TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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  31

  How is the 'Cost of Living Crisis' affecting you?

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. current

  here in the uk we've recently had the price cap on household energy bills raised by around £800 and there'll be another similar raise this autumn.. food prices are up, petrol is around £1.82 per litre - that's $10.37 per gallon for our american friends - and inflation is currently running at 9%.

  business are being hit as ordinary folk prioritise their spending.

  young folks are effectively priced out of the housing market and wage rises are not keeping pace.. mrs nic' and i are fortunate in that we're both in secure employment and with the kids moved out and mortgage paid off our outgoings are thankfully low.

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  TonusOH

  We're doing well, two full-time and one part-time income are plenty, though we are feeling the pinch in high costs for gasoline, food, and HVAC (the winter heating bills were particularly rough).

  Regarding price caps, the downside to them is that they do not solve the issue of supply. Keeping prices down guarantees that the supply will be gone earlier, and shortages will begin sooner and be felt longer. One way to deal with that is rationing, which is another kind of shortage. Runaway prices are not good either, but in a time of scarcity and inflation there aren't any good solutions at the local level. The administration seems intent on making things worse in the hopes that it encourages development of alternative energy, but it feels a lot like the 70s, when Carter was telling us that the good times were over and Reagan came along promising that they were just beginning.

  In other words, if you're trying to avoid Trump 2.0, this is the worst possible way to do it.
  
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  13

  Unpopular opinion

  by Judgerussellford in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i've asked this question to witnesses in the past (super no no question to ask by the way but hilarious responses) to bosses and coworkers, and random people of different faiths and i'm curious to know how mixed of a response this community will give.

  bible believers or not your oppinion is very welcome.

  technically according to scripture we are gods sons.

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  TonusOH

  That being said, does the Devil himself have to die after Armageddon?

  That depends on how you perceive the nature of god. Is god unable to act against his nature, so that he must take certain actions in order to remain true to himself? Or is he free to go off-script if he so wishes? The Biblical god has no equal in power and he cannot be brought to account, so the only person who could stay his hand is himself.

  We know that god was not a stickler to the letter of the law, allowing humans to break the rules sometimes and not face punishment. So it seems as if he understands that rigid adherence to rules is not always the right way to act. If this is the case, then the Devil would not have to die at Armageddon. God can forgive him and let him live, without violating his own nature. I suppose he would need a very good reason for doing that, but it can happen.

  As a non-believer, I can look at the issue from that angle. When I was a JW, I would have said that there was no way that Jehovah would allow the Devil to live, because Satan had directly challenged God's rule and caused so much suffering. And to be honest, just because God is willing to bend the rules for the sake of justice doesn't mean he would find any reason to spare the Devil. And if the Devil was unrepentant, it would make no sense to forgive him, instead of putting him out of everyone's misery.

  That being said, we are left to wonder why God didn't just do that from the very start and save us the thousands of years of suffering and grief.
  
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  540

  Simple Question Re 1914

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wt claims that satan was thrown out of heaven in october 1914 precipitating ww!

  and the end times.

  a small problem with that is ww1 started on july 28th 1914 whilst satan was still in heaven picking his nose.. how did we not see this and waste years of precious life?

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  TonusOH

  You just need to use your imagination. The war in heaven starts on July 28, after Satan interferes in Earth matters one time too many (sorry, Archduke Ferdinand!) and Yahweh has gotten a bit soft and lazy, so he lets the battle go on way too long. Finally, in early October god decides enough is enough- he snaps his fingers and WHOOSH! Satan and his demons fall to Earth. Then god presses his Easy button and gets back to watching movies.

  I mean, I'm no Joseph Smith, but that's not such a bad interpretation, is it?
  
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  70

  2034 - A Future History of Jehovah's Witnesses

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't know what i am talking about... read this post at your peril.

  back in the 1960s there was, seemingly, a brief period of relaxation in authoritarianism among jehovah's witnesses.

  those who have read raymond franz's 'crisis of conscience' will have heard the story about dan sydlik's remark about the need to 'open some windows to let some air in here'.

