Posts by Pete Zahut

39

THE WATCHTOWER (STUDY EDITION) APRIL 2017.....Scare tactics

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower (study edition) april 2017 .

“you must pay your vows to jehovah.”—matt.

5:33.. * to all intents and purposes, he presented himself as one who was wholly dedicated to god.

Pete Zahut

"13 There is no way to undo a dedication vow, taking back what we promised God. If a person tires of serving Jehovah or of living a Christian way of life, he cannot claim that he was never really dedicated and that his baptism was invalid."

There are two different things mentioned here: "Tires of serving Jehovah" or "Tires of living a Christian way of life."

Leaving the Organization doesn't necessarily mean one wouldn't continue living a "Christian" way of life. If a person dedicates his or her life based upon what they learn from studying JW literature and later those teachings are changed because they were wrong, then one could say that their dedication wasn't based upon accurate knowledge..

Even the 2 questions they asked me on the day I was baptized have since been changed. To me, the fact that these questions needed to be changed, indicates that what I originally agreed to or acknowledged at my baptism, was incorrect for some reason.

Besides all of the above, each Kingdom Hall is dedicated to Jehovah when it first opened for use and as we all know many of those "dedicated" Halls have been sold off. Apparently it is possible to un-do a dedication to Jehovah so long as there's profit involved.

13

Fade Advice Please

by Zeds Dead in

i got reinstated in the last month and had my record cards sent to a new congregation.

i went to a few meetings until i heard the cards had been sent and now i am looking to do a complete fade, no longer go at all.

the new congregation does not know me well and further away from where i live so i am hoping they will give up trying to make contact quickly.. any advice on do's and dont's and what to expect?.

Pete Zahut

Go to one more Sunday meeting and make a point of talking to one of the Elders or someone who'll get the word out.

Them: Where have you been....we're concerned

You: My work schedule has been crazy but it looks like things will be back to normal in about 3 weeks so I'm looking forward getting back in to my normal routine again.

Them: Oh....what's going on at work?

You: Oh nothing to worry about...I won't bore you with the details but I'm glad things will be getting more normal for me in a few more weeks.

Them: Are you having you work extra hours?

You: Well...you know...just the usual stuff but like I said....I won't bore you with the details besides, it's my day off and I'm not being paid to think about work Ha Ha.... So what have you been up to lately....anything fun or exciting?

Changet the subject....let the conversation come to a natural end then never go back, stop taking calls and answering emails.

46

Mom died, How and When I found out

by 3rdgen in

hi friends,.

it's been awhile since i've been talkative.

thought i'd give you an account of my latest family dysfunction.. a brief backstory is that i am an only child whose parents were born in jw's.

Pete Zahut

I'm no expert on this but my 84 year old MIL now has dementia yet is as sweet and kind as she ever was but she finds it easier to be honest about her feelings and to say what she's really thinking . Before dementia, if we asked her something as simple as whether or not she thought the soup we made for her dinner needed more salt, she'd spare our feelings by saying "oh no...it's perfect" then later she'd give it a few shakes of salt when she thought no one was looking. Now, she has no trouble saying she doesn't like or agree with something but she does it politely and with kindness still because that's who she really is, deep down.

In my opinion, the display you saw at your last visit with your mother, came from someone whose dementia is making it impossible for them to hide the ugly person they are deep down inside (who knows what might have happened to her as a child?). Still, it sounds like you were emotionally abused by your mother and yet as is often the case, you still loved her, kept trying to please her and on some level may have blamed yourself for the difficulties between you.

Even though your mother was "gone" a number of years ago, it was unkind and unfair of the family not to tell you she had passed. None of this should have happened to you and you were quite right not to ever go back there.

There are many who have left the JW's yet carried around a sense that they themselves were to blame for the religion not working out for them. The only way for them to get past those haunting feelings and to heal is for them to investigate and truly understand the flawed doctrines and hidden past of the organization. Even as flawed as some of the views JW's have, are , they wouldn't have condoned your mothers disapproval of your pioneering simply because it wasn't "where the need was greater" and all of the other nonsense she came up with to brow beat you with.

