I see many of the broad generalizations about the world that were used in similar JW productions back in the 60's are still being employed in the new videos as well. The same exaggerated scenarios and creation of issues where none exist, all intended to lead the viewer to the conclusion that if you're not a Jehovah's Witness your life is empty.
Pete Zahut
JoinedPosts by Pete Zahut
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44
2017 Convention Video Remember The Wife Of Lot
by pale.emperor inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0qpoelk2r4.
the dad in this is a total douche.
i dont know if the videos have become more judgemental and culty in the year since i left - or maybe im just noticing it more?.
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Pete Zahut
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Using violence to end violence?
by stuckinarut2 init really is mind blowing when we think about it : witnesses have no problem with a deity who will use violence in order to end violence?!?!.
armageddon will be gods war to kill billions of people...because it shows his love?.
thoughts?.
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Pete Zahut
It always seemed to me as a JW that if "imperfection" was at the root of mans problems (crime, violence, wars, sickness etc) then simply removing the imperfection would be the way to solve mans problems rather than annihilating hundreds of millions of men women and children.
The Bible however points out that God seems to like a more dramatic approach. For example, if you believe the account of Noah, he would rather flood the entire earth and drown all but 8 humans as well as drown nearly all of the innocent animals on the planet rather than to simply send in his angels in the night, to kill off the wicked ones. It worked in later in Egypt but I guess he hadn't thought of that yet, at the time of Noah.
Christians like to think they are all about upholding goodness and righteousness however they, like most humans, are also big on consequences and seeing those they perceive as wicked, getting their just desserts rather than simply being cured of the imperfection they recognize as the basis of man's problems. It's easier and more motivating for those who view themselves as saved or as already righteous and who want to save their own skins, to get behind the idea of a mass annihilation of the human race.
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COWTOWN AIN'T (In which I tell you all about my home town, Fort Worth, Texas)
by TerryWalstrom incowtown ain’t.
in which i tell you about my hometown, ft. worth, texas.
question: “what do you call mexican food down in guadalajara?”.
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Pete Zahut
It's always enjoyable to read your stories Terry and your references to Fort Worth. My first recollection of anything to do with Fort Worth was when I was a kid back in 1970 during the JW 1975 fever. My JW mother convinced my non-JW father to sell our nice home and move themselves and 4 kids into a single wide mobile home and park it across the street from the Kingdom Hall, in a trailer court inhabited by dozens of other JW's escaping reality.
We came to learn years later that many JW's in other places were getting in debt, figuring they'd never have to pay anything off before the end came. Instead of getting in debt, my parents did the opposite. Like a good JW, my Mother had been convinced that the economy was going to collapse and people would be throwing their money in the streets so she figured we should get out from under a mortgage so that when the "tribulation" came, we'd at least be able to hang on to our mobile home if my Dad lost his job.
The mobile home they bought was really nice and it was sort of unusual because it had an upstairs bedroom up front which was mine. I remember there was an insignia outside my bedroom window on the front that said "PAULSIL- MELODY HOME, Fort Worth Texas". As a kid, I was fascinated by the idea that our home was built in magical place called Fort Worth Texas and was hauled by truck all the way to Seattle Washington for us to live in. I always wanted to go to the factory and see how it was made but Fort Worth Texas was a world away.
I've been to Texas many times since them but never to Fort Worth but anytime I hear that name, I think of my younger self in my little upstairs bedroom in our "Melody Home", tossing and turning at night worrying about my little sisters and trying to figure out how I could possibly save them during the great tribulation and the persecution that was on its way. I think about my parents who had to struggle to get us back into a real house again after 1975 came and went. I think about how they are both gone now and how my non JW father died too young because he was convinced by the JW's he was studying with not to take a blood transfusion during his heart surgery. I think about how JW's today have virtually dismissed what we went through as a result of what we were led to believe in those days.
Now because of your Fort Worth related stories, I also think about all the unnecessary hardships you went through as a JW, yet you still have a sense of humor about it and about life's ironies in general. I also find it ironic that as faithful JW's we both lived through the 1975 debacle and have this little Fort Worth connection and have both wound up here on an Ex JW forum all these decades later via something called the Internet ,which wasn't even though of back then. Weren't we supposed to be perfect by now?? Where's that pet Lion they promised me??
