Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  33

  Reminder about language and content

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  while the vast majority of posts that the majority of posters share are perfectly fine (which we appreciate) i've noticed we have a few cases where bad language, crude innuendo and outright misogyny is creeping in.. this is not acceptable.. we're not certainly not prudish and neither are we going to enforce puritanical rules - sometimes a politically incorrect joke is funny as hell and sometimes strong language is justified.

  but often times content is completely out of place and cannot be justified.. so, please don't post crude content or use expletives just to be "shocking".

  it's childish and immature and won't be tolerated.. thank you to all the people this has nothing at all to do with..

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  Pete Zahut

  Thanks for that gentle reminder.
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  16

  After death

  by Willie647 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm not a born in but my parents became jws when i was about 3 years old.

  i left at 18 after i was accused of having sex with my future wife.

  truth is we hadn't done anything remotely close.

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  Pete Zahut

  Unfortunately yours isn't an isolated incident. Such a loss of years of togetherness with your family....30 years gone...all for nothing. I can't help but wonder what is going through your parents minds now that they have grown old . If your parents are as afraid of dying as you say, I could see how they could write you off thinking they were doing the right thing for God and in turn saving their own hides in the process. I couldn't bear to cut my Sons out of my life, no matter what they may have done. Especially having done so because of a set of beliefs being enforced by a religion only to later see many of those beliefs fail or drastically change.

  Did your first wife get DF'd too and did she loose here family? Is she a JW now? Did anything good come of all this?
  
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  25

  I got my Memorial invite! I got my Memorial invite!

  by Dagney in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my first one!

  even though i got it saturday, march 26, in the mail in an envelope addressed to "my dear neighbor.".

  it's the thought that counts..

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  Pete Zahut

  Thank you for the Memorial invitation although it arrived the day after the celebration. No matter, as I was raised JW and thoroughly learned the teachings in regard to the Memorial, the 144,000, the Remnant, the year 1914 and all the many versions of the meaning of the word "Generation". This includes the current and puzzling version of "overlapping generations " that became necessary to create when a hundred years came and went even though for decades JW's told the world that Armageddon would arrive before those who were alive in 1914 passed away.

  I have discovered many more inaccurate and even dangerous teachings and have learned not to ever again rely on the teachings of men, or let them intervene in my relations ship with God even though they claim to be directed by him.
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  21

  "mum, i been naughty, i'm disfellowshipped."

  by Sabin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so last night we get a phone call from our girl & she tells me the above.

  turns out she has been d'ed for a month.

  infact she made me turn off the speaker phone so her dad wouldn't hear & i could tell him quietly later.

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  Pete Zahut

  We are so alike, passionate, so i'm worried i'm gonna blow it with my big gob, getting all emotional. My husband said she gonna go back i have to except it.

  From the sound of it, your husband may be right. It sounds like she's made up her mind and wants to go back. All you can do is let her know that no matter what direction she goes, you'll always be her Mom no matter what.

  If she goes back and gets reinstated, it doesn't mean that's the end of the story. If she's reinstated, she can have the best of both worlds if she decides to fade someday.

  Perhaps you can try some reverse psychology on her such as:

  "I know you were quite lonely back when you when you considered yourself as doing better spiritually but if you think it's best to go back then of course I'll support your decision. There might be times when it will feel like your options are limited as far as meeting anyone and who knows how long this system will continue but if you've made up your mind to go back, that's your decision to make. I'm ok so long as you aren't being pressured or doing anything out of guilt or fear or that I will think poorly of you one way or the other."
  

  As far as why she isn't being shunned, I'm baffled. As far as I know, this is highly unusual. They've said a lot lately about not even associating with DF'd family members unless absolutely necessary.
  
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  21

  "mum, i been naughty, i'm disfellowshipped."

  by Sabin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so last night we get a phone call from our girl & she tells me the above.

  turns out she has been d'ed for a month.

  infact she made me turn off the speaker phone so her dad wouldn't hear & i could tell him quietly later.

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  Pete Zahut

  Before offering advice....how old is your Daughter? Am I correct in understanding that she is full on disfellowshipped and is not being shunned? Could it be that she was only publicly reproved and that's why people are love bombing her rather than avoiding her?
  
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  41

  Missed it by that much ----------23

  by John Aquila in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i almost had a freaking heart attack.

  i even threw my coffee cup at the wall and starting yelling like crazy when i got the the 5th number correct.

  i was checking my texas lottery ticket for this past saturday.

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  Pete Zahut

  I've been given Lottery tickets and have bought a few myself over the last few years but have only won a few Dollars.

  My Cousin (25 ish not a JW) was given notice by his employer that he was to be laid off from his job. On his way home from work he stopped at a Mini-Mart and picked up some Beer to ease his anxiety about what had happened. The cashier gave him $2 in change so he told her to give him 2 lottery tickets, then stepped aside to scratch them off . One of them was a $2 winner but when he handed it to the cashier and asked for two more tickets, the next customer in line got angry and pushed forward telling my Cousin to get back in line and wait his turn.
  

