Currently reading FIDEL CASTRO by Robert E. Quirk. Quirk explodes some of the myths about Castro's early life. For example Fidel wasn't that great a baseball player to be even considered for a position on a major league team in the U.S.
Athanasius
JoinedPosts by Athanasius
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58
What are you reading right now??
by DATA-DOG ini am reading "stranger in a strange land" by robert a. heinlein.
i read it over 20 years ago.
now i am reading it from a completely different perspective.
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How many changes since you have been out?
by done4good inpixel's boe letter made me think of this.
i have been out since january 2006. here are the ones i can think of:.
1. deletion of cong.
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Athanasius
I left the JWs 30 years ago, so it may take me a few days to sort out all the changes since 1984. Also keep in mind that since Rutherford died in 1942 there have been a number of changes back to the "old light." For example the "superior authorities" being the earthly governments, which was Russell's belief.
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At what point did you destroy your Blood card?
by BU2B ini know for me it was soon after lurking here for awhile and reading some threads on the issue.
i remenber when i tore it into little tiny pieces.
it felt so liberating..
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Athanasius
I left the JWs in 1984 and forgot that I still carried the "no blood card" in my wallet. I think it was a couple of years later when I got a new wallet that I found that card. Fortunately I didn't have any medical emergencies during that time. Anyway I burned the card.
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New JW Elder Instructional Video, How Many Times Was Jesus Christ Mentioned? His name?
by RottenRiley ini counted zero, can anyone else verify the watchtower's new aid to instruct judicial matters never mentioned our lord and saviour jesus christ, the messiah?.
or for my deist and atheist friends, did they mention the name of jesus of nazareth?
thank you friends!.
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Athanasius
I also noticed how the elders said Je-HO-vah. That was strange, like some of the actors were closet apostates. But the plastic smile on the elder's face almost made the video seem like a parody of life in JWland.
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When you were a JW, how did you find the time to prepare your talks?
by Iamallcool inat home?
at work?.
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Athanasius
Since I left the JWs in 1984, things have probably changed a lot at the KH since then. But back then most SM parts were relatively easy to prepare and I generally worked them up after work the night before the meeting. The MS talk #1 (the Instruction Talk) was 15 minutes long and was often an actual Bible discussion, and so needed several hours to prepare, which was done over several evenings after work.
The JW culture was different then. Most of us who served as elders took our responsiblity seriously and prepared our parts for the benefit of the flock. So we took whatever time was necessary to prepare. Because we were allowed some individuality, our meetings weren't as boreing as they would later become.
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does anyone know where this pic is from?
by wallsofjericho in.
i am looking for a better image, i think this is partially cropped.
but i have no idea what publication it is from.
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Athanasius
Van Amburgh was the Watchtower's accountant. Financial accounting was my profession too. So I'm sure that old Van knew all the dirty financial dealings of Russell, Rutherford, and Knorr. RR, who used to post here, told me that Van Amburgh later regretted putting Rutherford in office. This was based on private corespondence between him and a non-JW relative. Since Van was one of the few Russell holdovers to survive the Rutherford purges, no doubt the old man kept a safety deposit box full of incriminating evidence as his insurance policy.
When I first saw the picture that the OP presented, I thought the first guy on the right was Sid Caesar, the famous commedian. But I guess it's supposed to be Freddy Franz.
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Need Scan from KIT 1985 version
by JWOP ini'm looking to see what the 1985 version of the kit says at matthew 27:52-53. i'm looking for the word-for-word greek/english part.
i have a 1969 kit, so i just need to compare to see if there's been any changes between the two.
if you can send me a scan of it, pm me.
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Athanasius
The word for word Greek/English verses of Matthew 27:52-53, 1969 Purple People Eater KIT and Blue 1985 KIT, read the same: "and the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the having fallen asleep holy (ones) were raised up, and [they] having gone forth out of the memorial tombs after the being raised up of him they entered into the holy city and they were made apparent."
The NWT rendering of the same verses is also the same in both editions. Since the Watchtower teaches that nobody was resurrected that day, they change verse 53 to read: "(and persons, coming out from among the meorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people."
Not sure if the Watchtower still teaches this, but back in 1984 when I left the JWs, they believed that the earthquake mentioned in Matthew 27:51 caused dead bodies in the tombs to be scattered and that it was live persons visiting the tombs that went to the city and told what happened. But a literal interpretation of the verses seems to indicate that the holy ones were raised up and that they went into the city and were seen by many persons.
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Purged songs of the Watchtower
by LogCon inmy memory of singing the kingdom songs go back to when i was a child in the 1950's.
they still hold a place in my memory and my heart.
how can something that is so much a part of your childhood not stay embedded in your heart.?.
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Athanasius
This brings back a lot of memories. I remember the old green song book. I was only four or five when it was released in the early 1950s. Those were the days when we had live music at the KHs, and the CAs and DCs had live orchestras. Then they replaced the green song book with the pink one and did away with live music at the KH, CA, DC, and replaced it with canned music.
I left the JWs in 1984 just as they replaced the pink song book with the baby sh_t brown color song book. Glad I left when I did, as the new song book had some songs that were impossible to sing.
Later, when I started attending other churches, some of the hymns were sung to the same music as the songs of the old JW green song book. And doing a little research found that the Watchtower had ripped off some of their songs from old Christian hymns.
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The final shackle thrown off
by moley in.
i've been out for 13yrs but its still funny how some things are so ingrained, but no more.
i had a full english today complete with the devils offering "black pudding" and how mighty tasty it was..
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Athanasius
I recommend Clonakilty black pudding. When I toured Ireland in 1999 and 2000 the best black pudding was served in Clonakilty. In fact I took some home with me it was so good. Unfortunately I haven't found anything like it here in the USA.
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How much more strange can this get ?
by man in black inladt night i was talking to a coworker who's sister is a witness in my old hall, and i needed some asprin after listening to this.. how can this be tolerated by people who believe that they alone speak the truth ?.
a young couple ( early 30's) had two children, and they adopted another boy from the inner city, so they have three boys under the age of 13.. the father is a construction worker, and mom works pt doing various jobs.. as a babysitter they use the respected teenaged son of a very prominent elder.
well, the parents breakup.
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Athanasius
Probably not, Valkyrie. The adopting couple most likely were more afluent and lived in the suburbs with a front and back yard. The boy they adopted probably came from a poor family and lived in a large apartment building, so it may have been a cultural shock at first now being able to enjoy a lawn and flowers.