Posts by Pete Zahut

47

How My Husband Helped Me See TTATT

by corruptgirl in

jw
friends

i wanted to write my experience on how my husband helped me see the ttatt (the truth about the truth).

first, let me mention that he wrote his own experience a couple months ago under the name sanchy.

for his story please click here….. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5148261828526080/walking-thin-line-resigning-elder

Pete Zahut

C-Girl,

Loved your story and the way you presented it. Your husbands past post was a memorable one as well.

I instinctively followed the same course as he did when dealing with my Wife and she was able to see, in her own way and in her own time, what I had already come to know. Whenever I talk to JW's I take the approach that I want to understand what it is they believe (and I do, I'm still open to the possibility that they can teach me something). Rather than blindsiding them with scary outside information and scary new ideas, they come to their own conclusion after seeing the holes in their beliefs that become apparent when try to explain them to someone who has real life questions.

Thanks for sharing this with us and wanted to let you know that my brother and I are 16 mos apart and my wife and her Sister are 13 mos apart. In both cases things turned out well and both moms are sane and healthy

26

Hashtag "BESTLIFEEVER!!"

by Lostwun in

is it just me or does it grind your gears when you see #bestlifeever hashtag after every damn jw post on fb and instagram?.

i rarely get on instagram anymore because i dont want to deal with the jw propaganda but i swear sometimes i just want to comment on one of those pics 'jw life is the worst life ever wake up already'.

does anyone else know what i'm talking about?

Pete Zahut

It is annoying until you remember that more often than not these public proclamations are mostly a way of reassuring and convincing themselves that what they say is so, when deep down they know it can all vanish before their eyes like the morning frost.

When you are truly sure about something, it's a given, a constant and as certain as the sun rising in the east. You rarely even think about let alone feel the need to exclaim it or prove it to anyone.

Pity is called for here rather than annoyance.

53

Disturbance during Memorial 2016.

by Ben131895 in

jw
friends

two documented disturbances during memorial 2016. type 'memorial 2016' on youtube.

Pete Zahut

See folks! Activism isn't all or only about reaching JWs. I dare say activism should be primarily about reaching non-JWs! Stunts like this reach non-JWs! It is far better to reach the non-JW public than attempt to reach JWs.

I guess I don't get the popularity of "activism" for the sake of activism, these days. It's the fashionable thing to do to rally around something publicly or blast others with your opinion on every topic. It seems like some people are looking for a bandwagon to jump on or a cause to engaged in it to make themselves feel as if they are part of something important. I've seen groups invade/disrupt Council meetings and Press Conferences and they always come off badly in my opinion (even when I agree with them).

When I see some of these X-JW's doing their thing, I get the sense that they may be showing off to the rest of us, showing us how it's done. Why else would they need to video the whole thing other than to show their handy work to others and get a slap on the back from those who enjoy seeing the ensuing drama without having to risk anything themselves. It seems to me that when these same folks were JW's they might have the ones we remember who were over the top about "the truth" as well. The ones who'd get a head of steam worked up at the meeting or at the assembly and go out an blind side the public with their gusto and be perplexed as to why no one would listen to them.

As far as reaching non JW's who may have been in attendance, it's more than likely that this demonstration served as an opportunity for the seemingly nice kindly balance JW's in suits and ties, to give their startled guests the JW version of what took place and to give them the low down on these scary imbalanced apostates whom the Bible foretold would be in abundance, in the "last days".

21

Commercial activism.

by Ben131895 in

jw
friends

in his last couple of vlogs, john cedars is wearing a t-shirt saying shunned.

some people liked it and asked him if they could purchase one.. in his last vlog (#111) he is advertising it and mentioned the link www.apostee.com, based in the us.

comments attached to vlog # 110 mentioned the fact that this company will close in april and that the business will be continued by cedars itself, who has also a stock of anti-witness items.. besides that, he was not the owner of jwsurvey.org, but since january 16, 2016 he is.. it looks (as mentioned before by simon in an earlier thread), this guy is making a living from his activism, a paid career.. one should seriously question his true motives, demonstrated in his activism.

Pete Zahut

"I said Money....Money changes everything"

(well...not always)

I could see how someone could complain if Cedars were claiming to use the proceeds for the "cause" and then keeping them himself or if he were pretending to be behind said "cause" but only in it to turn a dollar. To me,for a long time "activist " like Cedars to sell T-shirts that people want and are asking you for, seems perfectly ok, especially if it enables someone with his motivation and abilities to keep going.

Should he give the T-shirts and his time away for free?

14

"I should have known" moments

by dubstepped in

i got ready for the meeting.

my wife did too.

we drove out to the kingdom hall and the closer we got the higher my anxiety would spike.

