Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  14

  World's oldest person Emma Morano dies at 117

  by jp1692 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the world's oldest person has died in italy at the age of 117, reports say.. emma morano was born on 29 november 1899 in the piedmont region of italy.

  she was officially the last person born in the 1800s still living.. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39610937.

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  Pete Zahut

  I wish I could live that long too

  I don't know...the article said she had caregivers and that she hadn't left her 2 room apartment in over 20 years. Alive yes, but I can't imagine that could have been very pleasant for her.
  
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  45

  How did you feel when you got baptized?

  by Schnufti in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  back in 2005, i remember sitting in the stadium in the special rows with 42 others.

  8000 people were looking at us - maybe even with a binocular - while listening to the speech.

  my family and my friends among them, being all proud of me.. i don't remember being enthusiastic.

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  Pete Zahut

  I haven't thought about my Baptism day for ages until now. It was so long ago that most of it is a blur but I have snapshots of time and certain moments that are still vivid in my mind.

  Picture it....Vancouver Canada....it was the 1974 International Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses. An idealistic 17 year old blonde fellow with a dark tan and slightly longish sun streaked hair and non-regulation sideburns, sat in the "baptism section" with what seemed like hundreds of strangers of various ages races and genders. (I had just gotten back from 2 weeks in Mexico and hadn't gotten a hair cut) 1975 fever was in full force and all of us were expecting something big to happen within the next year. The young man had been told that if he wasn't baptized by the time Armageddon arrived, that he would be destroyed because he had reached an age of understanding but didn't dedicate his life to Jehovah when I had the chance.

  It was pouring rain as he sat sat in the audience listening to the speaker who was only a speck in the distance standing among carefully arranged plants and flowers. His voice echoed across the field and crowds of attendees sitting under umbrellas and sheets of plastic, could hear phrases such as "Momentous times" "Significant events ! ", "Great in-gathering !" and "Never to be repeated work !". After the sunny skies and sandy beaches of Mexico, the grey dismal weather seemed to fit the ominousness of the times.
  

  Despite the grey and drizzle,there was excitement in the air and a sense of camaraderie among the attendees. Many, including this 17 year old had traveled northward from the States to be in attendance. They had all placed Watchtower Magazines or their green Bible's in the back windows of their cars so that they could spot each other on the freeway and wave like overly enthusiastic children to one another. There was a rumor that quickly passed from one to the other that not only was Glen Campbell the Country singer, in attendance, but on top of that was getting baptized. Surely this was a sign that the good news was reaching an audience far and wide. Having someone as noteworthy as Glen Campell was at that time, accept the Truth, made the rest of us all the more legit. Some folks were searching the crowd for him, hoping to have their song books autographed.
  

  The young man sat toward the top of the baptism section and wile listening to this important talk, with a guilty mind, he scanned the crowd of baptismal candidates below, to see if there was anyone there that resembled Glen Campbell. Suddenly the tone of the talk changed and the crowd of people surrounding him, began to rise to their feet. It was time to answer before Jehovah, the two most important questions of our lives. His knees literally began to shake as the enormity of it all began to sink in.

  "something something...Do you recognize yourself as a sinner before Jehovah who needs salvation through Jesus Christ and something something....repent of your sins ?"

  "Yes."..the crowd replied loudly in unison. It was an impressive and stirring sound and he felt proud to be part of it.
  

  "Do you, something something....dedicate yourself from this day forward to unreservedly do God's will something something...as he reveals through Jesus sand through the Bible and the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit ?".

  Again, an enthusiastic "Yes" was their reply and the assembly crowd burst into applause.
  

  It was a relief to have that part of it over with and to be on the bus heading toward a large outdoor Olympic sized public pool at the sports center, across town. He knew no one on the bus and felt alone and a bit shaken by the odd but supposedly important circumstance he had found himself in. He wondered, as the unwieldy buses traveled through the city, if his family would be able to find their way in time to see him being dunked.

  Having arrived at the pool, the candidates were instructed to change into their bathing suits and leave their belongings with the Brothers in charge. As they lined up at the locker room door, the young man noticed that the others were wearing white T-shirts and he wondered if he should have one too. He was wearing only a pair of faded orange surfer shorts and the others were wearing their T shirts over actual bating suits. He felt all the more self conscious about walking out in front of the throngs of people who were pressing up against the chain link fence just outside.
  

  As the Candidates walked single file along the edge of the long pool. He scanned the fully dressed crowd of people pressed up against the fence just beyond them, for his family. His father wasn't a JW but his Mom, 2 little sisters and older Brother were. He hoped someone he knew, was there. He heard people calling out from the crowd and taking pictures. He assumed that it was other people's family members but somehow it felt as if people were looking at him oddly. He thought it was because he wasn't wearing a white T-shirt. He felt embarrassed and self conscious but then rationalized to himself that he was one of a huge crowd of strangers and it was likely that no one was even paying attention to him.
  