The only way for you to heal now is to get to the point where the young girl still left in you absolutely believes and understands that children don't have to be anywhere near perfect in order for their parents to treat them lovingly and no matter what, you shouldn't have been treated so badly.

13

Talking of 'Old Timers'.....Valis BigTex OnaCruise etc

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

what happened to these guys.

i remember chatting and sparring with these guys years ago.

i read on here that onacruise passed away (craig) that was a shame he was a good man, and his ex wife kate.

Pete Zahut

As for me, 15 plus years ago on here I was told I would be 'apostate' by now. No. still not. Interested what 'Believer' is posting recently, even if I don't always agree..but I feel his heart is in the right place.

15 years ago if you'd have raised your hand in one of the many Watchtower studies discussing the closeness of the end and you stated that you believed that this system would still be here in the year 2017, you'd have been branded as an apostate or at the very least, "spiritually weak". Yet here we are in 2017, 103 years past 1914, and here you are, still visiting and commenting on an "apostate" forum. Lightening hasn't struck you dead for doing so, nor has the holy spirit lead the Elders to your door for being a disobedient wolf among the sheep. The only deaths that have occurred, were from natural causes. No one was destroyed, no cataclysmic event came, yet the tired old end of the world song continues to play while each of the dancers drop, one by one, until they are all gone, forgotten and replaced by others who think they are the ones who'll beat the odds. It happened before us and it will be happening long after we're gone.

21

If anybody tells you that the end is so close

by pepperheart in

ask them why the gb has spent millions of people hours buiding the new bethels in new york and london rather than them working door to door or on the trolleys.

Pete Zahut

JW's will tell you that the new buildings in New York will be used after Armageddon, but my answer to that is:

Every skyscraper, factory, office building, shopping mall, hotel, resort, house, apartment, condominium, cabin and tree house, will be available for use after Armageddon as well. If the end is so close, why not use the existing facilities and focus all those workers time and efforts on finding "sheep" instead ?

42

Elders getting burnt up.

by biblexaminer in

the elders in this area are getting burned out.

i have overheard comments that demonstrate this, but in my dealings with them, i clearly see it.

they can't keep it straight.

Pete Zahut

Biblexaminer: I feel badly for these guys...they're in an impossible situation in many ways. Prayers are supposed to be heartfelt and spontaneous rather than rehearsed and done by rote. However I can see someone who is already stressed out, needing time to mentally compose oneself before standing up before an audience to pray...something that was never easy for me to do.

How old are the Elders you are talking about? It sounds like they are either heading for some sort of melt down or are having age related memory issues.

35

1975 statements

by A Believer in

from jw org.

“six thousand years of human existence”.

in 1969 the watchtower magazine in czech began publishing a series of articles based on the book life everlasting—in freedom of the sons of god.

Pete Zahut

STAY ALIVE TILL 75

8

So my brother called me last night...

by pale.emperor in

my older brother is studying with the witnesses.

he was raised in a jw household like we all were but he never committed to it.

he stopped attending meetings at 18yo, made a lot of bad decisions in his life and now, at 35yo is having a bible study.

Pete Zahut

See if you can get him to watch this documentary DEPROGRAMMED. It's on NETFLIX

What got the ball rolling for me was the cover of the May 15 1984 Watchtower (shown below) that was placed all over the world by the millions, and it all turned out to be wrong.

26

Vigil held for Burney man who died after being set on fire

by no password in

vigil help for burney man who died after being set on fire.

community members shared their memories of wicks, a member of the jehovah's witness hall in burney.

many of them remember him from his post at the shell station, where he worked along with his wife.

Pete Zahut

How horrible !

I don't know why but I have a nagging suspicion that there's more to this story than meets the eye.

The act of setting someone on fire seems too specific and violent for it to have been done without a motive.

39

Shunning

by A Believer in

you guys do know that if you just leave and never go back you wont be disfellowshiped right?

i know people who have done exactly this.

you have to commit a sin and you or someone else has to tell a elder.

Pete Zahut

You guys do know that if you just leave and never go back you wont be disfellowshiped right? I know people who have done exactly this. You have to commit a sin and you or someone else has to tell a elder.

Yes they'd have to find out that you committed a sin such as visiting apostate forums and providing information to assist currently attending JW 's to leave the organization without getting caught.