Posts by Athanasius

34

Do you remember your last meeting?

by freedom96 in

jw
friends

last meeting i ever went to was a memorial, 6 years ago.

i remember it well, and it wasn't even my own hall.

it was so boring.

Athanasius

The last meeting I attended as a JW was in Sept. 1984. It was Thursday night & I was the Theocratic School Overseer. At the close of the school I told the congregation that I would not be conducting the school anymore because I had to go back to college to finish my education. I really wanted to give them a brief sermon like John Henry Newman's "A Parting of Friends." But with the JWs this is impossible. Besides my fellow elders would have canned me on the spot, causing my JW family to shun me. So no "Parting of Friends" sermon. Many years later I attended JW meetings as an Anglican for the fun of it. In fact I attended the Memorial this year and partook. Don't think they counted me though.

Athanasius

85

What's the Highest "Position" You Had in the Congregation???

by minimus in

jw
friends

me----p.o.....you??

?

Athanasius

Was P.O. for a year, but during my ten year stint as an elder I held every office at one time or another except Secretary. However, I enjoyed being School Overseer the most. Teaching school is the only thing I really miss. They can keep all the rest.

Athanasius

9

Witnessing to JWs at a magazine stand in the mall

by D wiltshire in

jw
friends

i think a big mistake that some make in trying to get a jw to see they are not in the one and only true religion is to argue about bible doctrine.as soon as you use the any scriptures they see it through wt interpretation filter, only the most open-minded will be able to entertain an interprtaton contrary to wt, and with 5 meetings of indoctrination a week very few are that open.. another approach may be perhaps better, it will not have very quick results, but it could put a crack in the thick shell the wt has formed around them.. here the approach i used at the mall when witnessing to the jws (two women) at their magazine stand.. as i was looking at the books i mentioned that my son-in-law was a jw (would not tell them that i used to be one).

and also that they are nice people but there is one thing i dont agree with and that is that they think they are the only ones that are going to be saved and that all the other people that believe in christ are doomed for destruction.. of coarse they have their clever answers that are designed to deflect such objections such as "only god can read hearts" and the like, if you press them some more, which i did, they will answer to the effect that yes they believe they do have the only true religion, which they did, and then went to explain why they felt that way.. .

i then proceeded to give an example, of a family who believed in jesus christ and had a genuine faith that moved them to help the poor, be good parents, work hard, live good moral upright lives, basically follow the bible, and i then asked them.

Athanasius

One rainy day the JWs set up a magazine table in the local shopping mall. There was a man and a woman sitting behind the table. I looked at their magazines and books and then asked them if they had the Book Of Mormon. They said no. Surprisingly they didn't identify themselves as JWs. In fact that was the end of the conversation so I left. I don't know if this got them thinking.

Athanasius

65

What are you currently reading?

by Sirona in

jw
friends

as ex-dubs we are free to read whatever the hell we want to read.

in celebration of that fact (and to give me some ideas on what to read next .

sirona

Athanasius

Currently I am reading THE TEMPLAR REVELATION, Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ by Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince.

However, in the last year I have read:

BERIA, Stalin's First Lieutenant by Amy Knight

WHO KILLED KIROV?--The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery by Amy Knight

ON A FIELD OF RED--The Communist International and the Coming of World War II by Anthony Cave Brown and Charles B. MacDonald

KREMLIN WIVES--The Secret Lives of the Women Behind the Kremlin Walls From Lenin to Gorbachev by Larissa Vasilieva

RED VICTORY--A History of the Russian Civil War by W. Bruce Lincoln

LENIN A NEW BIOGRAPHY by Dmitri Volkogonov, the first account using all the secret Soviet archives

TROTSKY THE ETERNAL REVOLUTIONARY by Dmitri Volkogonov

STALIN TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY by Dmitri Volkogonov

THE RUSSIAN FASCISTS, Tragedy and Farce in Exile, 1925-1945 by John J. Stephan

STALIN, The First In-Depth Biography Based On Explosive New Documents From Russia's Secret Archives by Edvard Radzinsky

THE WOLF OF HE KREMLIN, The First Biography of L. M. Kaganovich, The Soviet Union's Architect of Fear by Stuart Kahan

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN WHIG PARTY by Michael F. Holt

MICHAEL COLLINS by Tim Pat Coogan

THE SHOOTING OF MICHAEL COLLINS, Murder or Accident? by John M. Feehan

THE BLACK AND TANS, The British Special Police in Ireland by Richard Bennett

A HISTORY OF IRELAND by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry

THE IRISH CIVIL WAR by Tim Pat Coogan & George Morrison

All of the above are non-fiction. Its obvious that I enjoy reading history, particularly Russian history. Its interesting how much the Watch Tower organization resembles the former Soviet Union.

