Posts by TonusOH

11

04-2022 Q from Readers on Divorce

by Rattigan350 in

any comments on the 04/2022 question from readers on divorce and remarriage.. "if a christian divorces his wife without scriptural grounds and then marries another person, how does the congregation view the previous marriage and the new marriage?".

why does that even matter how the congregation views anything?

they should be minding their own business.. if people move to a different area, the congregation wouldn't even know about.. (if a guy remarries a woman with the same first name, she would end up with the same name and no one would know).

TonusOH

I think they're using "the congregation" to mean "the governing body," but they don't want to be too overt (for outsiders, perhaps?). The GB doesn't hide their belief that they are the only reliable conduit to God's guidance and to Biblical understanding. From very early on, the WTS has put the human leadership between God and the membership, so that only the person/people at the very top can interpret Scripture.

So whenever there is a question about policy, they will often refer to "the congregation" or "the organization" instead of referring to the Bible directly. It's a bit surprising that they don't just admit that the "view" that matters is the one from the human leadership-- it's not as if they aren't perfectly clear about the importance of the hierarchy of the organization on policies and beliefs.

13

Are They Letting the Organization Go?

by pistolpete in

interesting idea by;.

fabian strategy warrior.

to many of you, this idea might seem absurd, but is it?.

TonusOH

There's too much money to be made by keeping the organization intact. I think they'll work towards getting people back into the kingdom halls as soon as they can. Peer pressure works best when it is face-to-face.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Libel and defamation will be hard to prove without Lloyd first finding and winning a lawsuit against "Marko."

But if he is claiming that Marko doesn't exist, then I am assuming he would be suing K&M for defamation by claiming that they used this imaginary person as a vehicle for making defamatory statements. Kim and Mikey may have to prove that Marko is real and that he made the statements in question (and if they can do that, then Evans could conceivably proceed with action against Marko).

Mind you, if he wants to initiate legal action against them, there are likely to be a few hurdles. Such as filing suit in a jurisdiction halfway around the world, and having to decide if it's worth it for what may end up being a very small judgment. And the possibility of being deposed, or having his wife deposed. And the chance that he might lose. And so on. In the USA, filing a lawsuit is very easy. Winning... that's a bit more complicated.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Maybe he can get his next video sponsored by Ashley Madison!

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Of if you were the lowest in the hierarchy, like a young girl, and someone with his controlling, manipulating personality and inability to control his weiner had that type of power and control in an organization where that authority couldn't be questioned or reported?

I've read experiences from abuse victims who met with elders when their attackers were being investigated, and some of the questions they were asked make your blood curdle. The level of detail and lack of empathy was appalling. One can only imagine the line of questioning if he'd had the opportunity to question a young lady about sex abuse (and the power to make her life miserable if she did not cooperate).

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

It looks as if he wants this to blow over so he can move past it and get back to making a living with his videos. But it's not the kind of thing that is so easy to shrug off. People are being forced to address the situation, and his "with me or against me" approach is not working in his favor.

I think he has worked so hard to build up his own importance -while minimizing his faults- that he genuinely does not understand why people won't give him a pass. He doesn't seem to think that it's any problem that someone who has so much dirty laundry being aired (and this is just the stuff he admitted to, not even counting the rumors and as-yet-unverified accusations) might be a liability for those working with him. By the time he recognizes that he needs to change course, it will be too late.

19

After leaving the JWs

by punkofnice in

how do i view the world after leaving the jws?.

1. most politicians are disgusting filth.

political parties are disgusting filth.

TonusOH

I think that we don't change all that much in terms of who we really are, even when making such life-altering decisions. My behavior and general outlook on life changed very little even when I recognized that I didn't believe in god and was free of the shackles of the WTS and was no longer bound by any religious creed.

Or maybe it's better to say that the changes I have made were driven more by more specific experiences and people/relationships, than they were by a religious affiliation or belief. Our brains don't seem very good at parsing the bigger picture; we focus on the stuff that's close to us and personal.

11530

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

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Alan Feurbacher

I didn't seek out non-JW info or sources until after I had realized that I was no longer religious (they had pretty good control of me!), but once I was free of the shackles I found lots of sites with good info. https://corior.blogspot.com/ was one of those sites. Their deconstruction of the Creation book had quite an impact on me. To realize the extent to which I'd been mislead has made me a much less trusting and much more skeptical person. Mostly for the better, I hope. But betrayal always leaves damage of some kind.

He also writes for https://ad1914.com/, a site I found much later but which was still an interesting read, even after the initial desire to learn more about the organization had finally worn off.

25

Are Jehovahs Witnesses a cult?

by GoverningBody in

this question has been presented many times throughout the years.

somewhat recently, there has been much talk surrounding the "bite method" :.

"bite” stands for behavior, information, thought, and emotional control.. some examples were thrown at me, such as the decisions of who we associate with, discouraging any worldy media, encouraging our brothers and sisters to report any of our misbehaviours to the elders, our rejection of criticism on the truth, shunning etc.. what do we think about this?.

TonusOH

I think they are. Or at least they want to be, based on the way they try to isolate and control the membership. It's always been difficult to do that, because they do not physically isolate people. So you are exposed to others in 'the world' all the time. Even if you do not consider 'worldly people' to be friends or spend any free time with them, you're expected to behave in a manner that gives a good impression to people. And that will draw them to you and make them take a genuine interest in you.

It's probably more difficult now, since the internet is a part of our lives to such an extent that the WT itself has a presence there (I can remember all of the old warnings about the internet, early on). It's very easy to find information about the WT, including information that would otherwise be extremely difficult to come by. So while they want to isolate and control people, it's become more difficult to do so. They do seem to want to be seen as a mainstream group in some ways (perhaps to ward off the label of 'cult').

15

Michael Jackson's mom on his disassociation

by neat blue dog in

from an interview with ebony magazine:.

in 1987, he left the jehovah's witnesses.

there was strong opposition to his "thriller" video on the part of some witnesses.

TonusOH

There was strong opposition to his "Thriller" video on the part of some Witnesses.

'Some witnesses'? As I recall, the GB itself warned us not to buy or listen to the album. Jackson put a statement at the beginning of the Thriller video to state that making the video did not imply that he believed in the occult. I think he was still trying to walk an impossible tightrope at the time. Looks like his mom had to work around a similar fine line-- she would not have wanted to get the GB upset, I guess.