TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  14

  Request----2022 Circuit Overseer Guidelines in PDF!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2022 circuit overseer guidelines pdf.. .

  https://www.filemail.com/d/kphgslnjfxwgjxk .

  atlantis!.

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  TonusOH

  Thank you, Atlantis. Are these and future documents going to be added to the site your friend is hosting?
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  13

  Living your life according to the bible

  by TTWSYF in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have heard it said [numerous times] that jws live their life according to the bible.. i have also heard [numerous times] that jws have restored the correct christian practice following the great apostasy [?which is a different topic].

  my question is 'is there any proof anywhere in history where jewish or christian people lived their life according to the scriptures?".

  ttwsyf.

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  TonusOH

  It can be argued that there were people who lived their lives according to the Divine will, before they had Scriptures to depend on. Moses, Enoch, Job, etc. Granted, they purportedly had something a bit more direct than a written guide.
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  52

  List of Things We Were NOT Allowed To Do as JW's

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's my list of jw no-no's as i recall: .

  1. no giving or accepting valentine candy for students.

  2. no going to home coming football games.

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  TonusOH

  Sea Breeze: 45. Not allowed to participate in most extracirricular activities at school

  Or work, either, as I learned when I played a season with a softball team in a corporate league. I got a 'friendly' talking-to about how I was in good shape to become an MS and it just wouldn't look good if I was spending leisure time with worldly people. I dutifully informed my co-workers that I would no longer be on the team, became an MS, and coincidentally began to fade.
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  It does show that the efforts of people to expose him are acting as an irritant, at the very least. I do hope he does not stop referring to the lawsuits. I want him to keep reminding everyone about them, so when they end up going nowhere he won't be able to pretend that they never happened.

  And LOL at him thinking that "there were only 17 of us there" was an effective comeback to someone explaining that anyone could show up. Maybe you can respond by wondering out loud if the reason only 17 people were there was because they found out Lloyd was going to show up.
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  59

  Why isn't this forum growing like reddit exjw??

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  admittedly it 90% crap over there but still they are up to 80k in subscribers.

  over here it's the same half dozen or so that posts something, including myself.

  why is that?.

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  TonusOH

  I also found this site by accident, and there was a long topic about people who had served in Bethel, where they pulled back the curtain on what it was really like. I haven't found it again but it was fascinating to read at the time. I had already been out for some years but in some ways the image of Bethel as a small Christian utopia was still in the back of my mind. So, on the one hand, I was not surprised at what I was reading. But on the other hand, it really brought down the walls that protected my view of the HQ.
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  14

  2022--Library-One!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those that may want to have this for research.

  i think pretty soon the elder letters will be included.. .

  https://jws-library.one/ .

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  TonusOH

  Wow, that is impressive Atlantis! Great work, and thanks!
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  6

  Australia 2021 Census: why did JW grow?

  by shepherdless in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi all, some may remember about 5 years ago, i did a few articles on what the australian census of 2016 said about jw and some other religions.

  i have been meaning to add a bit on the 2021 census; the more detailed results have only been available in the last month or so.. an obvious question is why and how did jw numbers increase between 2016 and 2021. it is reasonable to assume the pandemic had a role.

  the data doesn't fully answer that question, but it does show that a lot of over 35 y.o.

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  TonusOH

  Difficult times tend to favor the JW efforts, as people are more likely to hedge their bets. Older JWs in particular might be more inclined to return 'just in case.' Then, as time passes and nothing happens, the numbers will dwindle again.
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  His version of rock bottom is very deep. I expect him to keep swinging and fighting until well past the point where he is alone and should have realized that he ruined himself and his family. He has a long way to go.
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  25

  God Has Only One Visible Organization on Earth!

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  why is it important to some that god only have one visible organization to represent him on earth?

  why is it important to jehovah's witnesses that people recognize their organization as such?

  what makes a witness more moral or righteous or save-worthy if they accept that it is his one and only organization?

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  TonusOH

  The WTS preaches that there is a single visible organization because that way, they can insert themselves between God and humanity. Being a gatekeeper in that sense confers immense power and influence on a person or group. The leadership of the WTS has always pushed the idea that he/they are God's conduit on Earth.

  It's also nonsense, of course. If I can reach out to God directly in prayer, and God listens to prayers and answers prayers... why do I need a man or a group of men to intervene? Didn't Jesus already intervene in the way that actually mattered? Didn't He specifically mention that He was the conduit, not some hucksters who wouldn't even be born for some 1,900 years?

  If God is within reach to me, why would I depend on someone else to act as a middle man? Too many religions treat God as if he was a CEO, needing intermediaries at every step of the way, keeping the little people from ever even catching a glimpse of him. No no no! I have a direct line. Step aside, please.
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  59

  Why isn't this forum growing like reddit exjw??

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  admittedly it 90% crap over there but still they are up to 80k in subscribers.

  over here it's the same half dozen or so that posts something, including myself.

  why is that?.

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  TonusOH

  joey jojo: the other 99% seem to be sh1t-posting for lulz.

  *raises hand* I joined here because it was a place where I could get info on what was going on with Evans. He has continued to provide entertainment, and I've also found other topics here where I can express thoughts on my past as a JW and on whatever the WTS is doing these days, since I still have family in the religion. I like it here.

  The discussion volume may not be very diverse and dominated by one discussion, but I don't think that abandoning the Evans thread would fix that. And the slow pace suits me, I don't really want to have to keep track of dozens of topics. So it's a cozy place for me.

  I try not to encourage or discourage people on what to post, because people are who they are, and they're more interesting and engaging when they aren't restrained from being themselves. I don't care for the political fringes on either end, but I have friends within each of those groups and we get along well enough (as long as they never meet, I guess). I don't run this board, so my best option if I see something I don't like is to ignore it. Or poke fun, if I'm feeling mischievous.