They always played it both ways. If there was a tragic loss of life, they pointed out that it showed the lengths that Satan would go to harm Jehovah's people, and thus demonstrated that they were indeed the truth. If deaths were avoided, it was a miracle and a clear sign of Jehovah's protective hand being extended to save his own, demonstrating that they were the truth.
TonusOH
JoinedPosts by TonusOH
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12
No Divine protection for Jehovah's Witnesses' gatherings. JW Death toll rises around the world.
by Balaamsass2 ingrowing up as a jw in the 1960s and 1970s, a common refrain from the yearbook, local elders and circuit overseers was how jws were protected at meetings, conventions, and in the field service by "the angels".
experiences of "divine intervention" during service, ww2, in communist lands, and conventions were common.
the internet and google are regularly debunking this myth in the 21st century.
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3144
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh 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.
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TonusOH
LMsA: No video for over a month, only that livestream two weeks ago.
I heartily encourage this new schedule and would only caution him not to wear himself out by doing too much in the coming year. A
growing boyprofessional activist needs his rest, after all.I am assuming the word "That" under the Attachments column is a mistranslation of the word "Yes." Which means documents were filed. Hmmm...
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3144
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh 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.
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TonusOH
By the way, there are now TWO 118-page threads talking about Lloyd's use of "green screen."
If you know what I mean...
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If 1914 gets tossed
by Leathercrop init feels like the change in reporting of hours becomes a fundamentally bigger deal every day.
the weight and importance placed on quantity was enormous, and now it's just gone.
even tho most witnesses really didn't keep "accurate" records so to speak hehehe.... this could very well be a precursor to even bigger doctrinal changes, like 1914. damn, would would happen then?.
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TonusOH
...although, now that I think about it, the overlapping generations thing might be the bigger problem for them, since it was an attempt to salvage 1914 after almost 100 years had passed. I'm sure they'd love for that stupid explanation to have never happened, but it did. And you'd probably have to replace all of the old guard before you could work on dismantling it.
So yeah, they're probably stuck with 1914 for at least several more years, if not longer.
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If 1914 gets tossed
by Leathercrop init feels like the change in reporting of hours becomes a fundamentally bigger deal every day.
the weight and importance placed on quantity was enormous, and now it's just gone.
even tho most witnesses really didn't keep "accurate" records so to speak hehehe.... this could very well be a precursor to even bigger doctrinal changes, like 1914. damn, would would happen then?.
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TonusOH
I agree that 1914 is the foundation that they built their authority on. And in the internet age, making any change to it would spread like wildfire among the exJW community. But I think we're underestimating their influence and control.
It's almost 110 years since The End officially Drew Near. 110 years might be the blink of an eye to Jehovah, but it's a long time for people. There's a reason they have always focused on how close the end is- urgency spurs people to action. If Rutherford had given a speech titled "The Great-Grandchildren of Millions Now Living Might Never Die", the organization might already be gone.
How many JWs know about 1925? How many would believe you, if you told them about it? How many, learning what really happened, would care? Heck, how many JWs still believe the BS narrative from the GB regarding 1975? How many are still in after watching the embarrassing "overlapping generations" video?? They don't need a particularly good explanation for how dropping 1914 still makes them God's Legitimate People. Just have Splane or Lett vomit up some fresh new word salad and the rank and file will shrug their shoulders and soldier on.
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3144
It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)
by Simon inuh 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.
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TonusOH
YouTube is ripe for that kind of abuse, due to the monetization policies. The more clicks you get, the more money you can earn. The less effort you put in, the more money you are making per hour. Or the more money you make for the energy invested.
Evans actually had a pretty good setup going. Easy money. And -from the standpoint of that video- it was legit. The idea of branching out made sense- how long could you focus on just the WTS before the channel became stagnant? He was growing his business and meeting people and no one cared about the bridges he was burning along the way.
And the he blew it up. Have we mentioned how catastrophic that confession livestream was?
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JWLITE
by Teddnzo ineven elders can be part of the new jw lite brigade these days.
they don’t need to go on door to door anymore and there is no requirement for anything really.. taking meeting parts is all dead easy you could turn up on the day with zero preparation because it’s all in the meeting workbook.. quarterly elders meetings are just old men having a good old natter just like old men do down the pub.. congregations could be likened to pubs or bars these days just without the drinks, those come at other times.. no need for territory maps, these almost went away with covid letter writing now they are extremely slow getting finished as those who still go door to door only do ten mins.. you could even voice your questions these days about things the gb say and then just say “we can’t be dogmatic we just don’t know”.
i predict they will say this about 1914 soon..
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TonusOH
Teddnzo: All you have to do is become inactive or almost inactive, do as much or as little as you want or feel like. But don’t leave altogether.
I may have asked this before, but isn't this basically PIMO?
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No Reporting of Time, Tithing is OK, Now WT Teaches a "Rapture" - What's Next?
by Sea Breeze inthose who will be taken to heaven will first need to be “changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, during the last trumpet.” therefore, while we do not use the term “rapture” here because of its wrong connotation, the remaining faithful anointed will be gathered together in an instant of time.
- the watchtower—study edition | july 2015. ok so they refuse to use the word "rapture".
kinda like they refuse to use the word church and clergy (except when it suits their purposes in court cases).
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TonusOH
Maybe next month's Watchtower will feature an article titled "The Pope: Unfairly Maligned?"
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What If The Tower Fell?
by Big Dog inwhat if the truly unthinkable happened and the tower went down?
perhaps the irs swooped in and claimed fraud and padlocked the headquarters and kingdom hall doors?
or the gb took the money and ran to a nice non-extradition country to live out their years?
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TonusOH
My mother would see it as expected persecution and hold on. At least at first. If the org was unable to communicate and get any kind of message out, I don't know what she'd do.
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If 1914 gets tossed
by Leathercrop init feels like the change in reporting of hours becomes a fundamentally bigger deal every day.
the weight and importance placed on quantity was enormous, and now it's just gone.
even tho most witnesses really didn't keep "accurate" records so to speak hehehe.... this could very well be a precursor to even bigger doctrinal changes, like 1914. damn, would would happen then?.
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TonusOH
If they were going to drop or modify the 1914 teaching, they would need to ignore it and not mention it at all for a number of years, so that the rank and file forget about it. Then they can offer up new light and say that Jehovah has given them a new understanding through the holy spirit. They will word it the way they usually do- 'isn't it great that Jehovah has blessed us with this new understanding? How wonderful he truly is!'
No one will want to point out that this means that Jehovah was misleading them for more than a century. That kind of talk can get you in a room with three elders before you can say "apostate"! They will be forced to agree that it's amazing that they now have learned these new truths and look forward to facing the end of the present system of things, which is no doubt going to happen any second now.