Sincerely,

Athanasius

29

The Best And Worst Accents In The World

by Englishman in

jw
friends

well, obviously we english don't qualify on that score as we simply do not have any accent whatsoever.. but i do like the mid to south us accent, it's very warm and hospitable.

i'm not too keen on the accent of the eastern europeans, it seems harsh and bombastic.

englishman.

Athanasius

I have a mid-Atlantic accent even though I am a native Californian. I used to think that the Irish had the best accent. However, my girlfriend is Ukrainian and she has the most beautiful East-European accent. Its a toss up right now.

Athanasius

12

Movies over the Weekend?

by sandy in

jw
friends

.

did anybody take in any movies recently or over the weekend?.

i saw identity and i give it two thumbs up?

Athanasius

I saw Identity yesterday. The plot had a lot of twists and turns. The ending was somewhat of a surprise. An excellent film, but recommend it for mature audiences.

Athanasius

3

Attended first Memorial in 20 years

by Athanasius in

jw
friends

after a 20 year absence i attended the memorial this evening.

not surprisingly, nothing has really changed after two decades, as far as the memorial talk is concerned.

the jws were very friendly even though i wore an american flag pin in my lapel and identified myself as a devout anglican.

Athanasius

After a 20 year absence I attended the Memorial this evening. Not surprisingly, nothing has really changed after two decades, as far as the Memorial Talk is concerned. The JWs were very friendly even though I wore an American Flag pin in my lapel and identified myself as a devout Anglican. I sat in the back so was able to see everything. It looked like I was the only one to partake, everyone else passed up a ticket to heaven. The speaker said that only one in ten congregations has a partaker. Guess they were lucky tonight, provided they count me. Do they count Anglo-Catholics as partakers? Anyway I sense that the JWs are abandoning the hard sell approach of earlier times in favor of the "isn't this a nice religion" format. Though I have no intention of ever going back to the KH, change seems to be in the wind. Let us hope that the JWs will follow the lead of the World Wide Church of God and make some positive changes for the good of all.

Athanasius

19

Are you a different person now from when you were a JW?

by NaruNaruChan in

jw
friends

i got an e-mail today from an old high school friend who, after we met for coffee, said "wow, you're normal again!

i mean, you were boring, stuffy, and generally not much fun when you became a jw.

now you're back to the old so-and-so that i remember, i love it!

Athanasius

We all change over the years. I've been out of the Watch Tower for 20 years and have got on with my life. However, I did have an interesting experience a few years back. I was talking with my old Latin teacher, who I had witnessed to when I was in high school. I told him that I had left the JWs and was now an Episcopalian. Interestingly my conversion was not a surprise to him. Though at the time he aware that I was caught up in a cult, he knew that eventually I would see the errors of Watch Tower doctrine and become a Catholic. He was right. Perhaps we don't really change all that much.

Athanasius

17

Are you planning anything special for Memorial?

by Athanasius in

jw
friends

since i never partook of the bread and wine all the years i was a jw, thought it would be fun to attend this year's memorial and sample the matzo and hopefully some kosher wine.

thought it might impress jws if i walked into the kh wearing a yarmulke and a tallith (prayer shawl).

anybody else plan to have some fun at the memorial?.

Athanasius

Since I never partook of the bread and wine all the years I was a JW, thought it would be fun to attend this year's Memorial and sample the matzo and hopefully some kosher wine. Thought it might impress JWs if I walked into the KH wearing a Yarmulke and a Tallith (prayer shawl). Anybody else plan to have some fun at the Memorial?

Athanasius

2

When will the JWs celebrate Memorial this year?

by Athanasius in

jw
friends

i haven't attended the jw memorial in 20 years and thought that it might be nice to attend this year's celebration to see if the service has changed and if they serve a better quality wine.

if anyone knows what day this week the special event will be observed, please let me know.. thanks,.

athanasius

Athanasius

I haven't attended the JW Memorial in 20 years and thought that it might be nice to attend this year's celebration to see if the service has changed and if they serve a better quality wine. If anyone knows what day this week the special event will be observed, please let me know.

Thanks,

Athanasius