Posts by Pete Zahut

29

If Prince had an addiction to prescriptions drugs, it's a personal matter but if I want to grow a beard or attend college, it's not.

by ToesUp in

jw
friends

interesting article i found about prince and the jw religion.

i guess they are trying to get their 15 minutes of fame.

i find it disturbing that the elder stated if prince had an addiction to prescription drugs, that is a personal matter but the hundreds of intrusive jw rules like going to college (not scriptural) and growing a beard (also not scriptural) are not also considered a personal choice.

Pete Zahut

I always got the sense that even though they supposedly don't view one person as more important than another, when someone noteworthy becomes a JW or says something complementary, it somehow serves as validation and quiets their own insecurities about the religion.

"See....even someone as famous and wealthy as Prince recognizes that we have The Truth"

Prince was said to be worth $300 million so apparently he didn't have to continue performing or living that lifestyle in order to survive, yet JW's are willing to give him a free pass even though they themselves would be reprimanded for doing the same thing. They are expected to quit employment that keeps them from attending meetings, has bad association after hours or endangers their spirituality.

29

If Prince had an addiction to prescriptions drugs, it's a personal matter but if I want to grow a beard or attend college, it's not.

by ToesUp in

jw
friends

interesting article i found about prince and the jw religion.

i guess they are trying to get their 15 minutes of fame.

i find it disturbing that the elder stated if prince had an addiction to prescription drugs, that is a personal matter but the hundreds of intrusive jw rules like going to college (not scriptural) and growing a beard (also not scriptural) are not also considered a personal choice.

Pete Zahut

Everything you do, from whether or not you smoke, whether or not you wear tight pants or whether or not you believe a certain JW doctrine is a "personal matter ! Since when do they not get involved in the personal matters of the congregation members?

This comes as it emerged the Purple Rain star was cremated in secret on Friday - in accordance with Jehovah’s Witness tradition that a person’s body must be cremated within a week of death. -DailyMail

You can't really go too much by what is said in the media....they always get things skewed or just make things up. Who knows how this reporter came up with this bit of nonsense.

58

Jehovah's Witness Church Release Statement

by truthseekeriam in

jw
friends

"we are saddened to hear about the death of prince rogers nelson, who was baptized as one of jehovah’s witnesses in 2003," the church said in a statement obtained by people.

the church said that prince "found fulfillment as a witness and in sharing his faith with others.

http://www.people.com/article/prince-dead-jehovah-witness-release-statement.

Pete Zahut

This comes as it emerged the Purple Rain star was cremated in secret on Friday - in accordance with Jehovah’s Witness tradition that a person’s body must be cremated within a week of death.

You can't really go by what they say in the media.....they always get something skewed.

58

Jehovah's Witness Church Release Statement

by truthseekeriam in

jw
friends

"we are saddened to hear about the death of prince rogers nelson, who was baptized as one of jehovah’s witnesses in 2003," the church said in a statement obtained by people.

the church said that prince "found fulfillment as a witness and in sharing his faith with others.

http://www.people.com/article/prince-dead-jehovah-witness-release-statement.

Pete Zahut

They didn't allow us to have my Dad's memorial in the Hall because he wasn't baptized yet, even though he bled to death because he signed the "no blood" paperwork before having open heart surgery. This happened a matter of months before the began allowing "Blood Fractions" that would have been enough to save him.

The brothers said he'd be resurrected because he died faithful to Jehovah but because he wasn't baptized, they couldn't allow us to use the Hall even though he was a clean living, good and exemplary man they'd known and associated with for decades. This event was the beginning of the end for a lot of us in terms of leaving the Organization.

Prince on the other hand is known throughout the world for his often highly sexualized music and performances, androgynous dress and make-up and generally odd behavior. It will be interesting to see if his funeral is at a Kingdom Hall or maybe an Assembly Hall. It will not go over well with the "still in" members of my family, if this happens.

38

Hard to Remember but Back in the Ninteen Fifies...

by new boy in

jw
friends

my writing a book about my strange life as a jw.

i need some help.. does anyone remember when they used to get these charts out at the service meetings which had all the hours, "back calls" and bible studies on it?

what did they call that?.

Pete Zahut

I only remember as far back as the early 1960's but they were still using the tote board as was mentioned. They'd draw a curtain on the back of the stage revealing the board and examine how well the congregation as a whole was doing in comparison to the expected national quotas.

I remember feeling pressure to "place" my quota of magazines and to get my quota of hours in for the month. Others have mentioned the "Rotten Review" that you had to sign and turn in to your Book Study Conductor but no one has mentioned the Rooming Work.

The Rooming Work involved knocking on doors and instead of peddling magazines we were told to ask the householders if they had rooms available in their home for JW's to say in during the summer convention. It was the oddest thing to be told at meeting that the "world" hates us and then turn around and ask them to let us use their bedrooms and bathrooms. Some of the Witnesses had pretty low standards and the visiting Brothers and Sisters sometimes ended up staying in some very sketchy places. I was always impressed at how generous"worldly" people were because none of the JW's I knew offered up rooms in their own houses.

