TonusOH

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Posts by TonusOH

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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

  He cannot rewrite it... but he will certainly give it his best effort!
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  27

  New and improved?

  by tenyearsafter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a family member who had been df'ed for 15 years or so...recently they reinstated as a jw.

  when i asked what motivated them to make that decision, the response was to be able to see family and old friends.

  they insisted that things were different now.

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  TonusOH

  truth_b_known: Answering at meetings is to be limited to re-reading directly from the source material

  Now that is a change. I can remember that we had an elder who always handled the weekly Watchtower article review. He would constantly encourage us to give answers in our own words and not just read from the paragraphs. He was a pretty well-connected person in Bethel, so we always got the impression that his attitude reflected the attitude of the GB in regards to that. And maybe it did, back then.

  Even after so long not attending meetings, it feels weird to learn that they are doing that- asking the members to stop thinking and just read the words on the page. I guess what surprises me is how brazen it is. They either don't care if people realize how hard-line they have become, or they really do think that they're God's right-hand and the people will follow them right over a cliff.
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  27

  New and improved?

  by tenyearsafter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have a family member who had been df'ed for 15 years or so...recently they reinstated as a jw.

  when i asked what motivated them to make that decision, the response was to be able to see family and old friends.

  they insisted that things were different now.

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  TonusOH

  Over the years I have gotten the impression that they've eased off a bit. I think they are trying to find a workable middle-ground, a way to keep people invested in the "final days" narrative without being so harsh that they leave, especially as more time passes and the "last day" continues to not arrive.

  I'm curious how the current GB will handle things. Will they try to keep a hard line on the "last day" stuff, figuring that their own lives are almost at an end anyway? Or will they begin to look for ways to keep the religion viable while easing off on the "any second now" approach that will eventually drain away the membership? I feel like they're at a crossroads, because it's not as easy to hide the ugly stuff anymore.
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  38

  Brother Ted, Theocratic Economics and Card Run-outs

  by Duncan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear all,.

  i nearly met up with brother ted f. the other day.

  i say nearly, because i arrived round my mothers house just a few minutes after he left.

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  TonusOH

  Hi Duncan!

  The last meaningful conversation with him must have been 25 years ago.

  Man, I read that and just realized, that means it is now 45 years since that conversation. Time just slips through our fingers, faster and faster as we get older. I hope the intervening 20 years since the original post have been kind ones.
  
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  17

  making out like a bandit

  by enoughisenough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a practice i only recently learned about and am actually interested in learning more details...some of you may have experience on the subject.

  i always thought it marvelous, loving, and kind how the brothers would go in ( at their own expense) after disasters and repair homes of the witnesses who had been adversely effected.

  i personally have worked freely helping to clean and repair after flooding.

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  TonusOH

  enoughisenough: I am curious to know just how that is handled...

  I don't know for certain 100%, but my understand is that -at least in the USA- the insurer has to approve of the contractor so that they don't end up paying for substandard work. The WTS may contact the insurer and convince them that they can handle the work, but I have no idea how that process goes. But if they're cashing the checks, I'm pretty sure that is what happens.

  Well, I guess another way they can do it is for the homeowner to get an estimate and have the insurer cut a check, which they then turn over to the WTS. But I would assume that the insurer would be the one providing the estimate and would also need to inspect the home afterwards to make sure their money was spent properly (they are, after all, still insuring the home against future damage). But I guess it's possible that the homeowner can ask to use their own contractor and the insurer allows it, as long as the repair is up to their standards when they inspect it.
  

  But yes, the end result is that the WTS sends volunteers to provide free time and labor, and the organization gets the money. I'm not sure who pays for the materials, but I assume the WTS does. They still come out well ahead, since labor is a large part of the cost and can be variable, while material costs tend to be more stable and predictable.
  
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  16

  Who do you think leaked the Trump documents location to the FBI?

  by GabeAthouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was it melania?

  don jr?

  or gary busey's son, eric trump?.

