Posts by TonusOH

19

Who Directs the Activitie$ and Doctrines of the Hovering Body?

by Sea Breeze in

jehovah’s witnesses boast that theirs is a “spirit-directed organization”.. see w88 3/1 pp.

10-17 (my life in jehovah’s spirit-directed organization).

they believe that their deceased founder, charles taze russell (who faced legal action by his wife for inappropriate behavior in his maids bedroom), is directing the modern-day work of jehovah’s witnesses.. after the founder, c t russell died, it was stated that he was still directing the work from heaven.. "though pastor russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the harvest work.

TonusOH

Isn't that always a concern for anyone who believes in spiritual beings who guide or influence our lives? JWs will often dismiss claims of spiritual experience or guidance from non-JWs by saying it was probably a demonic force that the person was dealing with. There's no way to demonstrate that they are wrong, just as they cannot corroborate their own claims of guidance from benevolent spirits.

If the world is best by spirit beings that are thousands of years old and have many centuries of experience in leading humans astray, it could explain why religion is so fragmented around the world. But it also means that one can never be sure if he is in the 'right' religion or simply being mislead. Indeed, one might wonder if there even is a 'right' religion under those circumstances.

46

What makes a cult (in the pejorative sense)?

by Vanderhoven7 in

michael moore writes:.

a cult is an organization that enslaves minds and destroys families using cult mind control.

cult mind control involves orchestrated deception, social pressure, psychological abuse, and repetitive indoctrination (brainwashing) centering around an unchallengeable ideology enforced in a totalitarian way in a closed socially-separatist community setting.

TonusOH

I think it is the aspect of behavior and information control that makes them a cult.

Sure, they're not as bad as the worst cults. If I cut my finger, no one says "that's not a cut, the finger is still attached." It's not as bad as it can be, but it's still a cut. The WTS can be a cult without being murderous brutes. Although the line might be a bit blurry when it comes to denying blood transfusions.

22

Memory hole, international conspiracy, and the JW international network

by slimboyfat in

can anyone else who was around 15 to 20 years ago remember an odd story about jw missionaries being stopped at the swiss/italian border with american bonds worth billions of dollars in their possession?

because i can find little to no information about it anywhere online, yet at the time i am sure i recall it being reported by different mainstream news sources, including the bbc.

why do some news stories seem to disappear from the internet altogether?

TonusOH

I don't think you'd need to get them all the way to the top. And they would be so easy to infiltrate that you could get plenty of people into positions where they could accomplish whatever work it was they are tasked with.

The only concern is the psychological damage to the agents who would have to lead a JW life.

15

Watch Tower PA sues Russia in DC district over confiscation of Bethel

by Corney in

the watch tower society of pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on september 3, 2024, naming as defendants the russian federation, the russian ministry of health, and the almazov national medical research center.

unfortunately, i can't access the case documents, including the complaint.

i would appreciate if someone with an active pacer account could make them available.. anyway, it is enough to know the almazov center is one of the entities sued by the wts to say what this case is about.

TonusOH

I doubt it pisses Russia off that much; they probably don't even notice it. As a sovereign nation, they can laugh off a lawsuit by a relatively tiny religious group that they've already been persecuting for years. This comes off as grandstanding. It's the equvalent of an online petition, for all the good that it will do.

39

I've done it: Christmas Lights Outside

by StephaneLaliberte in

lets see if that causes a problem.

i've been inactive for a very long time now (like 10+ years), so, i don't expect to hear anything from it, but my parents are worried i'll get df.

lets see what happens.

TonusOH

An ambiguously-defined rule that gets interpreted in many ways, thus creating confusing for years and years? No way!

37

Prepare to get Pelted by Symbolic Hailstones

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/idhmflud3p4?si=9xc4svrhxslduwvz.

so david schafer a member of the teaching commitee and a helper to the governing body has come out yesterday with a new video that goes through the king of the north, the hailstones message and other things in the wake of the possibility of a ww3 and especially now that tensions are escalating with russia so he is making quite a few end time arguments and i will be expanding on those one by one but today let's see what he has about the hailstones message of the end(video) so this is the paragraph in question, paragraph 14 from article 20 of the watchtower 2020 study edition: "sometime after the start of the great tribulation, “the kings of the entire inhabited earth” will form a coalition of nations.

(rev.

TonusOH

I remember the Paradise Lost book with the bright orange cover, and the drawings it contained related to Armageddon. Only when I got out did I realize how frequently they used this kind of morbid imagery. They seemed fascinated by large-scale death and destruction, and those scenes became part of the brand.

47

Leaked Annual Meeting Video: "Expect Sudden Changes" Jeffrey Jackson

by raymond frantz in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/uxqqyrrffow?si=wo0jotyvjg76oljk.

well that's sort of related to the next talk on our program brother jeffrey jackson will discuss the theme don't be surprised by sudden changes, brother jeff you have our.

