Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  33

  do you?

  by purplebunnyfoofoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  believe that gods name is jehovah?

  do you still use it as his name?

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  Athanasius

  No and no. Yahweh is probably a more correct pronunciation of the Divine Name.
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  40

  describe yourself...

  by Calliope in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  come on, be vain for a moment.

  maybe you haven't posted your picture because you're trying to maintain some level of anonymity, .

  maybe you have posted your picture... .

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  Athanasius

  Thats me in the picture. It was taken a year after Armageddon, and since we don't age in the New System, there hasn't been a need to up-date the photo.

  Sorry to hear about the raccoon Robdar. I have several on my property and they have never given me any trouble. The deer can be pests, especially when they eat my cucumber plants. But the wild turkeys are the worst, wish they would learn to clean up after themselves. Fortunately my neighbors and myself all believe in live and let live, so nobody harms the wildlife.
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  40

  Can you admit that you "used to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses"?

  by undercover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was reading about minimus' trip to the hospital and his telling them that he "used to be a jw" but he would take blood now if needed.. it got me to thinking; i don't like telling people that i used to be a jw.

  that's in my past and i prefer to keep it there.

  if asked about my upbringing or religious preference, i usually just comment on being brought up in a strict religion but i got over it..and then try to change the subject.

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  Athanasius

  The subject rarely comes up for me. Most of my friends and co-workers know that I am an Episcopalian. However, last year a co-worker's daughter married a JW. The way she described her new son-in-law, he didn't sound very "theocratic." However, the groom's parents were devout JWs and my co-worker was doing all she could to accommodate them at the wedding ceremony and reception. So I told her that I understood her dilemma as I had been raised in that religion. I wasn't embarrassed to mention my former religious affiliation, nor did it raise any eyebrows. People often change religions, its no big deal.
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  38

  Would you still be a JW

  by purplebunnyfoofoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  would you still be a jw if you had not been disfellowshipped?

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  Athanasius

  I left voluntarily after reading Crisis of Conscience, which confirmed that the JWs didn't have the "truth." Though not DFd, I'd never return to the Watchtower dictatorship.
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  17

  Describe your Spirituality after Leaving JW's please

  by esw1966 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what has been your attitude toward religion after leaving jehovah's witnesses?.

  did you search for religious truth?

  scoff at religion?

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  Athanasius

  The first three years after leaving the Watchtower I didn't attend any religious services. I spent my time working and completing my education. Time was also spent meditating and reflecting on myself and my spirituality. I prefer being part of a community to being a hermit. So I began my spiritual journey, during which I visited the Bible Students, the Unitarians, the Church of Religious Science, just to name a few, before becoming an Episcopalian. What appealed to me about Anglo-Catholicism was the emphasis on Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. Reason is something you don't find in the Watchtower. The Episcopal Church isn't perfect, in fact it has some serious problems and divisions at present. But for now it is my spiritual home.

  However, each one has to make their own decision regarding spirituality. What works for one might not work for another. The important thing is to use your new found freedom to make the decision that is right for you.
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  35

  About half the DF's go back? Really?

  by AuldSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  j.r. brown said about half the df's go back.

  i know some who went back and promptly faded, some who went back and were "bt" jws (barely there), a few who went back and quickly got df'd again usually before they even got privileges back.. but the one that takes the cake (in my opinion) is the former po of my parent's congregation who had been giving dc parts for years getting disfellowshipped a couple of months after giving the rousing talk, "abhor what is wicked, cling to what is good.

  " only after his reinstatement did i discover that was his third df.

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  Athanasius

  
  Can't say what its like in the congregations right now, but in the 70s and early 80s when I served as an elder about 50% of those DFd applied for and were re-instated. Women were more likely to return than men. In fact there were only two men who got canned during this time who were re-instated. Apparently these two guys weren't really "repentant" because after associating for a while one guy left his wife for another woman and got canned a second time. As far as I know he is still out. I don't know the details about the second guy, but he too was DFd a second time. However, he was eventually re-instated. I think he is an elder now.

  Do they still use the term "re-instated?"
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  13

  I think any religion can change some one's life to a positive way.

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember as a witness, how we always were told account of people getting their life changed in a wonderful way, when they became witnesses.

  we always thought, "that is what happens when jehovah comes into your life.

  " yet if you think about it, every religion i have ever encountered, has similar account of lives being changed by religion.

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  Athanasius

  You shouldn't limit your application to only religion, poppers. It can apply to any movement whether it be religious, political, educational, etc. I know some devout Marxists who would be in total agreement if you just change the wording to this:

  1. The Party gives the people a sense of purpose. "Workers of the World Unite, all you have to lose are your chains."

  2. The Party gives the people as sense of hope. "Arise ye victims of privation, arise all ye who are forelorn, for there's a new age beginning, there's a new world being born." The Internationale.

  3. The Party gives the people organization and guidelines. "Every citizen will make his particular contribution to the activities of the community according to his capacity, his talent and his age; it is on this basis that his duties will be determined, in conformity with the distributive laws." K. Marx.

  Sometimes I think politics is religion in a secular disguise.
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  36

  X - JW or Apostate?

  by In Between in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought this might be interesting.

  if it's been talked about before, i apologize in advance.

  what differences do you think exist between the two?

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  Athanasius

  I don't consider myself to be an X-JW or and Apostate. Just a person who spent some time in a totalitarian religious community before leaving to continue his spiritual journey.
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  17

  "What congregation do you attend?"

  by Odrade in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  heehee, forgot my post.

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  Athanasius

  Ten years ago while shopping I met a JW who I hadn't seen in years. We had attended the same KH back in the 1970s and he and his family were in the CBS that I conducted. Of course the first thing he asked was which congregation was I attending? When I told him that I was attending services at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, he acted like he had swallowed his tongue. In fact it sounded like he was choking on something. Since he seemed to be unable to speak at the moment, I mentioned that though my new church family didn't have all the answers, I found more help and comfort in this Christian community than I ever felt at the KH. The JW still had trouble speaking, but said: "guess you gotta do what you gotta do" as he quickly walked away.
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  26

  Did you make life altering decisions because of 1975?

  by restrangled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had extended family members, both with families of 7, abandon good jobs and homes in the suburbs of chicago.

  they moved to the wild outskirts of 2 separate states to protect their families from armageddon.

  they both waited for 20 years, wound up financially destitute and finally had to move and depend on other family members to recover.. it would be interesting to read the stories from those of you who went through this time period as a jw.. r.

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  Athanasius

  Despite all the Watchtower rhetoric, 1975 didn't cause me to make any life altering decisions in that decade. At the time I had a good paying job, was happily married, and served as an elder in the congregation. In fact what concerned me most was the effect it would have on the JWs if 1975 passed and nothing happened.

  Nevertheless, it was the Watchtower leadership's reaction to the failure of their 1975 prophecy and the blaming of the rank and file for the disappointment that led to my exit in 1984. So I guess you could say 1975 indirectly led to a life altering decision.