Posts by TonusOH

75

WATCHTOWER JAN 2025: WHY IS THE WATCHTOWER OBSESSED WITH THE RANSOM?

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/ocufvpm3t04?si=75zmussxknhlsrs7.

the first watchtower for 2025 is out, and immediately, articles 4 and 5 drew my attention.

these will be studied near the memorial season, a time the witnesses prepare for their yearly commemoration of jesus’ death, i will be returning on this articles near at the time.

TonusOH

Sea Breeze: God offers a substitute for the death penalty that we are under

We are under that penalty as a result of his actions and his decisions. God is not obligated to do anything. No one can compel him to action. The outcomes are what he specifically desires, because he created everything. Not just the universe, or the planet, or the life on that planet. He wrote the rules. The physics, metaphysics, moral structures, laws of nature... all of it. Nothing happens that is not expressly his desire, or his design, or his fault.

Threatening me with eternal punishment under those circumstances is not just unreasonable, it is supremely unjust.

29

WT vs Norway - WT sends letter to the goverment saying they have now changed their practice on DF. Asks for their funding back

by liam in

disfellowshipping is slowly fading into the night.. last efforts to survive.. https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1gh3ilq/wt_vs_norway_wt_sends_letter_to_the_goverment/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button.

TonusOH

It's interesting. They really do not want to give up shunning as a way of controlling behavior. The letter explains that they will try really really hard to be as fair as possible and that young people who are DF still have family support, but they are pretty clear that they are not going to abandon shunning. They are offering to make it less onerous, but will not give it up entirely.

I hope the response to this letter is that they encourage the WTS for taking a first step, then tell them that it is not enough. "We shun, but not as much as we used to" is not acceptable when you are asking the government to reinstate a recurring million-dollar gift.

75

WATCHTOWER JAN 2025: WHY IS THE WATCHTOWER OBSESSED WITH THE RANSOM?

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/ocufvpm3t04?si=75zmussxknhlsrs7.

the first watchtower for 2025 is out, and immediately, articles 4 and 5 drew my attention.

these will be studied near the memorial season, a time the witnesses prepare for their yearly commemoration of jesus’ death, i will be returning on this articles near at the time.

TonusOH

Sea Breeze: God has decided that the spirit of man is unfixable, it must die.

So... his original design was broken and must be fixed through lifetimes of suffering and eventual death, and then we spend an eternity in an afterlife that is determined based on acknowledging that God is in charge, and not on the kind of life we lead and the kind of person we became?

That doesn't seem reasonable. I don't think that a being who behaves this way is following a standard that we would recognize as just. Or good. It doesn't make sense.

31

Where do you see the Organization in the next 10 years?

by ukpimo in

realistically, between now and 2034, what do you think watchtower will change or reform to appear more mainstream?

what business opportunities do you see watchtower getting involved in?.

my predictions are as follows: .

TonusOH

Fallen_Winter: my Bible Study Conductor believes that the end will be in less than 20 years.

This is common amongst JWs. I was raised a JW and I was convinced I would not graduate grade school (then junior high, then high school) before the end came. The belief that the end was very near was constant. To this day, my mother is convinced that the end will happen any moment now, because conditions around the world are too difficult to see any way out. She has been repeating that line for decades, now.

If you point this out, she will fall back on the excuse that Jehovah is patient and that time moves differently for him. When JWs say "soon" they mean from God's point-of-view, and to God a day is like a thousand years and vice-versa. Of course, they are not thinking this way when they are warning of the end being soon. They only pull that excuse out when you point out that they have been saying "soon" for more than 100 years now, and most people define "soon" very differently from that.

It is a form of self-deception that is kept in place by the sunk cost of having already invested so much. Many do finally wake up and get out. But quite a few of them --my mother included-- will never give up the hope and expectation.

6

Will flu jabs STOP you from being infected & passing it on?

by BoogerMan in

according to boots the chemist, their £20 flu jab (free for over 65's) will stop infection and transmission!

"whilst no vaccine is 100% effective, having a flu jab will help protect you from catching flu and passing it on to others.

https://www.boots.com/online/pharmacy-services/winter-flu-jab-services?srsltid=afmboorkiz37qybkdbbyfij7_ii1zytwkffhgagpllu7jxzg_maqdbqd.

