Posts by Pete Zahut

90

PEER PRESSURE!!! I gave in to Pioneering during August...I feel dirty...

by stuckinarut2 in

ok, i'll admit it...i am weak.... as everyone knows, the pressure to "pioneer" during "the most momentous, awesome, amazing, centenary anniversay of jesus invisble kigdom rule, & distribute tracts about a dodgy website" campaign is very strong at the moment.... also, many will have read my threads about the extreme views and expectations in our cong for "all appointed men to pioneer" etc..... every elder and ms and their families have been announced as pioneering....i mean everyone's name was read out except mine..... i was not going to do it, as i do not believe anyone should be forced...(and of course its the last thing on earth i would rather do anyway since learning ttatt).

but i am not quite ready to make the break yet, so i realised that i would stand out more if i didnt put in a form to pioneer.

yes it would make me more conspicious, and make fading harder to do...it would bring more heat on me if i didnt pioneer.. so i gave in and submitted a form.... now, of course, i'm only going to make sure i'm seen at the key field service groups etc...but then go and do something more interesting...like count blades of grass..... ahh....i feel hypocritical to myself now......

Pete Zahut

I've read about individuals on this forum who would "pad" or completley fake their hours, or who were in charge of the monthly congregation report and altered the entire groups report in order to stay in the good graces of the Circuit Overseer.

Then there's the whole business of having two people at the same door or an entire car group waiting in the driveway, all counting time while one person talks to an occasional householder. The whole thing is such a joke....don't waste your energy feeling bad about it. Sometimes it's enough just to get by as best you can.

19

Why are 'most' of the people fighting in the Middle East MEN???

by NAVYTOWN in

jw
friends

it seems that in every war or revolution, 'most' of the participants are men and young boys.

aside from the occasional female suicide bomber.

does this have something to do with their religion and/ or cultural traditions?

Pete Zahut

It's ok to blame Men (who do most of the heavy lifting) for all the worlds problems but if you asked why it has always been men that have made most of the Scientific discoveries and Modern inventions that have benefited the world, you'd likely be considered a sexist.

Men bad....women good.

If you are wondering about Womens role in Historical Violence you can't forget:

Catherine the Great, Queen Mary (bloody Mary), Queen Issabella of Spain ,Margaret Thatcher, Maria Theresa of Austria, Empress Elisabeth
Queen Tamara of Georgia
Joan of Arc
Queen Elizabeth I
Cleopatra
Gudit
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Sikelgaita
Wu Zetian
Irene of Athens
Trung Sisters
Empress Matilda
Tomyris
Kahina
Ana de Sousa Nzinga Mbande
Raziyya Iltutmish
Zenobia
Hind al-Hunud
Khawlah Bint al-Kindiyyah
Boudica

13

Wow! Are You Stumped By Anything This 'Still-in' X-JW says?

by Island Man in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbzn9aric28.

i think he needs help.

i feel pity for him..

Pete Zahut

My Comment Posted:

1. Jehovah's Witnesses leaders make corrections when their prophecies don't come true or are about to fail....they have no choice. They never admit to being wrong, they only say that God didn't think it was necessary for them to have the correct understanding at that time, even though the end was supposedly so close and their own salvation was based on having an accurate knowledge.

2. Jehovah's Witness leaders find it necessary to change their understanding of certain significant doctrines they've held for decades while having claimed to be the mouthpiece of God and the bearers of "the truth". At the same time, they condemn other religions for having incorrect understandings of the scriptures and don't recognize any progress or improvements made by other religions and their understandings and practices over the years. Their message and belief is basically "We are good....they are bad....we are saved....they are doomed "

3.They claim to have an urgent and time sensitive message yet for over 100 years have spread misinformation across the planet through their publications. And their members have spent their lives making and spreading literature all over the world with information that is now considered incorrect. They are responsible for millions of people not having accepted the message because it was obviously inaccurate and unbelievable.

4.Since their beliefs weren't actually the truth, It's a good thing Armageddon didn't arrive years ago like they claimed it would. If their members would have pointed out these incorrect understandings decades ago, they would have been shunned even though since then many of the understandings have been changed back and forth.

5. Most Jehovah's Witnesses don't really care what they are told to beleive or understand where their beliefs originated. They like the social aspect of the religion and the warm fuzzy feeling of superiority they get when from having their ears tickled with dreams about being the only ones who won't be killed by God and will live forever. This belief proves to be a distraction for them and a way to cope with the day to day unknowns of life.

6. Unlike Jesus, they are trained to punish anyone who disagrees with them.

55

for those still "in" what's the mood

by lastchance in

in my area the general sense is bleak.

many are in survival mode.

even at the convention the appearance of the majority was unhappy and tired.

Pete Zahut

From the youtube videos one would get the impression that being at the conventions was like being in Disneyland. We all know that part is seeing old friends and has nothing to do with excitment about worshiping God or learning Religious truths.

My feeling is that there is an anti-climactic feeling happening as they return to the day to day grind of meetings and service and real life in general.

It's hard to keep the fantasy alive after another assembly has come and gone and nothing has changed. This time next year it will have all faded into the past.

12

Harrass them before they harrass you

by SonoftheTrinity in

why don't dfs who really know how evil jehovah's witnesses are just harrass them as they go door knocking so that when someone intervenes to defend them they get a balanced story about what the jehovah's witnesses are all about.

the ones that were raised in it were raised to be anti-intellectual wusses, they aren't going to win a debate or kick anyone's ass.

but they certainly deserve philosophical and rhetorical smackdowns, they deserve haters standing in their way as they go harrassing everybody in the neighborhood.

