Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  33

  Is door to door activity over?

  by badcompany in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just curious about others experience.

  i've been living just a few miles from a kingdom hall for 9 years.

  i've been called on 0 times.

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  Athanasius

  I've lived at my present address for 16 years and have had the JWs stop by only two times. Once they left a tract as my wife and I weren't home. The second time was last year when a JW couple stopped by looking for deaf persons who wanted to study the Bible. Since I didn't have any hearing problems, they weren't interested in talking with me and left to canvas the neighborhood for those hard of
  
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  45

  Hold Me, Thrill Me

  by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!

  man, what a trip it was.

  i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.

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  Athanasius

  Hi HMTM,

  I too left the JWs voluntarily, resigning as an elder, and making a quick fade. But my exodus from the Watchtower didn't cause me to reject Christianity. My reasons for leaving were doctrinal and the scholastic dishonesty of the Watchtower. I went back to college, got my degree, and a good paying.

  Like you I had difficulties accepting the Trinity and after leaving the JWs attended Unitarian Church services, which is non-Trinitarian. But after doing research and reading the Church Fathers, I accepted the Nicene Creed and was received into the Anglican Church.

  I often refer to my religious journey as "My Spiritual Aeneid." But each person who leaves the JW religion must make their own spiritual journey and do what is best for their circumstances. The important thing to remember is that there is life beyond the Watchtower.
  
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  16

  Crisis of Conscience

  by WasOnceBlind in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  wow, what a great book.

  i started reading it today and have not been able stop.

  im already 80 pages in!

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  Athanasius

  Though I never met Ray Franz face to face, I did talk with him on the telephone a couple of times, and found him to be knowledgeable and very humble. Moreover, it was reading Crisis of Conscience that freed me of JWism.

  But in answer to Nathan Natas's comments, I served as an elder from 1972-1984, served on many JCs, and none dealt with child abuse. Nor, with one possible exception, was I aware of any such cases in our congregation and circuit. I'm not saying that pedophilia didn't exist back then. Because in 1983 an elder in our congregation mentioned during a BOE meeting that the teenaged step-daughter of a new convert left the new JW family to live with her non-JW father because of abuse. However, the elder said he doubted there was abuse. The elder claimed the girl didn't like living in a restrictive JW home, and wanted the freedom to do what worldly kids did, and alleged abuse in order to leave. Since no JC action was taken, the matter was dropped and not investigated and HQ was not informed.

  By the way the family didn't remain JWs for long, and left the congregation a year later. I don't know if the stepdaughter rejoined her mother and stepfather after the family exited the
  

  It would be interesting to poll the elders and former elders on this forum who served on JCs during the time that Ray Franz served on the GB and see how many dealt with pedophile issues in their congregations and whether or not the Branch was informed.
  
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  35

  Do you feel bad throwing away literature?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so do you feel bad throwing away your old literature?.

  what about your old song book or bible from your early days in the org?.

  if so, is it because of sentimentality, monetary cost or because it might be 'sacred' ?.

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  Athanasius

  I left the JWs in 1984 and had lots of Watchtower books, including the bound volumes going back to 1960. Also had Russell and Rutherford's books, which I kept. Since I left voluntarily and was not DFd, I was able to sell my bound volume set to a new elder, plus some extra copies of older books that I had on hand. Couldn't see burning or throwing the books away, when there were people willing to pay for them.

  In the 1990s I sold a NWT 5 volume set to a second hand bookstore for twice what I originally paid for
  
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  21

  How Honest is the Official Watchtower PR Department?..Check out this You Tube Video..

  by OUTLAW in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  most of us know the watchtower "isn`t" known for it`s honesty... what happens when a person calls watchtower headquarters... with questions the the watchtower "doesn`t" want to answer?!...

  your about to find out in this youtube video... phone call to bethel ny jehovah's watchtower productions caleb sophia video series underlying themes.

  by inform ant .

