Posts by TonusOH

18

Former Jehovah's Witness elder committed to stand trial accused of Sunshine Coast rapes, sexual abuse

by yalbmert99 in

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-20/former-jehovahs-witness-elder-to-stand-trial-accused-of-rape/103612422.

TonusOH

Mr Mitchelson was committed to stand trial in the District Court on 53 charges, while charges of incest and torture were dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

Mr Mitchelson's defence barrister Saul Holt KC argued videos tendered to the court show acts that were consensual and "enjoyed" by those participating.

They also want to add additional charges of witness tampering.

In other words, as horrifying as this case will be, it could have been much, much worse. They did not mention whether the victims had reported the abuse to elders, and I am wondering if that will ever come up.

3064

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

LMsA: You want your kids to see the police coming round asking for their dad again?

He should be grateful if they're only looking for him in order to follow up on a lawsuit.

What did he say on his livestream? "[his daughters are] gonna grow up eventually, and they're gonna want to know what's on the internet about their daddy." Don't worry, Lloyd-- we've got that covered!

13

How long before we see a Bro. wearing one of THESE ??

by Phizzy in

.

TonusOH

I think both will eventually be allowed (earrings and tattoos), it might be a question of how it is handled. Do they just tell elders to ignore it, and only announce the change if people start to gripe? Do they get ahead of it by announcing it? The latter might have the same effect as the change regarding facial hair- next thing you know, half of the brothers are sporting new earrings, and half of the congregation is comparing their new tattoos.

Maybe the new fad will be brothers getting tattoos of small earrings on their earlobes!

3064

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

Yeah, the WTS is all about the cleansing light of truth, but they can't let people work from home because someone might see what they're working on, lol.

14

The coup against Tony Morris in order to make major changes?

by Badfish in

it’s been a long time since i’ve kept up with anything jw-related.

but just a couple days ago, i heard about all the new changes—beards, shunning, etc.

i was surprised, so i asked an old friend who i hadn’t spoken to in ages what happened.

TonusOH

You've heard a lot more than most. We know that he is no longer on the GB, and that it appears the WTS set him up with a home in North Carolina. I hadn't heard anything about him controlling the GB and finally being removed. He certainly hasn't said anything. He's gone from Tight-Pants Tony to Tight-Lipped Tony. The WTS had put up a short note on the JW website that only said that "Brother" Morris was no longer a member of the GB, then they took it down shortly after, and that is the last that they have said about it.

44

Thoughts on Likely Upcoming Changes in the Org.

by Phizzy in

i am thinking that the "ten year plan" that some have spoken of is the most likely scenario.

the org.

has to both attract new members and retain as many existing ones as possible.. so i think they will let the recent changes "bed in" for a while, maybe a year ?

TonusOH

The two-witness rule is fine for settling issues of sin or immorality that do not rise to the level of criminal actions. The problem with the two-witness rule is when it is applied in cases where there are crimes involved. Police need to be contacted, period. Their investigation and possible trial/conviction of a person is separate from the 'spiritual' investigation the elders are supposed to perform. There's no reason to prevent a person from going to the authorities or even advising against it when the law has been broken.

They should also butt out of any sort of civil legal action taken by members of the congregation. If a brother ripped you off, a group of elders is probably not qualified to perform a proper investigation and would lack legal authority to do things like subpoena documents or personal records (phone/email/etc). Telling you to let it go because it might make the organization look bad is ridiculous and stupid. It also protects scammers who might realize that a JW congregation is a perfect place to con a bunch of people out of their money (a scenario that has happened before, from what I've been told).

54

If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

by nowwhat? in

let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

if they are going more mainstream.

i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

TonusOH

Rutherford is a good reminder that you can screw things up pretty badly and still survive. They lost almost 3/4 of the membership thanks to his shenanigans from the late 10s to the mid 20s, but when he died twenty years later, there had been significant growth.

Not that I'd advise anyone to behave like Rutherford.

3064

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

Ron. W.: Perhaps he thought in the future he would be able to retire and live a non jw life of ease on the strength of these and other donations..

That would have been a possibility if he knew what he was doing. As others are pointing out, he doesn't plan. He doesn't understand the effects of his actions or the ramifications of his decisions. He was making more than the average person in Croatia, possibly by a very healthy margin. And his expenses should have been small since his in-laws were providing him with living space. Even accounting for his extracurricular activities, he should have been living well below his means and building up a sizable nest egg.

3

Wishing that You Could Make it all Go Away

by NotFormer in

there're always things we did in the past that we wish had never happened or that we could make them all go away.. the wt actually can do this, to a certain extent.

speculation about tony?

they command the r&f to stop doing it, and it goes away.

TonusOH

The closed, secretive, and controlling approach can work for some time. But it requires a lot of effort and the ability to react quickly to anything that might threaten that control. And the control has to go almost all the way to the top.

The internet has made it tougher to keep unwanted information from the rank-and-file. Even if they do not look for it, others can, and can confront them with it. The attention they are getting from courts and governments around the world for issues like CSA and shunning makes it harder to shield the rank-and-file from it. You don't have to seek out 'apostate sources' in order to learn about these cases; mainstream media is covering them, and you can read these reports from around the world from the comfort of your home PC.

Government pressure on the organization is nothing new. But now, it is much harder to control the narrative. What do you do when a congregation member gets the real story from a regular news site? Do you distrust the 'worldly media' when you are changing policies in response to their discoveries and claims? Do you demand that rank-and-file JWs only get their info from jw.org?

54

If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

by nowwhat? in

let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

if they are going more mainstream.

i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

TonusOH

That would surprise me. I suppose anything is possible, but that sounds like a really bad idea.

"Jehovah's Witnesses" is not just a name, it is effectively a brand. And it's a very well-known brand around the world. If they change it, people would append "formerly Jehovah's Witnesses" to every mention of the new name. So they would not get away from it, and it would add the additional stigma of people wondering why they changed it, which could lead to more interest in their issues with CSA and shunning, with their anti-gay stance, and with any other issues they prefer not to discuss publicly.

Changing it could lead to some confusion and disillusion among the rank-and-file, especially if the new name focuses their loyalty on someone else. They have spent almost a hundred years distinguishing themselves by their specific devotion to Jehovah. Their only other option would be Jesus, which at least would make them more Christian than they are now. But that flies in the face of decades of putting Jesus in a distant second-place to Jehovah. It's not just a drastic change; in terms of their long-term relevance, it's potentially a dangerous one.