Nathan Natas

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Posts by Nathan Natas

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  13

  Worshiping a piece of stone

  by FedUpJW in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  today one of the members of the local congregation who is somewhat limited intellectually was showing off a small bit of cut granite stone.

  as he did so he made sure to let everyone know that it was given to him by the congregation service overseer who just completed his second or third round of bragging rights slave labor at warwick.

  he mentioned that, "brother _______ gave this to me as a piece of reality from warwick.

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  Nathan Natas

  The saying goes, "by the black stone steel itself is sharpened." I have learned a bit more by sharing in this discussion, and I am happy to share what I've learned.

  Here is a bit of what Wikipedia has to say about The Kaaba (I spelled the transliteration incorrectly earlier):

  "The Kaaba (Arabic: the Cube"), is a building at the center of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, al-Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred Muslim site in the world. It is considered the "House of Allah" and has a similar role to the Tabernacle and Holy of Holies in Judaism. Wherever they are in the world, Muslims are expected to face the Kaaba when performing prayer. From any point in the world, the direction facing the Kaaba is called the qibla. The sanctuary around the Kaaba is called Al-Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque). One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim who is able to do so to perform the hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Multiple parts of the hajj require pilgrims to make tawaf, the circumambulation seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction...

  The Black Stone (or Hajarul Aswad) is the eastern cornerstone of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building located in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic which, according to Muslim tradition, dates back to the time of Adam and Eve."

  Millions of Muslims and their apologistss will tell you the Kaaba is not worshipped.

  
  

  Above, a bunch of people "not worshipping."

  
  
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  25

  Did Crisis of Conscience find a market or did it lumber along until the copies ran out?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  curiosity.i would think c of c was the grand-daddy of all the ex-jw books.is there any way to know for sure how many copies sold?

  over what span of time before the 1st edition ended?

  why did it peter out of print if it was a perennial seller?today, every tom, dick, and jasper has self-published the bleeding wound, 1st person singular, true confessional version of their own fall from grace.

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  Nathan Natas

  Brock, those are impressive numbers for an XJW book - and you've done it twice!

  The XJW market is almost as large as a small virus, which means that id you get 100% market share, you still have close to $0.00.

  OK, I'm being optimistic!

  I'm sure a few of us would love to know what's in your "secret sauce."

  Whatever you're doing, keep it up! Wishing you continued success!

  I notice you have your paperback prices set at less than $12 each, which I would guess means your royalty is less than $2/book. Am I close?

  Anyone who has tried publishing for the XJW community knows it is not the road to un-dreamed-of wealth. We do what we do because in our hearts we are sheepdogs.
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  13

  Worshiping a piece of stone

  by FedUpJW in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  today one of the members of the local congregation who is somewhat limited intellectually was showing off a small bit of cut granite stone.

  as he did so he made sure to let everyone know that it was given to him by the congregation service overseer who just completed his second or third round of bragging rights slave labor at warwick.

  he mentioned that, "brother _______ gave this to me as a piece of reality from warwick.

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  Nathan Natas

  JWdaughter said, "No one is worshipping the kabbah"

  Really? What are they all doing there, waiting for a bus?
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  25

  Did Crisis of Conscience find a market or did it lumber along until the copies ran out?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  curiosity.i would think c of c was the grand-daddy of all the ex-jw books.is there any way to know for sure how many copies sold?

  over what span of time before the 1st edition ended?

  why did it peter out of print if it was a perennial seller?today, every tom, dick, and jasper has self-published the bleeding wound, 1st person singular, true confessional version of their own fall from grace.

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  Nathan Natas

  My apologies; the link that I *thought* went to the full, on-line transcription of "Visions of Glory" does not go there at all, it goes nowhere.

  This is a pity. I can only hope that someday someone makes Barbara's great book available again.
• 
  13

  Worshiping a piece of stone

  by FedUpJW in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  today one of the members of the local congregation who is somewhat limited intellectually was showing off a small bit of cut granite stone.

  as he did so he made sure to let everyone know that it was given to him by the congregation service overseer who just completed his second or third round of bragging rights slave labor at warwick.

  he mentioned that, "brother _______ gave this to me as a piece of reality from warwick.

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  Nathan Natas

  Gee, how different that is from the infidels who worship a meteorite at Mecca!

  I'm sure it can also serve as a rectal-area scraper if he's ever caught without toilet paper.
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  25

  Did Crisis of Conscience find a market or did it lumber along until the copies ran out?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  curiosity.i would think c of c was the grand-daddy of all the ex-jw books.is there any way to know for sure how many copies sold?

  over what span of time before the 1st edition ended?

  why did it peter out of print if it was a perennial seller?today, every tom, dick, and jasper has self-published the bleeding wound, 1st person singular, true confessional version of their own fall from grace.

