Posts by TonusOH

32

Can you list the positive points of being a JW as against the negative points of being a JW in your experience ?

by smiddy3 in

i was a twenty y/old when i converted to the jw religion and was a problem drinker and i was a chain smoker .when i was baptized at a circuit assembly a year later , my conversion and change in lifestyle was given as an example of the effectiveness of incidental witnessing to the audience.. so i can point to the 2 positives becoming a jw .. 1.i gave up smoking.

2.i gave up drinking for a while ,but because i still had association with my wife`s and my family who were not jw`s ,i learnt to control my social drinking when i started again.. and i have been a responsible drinker ever since ,even though i left the religion 29 years ago.. the negative points of being a jw in my 32 years of being one ?

are far too great to list here .. love to hear your thoughts..

TonusOH

I have to agree with NonCoinCollector. There are good things I could point to from my time as a JW, but I could have gotten those from other religious (or possibly even secular) groups. And perhaps it would not have come with the baggage that I am left with.

Maybe the one thing that I could list as a benefit on some level, is that their teaching that death is the end of existence is much better than the notion of eternal suffering in the afterlife. I occasionally feel a bit sad at the idea of missing out, but that is far better than the terror many people feel over thoughts of hell. Even people who stop believing in god find that their subconscious fear of eternal torment does not go away when they consciously decide there is no afterlife.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Let's be honest, no one is disfellowshipped for anything besides not offering enough of a grovelling apology to the elders.

One of my sisters was told by an elder -during a sit down with them- that she had to apologize to him personally to see some matter resolved. She wasn't baptized, and was not the kind of person to take that sort of intimidation attempt lying down, so his request was... denied.

She walked away from the JWs not long after that.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

They do not, as far as I have ever been aware, disfellowship people for divorcing, though they do discourage it. The divorced witness can only remarry if it can be proven that their spouse committed adultery while married. Barring that, they would be considered adulterers if they remarried.

134

How far do we get away from 1914

by PimoElder in

how far do we get away from 1914 before they have a new light and admit it was all wrong?.

they cling to the old theory of the 77 week prophecy from the wrong date that jerusalem was destroyed .

with the overlapping generations nonsense still we are getting too far away from 1914. what will they say if we get to the 2030s and they still cling to 1914?.

TonusOH

No need to admit anything. Just let it slowly disappear like the 7,000 year long creative days.

That's what I think. They are hoping that they can keep it together long enough for people to forget how important 1914 was to their whole racket, and then they can drop it and eventually relegate it to a footnote.

The problem is that, once that happens, they don't really have anything left. What will they emphasize as evidence that they were blessed by god from the start? 1975?

26

When did JWs stop reciting the Lord’s Prayer together?

by slimboyfat in

does anyone know what year?

.

TonusOH

Prayers and song are an important part of the ritual of religion. I'm only slightly surprised that the WTS would remove either, let alone both. But Rutherford was something of a maverick, and I get the impression that he badly wanted to leave his mark on the religion. There doesn't seem to be anything he didn't try during his tenure. Knorr seemed like more of a traditionalist and by-the-book type, who perhaps better understood that routine is very important for people.

Rutherford was probably the biggest grifter in the organization. The whole charade with 'the return of the worthy ones' provided him with a mansion to live in and two luxury cars to ~~drive around~~ be driven around in. He got to loudly wag his finger at governments and religions, and only occasionally had to eat his words (and did so without hesitation- most bullies are also cowards). That a group of people still lionize him as "judge" should be an embarrassment, but here we are.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Looks like they were counting on him to show up and make it a success.

I'm sure the 2022 show will be a blast.

48

Marc O'Donell's statement: Lloyd and the conflict of Interest

by Diogenesister in

as expected from a man who prioritizes the most vulnerable members of our community, marc has made a sober statement that explains why there's a deep conflict of interest between lloyds recent behaviour and the work they do at jw watch.

you can read it here:.

public statement of mark o’donnell.

TonusOH

It is my understanding that he has been making videos about the WTS, when he isn't fighting with people on Twitter.

12

The Sanitizing of David

by Doug Mason in

the bible depicts king david as a deeply flawed, unsavory character, the perpetrator of evil acts including: murder, insurrection, adultery, banditry, and extortion.

the sanitizing of david’s character during the following centuries and millennia created an image that idolizes him as the paragon of virtue, closely associated with the promised messiah.

my study identifies the davidic sanitizing process.. https://www.academia.edu/s/390a7ba170?source=link .

TonusOH

I still think that he raped Bath'sheba. If their relations had been consensual, then she was guilty of adultery. But god did not punish her for her actions, even though they led to the murder of her husband. That says to me that she was coerced (not surprising- the king summons you to his bedroom and puts the moves on you, you might be afraid to say 'no').

Then again, women in the old testament were on a lower tier than men, treated like property and with less freedom of action/choice. The writer of the story probably wasn't too concerned about her- she was just another prop.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

At this point, there are 1919 comments.

So, 1914 came and went and the world didn't end?

23

What are Jehovah's Witnesses' stance on home ownership?

by timothytha in

what do people usually think of when they buy a house?

"i will probably live here for a long time" (you're invested with your time), "i will save money by building equity over time".

(you've invested in yourself financially for the long run) of course, i wouldn't be able to list the numerous reasons why people want to buy a house.

TonusOH

In the congregation I attended in the 80s and 90s, many of the elders and ministerial servants owned homes. And this was in a relatively lower-middle class part of New York City, where there were a lot of apartment-dwellers. One of the elders was a long-time JW who knew many of the GB members pretty closely. He had a few interesting stories to tell.

I don't recall ever hearing a negative word about home ownership, aside from the usual warnings against "the love of money" and similar ideas. I can recall murmuring from people about the nice car that so-and-so owned, the nice clothes that so-and-so wore, and so on. But not about houses. I guess when the higher-ups in the congregation are home-owners, people know better than to judge.