TonusOH

Joined

• started 1 topics
• posted 3,133 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by TonusOH

• 
  56

  Can God Change his Mind?

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is 31:yet he also is wise and will bring disaster and does not retract his words.. 1 sam 15: furthermore, the eternal one of israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.. numbers 23: god is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes his mind.

  does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?.

  when the god you worship pronounces judgement, is he, really just issuing a warning or has the matter been determined through all the godly powers of insight, foresight and perfect judgement?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Halcon: Your claim that it was God, because God wasn't falsifiable assumes a great degree of thought and mental capacity on the part of its originator.

  Only if we presume that the concept was originated all at once, in an advanced/completed form, and isolated from any other ideas. I don't think this is the case. The creation of god(s) was probably a very lengthy, gradual process. Many ideas and explanations would have been offered. The ideas and explanations that could be most easily tested and challenged would have been filtered out over time. The ones that were difficult or impossible to disprove would have held on longer, and eventually been refined.

  This is why I think it's notable that there wasn't always one specific god who was put forth as an explanation. The Bible describes a god who was known to some humans personally, who performed miraculous feats that people witnessed, who was known to humanity right from the start. And yet, we find older writings and older gods than the one described in the Bible. We find older explanations for the creation of the world, and older descriptions of how things came to be. It fits more readily with the idea of gods as handy --if useless-- explanations for the unknown.
• 
  3056

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

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. 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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  That Twitter post is just begging for a reply from @cedarsjwsurvey
• 
  56

  Can God Change his Mind?

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is 31:yet he also is wise and will bring disaster and does not retract his words.. 1 sam 15: furthermore, the eternal one of israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.. numbers 23: god is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes his mind.

  does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?.

  when the god you worship pronounces judgement, is he, really just issuing a warning or has the matter been determined through all the godly powers of insight, foresight and perfect judgement?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Halcon: was it mere coincidence that instead of anything else as an explanation, time and time again it had to be God?

  I don't know if god was always the explanation for the unknown. It may have been the most convenient explanation because it wasn't falsifiable. If there was a single being responsible, one would expect that every explanation would refer to this specific being. But, over the course of human history, entire pantheons were invented and catalogued and used to explain the unknown.

  Once we developed a more reliable method for discovery and learning, we began to find testable explanations for the mysteries of nature and the universe. To date, we have not stumbled upon god as one of them. I think this is not a coincidence.
• 
  40

  Was it Designed?

  by Jeffro in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the jw website is currently featuring a piece: the shell of the diabolical ironclad beetle​—was it designed?

  it is part of their regular tedious 'was it designed?

  ' series that purports that very very specific animal species must have been specifically designed because of some seemingly amazing feature.. but they seem completely unaware that this directly contradicts their notion that only very broad 'kinds' were required on the mythical 'ark'.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Creationists 'accept' micro-evolution because they have no choice. It is so well-known and attested to that to deny it is to enter into flat-Earth territory. Speciation has also been observed, but that isn't drastic enough to convince people who think the 'crocoduck' is a legitimate objection.
• 
  15

  Taylor Swift owes me a new shirt this morning

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  go listen to the opening verse of the smallest man who ever lived..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Maybe this is why they relaxed the dress code!
• 
  56

  Can God Change his Mind?

  by peacefulpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is 31:yet he also is wise and will bring disaster and does not retract his words.. 1 sam 15: furthermore, the eternal one of israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.. numbers 23: god is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes his mind.

  does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?.

  when the god you worship pronounces judgement, is he, really just issuing a warning or has the matter been determined through all the godly powers of insight, foresight and perfect judgement?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Halcon: Why would he undermine himself by claiming someone was greater than man?

  To offload responsibility? To assign himself an authority that he didn't earn? To grift as efficiently as possible?

  Granted, the more likely explanation is that it began as a way to explain the (then) inexplicable. The development of gods into powerful invisible friends would come gradually, and the abuse of the concept would follow soon after, is my guess. The art of the con has existed about as long as human societies have.
• 
  40

  Was it Designed?

  by Jeffro in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the jw website is currently featuring a piece: the shell of the diabolical ironclad beetle​—was it designed?

  it is part of their regular tedious 'was it designed?