Pete Zahut

I've heard of someone this forum who went down the street in their neighborhood after the Witnesses had stopped by and did "anti-Witnessing". They told their neighbors the other side of the JW story.

I suppose if you or several people had the time, you could wait outside the Hall and quietly follow a car group(s) into a neighborhood(s) and quietly follow behind them from door to door leaving anti JW literatrure. The thing is, the door to door work is barely effective in itself so there's probably no need to spend any time trying to undo their efforts. But it would startle or embarrass JW's if they knew there was such an organized effort going on to warn people about them. Just to be prepared, they might even look into what is being said about them which could start some of the long ignored wheels turning in their heads.

16

JW.ORG ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!

by ADJUSTMENTS in

jw
friends

jw.org for the past year or so seems to have exploded onto the scene and going foward, to be the new name and face of the old tired and exposed jehovahs wittnesses, bible students, etc... and to the wbats for good reason!!!.

the .org in jw.org is just as important as the jw in this age of internet and information.

if you were to type jw.org or even jw alone into a search engine or directly into your internet browser (most people will type in jw.org into the internet browser, and be taken directly to the website) the first site to come up is of course the intended site, jw.org, and the websites following the initial jw.org site are uneventful, a law firm, media player, etc.

Pete Zahut

Just like any other religion, the Watchtower/JW.Org will have some measure of success. They fill a need and there will always be those who jump on board if they encounter it at the right time in their lives or are born into it. I think it's a waste of time trying to thwart them.

My only hope is that I can get my family out and can somehow recover from the experience myself. I don't care if JW's prosper or go away altogehter. All I want is for the Watchtower leaders to admit just once, that the organization they support and lead, has done serious damage to individuals and family memebers who once belonged and who wasted years of their lives spreading inaccurate teachings throughout the earth via millions of their publications.

If they just admited it ,in a convention talk or in a publication.....many of us would stop being shunned by family and we'd have some sort of closure and would move on.

9

Today I dont feel so awesome ....

by Dudu in

today i feel the need to write.

it been 3 years out of the borg and my life has been wonderful since then.

updates?

Pete Zahut

I understand what you are saying DuDu...been there...done that.

Missing your old friends from whom you've been seperated from for one reason or another, is a natural thing but it doesn't mean you've made a wrong choice or that JW's are the "true religion" or that you've actually even really missed out on anything. Chances are, if you'd have been there, you'd have had a nice time but likely it would have been the same old same old. Either way these events are over, they've moved on so have you, no sense looking at the past with regrets when there's no need to.

It's easy to look at the past or at other peoples lives or even their photos and see them through rose colored glasses. Hopefully you're not making yourself feel badly by projecting romantic notions onto these things. If you had spent your life as a non JW but moved away from your old town or neighborhood you'd be having much the same feelings. The hard part about it as a former JW is that so much of this sadness is so unndecssary and so uncalled for.

But as you said, your life these last 3 years has been wonderful and that's what counts the most !

2

3 heavens

by Pete Zahut in

was there some "new light" discussed at the recent jw conventions" about "3 heavens" ?

i saw someone on facebook saying they're really going to have to review their assembly notes especially the information about the 3 heavens..

Pete Zahut

Was there some "new light" discussed at the recent JW Conventions" about "3 Heavens" ? I saw someone on facebook saying they're really going to have to review their assembly notes especially the information about the 3 Heavens.

35

JW.org Logo

by XBEHERE in

jw
friends

dear brothers:.

you will be pleased to know that the governing body has approved displaying the official.

logo for jw.org on assembly halls and kingdom halls.

Pete Zahut

For decades they could have used the television media to spread the "good news" throughout the earth in an instant" but they said it would"cheapen" the message and besides that, we were commanded to go from door to door.

Now, Jehovah's "great and holy name" has been reduced to the letter J.

His "chosen people" will soon be know as JW's

and their religion has become an Org.

"Advertize Advertize Advertize the King and his Website"

24

If the organization is all about money.....

by Pete Zahut in

then why would they be so insistent about dfing people ?

if it's money the watchtower org is after, it seems like they'd want to hold on to all the members they can.. how would you answer this logic?.

Pete Zahut

Sorry to be the one to say this, but there's a flaw in your premise, in that it assumes altruism is the primary motivating force in the WTS...

This is not my premise, I'm trying to argue a point with a JW relative who says that Disfellowshipping is not an outright means to control people. He says it is an unfortunate necessity that is carried out in order to accomplish their assignment from God to spread the word and live in accordance to his commandments. He says it is much like a family who has certain members of the family who continually cause the rest of the family distress and termoil and for the good of the family unit, the other members decide to cut him out of their lives until he demonstrates that he will no longer be a source of problems.

This makes as much sense as wondering why Fidel Castro arrested and executed political critics, doesn't he want them to be out in the population working in order to collect taxes from them?

I understand what you are saying but comparing the ousting of someone who is "causing trouble" from a congregation, to Castro's executions doesn't seem appropriate in this case.

To use your own comparison; McDonald's is a business first and foremost; it disciplines workers who act inappropriately - not because it wants to altruistically feed the masses (if that were the case, it would give people food for free) - but because McDonald's employees who act inappropriately negatively impact McDonald's financial bottom line, which, in turn, ultimately threatens its survival.

He agrees, the Watchtower/JW.org is a business and has to be run like one to keep it going but the congregations, where the individuals attend, isn't a buisness. The congregations and individuals are like customers or patrons of the Watchtower/ JW.org. If the Watchtower is all about money, they'd want to keep as many of their customers as possible rather than put them out. He says this proves they are more about accomplishing thier mission than they are about making money.