Posts by TonusOH

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

I didn't have much hope for his career in standup. It isn't about whether he is funny or not, it's just that I cannot imagine him calmly or cleverly dealing with hecklers. And if you get into standup, one of the first things you will learn is that there is almost always someone in the audience who is eager to make your life miserable. Especially in smaller venues, where there is little risk to them and very little sympathy for the aspiring comic.

It's a weeding-out process. Can you keep a level head while someone is actively trying to ruin your performance? Can you deal with them in a way that gets the audience on your side? Lloyd is used to dealing with critics in a direct, over-the-top passive-aggressive manner. A heckler couldn't ask for a better target. And since he is convinced that he is the smartest and sharpest person in the room, he'll jump into the pool without checking for water.

Now I feel like we missed an opportunity. Imagine if someone were to ever post a video of him bombing on stage, or melting down when a heckler needled him a few times. It would've been glorious.

20

Five members of Jehovah's Witness congregations across Pennsylvania charged with sexual abuse of children

by was a new boy in

https://www.fox43.com/article/news/crime/sexual-abuse-of-children-jehovahs-witness-pennsylvania/521-1d54cc2e-3ec6-4d20-b67a-fc3c5e8f2580.

https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-02-07-presentment-2_7_23.pdf.

TonusOH

Elders are not trained in any field by the WTS, they are trained to follow the organization's views and teachings. They may be completely unprepared to deal with an issue that comes before them, because they frequently have no grounding in the ethical and practical considerations involved in these cases. Thus, they may take actions and make decisions that would shock anyone in a relevant field.

The WTS puts the lives and safety of people in the hands of men who are not prepared to deal with some of the issues they face, but are expected to do so while rejecting any outside help. And they are not obligated to recuse themselves, thus leading to decisions where a man is allowed to maintain a relationship with a teenager as long as he promises to marry her when she comes of age. Because I can't think of any other explanation for such a deranged decision.

8

Parting Letter

by Konagirl in

a friend of mine was compelled to reach out to as many members as possible in her congregation, by sending them the following letter that i would like to share.. to my brothers and sisters,.

i’m sure you’ve realised by now that something isn’t quite right with me as i haven’t been around in months.

the truth is i have been going through a crisis and the last few months have been the hardest time of my life.

TonusOH

Like Ding, I think most JWs will not read past the introduction. Certainly, many of them will stop when they get to this part: "For the first time in my life, I started reading the Bible on its own."

And that is terribly sad. The WTS teaches its membership to fear the Bible.

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TonusOH

waton: the Opening Post was about how how wt will wriggle out of the now expired 1914 end times trap.

Based on the discussion here, it seems they will hold on to the date and insist it is supported Biblically. I still think the organization will try to minimize it and hope the rank and file forget about it. Then, when they think the time is right, they'll revise it and express their joy at the new understanding that God has graced them with.

But we are talking decades into the future before they can consider revising it. If the 1914 date and events don't fade away from JW memory, it is a tough road ahead. They hang their authority and legitimacy on that date; if people doubt it, they will seek guidance elsewhere.

6

End of preaching work is near and coming shortly...............

by BoogerMan in

......well it was 50 years ago!!

meanwhile, millions of jw's sing diana ross' song, "i'm still waiting.".

w70 12/15 p. 758 par.

TonusOH

"One thousand years is just like a day, in Jehovah's eyes. So, when we say that the end will come any day now, we really mean in the next two-to-three-thousand years."

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TonusOH

Fisherman: WT commentary concludes that the Bible is in phase with science

I don't see how they can conclude that. They can claim it, and possibly even believe it if they try hard enough. But if they need "God used a miracle" to cover for any explanation that falls short, then the Bible is not in phase with science. If they need "God's ways are mysterious" to patch over any gaps, then the Bible is not in phase with science. Throwing darts at a chart might occasionally get you a useful result, but it's not a reliable way to learn or progress.

282

How Will They End 1914 Teaching?

by EmptyInside in

i'm sure this has been discussed, but 1914 has to go away.

instead of, the overlapping generation teaching, they should have just ditched 1914. .

they should have done that a long time ago with 1975. it's the last of the teachings in the charles taze russell era.. i'm thinking they just will stop talking about it, and it will be out of the mind of the rank and file loyal witnesses .

TonusOH

Fisherman: The faith of JW does not stand on Bible interpretation but on a perceived and experienced relationship with God.

Their faith in God might not require the 1914 explanation, but their faith in the GB as God's conduit on Earth does. A JW who loses faith in the GB and the organization's teachings does not have to lose faith in God; they are free to find another Christian denomination and test that one. The organization used the revised 1914 explanation (since their actual interpretation proved incorrect) to claim a certain authority and promote their sect. But its usefulness is waning, and may eventually work against their efforts.

20

mentally ill/delusional or con artist?

by enoughisenough in

maybe this has been discussed in the past and i wasn't here... what do you think?

are the gb members knowingly pulling a con, or do they have delusions of grandeur?

i will go out on a limb here to say that i think they are con artist.

TonusOH

I wonder how much of it is psychology at play. On the one hand, I knew a few people who worked at Bethel or visited regularly and had reasonably high-level access to the GB. These were people who struck me as 100% true believers who had no doubts about the WTS being the one true organization led by god.

And yet, learning years later about stuff that they knew, I can't fathom how they could be so loyal and faithful if they knew the things they knew. Were they really that good at deceiving everyone around them? I think they had deceived themselves, because I never got the impression (and in some cases, still do not) that they were being insincere.

Maybe it's a form of group psychosis- you aren't quite sure, but everyone around you seems to be convinced, therefore it must be true. And so you behave with full confidence, not realizing that you are helping to reinforce the delusion for other people when they had doubts. And no one wants to express their doubts, lest they draw unwanted attention!

8

The "Time of the End"

by Rivergang in

for those who still hold to the belief that the last 109 years have been part of "the time of the end", consider this: .

https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive.

it would have been quite understandable if those alive during the middle of the 6th century ad believed the "end was nigh.".

TonusOH

Jehovah's ~~Christian~~ Impatient Witnesses.

51

Is it mathematically posible for Noah and his sons to have populated the earth?

by Fisherman in

bible says flood occurred approximately 4000 years ago.

that is about *200 generations of breeding to get to the population on earth now.

keep in mind that the population increase is geometric.

TonusOH

Bear in mind that, as TD's chart shows, we do have some data regarding the population of the world over time. And the data for the past couple of centuries (if not more) should be quite precise. We know that it hasn't been a linear progression, and we know many of the factors affecting growth rates over time.