  It felt like the pool was a mile long as he passed by the crowd. He wondered where his family could be. He saw little kids with lapel badges pinned on their clothes and heard people calling out to their friends and family and the sound of camera shutters capturing their big day on film.

  He heard someone say "Is that Glen Campell ??" then someone else say "No.. that's not him !",

  "Yes...it's Glen Campell ! " "Where...where's Glen Campell??" He looked around to see where Glen was, he hadn't seen him in the locker room.

  "Over there...in the orange shorts!" someone said. "Are you sure that's him??"
  

  He realized that people were thinking he was Glen Campell. He had been mistaken for John Boy Walton at Disneyland one time but there was no way he'd be mistaken for the much older Glen Campbell, yet as he walked along he saw people craning their necks hoping to see someone famous in their midst.

  Once he was finally dunked and rose from the pool, he had a new reason to be self conscious as he walked along the fence. His orange sorts were now soaking wet and clinging to him like a second skin and the person holding the towels was a long way away.
  

  Later when he recounted the Glen Campbell incident to his Mother, she scoffed at the notion, told him not to be so ridiculous and told him that people were probably just noticing his suntan. He felt vindicated later when a special part of the program was set aside to scold the audience for spreading rumors and to remind them how improper and worldly it was to seek out the autograph of and entertainer on a book of songs dedicated to Jehovah.

  Anyway, that's my memory of my baptism day. The other vivid memory I have of that assembly was they long lines at the restrooms (especially the sisters). There was some sort of plumbing issue going and outside each of the restrooms there was a Brother holding a hand painted sign and for those who couldn't read the sign, he repeatedly shouted it's contents "FLUSH FOR B.M. ONLY !!"..."FLUSH FOR B.M. ONLY !!"

  I remember my Brother and I laughing and saying how much we'd hate to be that guy.
  
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  16

  JW Trolley Caption Competition

  by usualusername1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just saw this profile pic in facebook.

  made me chuckle.

  https://www.facebook.com/eleanorconwayuk/photos/gm.119963091878435/10154964287646233/?type=3&theater.

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  Pete Zahut

  
  
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  16

  JW Trolley Caption Competition

  by usualusername1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just saw this profile pic in facebook.

  made me chuckle.

  https://www.facebook.com/eleanorconwayuk/photos/gm.119963091878435/10154964287646233/?type=3&theater.

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  Pete Zahut
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  20

  Maddox v Integro USA, Inc, et al

  by Richard Oliver in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know that this is old but going through and posting about every lawsuit that i can find in this decade with watchtower either good or bad if it has not already been posted.

  this lawsuit was brought in the federal district court for the eastern district of louisana.

  it involves a family whose mother had died at a district convention in 2011. the mother, patsy, was descending stairs at the convention which was held at the mitchell center in mobile, alabama when she fell and was fatally injured.

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  Pete Zahut

  And neither the Mitchells nor the WT should be held liable for someone falling down the stairs unless something was done wrong to cause it

  Whether or not they should be held liable isn't the part that concerns me. The hard part for me to overlook is the fact that they distanced themselves from the local brothers who ran the assembly. It reminds me of how they seem to distance themselves from the elders who make a mistake or do something wrong while acting in their behalf. The Australian Hearings come to mind.
  
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  20

  Maddox v Integro USA, Inc, et al

  by Richard Oliver in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know that this is old but going through and posting about every lawsuit that i can find in this decade with watchtower either good or bad if it has not already been posted.

  this lawsuit was brought in the federal district court for the eastern district of louisana.

  it involves a family whose mother had died at a district convention in 2011. the mother, patsy, was descending stairs at the convention which was held at the mitchell center in mobile, alabama when she fell and was fatally injured.

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  Pete Zahut

  There is no "They or Them" when referring to the Watchtower. It's a faceless corporation that has convinced millions of JW that they are part of a loving world wide brotherhood and that those in charge care deeply for them.

  "The Governing Body loooooves you" -Stephen Lett

  
  

  At the end of the day, they look for any legal loophole available to avoid having to use their "Bible trained consciences " and do the right thing.
  
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  47

  I am a Living Time Machine

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  which world is this?_________________when the doctor pulled my screaming body out of mom all those 7 decades ago, i landed in a post-wwii world.it was--compared to today's world--an alien planet.. the world i live in today has nothing in common with the world in which i grew up.. there were no cell phones back then--there were black telephones with a dial-tone and an operator who placed your call.

  everywhere you found telephone booths!

  a call was a nickle.where did all those telephone booths go?i dunno.where did my whole world go?i dunno.. tv sets were huge boxes with tubes and small screens.