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  TonusOH

  I don't know who the Democrats have that could step in and make them feel confident. The GOP has DeSantis, and I think he would win pretty easily if Trump is willing to step aside and endorse him. Or, if he could get DeSantis to agree to be his running mate, I think they'd steamroll whoever they faced, with the hope of priming the VP for his own run in 2028.

  I think Hillary Clinton will make some noise, but I don't think she can win now, in part because I think her own party would not want her back. Some might put forth Michelle Obama, but she did not seem very involved in politics and would really only be banking on Democrats' good feelings about her husband's two terms. Other than that, many of the names don't inspire confidence. The younger ones, like Buttigieg or O'Rourke, have had limited success and don't strike me as strong candidates. Sanders looks even older than he is. Warren has too much baggage, and that is just the stuff that we know about. AOC is too young, isn't she? And far too radical in a time when far-left policies are seen as the cause of much of the current socioeconomic turmoil.
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  16

  Who do you think leaked the Trump documents location to the FBI?

  by GabeAthouse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was it melania?

  don jr?

  or gary busey's son, eric trump?.

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  TonusOH

  I'm not so sure Democrats want to prevent him from running. Yes, I think he'd crush Biden in a rematch, especially with things going so badly right now. And it's likely to stay that way or get worse, since the fed really should keep raising interest rates to get inflation under control. That is the right long-term strategy, but you can ask Jimmy Carter what it does to re-election odds.

  But the GOP has been trying to find ways to either marginalize Trump or convince him to step aside, and I think the party would face a potentially ruinous division if they can't. Or, if he steps aside but makes a lot of angry noise about it, it could also hurt the eventual GOP candidate. You could end up with the reverse of 2016. Dems were probably delighted that Trump was running back then, only to learn to their horror that he won the election.

  I don't expect Biden to run (or to be allowed to run) in 2024. I also do not expect Kamala Harris to be the nominee, unless the Dems want to lose. I expect them to force both of them off the national stage and try to find someone who can win a race against a GOP turnout that is low or split due to anger over Trump, one way or another. If things are going as bad as they are now, it would likely be their only hope.
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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

  Mikejw: How can he sweep these lawsuits under the rug?

  Technically, by ignoring them. Or at least, no longer mentioning them. It's a criminal suit filed in Croatia, which will probably be dismissed. I suppose the court could convict in absentia, but I bet that would require at least some extra paper work and effort which would be a waste of time. Dismissing it is the sensible thing to do. If he understands this, he may prefer to let the matter play out as slowly and quietly as possible.

  In a practical sense, he won't be able to sweep them under the rug. Either there will be a judgment --in which case he'll claim vindication-- or he will proceed with the civil suits and people will want to know what happened to the criminal suit. If he decides that he wants it to go away, he could just not file the civil suits. But that would lead to such a firestorm of mockery that I don't think it's an option for him.

  Then again, there is no path that does not end with his targets making fun of him. His own pride led him to build a trap for himself.
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  18

  Jehovah's Witnesses resume sidewalk carts after pandemic pause, soon will do door knocking

  by Bangalore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah's witnesses resume sidewalk carts after pandemic pause, soon will do door knocking.. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2022/08/05/jehovahs-witnesses-resume-sidewalk-carts-door-knocking-next-list/10168175002/.

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  TonusOH

  You guys had it good. We were preaching door to door in the projects in the Bronx, NY. In the 80s and 90s. Dogs and angry door slamming were pretty far down the list of things we had to worry about.

  But when I was very young, there was a nice bakery my mom would take us to sometimes after preaching or after a Sunday meeting. They made these little single-serve pies that were a dream come true for a child who had just gone through the boredom of either preaching or sitting through sermons.
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  162

  A new generation of anointed that will not pass away.

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  obviously, the older “ anointed ” from 1914 died.

  and because they were anointed, they hopefully went to heaven.

  in the first century though, a newer generation did not replace the old.

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  TonusOH

  So, what the title of the thread means is... thousands now living will never die?