Posts by TonusOH

3

bangers and cash

by stan livedeath in

bangers and cash is a uk tv series about a family running a business of selling cars and car related items in an auction house.. one of family members referred to an event some time in the past with the words.

" when god was a boy ".

oi ad to larf..

TonusOH

Phizzy, that sounds like a variant of the old joke. "X is so old, that when god said 'let there be light,' X threw the switch!"

12

Diligence and Enthusiasm - LDS vs JWs

by Rivergang in

on a scale of 1 to 100, i would put the lds in the high 90s, and the witnesses at about minus 10.. these days (well, around here at least) one encounters the mormon missionaries all over the place.

if they are not knocking at your door, they are approaching you out in the street.

of late, this has been happening all the bloody time!.

TonusOH

I honestly haven't seen either. I live in a fairly rural area, but there is no shortage of Christian churches out here. And I know there are a few kingdom halls around here. But JWs only ever knocked on my door once (in... 2016, I think) and I have not seen any Mormon missionaries at all.

I don't think it's a lack of enthusiasm as much as it is being a bit farther out from the big population centers. After 45 years in New York City, I almost never see a building taller than three stories anymore. Big cities have always been a fertile ground for small groups that proselytize aggressively. Farmlands, less so.

3099

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

ElderBerry: Are you bitter that you don’t have a woman to iron your shirts anymore?

I am imagining a day in the near future, where he pays a sex worker to dress up as a maid, only to demand that she actually clean his apartment.

99

What the new JW light position really is 👍

by ElderBerry in

i’m still an elder and i consider myself jw light.

as my fellow elders are.

we don’t throw our weight around like elders used to in the past, it’s all very easy going these days.

TonusOH

I suppose that JW light is one step removed from JW-has-seen-the-light. There is one thing better than pretending not to be in a high control cult, after all.

10

GB being sued as a group and named individually in a child sexual abuse coverup.

by liam in

this is a court case filed in august 2021 by the zalkin law firm.

deborah hines vs watchtower and the governing body.. what's interesting is;.

"ny already set a precedent that an unincorporated group can be sued for its action and has specifically said this case can move forward.

TonusOH

Cases like this are important for another reason: they demolish the narrative that the organization is guided by Jehovah through his holy spirit. Every child that is victimized by people who are not dealt with properly (by immediately contacting the authorities to investigate) is another child that Jehovah let down by not informing the GB to promote the proper policies. And that is before we learn some of the details of these cases, such as the lack of empathy and the times that they allowed the perpetrator to confront their victim in a room where the only other people were elders, which means the victim was basically alone.

So, they have to either admit that they dropped the ball repeatedly for decades, or they have to fight tooth-and-nail, which just makes them look worse. At some point, the publicity will become too much for the rank-and-file to ignore.

19

The Share of Religious Americans will continue to decline- New York Times. Why? New Pew Study

by Balaamsass2 in

locally, in northern california i have seen/heard a drop in jw and mainstream church attendance especially in person attendance.

(exception: a new creepy local new-age charismatic/pentecostal group: "bethel church" 11,000 and growing mega church(kundalini yoga/sex combined with prosperity gospel, trumpism, guns, rock music, dancing, glitter, speaking in tongues, and faith healing).. for me this paragraph sums it up regarding jehovah's witnesses: " ...smith described organized religion to me as having become a “polluted” idea in the american mainstream, because of the publicity around sex abuse scandals and financial malfeasance in many different faiths in the ’80s and ’90s as millennials came of age.

“the scandals violated most of the virtues believed to make religion good,” smith wrote.

TonusOH

According to Pew Research, the breakdown is something like 62% Christian, 29% unaffiliated, and 7% other.

Atheists account for around 5% and agnostics 6%. The growth has been in those who seem uninterested in religion (19%). They don't identify as atheist or agnostic, but they no longer associate with any particular church. I assume that it just doesn't matter much in their lives anymore.

21

What's with the attack (counsel) on husbands with no corresponding article for wives?

by Rattigan350 in

what's with the attack (counsel) on husbands with no corresponding article for wives on the jan 2025 w that is being studied today?.

is there a point to that?.

TonusOH

There's no corresponding article for women because the WTS considers the man the head of the family and the woman should know her place. In their eyes, her role is simple and easy to remember: your husband is the boss.

3099

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

Times have changed when he is seeking validation from small YT channels. In the past, he would be the one doing the small channel the favor. Now, he is hoping that no one tells her to look into his recent past, or she may have to make a second video about him...

26

What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by Vanderhoven7 in

let's start the ball rolling with two connected claims.. the religion of jehovah’s witnesses is the one true religion.

all other religions are satanic, including all the churches of christendom..

TonusOH

That is correct, Jan. As far as the WTS is concerned, the most important things a JW reads are the articles, books and statements written by the organization. Anything that is not provided by the organization may cause a JW to 'stumble' and become confused or misinformed. It's one of the classic signs of a cult- information control.

26

What are some of the more exceptional self-authenticating claims made by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by Vanderhoven7 in

let's start the ball rolling with two connected claims.. the religion of jehovah’s witnesses is the one true religion.

all other religions are satanic, including all the churches of christendom..

TonusOH

The impression I always had was that the WTS encourages the rank-and-file to read the Bible, but they are to leave the interpretation to the Governing Body. I don't recall ever hearing an explicit encouragement to read it, but they do (did?) have a program where they would review the Bible --three chapters at a time-- every week. If you followed along, you would eventually read the whole Bible.

In the past, Russell claimed that his Studies in the Scriptures were a such a superior guide to understanding the Bible that reading the Bible was unnecessary. In fact, his claim was that someone who only read the Bible would 'fall into darkness' unless he made sure to also read SitS. Thus, there was a time when it could be said that the WTS openly discouraged reading the Bible.