Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  36

  Why JW assemblies NEED to change

  by kneehighmiah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the assemblies would be get better results and get more people to come and be inspired if they were more encouraging.

  instead the assemblies are a giant guilt trip.

  don't go to college, don't get a good job, dont buy things even if you can afford them, don't play violent games, don't flirt.

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  Athanasius

  Being a history buff, Zeb, I know that you are referring to Edward Everett. In addition to being a U.S. Senator, he also served in Congress as a representative, served as Secretary of State, and was the Vice Presidential candidate for the Constatution Party in 1860.

  But your point is well taken. In fact Wilfred Knox, an Anglican priest, once said that an effective sermon should be no longer than 15 minutes. If one goes over that time they lose their audience. And that was always the major problem with JW conventions. I remember the 8 day International conventions of the 1950s and 1960s. After sitting for a couple of days hearing boring talks, your mind went numb for the remaining 6 days and you prayed that the torture would end.
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  24

  Thirty Years a Watch Tower Slave

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i just finished reading this and enjoyed it.

  however, if i was newly awakening or on the verge of awakening, i dont think this book would have helped me a great deal.

  brother schnell has some good thoughts, however, he is short on detail and description, and even shorter on proof and documentation.. it is interesting reading about the transition of the bible students from a small group of independent noncomformists into an organization characterized by total conformity.

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  Athanasius

  I read 30 Years A Watchtower Slave back in 1973 when I was still a JW, and an elder. Though the book didn't cause me to leave the JWs at the time, for me it did answer the question as to why Hitler persecuted the JWs in Germany. I never bought the Watchtower's explanation for the persecution. But Schnell's book gave a more satisfying answer. Hitler viewed the JWs as a political threat to his regime, and Schnell's discription of the JW organization in Germany shows why Hitler felt justified in taking extreme action against this American cult.

  However, Ray Franz's COC was a much better book. In fact it was reading COC that hastened my departure from the JWs.
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  58

  What are you reading right now??

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i 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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  Athanasius

  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.
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  18

  How many changes since you have been out?

  by done4good in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  pixel'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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  39

  At what point did you destroy your Blood card?

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i 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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  13

  New JW Elder Instructional Video, How Many Times Was Jesus Christ Mentioned? His name?

  by RottenRiley in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i 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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  6

  When you were a JW, how did you find the time to prepare your talks?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at 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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  15

  does anyone know where this pic is from?

  by wallsofjericho in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  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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  6

  Need Scan from KIT 1985 version

  by JWOP in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'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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  40

  Purged songs of the Watchtower

  by LogCon in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  my 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.