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  Athanasius

  I listened to the whole conversation and agree with some of the posters who said she talked too much. However, she used some JW terms that the Watchtower people may have picked up on and quickly identified her as an ex-JW. In her conversation she used the terms "brother" and "elder" instead of Watchtower spokesperson, She used the term "meeting" instead of JW services.

  My guess is that because she used JW language, the Watchtower guy k he was talking with an "apostate," and was more closed mouth with her than he would have been with a non-JW.

  While a non-JW would have gotten the same answers, the Watchtower spokesman would not have had the satisfaction of thinking he was defending the Borg from "apostates."
  
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  15

  Went to a viewing at a Catholic Church...not what I expected

  by PaintedToeNail in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a child in my daughter's class lost his mother very recently.

  we went to the viewing last night at the local catholic church.

  in the foyer area there was a bulletin board with pamphlets regarding child sex abuse, including by the church, in both english and spanish.

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  Athanasius

  After leaving the JWs I visited a number of churches, and all had programs to help the needy and the disadvantaged.  The Anglican Church that I attend has a food pantry and a clothes closet for the poor.  We even have a free medical clinic for the needy.  Around Christmas time the parishioners put together gift baskets of food and toys for needy families.
  

  Some years back our priest read a letter to the congregation that was from the Diocese of Los Angeles, informing us that a priest who had once served our parish had been arrested for child abuse.  If anyone had been victimized by this man, we were told to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.  Unlike the Kingdom Hall, there was no mention of contacting the church legal department first.  Instead contact the proper authorities immediately.

  The Watchtower organization doesn't even take care of their own needy, much less those of the community at
  

  
  
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  9

  What was the longest Elder Meeting you have ever experienced?

  by Yondaime in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a couple years back my hall had around 12 elders, and the body was literally divided into little factions of elders(gotta love jehovah's holy spirit !).

  the branch sent 2 more elders to help resolve the issues between them, and that didn't help at all.. so when the circuit overseer visited, a meeting was held after the sunday meeting.

  i waited in the hall by myself since the rest of my family was out of town for a certain family event.

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  Athanasius

  I served as an elder from 1972-1984, and don't recall any elder's meeting being longer than 2 hours.  Of course it was a different religion back then.  Still most of the meetings were routine without any conto.  However, the JC meetings were a different matter and could go on for hours and hours.
  
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  26

  trying to remember what I left behind.........

  by ScottyRex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i watched this tonight and it made me think.......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=almbxqvwpei have a look x

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  Athanasius

  The video used the soundtrack from the film Gladiator by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, works that copyrighted.  Did the makers of the video, whoever they are, get permission or pay for the use of this music?
  
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  13

  Revise Tax Code to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

  by ABibleStudent in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  over the last five years, i have read lots of threads complaining about the wtbts, but few threads about becoming involved to help jws to critically think for themselves so that they can decide whether to stay, change the wtbts, or fade.

  i'm curious if anyone is willing to write to their political representatives like i did today?.

  before someone writes that the bill that i wrote would infringe on rights of either the establishment or free excercise clause of the u.s. constitution, i already checked with a lawyer and she said that the concept sounds promising.

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  Athanasius

  The Watchtower worships the almighty dollar, so something like this would surely get their
  
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  13

  Revise Tax Code to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

  by ABibleStudent in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  over the last five years, i have read lots of threads complaining about the wtbts, but few threads about becoming involved to help jws to critically think for themselves so that they can decide whether to stay, change the wtbts, or fade.

  i'm curious if anyone is willing to write to their political representatives like i did today?.

  before someone writes that the bill that i wrote would infringe on rights of either the establishment or free excercise clause of the u.s. constitution, i already checked with a lawyer and she said that the concept sounds promising.

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  Athanasius

  Good work ABS.  However, you should run it by an attorney who specializes in these issues.  Also you might want to do some research and find out which members of Congress are advocates of children's rights; as these members might be especially interested in a bill like you propose.

  The Watchtower worships the mighty dollar, so something like this would surely get their