Posts by TonusOH

20

mentally ill/delusional or con artist?

by enoughisenough in

maybe this has been discussed in the past and i wasn't here... what do you think?

are the gb members knowingly pulling a con, or do they have delusions of grandeur?

i will go out on a limb here to say that i think they are con artist.

TonusOH

I wonder how much of it is psychology at play. On the one hand, I knew a few people who worked at Bethel or visited regularly and had reasonably high-level access to the GB. These were people who struck me as 100% true believers who had no doubts about the WTS being the one true organization led by god.

And yet, learning years later about stuff that they knew, I can't fathom how they could be so loyal and faithful if they knew the things they knew. Were they really that good at deceiving everyone around them? I think they had deceived themselves, because I never got the impression (and in some cases, still do not) that they were being insincere.

Maybe it's a form of group psychosis- you aren't quite sure, but everyone around you seems to be convinced, therefore it must be true. And so you behave with full confidence, not realizing that you are helping to reinforce the delusion for other people when they had doubts. And no one wants to express their doubts, lest they draw unwanted attention!

8

The "Time of the End"

by Rivergang in

for those who still hold to the belief that the last 109 years have been part of "the time of the end", consider this: .

https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive.

it would have been quite understandable if those alive during the middle of the 6th century ad believed the "end was nigh.".

TonusOH

Jehovah's ~~Christian~~ Impatient Witnesses.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TonusOH

Bear in mind that, as TD's chart shows, we do have some data regarding the population of the world over time. And the data for the past couple of centuries (if not more) should be quite precise. We know that it hasn't been a linear progression, and we know many of the factors affecting growth rates over time.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

LMsA: He really did expect people to turn on Kim and shout her to the very fringes of the community.

I think that was closer to happening that it might seem now. Had he and his supporters managed to bury Kim, he would be rebuilding his Patreon as we speak. But I think it speaks to just how awful his actions were. And I mean the ones he admitted to. He cheated on his wife by paying women for sex, regularly, for years.

The bit about the earthquake was just another of those revealing moments. He feels the tremors and races outside, leaving behind his shoes... and also his family. And it did not occur to him how bad this would look!

This is what will keep haunting him. His brand was built around judging others, around pointing out their flaws and unmasking them in front of the world. And it turns out he's a self-centered pig with a closet full of skeletons. How many people happily held up a mirror when he tried to act smug over altworldly's confession video? His moment to shine, ruined by his own past.

He should get used to that.

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

I must be getting old, I can't spot trolls until they make it obvious anymore. Or are they just getting that good?

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

People who hire other people to protect them from the consequences of their actions are often the most toxic people around.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TonusOH

luckynedpepper: For today's population, I'm not smart enough to read the number it spits out.

It's scientific notation, I think. Starting from a population of six, with a growth percentage of 2% and 6,520 years of time, human population would be this much today:

710,020,908,818,175,600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

I'd say that mitigating factors account for a whole lot more than I anticipated.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Diogenesister: How on earth is a "survey" only taken by apostates, or at best PiMOs whose views on Watchtower are essentially the same, going to be of help to JWdotnet "for (sic) a business perspective"???

That sounded like an effort to include anything that could add weight to his demands. If he had been asked for specifics, I would expect either a lengthy word-salad full of Google-searched technical terms, or a terse "I'm not here to do your work for you" dismissal. It's a classic technique of snake-oil salesmen; imply that everyone can benefit in a tangible manner if they provide him with support, while avoiding any explanation of just how this would be possible.

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

The level of hair-splitting required to deny the 70 years of domination claim is staggering. If your standard is "the exact wording*," then it should be applied to any claims in this topic, in which case the Bible doesn't say anything about any of the claims, right?

*(Or even better, the exact wording in English!)

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TonusOH

One would also have to take into account the factors that can slow population growth, especially infant mortality rates and disease epidemics. As late as the 1950s, infant mortality rates in the USA were around three percent. Globally today, it's still around 4-5%. In the distant past, it may have been as high as 50%. The Black Death of the mid-1300s may have wiped out more than a quarter of the world's population at the time, and the world population would take some 150 years to recover. And then there's the near-constant state of war the world seems to find itself in for as long as humans have been around.

A minor nitpick would be that we also have to assume a steady ratio of men-to-women to keep up an ideal rate of births. I have no idea if we've ever reached it, or how much that ratio fluctuates, but it could be a factor.