I also remember the smell of the literature when you first came into the Kingdom Hall and the sound of the brother banging those big rolls of Watchtower and Awake magazines against the literature counter in order to break the paper ring that held them together. Looking back, I Wouldn't be surprised if the home made ink and glue the society used back then, could be linked to all the cases of depression one used to see among the JW's. (come to think of it, it was probably a combination of the glue and the contents of the magazines that was at the root of it all)

8

Interaction with Cart People

by Lost and adrift in

on a recent visit to our capital..such an adrenalin rush when i rounded a corner and spotted carters !!.

wandered slowly over and pretend to be interested..asked could i take mag...initial impression (and i'm in no way snobbish) was 2 scruffy looking dowdy sisters wich irritated me i don't know why....i was allways struggling as a single mum but refused to look like a tramp!!.

sister jumped asked if i was interested in religion i said no too much abuse etc ...she said she undwrstood and went on to blather about catholic abuse scandal!

Pete Zahut

Me: No he was being interviewed by royal commision....😂about abuse hidden by ur lot

Ha....I love that line....especially after she just threw the Catholics under the Bus for doing the same thing.

32

Where is the Rebel.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

who cares?.

the first time i was in distress with the watchtower, i was fortunate to find this place.

my ego thought ,i was somehow special, that my posts were reaching a worldwide audience, and most of all i felt at ease, maybe home is a better word.

Pete Zahut

Well thanks guys....Didn't mean to hijack The Rebel's post but I suddenly feel a little bit like Sally Fields when she won the Oscar " You like me....you really like me " !

- Pete

18

A world without religion? Any different?

by punkofnice in

i wonder what it would be like, without any religion in the world?

i don't think it would be like 'imagine' by lennon.. i don't believe it will ever happen.

even if it did, people are the same.

Pete Zahut

Would the world really be any different without religion?

I don't know .....but when's the last time you heard of an Atheist setting fire to an abortion clinic, steering a plane into a skyscraper or shunning their children for having their own beliefs ?

32

Where is the Rebel.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

who cares?.

the first time i was in distress with the watchtower, i was fortunate to find this place.

my ego thought ,i was somehow special, that my posts were reaching a worldwide audience, and most of all i felt at ease, maybe home is a better word.

Pete Zahut

It's funny that you bring this up because I was wondering how to end my days of visiting/ commenting on this site.

Every time I log on, I learn something new but I wonder if I need to stop being an X-JW and move on.

This site has helped tremendously and I owe all of the posters, past and present a debt of gratitude for their assistance. I hope I've been able to help other in the same way but it seems like I've been getting a lot of "thumbs down" lately on my half baked comments which confirms my feeling that I've contributed all I can and should move on.

I agree with you rebel, posters come and go and we should be glad that they were healed even though we don't hear from them anymore.

Thanks for making this post.

-Pete

14

The Kingdom Hall

by TheLiberator in

i know i have mentioned this on other posts.

as a born-in, i was obsessed with the watchtower.

it was god's organization.

Pete Zahut

"My feelings may seem extreme to some. So I was just wondering if anyone feels like me. I will now shut up.

Hi Liberator, I really understand what you are talking about and what you are experiencing...I do.

Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn, although your post is well written and makes absolute sense, I do notice a couple of red flags in what you've said so far and maybe pointing them out will help you.

I don't want to seem harsh but I see a lot of black and white / all or nothing thinking and it seems as if you've gone from being "obsessed" with the Watchtower, to almost overnight being "freaked out" by what used to be commonplace to you your whole life.

I also see a lot of dramatic language such as Scared to death by the Kingdom Hall, Panic Attacks, People suddenly looked artificial, Spell had been broken,Occult, Dark History, Terrified....etc. I know there is truth in what you say but I think the level to which you are reacting to them may be a bit over the top. (sorry)

I've said on this forum before that I've noticed that when people first become JW's they go a little crazy and drive their friends and family away with their zeal. I think it's often the same when people learn the Truth about the Truth. They are almost driven to alert everyone they know. That's an old throwback from being a JW where you are taught that you are responsible for "saving" people (and yourself)....from God's wrath during an impending Armageddon.

I hope you will take this with the spirit in which it is intended but I think you may need to reel it in a little and ratchet your reactions down a couple of notches so as not to scare your wife and others off. This isn't an emergency, the Watchtower has been around for a long time and you've been in involved with it your whole life. It may feel like it to you but It's not as if there's a building on fire and you have to get everyone out now or else.

At this point, you've become accustomed to TTATT and all it's life changing repercussions. Others in your life will need to have all of this broken to them gently or they will shut down out of (apostate) fear or just being plain sick of hearing about it.

My advice is to let people come to you and ask you what's going on. When they do ask questions only give them little tidbits at a time...don't spill your guts, let there be some mystery about all of this so that they will want to find out more. Tell them that you've discovered some things that every JW should know before getting baptized and it's all out there for anyone to see but because of human nature and because of the way things are set up in the organization, you have to let people do their own homework lest you become the problem,much like the messenger who is shot for delivering unpleasant news.

At other times it helps to simply ask them to explain what they believe and ask them leading questions about those beliefs that will lead them to see things from different angle.

My wife and I were lifelong JW's and towards the end I began having the horrible anxiety and panic attacks you describe. I was able to keep it in check enough so that I helped her see what I was learning and thinking without scaring her away. She started seeing things on her own and everything fell into place on it's own.