Pete Zahut

I am not a person who drinks much or feels at all well when I do but towards the end of my JW career the years of anxiety became so unbearable that I couldn't make it though a meeting without ducking out to my car to have a nip of beer or wine in order to quell the flip flops in my stomach. (I'd pour a small amount into a container and place it in the trunk before going to the Hall) This is a highly irregular thing to do, I know and if you knew me, you'd realize how drastic things had gotten for me to resort to such a thing.

I tried every anxiety medication and treatment out there and it just didn't work. I fought what my subconscious had been telling me until finally there was a perfect storm of JW caused life ending (blood issue) and life threatening family events that occurred back to back that really opened my eyes to the dark side of the religion. Things finally came to a head JW wise and I was able to see clearly what my problem was. Memorial 2008 was my last meeting and within that week, the debilitating anxiety magically disappeared and hasn't returned.....vanished...pooof.....gone. It was such an unbelievable life changing relief. This was a huge indicator to me that leaving was the right thing for me to do despite all of the resulting fallout we'd experience. To this day, I feel almost giddy on what used to be "meeting nights" at the thought of not having to sit through those mind numbing anxiety promoting sessions anymore.

A sister from another Hall came to our door a year or so ago. She didn't realize we weren't Witnesses anymore. To the point of being almost annoying, she kept saying over and over how good I looked and how peaceful I seemed, how slim , fit, young and healthy I looked. She finally said didn't you have a terrible time with anxiety.....how did you get over it? I told her she wasn't going to like the answer and gently broke it too her in so many words, that the key to my current healthy state is a direct result of having left off being a JW. We had a long discussion after that and I could tell she was really thinking seriously about what I told her.

53

Disturbance during Memorial 2016.

by Ben131895 in

jw
friends

two documented disturbances during memorial 2016. type 'memorial 2016' on youtube.

Pete Zahut

This kind of thing makes me cringe a little.

To me, people should be able to teach/preach whatever they believe within the walls of their own building (or rented stadium) without being confronted by those who disagree with them. Once they step out the door and start teaching/preaching in public places, at peoples doors or start asking people questions about their beliefs, they are fair game as far as opening themselves up to hearing opposing beliefs/opinions.

I understood what the guy in the video was talking about only because after being on this site, his alternate un JW like line of thinking on the matter of the memorial, is familiar to me . To the folks in the audience, their train of thought is elsewhere at the moment and this guy very likely confirmed all the paranoid ideas they have about those who are simply former JW's.

I've heard an older interview with the this guy some time ago and he seemed quite well spoken and balanced for the most part. He seems to have declined as far as being a stable person. What can you really tell from a short video but I was surprised how poorly he came across on this particular one. I guess the bottom line is that it bothers me that because I'm no longer a JW, this is what people think I've become a part of, especially when I've made sure to maintain my personal dignity whenever I've had dealings with them. (just my 2 cents)

83

Why all the hate...

by Dystopia in

...toward jehovah's witnesses?

Pete Zahut

Ok gang it's time. From this point on, no matter how tempting it might be, let's not feed the troll anymore....it loves and thrives on the attention far too much and besides we wouldn't want to distract it from preparing it's Saturday morning magazine presentation.

35

July 2016 W T Article Gives Reassurance to Aging Publishers

by BluesBrother in

congregations are full of older ones who were led to expect the end when they were still young enough to work ,and stay forever young.

now these ones face a sparse old age with little provision set aside.

the article ""do not be afraid .

Pete Zahut

They need to economise, cut back on luxuries (Don't all pensioners?) and trust in God. They give an example of an elderly couple who face difficulties but because they were such good examples to the others, a young couple in the cong.took them in and provided a home for them

Wouldn't it just frost your hide to be an older person who has been frugal all of your life only to have a pinky ring wearing governing body member who lives off the donations of others, tell you through the pages of the Watchtower to cultivate more faith and be more prudent with your money? Especially when they've been claiming to be in need of more money themselves ! They didn't rely on Jehovah....they went out an solicited heavily for extra funding from the flock.

Seems like this might be the last straw for some who are beginning to question if these men really know what they are talking about and how wise it was for them to count on the future the gentlemen from the Watchtower assured them would arrive within their lifetime.

6

What's the difference between ignorance and apathy?

by James Mixon in

ask a jw.

they will say "i don't know and i don't care".

Pete Zahut

With ignorance you don't know who to spell the word ignorant but it's apathy that makes you not care that this the case.

23

Why did Jesus have to suffer?? Something I never thought about.

by ttdtt in

something dawned on me last night.

jesus was suposed to be a corresponding sacrifice for adam right?.

a perfect life for a perfect life.

Pete Zahut

It wouldn't have fed into the Judeo-Christian Martyr complex unless it was all really complicated and someone suffered greatly.