  This customer bought a large amount of Lottery Tickets and walked out of the store. My cousin was next in line and bought 2 more tickets, one of which was a $12,000 winner.

  He went home and told his wife he had some bad news and some good news. She said she too had good news and that she was pregnant with their 1st child. He told her he'd been laid off his job but had just won $12,000. They hopped in the car and drove to the Lottery office at the State Capitol and collected their winnings.
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  21

  Tell me what you think.

  by Aroq in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, i'm willing, and thinking about going to the meetings, but there is a catch.

  i'm not, nor ever be a jw.

  i know too much about their beliefs.

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  Pete Zahut

  Just an idea or possible option but since you have agreed to let your wife take them to the meetings then it's only fair that you get equal time to talk to them about what they've learned and share any alternate ideas you may want them to know about.

  You could attend the meetings weekly or now and again and make it clear to the family and the JW's who may commend you for being there, that you are only there to monitor what your children are being taught and to make sure they aren't receiving a one sided view of things.

  Seems to me you will come off as being reasonable and fair (especially to the kids) and will keep peace in the family. The biggest problem with growing up JW is the way they close off any discussion about alternative views. You could fix that problem by knowing what they are learning and making sure they get the other side of the story.
  
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  34

  Banned from the second school!

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been told by a jw friend that when her hall recently had a refurb that big changes were made to the second school.. one, a large sign has been placed on the door telling people not to use it and to sit in the main hall itself.. two,that all the chairs which used to face the large windows looking into the main hall are now side on to the window facing the wall instead.. this is because "so many people were sitting out in there!

  people were finding all manner of exhuses to sit-in there and the brothers want us to all be together in the main hall!

  " she said.. of course i didn't tell her what i really thought of this but seriously?

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  Pete Zahut

  Definetly about control and not trusting that individuals know how to conduct themselves without being monitored. As is always the case with JW's , It's not enough that one attends meetings, reads the literature and applies the counsel in ones life as one sees fit. It's about small minded uneducated individuals who've been given the authority or have taken it upon themselves to enforce, monitor and generally intervene in peoples personal relationship with god.
  

  I went to a congregation once where the P.O. wasn't happy with the teenagers level of participation during the meetings so he made all of them sit in the first few rows on Sunday. He'd assign each one of them a paragraph or two to answer during the previous Watchtower study and they were to have it prepared when he called on them the following week. This went on for some time until the teenagers all decided to get up after the public talk and go have their own Watchtower study at one of their houses. One young brother went from 19 years old to 20 years old in this time period. He sat in a regular seat one Sunday after he turned 20 and the usher came back and told him to move up front. This brother flatly refused and kicked up a fuss during the meeting.
  

  Eventually the parents put a stop to it all but had to have their teens sit by them instead of with their friends during the meeting.

  This same P.O would also sit behind the young brothers and observe their hair length. If their hair was getting anywhere near their ears, he'd lean forward, tap them on the shoulder and whisper "get a haircut or I'm pulling your publishers card". Once again the parents kicked up a fuss once the young brothers began saying "fine....go ahead and pull it".

  This guy and the elders under him came to be known as the "Gestapo Crew" and people started leaving the Congregation (including my family) and attending the other congregation that met there or the one in the next town.

  For some people with anxiety, it's a comfort knowing the back room is available should they start feeling overwhelmed, same thing for people with small childeren. Also for those who find themselves running late, they go ahead and attend the meeting knowing that they can just duck into the back room without disturbing anyone. Without that option, they might decide to stay home.
  
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  32

  I can't take it anymore!

  by BlackWolf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my dad was recently made an elder about maybe 6 months ago, and now he is never around he's always at work or doing some kind of jw crap.

  now he conducts the watchtower study and is even doing the special talk tommorow.

  he's become an even more strict controlling jerk than he was before, and i'm never allowed to go out and do anything non jw related because he doesn't have the time.

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  Pete Zahut

  You know best how he'd react but maybe you could get your Dad a nice card and express the concerns you've mentioned here, in a very respectful way.

  In so many words, you could tell him that you love him and miss his presence in the house and that you've seen a change in him and in the family since he's become an Elder and it hasn't been for the better.

  (Do a google search of "Ministers Kids" and get some statistics on how it effects their lives and maybe you know of some JW Elder's kids who've have had a rough time)

  In a tactful way let him know what you've learned about the matter and how you already feel you are at the breaking point. Tell him you're afraid of the family breaking up. Tell him that you remember how the Society says fathers main responsibility is to put his family first and it feels like lately his Job and Congregation responsibilities are first and the family is suffering because of it.

  Just an idea, but I know if my kids would have done something like that, I'd have definitely sat up and taken notice.
  
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  29

  Amazing Growth! Jehovah Is Blessing The Preaching Work!

  by Divergent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today's text:.

  saturday, april 2. the little one will become a thousand.—isa.

  60:22.. perhaps we live in an area where there are few witnesses or where we do not see a lot of immediate results in our preaching work.

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  Pete Zahut

  Do we know if the "growth" has occurred among actual East Indians or is it among westerners who for one reason or another are living in India?