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  Pete Zahut

  I sure do miss phone booths. It just isn't the same with a cell phone.

  ...and once in a while, when you'd get an annoying phone call, there was something very satisfying about being able to "hang-up" on someone by slamming down the receiver. "Hanging-up" on someone with a cell phone is very unsatisfactory.

  
  
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  20

  Does God really care about mankind?

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am dying of cancer.

  yesterday i asked my full blown jw wife if she could snap her fingers and make me well would she do so?.

  she replied, "yes.

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  Pete Zahut

  Sour Grapes,

  You must have forgotten the logical and comforting JW explanation as to why God hasn't brought Armageddon yet?

  2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow respecting His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

  I was always baffled by this lame reasoning because as you pointed out, every year he delays means millions more are born and will have to be destroyed.

  My JW mother lost her battle with cancer at 57. Toward the end she said to me "You know, I spent a lot years worrying about dying only to find out experiencing it isn't nearly as bad as years of worrying about it was." She said "The hard part is the feeling of missing out or being left out. It's like being invited to a dinner party only to find out that everyone there is staying for dessert afterward, except you. Then I think about the little children who get cancer and all the other things that can happen to a person along the way and I figure I was fortunate to have lived even this long".
  
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  14

  Nightmare on memorial night. This cult really sucks.

  by Still Totally ADD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this morning i woke up from a good night's sleep to a horrible nightmare.

  as soon as i woke up i asked myself when am i going to get this cult out of my head.

  as a disclaimer i just want you all to know my wife would never do this because she is a hard fast atheist.

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  Pete Zahut

  I'm sure many a older former Catholic still has scary dreams stemming from the beliefs that were taught to them as children. It's likely that many old Catholics still cringe a bit when they eat meat on a Friday even thought they've gotten the OK to do so.

  I've heard of old JW folks who are stricken by dementia who return to the (Christendom based) ideas taught to them as children. An old sister in our congregation, when saying goodbye to people at the Hall, used to say in a cheery voice "Bye -bye....see you round the Christmas tree."

  The ideas or beliefs that were once held in place by emotion (fear) are very difficult to get rid of, even when we recognize the false logic used to present the ideas to us in the first place.

  I'm sure that even after it was proven that the earth was round rather than flat, there were many long time sailors who were still nervous when sailing toward the horizon. They probably even had nightmares about it.

  In my reoccurring JW dream I suddenly realize that I've signed up for Bethel again and there's no way to get out of it without shaming my family. I spend the dream wondering what possessed me to do such a thing and how I'm going to get out of there, get my house and job back and who's going to support my family. (I'm always so relieved to wake up from that one and find out it's only a dream)
  
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  25

  A baffling physics question

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. social
  2. current

  for several weeks i've been treating myself to a hot chocolate milk (well, soymilk) before bedtime.

  some 16 oz soymilk which i heat on high in our microwave oven.

  this is just enough time where the liquid begins to bubble along the top edge.. i then take it out of the microwave and place it on my kitchen gram scale, stir it good enough to redistribute the heat, then reset the scale to zero grams.. next, i squeeze in the hershey's sytup, "special dark mildly sweet chocolate" (fat free) into the warmed soymilk till the scale reads some 30 grams.

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  Pete Zahut

  I'm guessing evaporation is the issue you asked about originally but more importantly, have you read the ingredients in Hershey's Syrup?

  • HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. made from corn syrup by converting the dextrose (another sugar) into fructose, which is sweeter..
  • WATER.
  • COCOA* Also known as cocoa powder. ...
  • CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: POTASSIUM SORBATE, PRESERVATIVE. also know as sorbic acid potassium salt.
  • MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES vegetable, synthetic, or animal (cow- or hog-derived). Used to blend ingredients such as oil and water.
    
  • XANTHAN GUM. ...also known as corn sugar gum.
  • POLYSORBATE 60. ...Typically a composite of animal, vegetable, and synthetic substances that allows oil and water to stay mixed together.
  • VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR * made from potash and dimethyl sulfate:
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  At the risk of raining on your parade, it's loaded with high fructose corn syrup....terrible for inflaming and roughening the interior of your arteries and causing them to collect the cholesterol in your blood, rather than letting it pass by and be filtered out. Between the lactose in the milk, and the high fructose corn syrup, not to mention, the caffeine in the chocolate, I don't know how you can possibly sleep.

  If you're hell bent on drinking this stuff, there is a new version that uses pure cane sugar rather instead of the High Fructose Corn Syrup. - Pete Zahut