  ' series that purports that very very specific animal species must have been specifically designed because of some seemingly amazing feature.. but they seem completely unaware that this directly contradicts their notion that only very broad 'kinds' were required on the mythical 'ark'.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Flood myths are easy to account for. Humans --like many living things-- need water to live and thrive, so they would stay near sources of freshwater even when they were nomadic groups. The development of farming allowed for the establishment of communities that stayed in one place-- and that would have been near sources of freshwater.

  Thus, floods would have been a common experience, and massive, catastrophic floods would have occurred now and then. These would have become a part of their tales and legends, with the usual exaggeration that comes with time. Later generations would only know the basics of these tales and would build their own mythologies around them, with gods and heroes and extraordinary outcomes.
• 
  16

  Do you recognize the Truth? Watchtower July, 2024

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the stated focus of this study article is.

  focustraining ourselves to discern the difference between the truth we have learned from jehovah and the falsehoods promoted by satan and our opposers.. of course, the article goes on to claim that the truth is not only in the bible, but also from the watchtower organization.

  the first of two qualities needed to discern truth is -.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  We can maintain our confidence in Jehovah’s organization.

  "Even when we get things wrong!"
• 
  3056

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

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. 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.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  I would assume that, like most people, he divulges very little on a first date. It's where you try to put your best foot forward and impress the other person. You don't start to lift the mask until you're comfortable and think there might be some chemistry. I don't know how many dates he is getting through with any one woman before they decide to part ways, though his comedy routine would imply that it doesn't take long for that to happen.

  What I'm trying to say is, his bad luck is probably based on poor first impressions. I would imagine a date with him was like that scene in the movie Beaches where the two women meet after years apart. The first women tells the other all about her life, then ends by saying "but enough about me! Let's talk about you! What do you think of me?"
• 
  5

  Westmoreland County man charged in latest Jehovah's Witness sex abuse case

  by Tahoe in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  link to article .

  a westmoreland man was recently charged with sexually assaulting and molesting a young girl by a statewide grand jury that has been investigating sex abuse among elders in jehovah’s witness congregations across pennsylvania for years.. ronald w. mangone, 69, who was a member of the jehovah’s witness congregation in new kensington, allegedly abused the girl beginning at the age of 6 from 1991 to 1994, according to a police complaint filed april 2.. a second girl also was allegedly sexually abused by the suspect in the late 1980s, but law enforcement agents say they were unable to charge him because the statute of limitations had expired.. mr. mangone now faces three felony charges and five misdemeanor charges for sexually assaulting and endangering a minor.

  he is the latest suspect in a wide-ranging investigation that has so far led to the arrests of at least 14 others from jehovah’s witness congregations on similar charges since 2022.. “what's going on in pennsylvania has much much broader implications,” said mark o’donnell, a longtime advocate for sexual assault victims in the congregations and a witness who has appeared before the grand jury.. the sweeping investigation in pennsylvania, launched by the attorney general’s office in 2019, is the first to target jehovah’s witness groups in what has been described by some law enforcement agents as a longstanding problem within the religious organization... “it’s groundbreaking,” mr. o’donnell said.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  TonusOH

  Investigations like this are slow and difficult in the best of circumstances. But when the events occurred so long ago and victims have to consider going through the trauma of recalling them (often multiple times over the course of months or years), it has to be handled very carefully. There is frequently a lack of evidence and the only eyewitness will be the victim.

  We can read about a case from the 1980s that could not be pursued because the statute of limitations has expired. But the jury will not be allowed to hear anything like this. And there are many other details and information that will not be allowed at trial. Sometimes a case can seem very strong when presented to the public (and to a grand jury) but once you are in court things are very different. Prosecutors are understandably hesitant to move quickly on cases like this, because it feels terrible to put victims through the trauma of a trial just to watch a defendant celebrate a victory.