! But here's where you can send me money. Honest, I'm not asking for money! But still..."

And those Thai hookers are an incredible deal! How much "dating" can you get if you buy them a meal? Was it an expensive dinner? Is there a sliding scale? Do you only get a handjob if you buy her a burger and fries?

Poor Lloyd, he can't even abandon his family for a few "dinner dates" in Thailand without being forced to read accusatory tweets from the Silvo Mob. It's almost enough to drive a man back home to his wife and kids!