Posts by TonusOH

3150

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

by Simon in

jw
friends

uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

TonusOH

At least a few of the comments in that Reddit thread are from people who knew of Evans but did not know of his recent scandal, even more than two years later. So it shows how topics like this one still serve a purpose after all this time- there are still people who only know him as an exJW doing "good work" against the WTS. And they don't buy his bullshit explanations for why he is a bad husband and father.

At this point, I doubt any of his patrons are unaware that something happened. And it's pretty easy to find out the details. They can get most of it from Evans himself.

7

Your Opinion of Jehovah's Witnesses and Their Religion?

by Vanderhoven7 in

i thought this fellow, not sure if he is pimo or pomo, who goes by the name anonymous, gives a fair opinion summary.. "i was a jw for many years, but generally not a particularly stellar example of one.

your question has two components, and i will address them separately:.

opinion of jws as a people:.

TonusOH

It is one of numerous religions that use social pressure as a key component. They expect members to limit their association with anyone who is not a member in good standing (with some leeway for those who are not yet baptized but show the propensity to do so). There are many religions that request/require some level of social self-limiting, but few are as strict. The selection criteria is simple- anyone who isn't a JW --or isn't showing genuine interest in becoming one-- is to be avoided socially as much as possible.

It is an unreasonable level of control, and it is unhealthy. It harms families and individuals by placing unnecessary mental and emotional burdens on them.

165

Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool - October 2023

by DerekMoors in

it's not too early to place your bets for how many patrons his royal thighness will lose in october.

as of this writing, his tally stands at 457. so, where do you think he'll be on october 2?

lucky number 420?

TonusOH

Those numbers give me the impression that he pushed hard to get people to become patrons and had some success, but others are dropping away as the content either slows or becomes less about the WTS and more about Lloyd and his personal battles against his persecutors. As with the "criminal lawsuits," he tells them of this grave conspiracy to ruin him, but is conspicuous in his unwillingness to provide even the slightest detail. 'It's not your business,' he probably tells them, as he asks them to support him with their wallets.

I wonder what happens if any of them ask for those details. I suspect it is not pleasant. It's tough to support someone with your dollars if you're not sure they are deserving of it. 'Trust me, or I'll get upset' is not the sort of attitude that inspires confidence. I'm sure he explained to them why he wiped out his Twitter accounts, but I wonder how many of them are no longer convinced by his explanations...

8

They still call it Pizza but it doesn’t taste like it anymore.

by Fisherman in

i remember as a kid that a slice of pizza was a dime, the same price for a large bag of m&ms or a large hershey’s bar or an ice cream popsicle, box of cracker jacks, bag of potato chips, bus fare.

the dimes were made out of silver and many of them were mercury dimes with the dates worn off.

…and while nowadays except for the pizza, everything tastes about the same only now costing 10 times as much, bus fare costs 28x as much and pizza costs 40x as much:.

TonusOH

There were a couple of places in NYC that made really good pizza. Both had shut down years before I left for the midwest. There are pizza places out here, and some make a good pizza, just not as good as what I remember having in NYC. You wouldn't think that a paper-thin slice of cooked dough with a bit of sauce and cheese would be such a big deal, but that's still what I think of when I think of good pizza.

32

I received Blood...What are the JW's going to do to me?

by smoky21 in

i haven't posted on here for years.

i also don't frequent this forum like i used to.. i have posted my story before, like 8 years ago.

i have been a baptized witness for the last 30+ years, but have not attended meetings in the last 15 years.

TonusOH

Does the WTS still expect members to turn others in when they learn of something like this? It's a thorny issue, and I think it is usually left to an individual's conscience. But they may feel as if someone who does not report another JW is allowing 'spiritual corruption' into the congregation.

I do think that most JWs don't take an absolutist approach to this stuff, but the most devout ones would not hesitate to put the organization before family/friends. That is what a 'good Christian' would do, after all...

3150

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

by Simon in

jw
friends

uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

TonusOH

DerekMoors: Several things wrong with that

I think you're correct on all of those points. He also has another potential problem with doing this- some cults are aggressive towards their critics. How much can he say about Scientology, for example? If he gets enough traction, he will find himself in their crosshairs and they will happily put his embarrassing past on full blast for everyone to see. And good luck filing a criminal lawsuit against them in Croatian court!

He will have to restrain his content and his reach in order to avoid having his past waved in his face at every opportunity. So his choices are to remain a small and insignificant channel, or spend most of his time getting absolutely roasted by the very cults he is trying to expose. I openly encourage him to take the latter route.

32

Sagely advice of a CO

by Vidqun in

“a circuit overseer started out by saying that on this last round of the circuit, the one thing he noticed the most...is that everyone is physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually drained...and that cuts across all barriers and demographics within the truth.

he then said that the one common thread that ran among nearly everyone was this: we feel guilty for feeling bad.

he said because we are told to endure with joy, our minds can cause us to feel enormous guilt over feeling this way...and then, my dear brothers and sisters...he proceeded to blow our collective minds.. he asked us to turn to daniel 8:27….

TonusOH

It is an essential part of having control over the membership. I would not have dreamed of even making eye contact with anyone who was identified as an apostate, much less listening to anything they might have to say. Until I left, the only things I knew about Ray Franz was that he was Fred Franz's nephew, had served in the governing body, and was an apostate. I wouldn't even search for info on him until I knew I wasn't a JW anymore.

It's an effective approach, to terrify people into avoiding those who could damage their faith the most. It shouldn't make sense- if you have the truth, falsehoods aren't something to fear. But irrational fears seem to be the most powerful.

60

Is There Concrete Evidence That The Org. Has Covered up Child Abuse?

by Vanderhoven7 in

i hear of a plenty of personal testimonies of abuse but it is harder to prove organizational complicity.

.

TonusOH

Fisherman: Also when a penitent confesses privileged information to a minister is a minister covering up a crime or a sin if he doesn’t turn the person in?

I would say that yes, they are, at least as regards the crime.

3150

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

by Simon in

jw
friends

uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

TonusOH

"I won't let them silence me," he exclaimed, as he shut down his social media presence.

165

Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool - October 2023

by DerekMoors in

it's not too early to place your bets for how many patrons his royal thighness will lose in october.

as of this writing, his tally stands at 457. so, where do you think he'll be on october 2?

lucky number 420?

TonusOH

Don't worry too much about the day-to-day fluctuation, keep the long-term trend in mind. It's possible (and I suspect that this is the case) that he is working feverishly to get the numbers up, doing so in the background or privately. If he has to work that hard just to slow the decline, that's fine- it's become clear that his Patreon is on a downward slide that he is unable to stop.

His attempts to hide, minimize, or excuse his words and actions are hurting him. It's too late anymore for him to stand up and take accountability, and as time goes on more people will become aware of the things he has said and done. I think the letters to his wife are particularly damaging, and those have not received a lot of attention. So there are more opportunities for people to learn that he's a terrible human being.