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  TonusOH

  If you are an organization pinning its hopes on "there must be at least one person still alive who was around in 1914" then the word 'desperate' just isn't enough. I guess that in 2035, the argument will be "advances in medicine have added ten... no! Twenty years to the average lifespan... that 120-year-old might make it to 140! Yes, 2054 is the real end date! And, fortuitously, I'll either be dead or senile by then, and someone else will need to make that annoying year work..."
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  29

  The Genesis 3:15 woman.

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  genesis 3:15 says that the woman’s seed would be in enmity with the serpent’s seed.

  although the bible reveals that the woman’s seed is jesus and christians that go to heaven with christ, it does not identify the woman directly.

  we at jw believe that the woman is symbolic.

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  TonusOH

  I don't remember for sure, but she represented god's spiritual organization in its entirety? Which is how her seed could be Jesus.
  
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  68

  Prediction of how Watchtower going to be in 5 Years.

  by Foolednomore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can see it that watchtower will become an online/tv based group with just con-vention hall$.. field service would be letter writing and phone preaching, door to door is done.. watchtower will have pay to view programs and still ask for donations after all that.. zoom meetings are here to stay.

  kingdumb halls will be sold off except for con-vention venues, or need for new ones$.. df'ing will continue.

  the craziness will continue.

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  TonusOH

  All things considered, the Ramapo project is a Hail Mary.

  The video I saw about the Ramapo site made it look like a very large and expansive campus. It seemed excessive for making the modest videos they create, which are usually single-set and single-camera setups with basic lighting. People create videos of that quality all the time in their bedroom or den. Either they are doing better financially than they let on, or they are tragically inept and managing money, or they've just stopped caring.
  
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  I love how that second message cuts off at just the right spot: "apologise this is one ho."

  It makes me think that the rest of the message was "but that's okay, she's 20 or older."
  
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  The thing that stands out from the CoC bootleg thing is his insistence that he hadn't done anything wrong, and then the litany of excuses for why it wasn't so bad that he did something wrong. No, he said, he hadn't violated copyright. Well, okay, he violated copyright, but why aren't you going after every other copyright violator first? Sure, he violated copyright, but he didn't drown any puppies, did he?

  It's a lot like his excuses and misdirection when he decided to confess that he cheated on his wife with hookers. Sure, he did something immoral, but it's not your business. Okay, he did something immoral, but he didn't kill anyone. Fine, he did something immoral, but you're not perfect either!

  And once I'm done making all of those excuses, remember to watch my next video, where I'll judge a GB member for buying liquor!
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  TonusOH

  I think someone here already said that Lloyd will probably make videos based on phoned-in stories people have already left (long ago) on his recorder for him.

  Wasn't there a porn magazine that used to do something similar? They'd recreate scenarios from people's "real-life" letters that were sent in. Eh, probably not related at all...

  As for his trip to help Ukraine refugees, I say good for him. It's sad that he seemed to use it as a publicity stunt, but that means a few more people got help in a time of crisis. Maybe he can find more such opportunities to promote himself and do some good as a sort of by-product. Just, please god... don't find a way for him to screw this up, too.
  
  
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  103

  Jesus is Michael the Archangel

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  only jesus has the power and authority to defeat satan and kick him out of heaven:.

  “now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our god and the authority of his christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our god.”.

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  TonusOH

  It is not outright defined in the Bible.

  This is a recurring issue with the Bible, which has led to countless denominations that differ on points both major and minor. This has led, over the centuries, to occasional violence and brutality as people who seek to serve the same god nonetheless attack and brutalize one another. You'd think that a being as capable and immensely intelligent as Yahweh would have foreseen this and made the book much clear and direct, so as to avoid having so many dedicated people massacring one another, when they otherwise would have embraced in brotherhood.