Posts by TonusOH

38

Struggling to find a purpose

by My Name is of No Consequence in

i spent most of my life in the org.

we were taught that our purpose in life was to serve jehovah.

that never really made sense to me, but it was still a purpose to keep going.

TonusOH

Nathan: Many JWs I knew in my long-ago youth would have said the purpose in life was to "be happy." I still think that is right

Me too. I think that people want to be happy above all else. The things we do and pursue are based on happiness at some level. I think it's very helpful for any individual to take stock of his/her life and figure out what would make them happy, then plan accordingly.

If I'm only here for a short time and then I am gone, I'd like to have lived a life where I was happy as often as I was able to be. That is the essence of the concept of enjoying what you have, while you have it. One of the more insidious outcomes of religious belief is that people will live a life of suffering and deprivation because they believe that life will really begin after they die. If they're wrong, the collective wasted talent over the course of human existence is staggering.

22

Two gems from February 2023 Study Watchtower

by BoogerMan in

february 2023 study watchtower: .

p. 16, par.

5 - ”when we base our discussions on material published by jehovah’s organization, (not the bible!

TonusOH

Rattigan350: There was a GB update that said not to look for that cry and it appears that many didn't even notice that.

I think it's because they are so conditioned to look for signs that the end is near. I remember when the UN designated 1986 as the Year of Peace and Security. If ever there was a moment to recognize a sign, that was it. It may be that, after nothing came of it, the WTS decided to be a bit more circumspect. That was only a few years after they finally made a grudging concession about 1975, and they would not have wanted to stall growth after it had picked up again.

4

Christine McVie has passed

by Las Malvinas son Argentinas in

christine mcvie of one of my favourite bands of all time, fleetwood mac, has passed away.

i don’t think she got as much credit as stevie nicks and lindsay buckingham as she should have, but she wrote her fair share of hit songs.

such a beautiful and smooth voice to go along with stevie’s unique style.

TonusOH

She and her husband always struck me as the only sane members of Fleetwood Mac. Great band with a lot of memorable songs. Sad to hear of her passing.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

I am curious to see if he mentions it. I don't think he would defend it as much as he would lie about almost every aspect of it, but I also think he would need to be very careful how he covers that part of his life. His legal actions in Croatia won't amount to anything, but if he makes false and defamatory claims in his book, he might be on the other side of a legal case. And if he is selling his book internationally, his sales from the book could be within easy reach of a plaintiff looking to collect on a judgment.

And there is also the issue that others apparently have more pictures and messages that he would not want to be made public. Information that could wreck his attempt at salvaging his reputation. Does he really want to risk that? For a book that won't make much money?

38

Struggling to find a purpose

by My Name is of No Consequence in

i spent most of my life in the org.

we were taught that our purpose in life was to serve jehovah.

that never really made sense to me, but it was still a purpose to keep going.

TonusOH

"Has anyone else felt this way? What have you done, or am doing, about it?"

I am catching up. There were two specific things I wanted to do when I was growing up --draw comics and write horror stories-- that I always avoided because they did not fit with my perception of a good JW. When I finally freed myself mentally, it still took some time to accept that I could now do both of those in good conscience. So now I spend some of my free time drawing and writing. It has come along very slowly, but I can recall the day I sat down and asked myself "what it is that you want to DO? What would give you a sense of fulfilment?" And the answer was easy: tell stories.

So I've worked on doing that ever since.

So my advice is: sit down and have a long talk with yourself about what you really would like to do. What do you want to accomplish? What gives you a sense of joy, of fulfilment? When you find the answer, start working towards those things as a goal. In other words, find something that makes you happy, and do that thing. And be happy.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Eh, I think he really meant to say that the donations help him to keep shitting out content. God bless him, he's trying to stay humble by only upgrading the term to "churn." He might save himself after all!

As for his promise to produce a documentary, there's a really juicy one that he could call "How I Ruined 2022 For Myself and My Family." Can't wait!

25

Did YOU have 'princes' in YOUR congregation?

by BoogerMan in

lol .

w54 5/1 p. 277 par.

17 - some of the “great crowd” are now serving in position of “princes,” .

TonusOH

Well, Prince did join the JWs for a time, but that's about it as far as I know.

6

non US folks and pumpkin pie

by carla in

sorry, i didn't know how to classify this- on some cooking boards i am on i came across how some do not understand pumpkin pie at all, particularly down under.

there was a whole thread about picking up libby's pumpkin pie filling (and the expense) and then came the subject of vegemite which does not sound good to me but can't say as i have never had it.

with all the sugar and spices what is not to like about it?

TonusOH

Pumpkin pie is kind of like cheesecake. You wouldn't think that dropping a blob of cream cheese (or pureed pumpkin) on a pie crust would work very well, but... mix it with a lot of sugar and suddenly it works. Creamy and sweet.

It's not my favorite, but that's because my mom ruined squash for me by always boiling it until it was a fibrous, mushy, tasteless mass. She did the same with spinach and okra. No idea why she did that, she was an amazing cook and usually not afraid to experiment and find something that worked. But some foods she would just boil too long and serve. Go figure.

98

Who raised Jesus from the dead?

by Blotty in

i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.

(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.

galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.

TonusOH

Isn't Jehovah described as the God of Armies? You get the impression that he was part of a pantheon of gods at one point. And they weren't the only gods, since the ten plagues of Egypt indicates that Yahweh had challenged the Egyptian pantheon and --as one might expect in a work by his devoted followers-- he thrashed them soundly. The Egyptian gods were only able to duplicate some of Yahweh's miracles, and their attempt to replicate the turning of a rod into a snake was a humiliation when Aaron's rod-snake (heh) devoured the others.

I think a cool book would be the one where it is described how Yahweh struck down all of the other gods and took over as the one and only. Did he lock them in some alternate dimension? Did he steal their powers and trap them in the center of a star? Did he... =gulp= ...kill them?!?!?

There's an effects-laden HBO max-series just waiting to be filmed!

349

Who really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?

by Godlyman in

if anyone were to come up to you claiming that they are the faithful and discreet slave, how would you go about proving them to be false, based upon scripture?.

estephan.

TonusOH

Godlyman: I will reveal them shortly.

Finally! After more than two thousand years of waiting!