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2017 Convention Video Remember The Wife Of Lot
by pale.emperor inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0qpoelk2r4.
the dad in this is a total douche.
i dont know if the videos have become more judgemental and culty in the year since i left - or maybe im just noticing it more?.
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Pete Zahut
I watched the video and stopped a few seconds after the JW husband went into a closet/office and gave the new bible study a bible. I knew I wasn't going to be able to stomach this video as soon as they once again started indulging and reassuring the JW audiences' foregone conclusions about the ill mannered and unsavory "worldly" people they must accommodate as they martyr themselves in order to do "God's Will". They even stopped the story in order to reminded the guy to take off his shoes in their oh so sanitary JW household. The actor even had a (fake) 5 o'clock shadow to subtly remind JW's that only bad guys have facial hair.
These videos are way too "on the nose" for me to even stand watching for any length of time. Even the most indoctrinated JW will notice the obvious pandering to the JW audience that takes place in them and will surely realize that the picture perfect world and theocratic banter that is portrayed, is a far cry from their own lives and the lives of any other JW they know. Hopefully over time, the credibility of the organization will be lost to them.
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Please tell me: what is a relationship with the "person" Jehovah like?
by Maryo indoes anyone out there know of any jws that have talked about what their personal relationship with jehovah was like?
for example, hearing his voice, a certain feeling?
an intellectual understanding?
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Pete Zahut
“Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.”1
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Gas or Electric Stove
by just fine ini am getting new appliances.
i have decided on black stainless for the finish.
the house is stubbed for gas and electric for the range.
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Pete Zahut
This thread reminds me of a joke I heard.
A man equipped with a parachute, jumps out of an airplane.
On the way down, he pulls the rip cord and discovers it isn't working and begins frantically struggling to fix it.
As he plummets downward toward the earth, he sees another man in the distance who, for some reason is flying upward at a rapid pace.
As the two pass each other, the man with the parachute shouts " HEY MISTER...DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PARACHUTES ??? "
The other man shouts back " NOOO.....DO YOU KNOW ANTYING ABOUT GAS STOVES??"
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Jehovah's Witnesses target Manchester after terrorist attack
by jwleaks inthe location is outside the arndale centre, manchester, after it was evacuated.
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Pete Zahut
Seems to me that after a bombing, a carts like these, manned or unmanned, would not be welcome. Who's to say a terrorist disguised as an innocuous JW with a literature cart, wouldn't just slip into a crowed area and set off some kind of explosion.
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Did you ever have a discussion with an apostate that helped your journey out.
by jwfacts inthere seems to be a number of different ways that apostates try to get jehovah's witnesses realise they do not have the truth, ranging from subtle comments to aggressive attacks.
do you have any that looking back helped you finally leave.
some of the methods include:.
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Pete Zahut
It seems to me that the "rabid apostate" approach scares people off and even a JW's with serious doubts of his or her own, can be intimidated or shocked back into their safe little rut of cognitive dissonance , after an encounter with an apostate.
To me the best way is to quietly raise questions, not demand answers or put them in a position of having to defend anything, and let them know where to go for answers or another point of view.
It seems like a lot fo Apostate encounters with JW's are vindictive in nature and about the Apostate venting his or her frustrations rather than out of a true concern for enlightening anyone. I was far more inclined to look into the questions and doubts I had, on my own once I knew where to look.
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Pete Zahut
Nobody does it better...
Makes me feel sad for the rest.
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The New terroists That The World have To Confront What is the Answer ?
by smiddy inthis latest attack in manchester u.k. targeting a venue attended by mainly children and teenagers who go to a concert by their favorite singer and then to be attacked by a terroist has to be the last straw... surely ?
22 dead at last count mainly young girls enjoying a concert of their favourite singer ?
and at least 50 others suffering injuries ?.
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Pete Zahut
I often wonder what would happen if the worlds media would agree to stop reporting protests, bombings and similar events, on all media. It seems to me these folks are trying to make a statement and get attention and that's exactly what they get, worldwide coverage within seconds, every time they pull one of these stunts.
The trouble is, sensational news and graphic video draw the eye of the public toward the products being advertised between each story. Money always wins out in the end.