attention well i'm sure we all agree with this fact in recent years there have been a lot of changes even since the last annual meeting there have been many changes some of them perhaps are a little surprising or may seem to be sudden but you know brothers and sisters when we look back on how these changes have come we can see that jehovah has gradually prepared us for each of these adjustments and changes let's review some of the recent changes we've had what changes have we seen with regard to our understand understanding of bible teachings at the 2021 annual meeting we received an adjusted understanding of john 529 it was explained that the resurrection of judgment will not be a judgment of condemnation rather it will be more like a period of probation the unrighteous mentioned at acts 24:15 will have an opportunity to gain everlasting life but their names will not be written wr in the book of life at the time of their resurrection to have their names eventually written in that book these ones will need to respond positively to the great educational work that will take place during the thousand-year reign then at the annual meeting in 2023 we gained enhanced insight into what we do know and what we don't know concerning jehovah's judgments we learned that the door of opportunity for people to take a stand for the kingdom does not shut when the great tribulation starts with the destruction of false religion at that time perhaps some will be like the egyptians in moses day who took a last minute stand and joined the exodus of god's people at the same annual meeting we adjusted our views with regard to jehovah's judgments of those who died in the flood and those who were destroyed in sodom and gomorrah also at that annual meeting an adjustment was made regarding the reporting of our time and activity in our preaching work instead of focusing on reports we try to make good use of every opportunity to witness then we receive the 2024 governing body update number two in that update we saw the need to adjust how we interact with those who have committed serious sins and have been removed from the congregation what other major adjustments have we recently seen in our preaching work the emphasis now is on studing bible studies and making disciples not on distributing literature to that end the focus is on studying meaningful conversations not just on using memorized presentations were you surprised by these adjustments perhaps so but as we look back we see how one adjustment in understanding gradually helped us with the next adjustment isn't it true that gradually jehovah has prepared us and when we look back on it we see how logical this training has been to refine our understanding but events in the world likewise have changed it's true sometimes in the world you have sudden changes for example the pandemic but often times change in the world is gradual isn't it true with regard to the view of morality homosexuality abortion even what's acceptable and not acceptable with regard to conduct all of that has happened gradually in the world and it's not until you look back and see how different the world is today with regard to those matters that we see that there have been a lot of changes but this can be dangerous because as things gradually change we may get used to gradual change and forget that there are some sudden changes about to occur uh let's take our bibles please and if you turn with me to the book of luke chap 21 now this is an example of sudden change in luke chap 21 uh notice there in verse 34 the words of our lord jesus are recorded and he said in verse 34 but pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with oving and heavy drinking and anxieties of life and suddenly suddenly that they be instantly instantly upon you it's interesting to note that jesus had already said that this day he was referring to would occur at a time that we don't think is likely so what lesson do we learn from what jesus said it's a warning isn't it that we can't just sit back and think well things are gradually going to develop we know which way it's going and maybe it's not going to happen yet you know got a little bit more wiggle room there with regard to the schedule but you see that's dangerous thinking now what we're going to do is consider two examples of areas where perhaps we could be a little guilty with regard to that for example our view as with regard to the number of anointed ones remaining on the earth now for many years what did we think we thought well that number would go down and down and down and down now i don't know about you but me i you when that report came out just how many how many partakers and and what were we thinking we probably you maybe we didn't say it but we were thinking you know the number will go down down down down and there'll be just a couple of old guys in a wheelchair who will get their reward well i'm exaggerating but that was sort of the feeling wasn't it but now what have we seen in recent years those numbers have gone up and up and not only that younger brothers have been appointed on the governing body now i know what you're all thinking two new ones how old are they we know you're not googling now but you will be but you see we need to be careful about what we're thinking with regard to the number of anointed ones left on earth you see 19 years ago i was appointed on the governing body even i thought i was too young now they tell me i'm not so young anymore but do we see the point what does the bible actually tell us with regard to this well it doesn't say the number would just dwindle down to just having a few uh older ones left no the great crowd of other sheep will be judged on the basis of how they deal with

TonusOH

I think the more obvious problem is that they never gave other religions the allowances for being wrong that they give to themselves. Every other religion are 'false prophets' because they get things wrong. The GB also get things wrong, but they have a long list of allowances: they're just fallible men (like the people they criticize), they do get things wrong on occasion (like the people they criticize) but they have the best intentions (like the people they criticize) and are therefore not false prophets (UNlike the people they criticize???)...

2

Merian-Webster - New Covenant Defination

by Riley in

noun.

: a promise of redemption by god to people as individuals rather than as a nation and on the basis of god's grace rather than a person's adherence to the law.. i guess the dictionary is written by apostates.

.

TonusOH

They will just say that the dictionary is a secular work devised by Satan to mislead the true followers of blah blah blah. Their next slogan will be "Education is a snare and a racket!"

13

If you live in Canada, they are taking away your Guns, to send to Ukraine.

by liam in

history is full of examples of governments disarming their citizens , only to be brutally betrayed.

what follows is a litany of blood that happened after disarming citizens.

1911: turkey; citizens disarmed – 1.5 million armenians were slaughtered.

TonusOH

How exactly would it work, sending confiscated firearms to Ukraine? Wouldn't that be much more time and effort than just sending them the money to purchase firearms? And that way, they'd get the guns they want, instead of a massive pile of dingy old .22 calber handguns and a bag of .38 specials.

2954

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

It's not unusual for channels to get only a small percentage of video views as their subscriber base grows. The discrepancy is notable for Evans because it's quite large, even if we allow for the likelihood that the subscriber number is inflated by purchasing them in blocks. Then again, we know why his views are so low: there is better content out there, and many people were turned off by his confession and tone-def announcements (like the way he seems to alternate between griping about not having money and going on yet another vacation).

He is incapable of seeing things from another person's point-of-view, which is a real problem when you depend on an audience for your success.