So much for their explanation that they never make any definitive statements and it is the rank-and-file who read too much into their words sometimes.
TonusOH
JoinedPosts by TonusOH
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13
1,500 Days since Stephen Lett said this:
by Chevelle in"so the events unfolding around us are making clearer than ever that we’re living in the final part of the last days.
undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the last days.
shortly before the last day of the last days.
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Bible study
by GregT ini used to attend the meetings and was baptized about 30 years ago but i haven't gone to the meetings or associated with any one i new from the congregation for around 15 - 20 years.
i want to get back to studying but i am not ready to go to any meetings.
other than the watchtower and awake what book is used these days for people just starting to study with jehovah's witnesses?.
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TonusOH
I don't think the WatchTower publications are designed to get you to think critically. Nor do they seem to like people who try to get others to do so. They still want you to read and remember the info in the book so that it shapes your views for you. Analyzing or questioning what they write is not encouraged.
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Watchtower Campus
by Gorb ininformation about the new watchtower campus, ready in 2027.. https://www.brplusa.com/projects/watchtower-bible-tract-society-new-headquarters-campus-development.
g..
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TonusOH
Sounds innovative... and a bit costly.
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1,500 Days since Stephen Lett said this:
by Chevelle in"so the events unfolding around us are making clearer than ever that we’re living in the final part of the last days.
undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the last days.
shortly before the last day of the last days.
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TonusOH
I guess at some point they will tell us that Armageddon happened invisibly. They weren't wrong, they were right and we just didn't notice!
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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
I look forward to the day when "paid members" means that he had to pay them to join.
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Where is Tony?
by Athanasius inon february 22, 2023, anthony morris iii was officially removed from the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.
a few months later it was revealed that the watchtower bought him a house in lumberton, north carolina.. however, and correct me if i am wrong, since leaving the gb nobody has reported seeing tony attending jw meetings or participating in field service.
in fact nobody has reported seeing him anywhere, not even at a local liquor store.
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TonusOH
Honestly, an old guy falling asleep in a meeting isn't necessarily narcolepsy. It's just what we do when we get old and end up sitting in a boring meeting.
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Latinos Leving Organized Religion- LA Times article
by SouthCentral inhttps://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2024-04-30/generational-differences-latinos-leaving-religion.
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TonusOH
Oh, don't get me started*. It amazes me anytime a group that emphasizes respecting other cultures then turns around and tells one of those cultures that they need to update their entire language in order to gain their approval.
I am not a "latine." I am not "latinx." I am latino. Your gender politics do not trump (hah) my culture and my language. Our use of a gender-based language offends you? Your politics-driven attempt to reshape our language offends an entire global culture. So get out of here with that bullshit.
*Oops! Too late. lol
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Why does it matter whether or not Armageddon is near?
by TxNVSue2023 inwhy does it matter whether or not the end of the world ( (armageddon) is near?
if it was next week, next year, next decade, next century?
what is to be gained by knowing how close or far it is?
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TonusOH
TxNVSue2023: No one is going to buy their way to the new world with extra activity or donations.
I agree with your premise. A lack of sincerity will not fool a god who knows our thoughts and intentions. For a believer, this truth should be paramount and ever-present and should guide their every living moment. But I would gather that there are very few people who live this kind of a life, even when they are devout believers in god and in their religious doctrines. It is no accident that "the end is near" messages have been almost constant in the centuries since the birth of Christianity. Perhaps we were created to lack urgency?
By and large, most people --including many devout believers-- live their daily lives with little more than a passing recognition of this cosmic responsibility, despite knowing that a very great or very awful outcome awaits. I think fewer and fewer people are convinced that anything will happen within their lifetimes, if at all. For the believer, this should be moot-- if god will bring about a specific future, it will happen. But I can't help but feel as if more and more, people are living their lives as if nothing is going to happen. And for all of them to date, this attitude has been justified.
An eternal god can exercise eternal patience. A very time-limited human race cannot. At some point, god has to show up, or the human race might realize that he's not something they need to concern themselves with.
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What's the Worst Advice You Heard of an Elder Giving Someone?
by Sea Breeze ini believe an an elder told someone who's daughter (14 yo) became sexually active with a 26 year old in the neighborhood, that maybe they should get married.
so, they did... with parental consent.
he turned out to be a ex-convict who shot his first wife in the face with a shotgun.
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TonusOH
Beth Sarim: WTF is going on in their brains?????
I think it's a sunk cost for many. My mother has been in since the late 60s/early 70s and lived through 1975, 1995, and everything else. She does not know about many of the issues, much like any other loyal JW, so the only possible reason to doubt is that the end just never comes. But she still repeats all of the old lines about how close it is, and how bad things are getting, and how the end cannot be far off, and so on. Her attitude is that, if the end hasn't come yet, it is closer than it was before. And that is good enough.
She's in her mid-80s and in poor health. She gave up all of her dreams at a relatively young age because she wanted Jehovah to solve all of her problems. Everything she is and everything she has is invested in this. Her only option is to grit her teeth and wait for the end, whether it is hers or the world's.
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Why does it matter whether or not Armageddon is near?
by TxNVSue2023 inwhy does it matter whether or not the end of the world ( (armageddon) is near?
if it was next week, next year, next decade, next century?
what is to be gained by knowing how close or far it is?
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TonusOH
TxNVSue2023: What is to be gained by knowing how close or far it is?
You are talking about the end of the old world, which would lead to the birth of the new. This would be a moment unequalled in human history, when humanity was finally freed from suffering and death. What is gained by knowing that it is close or far? Everything! People will live very different lives if they think the end is very close than if they think it is still far off.
The WTS knows this. When people think the end is very close, they are more active. They donate more. They preach more, which leads to more people joining because they think the end is near and they want to hedge their bets. This leads to growth, which leads to more money coming to HQ. One might think that the WTS uses this as a fundraising tactic, if one were a cynic.
TXNVSue2023: Exactly everybody dies. So what difference does it make if they have money & a retirement or not?
This should be obvious: until you die, you are alive. And while we are alive, we like to have all the comfort and security we can gather. Planning is always a good thing, but especially so as we get older. Once I'm dead, these things stop mattering. Until then, they matter quite a lot.