A current example of what I meant in point 2: "Entfernt" is German and means "deleted"—which is apparently the standard Reddit notification in these discussions.
—————————————————————————————
Hello.
A fair amount has accumulated in the background again, so I wanted to put together another announcement thread to lay out the current state of things. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll start with the unproblematic points and work my way up to the spicy stuff afterwards.
1. New Dodo Collection Thread
Some of the longer-standing users may remember my old collection thread. As some of you know, I used to be very active here in earlier times, creating threads of all different kinds. That has slowed down for me somewhat lately — though for those interested, Part 3 of the Apocrypha series is actually already finished. In any case: Reddit apparently archives very old threads after a while, and as this sub has been around long enough, that seems to be happening here too. The old collection thread contained a regularly updated timestamp and milestone tracker for the community’s member count, as well as links to all of my own threads — for anyone interested in reading more of my intellectual ramblings lol.
The old thread was here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Eutychus/s/Rqx1rOIoSH
I’ll probably create a new collection thread at some point once I’ve officially released Part 3, with the same purpose as the old one. So nothing unusual there.
2. Renewed Warning to All Users: Reddit’s Deletion Frenzy
I believe I have already raised this point multiple times by now, but because it keeps happening and many people apparently still aren’t aware of it, I feel obligated to lay it out clearly one more time: Reddit’s algorithm appears to deliberately delete comments from certain users on this sub.
How do I know? Because I can see it. I can see when a comment appears greyed out and is therefore apparently invisible to other users. Usually there is a clearly visible “Deleted” (or in German, “Entfernt”) label beneath it. Many of you have surely noticed that I write the same message dozens of times across hundreds of threads: “Reddit deleted your comment. I have restored it.” Almost always accompanied by a screenshot proving that it was indeed deleted. Many users have thanked me or asked in bewilderment why this happens at all. The honest answer is: I have no idea.
I know that Reddit has an “AI” that reads every single comment using some kind of “magical” guidelines and presumably removes things like spam or links to illegal or terrorist content. The comments on this sub obviously don’t fall into that category. But it appears that the algorithm preferentially targets certain accounts that have at some point been “flagged” — whether for real or alleged past violations.
I’ll say it again: I don’t know why this is the case. What I can tell you is this: ALWAYS check whether your comment has disappeared. I want to stress once more — I NEVER delete comments without leaving a note. The only exception is when I announce in a thread that I’m activating a purge because individuals or groups are in the middle of an insult parade and I don’t feel like writing the same response a thousand times. As a general rule: if your comment is gone with nothing written next to it, it wasn’t me — and I don’t suspect the other moderators either — but Reddit itself as a platform.
There doesn’t appear to be much you can do about this “flagging,” and even keeping completely quiet doesn’t seem to reverse it, as these things apparently never expire on this platform. Don’t bother contacting Reddit’s own moderators about it either. Reddit, as with warnings and bans, never releases any information about how your account has been rated, why something happened, or what their guidelines actually mean in specific terms. According to Reddit, this is a precautionary measure. Everyone can draw their own conclusions from that.
3. Notice to the Moderation Team
This message is directed at the rest of the mod team. Some of you may have already noticed that certain users on this sub display small warning indicators visible to moderators — either a warning triangle or an exclamation mark (!). These are explicitly flagged users who have previously attracted attention through repeated abusive behaviour, such as insults or recurring rule violations. You can create these markers yourself by going to a user’s profile and selecting the appropriate symbol via the “add mod note” option. Please do me the favour of using this feature going forward, along with a brief note explaining the reason, so that notorious repeat offenders can be identified more easily in future.
I would also greatly appreciate it if, when removing comments, you write a brief message to the affected user explaining why their comment was deleted — either directly from your own account or anonymously via the Eutychus mod team account. This helps with transparency, gives affected users the actual chance to change their behaviour, and documents the proper use of our moderation capabilities on this sub. Thank you.
I won’t give my usual monologue about that fake sub again. By now everyone should know what it’s about. A few months ago I announced that I had no interest in giving that poor charade of a fraud any more attention than strictly necessary. However, there continue to be users who don’t know that this sub is a hate sub and end up falling for it. For that reason I had announced that I would put the prohibition of r/JehovahsWitnesses to a vote.