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  Nathan Natas

  You are welcome, Hecce.

  The more expensive version is a large-format hard copy, and the less-expensive is a digital copy.

  If you might be interested in Barbara Harrison's "Visions of Glory," you can read it for FREE here: http://www.freeminds.org/women/barbara.htm

  I regret not including that link in my previous write-up.

  Randy Watters of FREEMINDS.com offers the book for FREE on his website (it was transcribed for him by former JWD member "Dungbeetle" and myself). Randy developed a close friendly relationship with Barbara before she died and she gave Randy EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS to share her book on the FREEMINDS site.

  I am pleased that I also got the courage to call Barbara and thank her for her work just a couple of weeks before she died. We spoke only briefly; she was kind and polite.

  By the way, when Randy posts here, it is under the avatar "dogpatch."
  
  
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  25

  Did Crisis of Conscience find a market or did it lumber along until the copies ran out?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  curiosity.i would think c of c was the grand-daddy of all the ex-jw books.is there any way to know for sure how many copies sold?

  over what span of time before the 1st edition ended?

  why did it peter out of print if it was a perennial seller?today, every tom, dick, and jasper has self-published the bleeding wound, 1st person singular, true confessional version of their own fall from grace.

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  Nathan Natas

  Terry suggested, "I would think C of C was the grand-daddy of all the Ex-JW books."

  I can't agree with you on that. Both CoC and "A People for His Name" ( which I had the pleasure of resurrecting, with the help of a large quantity of tana-leaf tea) were originally published by "vanity" publishing houses, which means that no one in the commercial book business felt that either title had much likelihood of being profitable.

  So what does a "vanity" publisher do?

  He says, "Yeah, Sonny, we can print yer book. We'll give you "X"-thousand copies and deliver them to you for only "20X"-thousand dollars, paid up front, in full."

  
  (I'm speculating here; I do not have the details of either Ray Franz' or Tony Wills' (aka "Tim White") ACTUAL contracts, but I will bet you dollars to donuts that the contracts were in essence just as I have represented them, and I would win that bet.)

  So what happens next is that a few weeks later a truck shows up at the author's house, and the author takes delivery of all "X"-thousand copies of his new book. It is left to the author to become a coleporteur of his book.

  Tim White's book was published in 1967 (24 BIE - Before the Internet Era) and the distribution mechanism were archaic. Priority Mail wasn't even available then! Tim placed fewer than 200 copies of his book, became overcome with depression, took the remaining inventory to a local dump and set them on fire.

  Ray Franz published "CoC" in 1983 (8 BIE) and Ray was the beneficiary of more advantageous circumstances than Tim White had. Ray had contacts in the XJW community who helped spread the word about his book. In contrast, Tim was a loner.

  ...but I digress...

  Of all the XJW books published since, say, 1950, only "Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses" by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1978) was a commercial success. And it remains an excellent book to this day, in spite of being written by a woman (and thus subject to subliminal dismissal by most JWs).

  At the very least, "Visions of Glory" deserves to be honored as the grand-mother of XJW books!

  
  

  
  
• 
  137

  Mouthy has Passed Away

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  update on mouthy (grace gough)this is graces granddaughter.

  i wanted to send an update that today my beautiful grandmother passed away - surrounded by friends and family.

  - may 22 1927 - sept 2nd 2016. mouthys_granddaughter.

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  Nathan Natas

  A dear Lady and a great contributor to the XJW community. She showed us that activism and a sense of humor were not exclusive.

  I offer my condolences to her family and her many friends here and around the world.

  She would want you all to remember that the Watchtower's 1914 doctrine is a lie.
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  27

  I think this is an important question...

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i first met my wife and on that so important first date i was 21 years old and sadly broke, she was an 18 year old au pair.

  any way i treated her to mcdonald's but she had to pay for the meal.

  now over 20 years later and still together, i realize how lucky i was she didn't say on that first date " if you can't afford to pay "our" mcdonald's meal f...off" .

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  Nathan Natas

  Because you read that as "sport scar," Dr. Freud might wonder what YOU are into, m'dear.

  
  
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  40

  Bedroom Laws

  by XPeterX in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  where is this based on?which verse of the bible says that we have to follow certain rules when it comes to sex?

  (i know this is a very discussed topic).what have you heard/seen?i am sure no one ever follows that..

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  Nathan Natas

  You have to free up your imagination a bit and suspend disbelief, but according to the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, their publications will be the new new testament of the future. Really!