TonusOH

My understanding was that a vaccine would immunize the recipient, preventing infection and reducing the number of vectors for contagious diseases to spread.

Flu shots were an amalgam of likely strains that were meant to reduce the severity of flu infections and thus reduce the number of hospital stays and deaths. It would not immunize you, though it would probably reduce transmission to some extent.

The COVID shots sound a lot more like a flu shot than a vaccine. But we've updated the definition of 'vaccine' to include shots like the flu shot, which do not immunize but are meant to blunt the severity of flu season. I wish we'd found a different term for the COVID shots, because the word 'vaccine' no longer means what it used to mean.

75

WATCHTOWER JAN 2025: WHY IS THE WATCHTOWER OBSESSED WITH THE RANSOM?

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/ocufvpm3t04?si=75zmussxknhlsrs7.

the first watchtower for 2025 is out, and immediately, articles 4 and 5 drew my attention.

these will be studied near the memorial season, a time the witnesses prepare for their yearly commemoration of jesus’ death, i will be returning on this articles near at the time.

TonusOH

Earning salvation by trying to live a good life seems like a reasonable idea. If it's granted for any other reason, doesn't that imply that trying to live a good life is meaningless?

31

Where do you see the Organization in the next 10 years?

by ukpimo in

realistically, between now and 2034, what do you think watchtower will change or reform to appear more mainstream?

what business opportunities do you see watchtower getting involved in?.

my predictions are as follows: .

TonusOH

I think they will continue to make slow moves towards more mainstream Christianity, with many small changes and perhaps the occasional big change. This includes easing up on the invasive attitude and letting JWs enjoy a more normal social life.

Bigger changes will take longer. I wonder if they will eventually allow JWs to observe holidays as a "conscience matter." They will eventually drop the blood policy, if they can find a way to do it without triggering a mass of lawsuits. And, if things work out, they can finally drop the "end is closer than you think" attitude that tends to alienate more people than it attracts.

9

WATCHTOWER IS WATERING DOWN BEDROOM SURVEILLANCE?

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/hwzly3fnpdo?si=0p8zd0_9a-lwtb_9.

the study article 2 from the january 2025 watchtower study edition titled “husbands, honor your wife” represents a marked shift from the earlier, stricter watchtower stance on marital intimacy among jehovah’s witnesses.

this article’s language feels more relaxed, with paragraph 17 and its footnote stating, “the bible does not provide details as to what sexual practices between a husband and a wife should be considered clean or unclean.

TonusOH

The Bible does not provide details as to what sexual practices between a husband and a wife should be considered clean or unclean.

They really should have stopped right there. If GOD isn't worried about what they do in the bedroom, neither should the WTS or the GB. And if there is no guidance, I don't see why a couple is expected not to discuss it with others, if they so please. Even when they agree to stay out of the bedroom, they can't stay out of the bedroom!

60

Biden calls Trump supporters garbage

by moomanchu in

a comedian in a comedy sketch at a trunp rally joked that the island of puerto rico is a floating island of garbage.. what to do???

potus pappy joe to the rescue!!

he sounds the alarm, comes out swinging and calls trump supporters, actual people, garbage.. .

TonusOH

That's pretty clever.

19

Why didn't Watchtower go online with covid?

by Hellothere in

i wasn't surprised they didn't go online, i was shocked.

the perfect opportunity handed in a silver plate.

more time goes, more proof coming they took wrong decision going back to hall's.

TonusOH

The larger problem is the insular approach they take, where you are expected to avoid friendships and keep 'worldly' people at arm's length. If your religious meetings are all done via Zoom, you lose the sense of community that churches provide for so many people. And since JWs prefer to limit their social interaction to other JWs as much as possible, they are effectively cut off from any community or social interaction.

Since they are easing up on reporting requirements for preaching and on how preaching is done (more carts, less D2D), I wonder if they even need the weekly service meeting anymore. A two-hour meeting on a weekend morning featuring a public talk and Watchtower study would make things a bit less stressful for the rank and file. Combine that with allowing them to have normal social lives, and you might find that KHs are full all the time.