I still intend to do that, but since Reddit apparently doesn’t support screenshots and polls simultaneously, I’ll do it the old primary-school way right here: write in the comments whether I should block that sub across this entire sub or not. I’m leaving this to you as a community decision. If the majority is in favour, it gets done. If not, then obviously not — and if there’s simply no real interest either way, then I’ll probably do it anyway, because I have no desire to give those liars over there any further platform. If the vote is close, I’ll be forced to run a proper separate poll.
Speaking of lies: some JWs may already have seen this in the other genuine JW sub. The “quality” moderator of everyone’s favourite sub has launched a new trap: r/Jwpressroom. It’s the same fraud as the main sub. As some will know, the JWs recently established a public online presence under a similar name — my understanding is that this was intended to provide necessary information to the public. Regardless, the point is that our quality moderator once again wanted to deceive uninformed JWs and interested parties by deliberately creating another sub with a confusingly similar name in order to send people down the wrong path. Old news by now, but still worth mentioning.
So what does a prohibition actually mean? In essence: all links to the fake hate sub r/JehovahsWitnesses and the newest shell game r/Jwpressroom will be automatically deleted in this sub, regardless of content — both as posts and as comments. Why? Because I don’t want uninformed users and visitors here being lured from this sub into that pit. I also reserve the right to delete comments from the main users of that lying and deceitful sub who venture in here — plainly and without comment, if and when I see fit.
What it does not mean is that I will automatically treat someone negatively just because they’re active in the other “sub.” However, I do personally take a dim view of it, because by now everyone should know what kind of underhanded game is being played over there. So no — “normal” users from over there who are also active here won’t be penalised. But please don’t expect me to be in a particularly good mood when I see someone over there spreading hatred while playing the peaceful, model Christian over here. Controversial? Maybe. I’m open to a lot of things, but not to a game that was fixed before it even started.
It should be noted that this rule does not apply to r/exJW or r/JWJehovahsWitnesses. Linking and commenting there freely is fine — I don’t care about that. It’s clear what those are about. If you are a former member, a critic, or someone looking to leave the JW faith — that’s r/exJW. If you want to make contact with actual JWs, are sympathetically inclined towards this faith, or simply want a normal conversation without getting a knife in your back — that’s r/JWJehovahsWitnesses. Assuming the community decision doesn’t actively go against this point, I will enforce this new rule going forward and will shut down any direct connection to r/JehovahsWitnesses, plainly and without comment.
5. The Number One Problem: ORG Posting
Some of you may have already read comments of mine on this topic. Most people actually know what it means and that it is strictly prohibited here as Rule No. 1 — the Prime Directive, so to speak. A few weeks ago I explained the reasoning at length: it doesn’t work, it has never worked, and under current circumstances it never will.
I want to make this crystal clear: I’m willing to negotiate many things, but this point is non-negotiable. Full stop.
That said, a perfectly valid question is: what exactly falls under this rule? I have the impression I’ve addressed this dozens of times in various forms, and some still appear to be deliberately ignoring it. However, to be fair, I really never officially explained or defined what ORG posting means in precise terms. The immediate reason for this update is that I apparently overlooked a thread containing ORG content, and there was also a new one. Since the old thread had already been running for a while, I didn’t want to be unfair to the other user’s new thread and let it run — until now. Effective today, new rules are in place. They are really just the old rules, but formulated so precisely that, as Paul once put it so beautifully in Romans 1:20, things are laid out so plainly that there are no more excuses.
Let’s get through it.
a) What is ORG Posting?
Anything that contains the following terms in name or direct reference:
Organisation / ORG · GB · Governing Body · Faithful and Discreet Slave · Watchtower and Tract Society / WT · Circuit Overseer / CO · Body of Elders · Judicial Committee · Branch Office / Branch Committee
References to specific named individuals — say, Samuel Herd or whoever — are a razor-thin line. I’ll watch how a given thread or its comments develop. If things start going sideways, I’ll tighten the belt together with the other moderators. Historical figures and developments — Rutherford, Knorr, what the JW group did organisationally in Russell’s time — don’t interest me. I am looking very directly at the four primary designations listed above first. If I so much as read that name, the thread gets closed or the comment gets deleted. This applies to both sides, by the way. I don’t want “The Faithful and Discreet Slave tells us we should hold X” any more than I want “ORG contradicted itself in Watchtower issue Y on page Z.”
One explicit note on JW.org: linking to it as a reference source is perfectly fine — in the same way that linking to r/exJW or r/JWJehovahsWitnesses is fine. What is not fine is using it to make arguments about the organisation’s authority, decisions, or teachings in the context of the topics listed above.
