Posts by TonusOH

3041

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

by Simon in

jw
friends

uh 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.

TonusOH

Yep. We have been predicting this for a while. He lost the enthusiasm for making videos when most of the people who did the heavy lifting went away. He has lost the enthusiasm for WatchTower content. He wants to do the lazy influencer thing, where he does a few ten-minute stream-of-consciousness rants and gets tens of thousands of dollars a month. He is having trouble hiding his contempt for everyone, including his supporters.

What can his supporters do? If they try to encourage him, they risk getting berated by him. If they dare to reduce their support, he will consider it a betrayal on the level of "what Kim did." The only realistic option is to rip the bandaid off and walk away altogether, knowing that he will never forgive them for it. Just 320-ish more to go.

22

Article - New Zealand: Jehovah's Witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522908/jehovah-s-witnesses-lose-last-ditch-court-case-over-abuse-in-care-report?fbclid=iwzxh0bgnhzw0cmteaar1g3qvzxlojo2szcm6xlsf2tsc_0rehd4dp4i6rda6zxafplc_v2hzvvf4_aem_pztghhvtf5to8qsjtv3m0g.

july 23, 2024. jehovah's witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report.

jehovah's witnesses have failed in an eleventh hour attempt to block part of a lengthy report about abuse in care that is about them.. .

TonusOH

The summary reads a bit like the report from the Royal Commission in Australia. If there is a more detailed and in-depth report, I suspect it will also read the same way: abuse cases being poorly-handled and victims being outright mistreated by the very people who were supposed to "shepherd" them and serve the congregation faithfully. Men who were more concerned about the organization's rules and public image than they were about getting predators off the street. And so on.

29

Will Governing Body follow through with New Zealand Royal Commission's recommendation to publicly apologize?

by was a new boy in

'following on from an apology from the prime minister, the commission recommends all faith-based leaders offer a public apology, including the pope, the archbishop of canterbury, the president elect of the methodist church, the moderator of the presbyterian church in new zealand and the head of each individual presbyterian support organisation, the general of the salvation army, the overseeing shepherd of gloriavale, and the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses.'.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/govt-takes-blame-will-apologise-to-children-abused-and-tortured-in-state-care/ar-bb1qwoyt?ocid=bingnewsverp.

TonusOH

no-zombie: The problem with offering a public apology, is the admission of guilt that goes with it.

Yes, this is a huge problem for them. They have always told the rank-and-file that JWs are not like the other religions, and one of the defining qualities is that CSA is not a problem in the organization because they take quick and decisive action to protect families and remove predators.

...and now they are being asked to apologize for NOT protecting families and NOT removing predators. The plate of crow that they are being asked to eat is so large that they cannot even imagine the task. To apologize is to admit that they have been lying to the rank-and-file for decades.

115

Vice President Kamala Harris…your thoughts??

by minimus in

jw
friends

good pick?

bad pick?

helpful to president biden?

TonusOH

a watcher: Americans will get the President that they will tolerate, for better or worse.

Or the one we deserve, for becoming complacent. The US President is supposed to be a figurehead mostly. Congress does the real work, and the President does the public relations stuff, with the occasional action to show s/he is actually doing something. But I think we've gotten into believing that the position is the most important thing, and with the overuse/abuse of executive actions, it's becoming more powerful than it should.

The problem with setting things up for this kind of power abuse is that it never ends up in the hands of the person/party that does most of the work to undermine freedom and rights. It ends up in the hands of a crackpot or monster, whose first action is to get rid of anyone who was actually hoping to make things better. It is the curse of the human condition, that we always forget history and therefore are doomed to repeat it.

10

The arrogance of the "True Believer"

by Norm in

jw
friends

both political and religious true believers often distinguish themselves by their limitless arrogance towards people who dare hold different opinions from them.

every thing has to be done on their terms; people who think differently cant expect to have the same rights as those who consider themselves true believers.

in this way a elite is created a kind of spiritual master race.

TonusOH

"Jehovah is not the author of confusion. Now, if you'll just study this weird chart while I explain the concept of 'overlapping generations...'"

52

What would happen if the religion just straight out gets outed as bad? The ORG admits to it and all the members get told to disperse

by Starlight.vee in

like the org just gives up and comes out saying that all of what they are saying is untrue and that there is no armageddon, nothing.

how do y’all think the the members still in it would react?.

there be a mental health crisis i perhaps.

TonusOH

If the WTS decided to close up shop, the rank-and-file would scatter. They would find other churches to join. You might get some groups that decide to carry on as splinter groups, but they would be small and local and probably disintegrate after a while.

There are options out there for someone who is suddenly and unexpectedly let down by their religion. Most would roll with it; humans are quite resilient creatures.

22

Article - New Zealand: Jehovah's Witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report

by AndersonsInfo in

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522908/jehovah-s-witnesses-lose-last-ditch-court-case-over-abuse-in-care-report?fbclid=iwzxh0bgnhzw0cmteaar1g3qvzxlojo2szcm6xlsf2tsc_0rehd4dp4i6rda6zxafplc_v2hzvvf4_aem_pztghhvtf5to8qsjtv3m0g.

july 23, 2024. jehovah's witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report.

jehovah's witnesses have failed in an eleventh hour attempt to block part of a lengthy report about abuse in care that is about them.. .

TonusOH

My mother loves to use Luke 8:17 when some scandal rocks another religion. "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open."

I wonder if she will apply it to the WTS in this case...

20

Would Watchtower Actually Murder Members Who Question the F&DS If They Could?

by Sea Breeze in

imagine if the watchtower had their own country where they could do what they wanted.

do you think they would actually kill people who disagreed with them?

would the elders be willing to carry out the executions?what say you?.

TonusOH

The WTS has promoted doctrines, beliefs, and policies that have led to the suffering and death of loyal followers. If they had the option of hurting opposers, they would do so. They would claim to be doing it in the name of god and with god's sanction, which would allow them to do this without suffering pangs of conscience.

64

Ages of each user here?

by ukpimo in

jw
friends

i'm interested to know the age demographics here.

it must be significantly different to other exjw forums.

it would be a damning report for watchtower if most of us appear to have left for decades.. you don't have to mention your exact age, you could always say "in my 50s".. i am in my 70s.

TonusOH

56 this year. Began a long, slow fade in the late 90s/early 2000s. Stopped attending meetings around 2003/4, stopped going to the memorial around 2007/8, stopped believing in god around 2012. I guess the snowball had too much momentum by then.

299

Who told the first lie?

by nicolaou in

this is a continuation of the discussion which sprang from an unrelated topic.. so according to genesis, who told the first lie?

god told eve that if she ate from the tree of knowledge she would die that very same day.

in response to that statement the devil told her she would not die.. eve ate from the tree and did not die.

TonusOH

KalebOutWest: Which God are you arguing over?

This is always an issue when discussing the Bible, which itself could be described as two Bibles (OT and NT), which themselves are collections that may or may not include many other books. Even for those Christian denominations that share the same Bible, there is no shortage of explanations for who and what god is, what he wants, what he plans, and so on. To discuss the 'god of the Bible' is to discuss thousands of versions of that being.

Since the JW religion was the only one I followed, I am biased towards that version and those interpretations. I can keep up with discussions to some degree only because that version isn't too different from mainstream Christianity, at least as it developed in the west. When I was a JW, there was one correct version/interpretation and many wrong ones. Now, there are just a great many versions and interpretations, and I can try to look at it from each individual's perspective. Not always easy, but otherwise I risk talking past the people I am talking to.