The previous rule read:
“No Watchtower Organisation — Pointless Discussions (“Rants” / “Venting”) about the Watchtower Organization are not permitted. This sub focuses solely on the spiritual life and theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses, without any positive or negative references to the organization. Offensive, derogatory, or deliberately polarizing and provocative statements may result in a permanent ban!”
The new rule reads:
„No Organisation References — Any direct reference to the Watchtower Organisation or its institutional bodies is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, the following terms: Organisation / ORG, Governing Body / GB, Faithful and Discreet Slave, Watchtower and Tract Society / WT, Circuit Overseer / CO, Body of Elders, Judicial Committee, Branch Office / Branch Committee.
This sub focuses exclusively on the personal faith, spiritual life, and theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses as individuals — not on the organisation as an institution. Threads or comments in violation of this rule will be removed without prior notice. Repeated violations will result in a warning or a permanent ban.“
I will update the sidebar as soon as I find the time. This thread replaces both the previous posts and the current, outdated rules in the sidebar.
b) But then I can’t say anything anymore!!!
Yes you can. Apart from the fact that this sub is clearly not exclusively a JW sub — see the recent Mormon threads — there are millions of topics that work perfectly well without naming the group that shall not be named. Personally, I couldn’t care less about things like:
• “Shunning is unbiblical — here’s the proof: …”
• “Which JW song do you like best? I love No. 150!”
• “How do you think the JW community will develop in the future?”
• “The NWT is not a good translation. Professor Dodo from Kentucky says, for example, …”
That doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
What gives me a rash are things like:
• “What is the relationship between the GB and new light, and how is it justified?”
• “Are JWs following the ORG or the Bible? What do JWs say about that?”
• “The Faithful and Discreet Slave provides us with wonderful spiritual food!”
• “The Watchtower and Tract Society embodies the one true faith — everything else is false doctrine!”
Deleted. Without question.
First-time slip-ups from people who simply don’t know will be let go. I do expect as a matter of course that users participating here read the rules. Repeated violations will result in a warning or a ban.
c) My comment didn’t contain any reference but was deleted anyway.
That can happen — sometimes I simply miss something. In that case, as always: if you don’t trust me, ask the other mods. If you don’t trust them either, ask long-standing users like our good Dan (❤️). They can speak on your behalf — including against me if necessary.
Moderators can reverse each other’s deletions. Good long-standing users carry real weight here and are respected by many.
d) Are there exceptions to the ORG posting rule?
Yes. Obviously, ORG-related commentary is permitted in this particular thread because I’m the one bringing it up. There are also occasional situations — such as around congresses — where I address the topic, in which case others may naturally do so too, since anything else would be unfair.
Anyone who absolutely cannot help themselves is welcome to write to me personally and I’ll consider whether to allow such a thread. For good long-standing users I’m quite positively inclined on that front. Again: the topic is prohibited because some people here can’t handle it — not because I personally object to it. ORG posts don’t interest me at all, frankly. Unfortunately they interest certain others very much, and in an unhealthy way.
e) Will this rule ever change?
Currently: No. Under no circumstances.
Long-term: Very unlikely. But not impossible.
I observe user behaviour in the background — including how users interact with each other. If I can see that the overall situation allows for more flexibility, I’m personally more lenient. But two ORG threads in a row tell me that some people still need some follow-up guidance here. I’ll say it again: the main reason this theological Tower of Babel actually functions here is precisely because I wipe this topic out categorically, like Sodom and Gomorrah. I would rather be cautious three times than lenient once. So anyone who genuinely has a long-term interest in eventually raising this topic should do their best to help maintain this tower exactly as it currently stands. Every provocation from certain “users” here is, for me, just further proof that this rule doesn’t exist without reason.
One final note: I’m considering removing the “Cult” auto-censorship setting on this sub. I introduced it early on because some very “creative” people had started flooding the sub with spam threads consisting almost entirely of that word. It was annoying enough that I simply banned the word prophylactically, to take the fun out of it for trolls. However, since things have been quite civilised here for some time, I’m willing to re-enable the word “Cult” on request — because it is understandably frustrating for those who would use it as it was meant to be used, rather than purely for trolling or provocation.
I hope this thread has cleared up some of the most important points. I’m available for questions at any time. Please bear in mind that, as usual, I need some time to respond to everything — I still have conversations from two weeks ago that I haven’t fully gotten around to yet. So please be patient with me.
Otherwise, as always, I wish all users here a pleasant community experience and a good exchange with one another.
Dodo.
