Posts by Pete Zahut

27

Dealing with Elderly Parents Who Still Believe the jw Religion is the truth

by lancelink in

i left the religion back in 2008 right after my mother died,( the total lack of natural love/ affection was the final straw for me).. but my dad has become more and more focused on doing the wt bidding.. it just amazes me how he gushes on and on about the last days, his new bible studies, and meeting parts .

but yet he makes no effort to have any type of relationship with his grandkids, there are 5 of them , non are witnesses.

they are the children from several different sisters of mine, and myself.. so how do you deal with the witness stuff always being presented in conversations?.

Pete Zahut

Like most JW's it is likely that your father has steeped himself in the religion more so these days, not out of a growing concern for others, rather it is because he realizes he has reached the stage in life where he is "circling the drain" and time is running out.

Many JW's have convinced themselves that they love their neighbor but the main motivation for them is to save their own skin. If he was motivated by love, he would do all he could to reach his own grandchildren instead of focusing on knocking on the empty door of strangers. If he focused on his grandchildren however, he'd have to be more than a friendly stranger at the door who can walk away as soon as things get tough. With his grandchildren, he'd have to be himself and he'd have to stick around even when they asked tough questions that he has no answer for. It's easier for him to go through the motions and choose the other busy work that is part of being a JW. That way he can feel good about not having really done anything real.

Coming to terms with ones own mortality is something that is best done gradually over ones lifetime rather than all at once. You are kind to let him continue on with the magical thinking that gets him through his days and nights, now that he has reached this stage in life. One day when he is gone, you will look back and feel good about having done your part to make his last years reasonably peaceful.

30

"...You will be Disfellowshipped for 7 years"

by HereIgo in

shortly before i left the "troof" a co had given a talk during his visit.

at the time there was a scandal going on in the congregation where 2 couples basically swapped spouses with each other.

it was quite the scandal.

Pete Zahut

There just has to be some biblical reasoning behind the 7 year sentence otherwise the whole thing would seem rather arbitrary and made up by a mere man.

I supposed one could reason that the bible says to forgive not 7 times but up to 77 times. 77 divided by 12 (the number of months in a year) doesn't divide equally rather it comes out to 6.41 years.

Using the same creative logic and math that as was used in the new overlapping generation teaching, a sentence of 6.41 years would mean that the 6th year would "overlap" into the seventh year and the sentence would essentially be made up of "parts" of 7 years.

Evidently, the disfelloshipped individuals could seek reinstatement at the 6.41 year mark however reinstatement wouldn't be granted until 7 full biblical years had passed.

Yeah....that's it.

116

What is behind your choice of forum user name?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.

there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.

i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.

Pete Zahut

It's a long and sad story but my username came about as a direct result of not being allowed as a JW, to get a formal education. The only employment I was qualified for in the beginning was in a fast food restaurant. Many said I would be blessed by Jehovah for listening to the Governing Body and obeying the direction to forego higher education and sure enough, because of all the insight I had gained reading the AWAKE! magazine, I was eventually able to buy the place, name it after myself and start my own successful international restaurant chain. Maybe you've heard of it?

As time went by and my restaurant chain grew and grew, many then began saying that success would pull me right out of the Truth. I was puzzled by this because after all they had claimed that my success was a direct blessing for having been obedient. It has to be one thing or the other....how can they have it both ways?

It turns out they were right....just look where I've ended up !

-Pete

15

Far and away the best video I have seen explaining cults

by jwfacts in

this 5 minute ted video perfectly explains what a cult it.

it does not mention jws, but perfectly aligns with them.

it is put in a manner that would make some understand why jws are considered a cult.

Pete Zahut

This one is about JW's specifically

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWeHB4qM1Hg&feature=youtu.be

36

What is the biggest sexual scandal to hit the top of JW tree ?

by Chook in

elders ,co ,do ,branch overseers ,gb ,missionaries has "sinful" lust got the better of them..

Pete Zahut

1. When I was at Bethel, a married man and woman ran off together leaving their Bethelite spouses behind to face the humiliation and heartbreak. One of the spouses was the Bethel hairdresser and the poor thing was the object of pity the next day as she walked into the dining hall knowing everyone knew and was looking at her with stolen sideways glances. For a young naive Bethelite, it was a real eye opener to me, that this could happen at Bethel. A few months later, all of my months pay was stolen out of my room. ( pretty sure it was our housekeeper who did it). "The truth" never the same for me after that.

2. In our congregation, there were two young couples who were the best of friends. One of the husbands secretly installed a tiny hidden camera in the bathroom of the other couple and he recorded the other brother's wife in the shower etc.

Both of these young couples were from prominent JW families. He got caught and boy did it hit the fan when he did. There was a huge rift in the congregation over how it was handled and the mild punishment that was handed down because of who he was. Several families moved, there was a divorce, another family left the"truth" and a lot of people are no longer speaking to each other.

32

Letter to my JW elder brother

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

i sent the following letter to my older brother, a jw elder in grand prairie, texas, who actively shuns me since i left the religion for conscientious reasons two years ago.. may 11, 2017. dear ronnie,.

in the opening scenes of the movie gone with the wind, a field worker hollers out, “”quttin’ time!” big sam protests, saying, “i’s da fo’man on tara.

i sez when it’s quittin’ time.

Pete Zahut

Embracing one's true self is the one of the most exhilarating sensations in the world. As for any future relationship with my brother, I am not interested. He's a pompous ass and always was.

@RK

Yeah...I get that but I also know that when people first become a JW they can be a bit over the top about it and drive people away and the same thing can sometimes be true (at first) about for those who leave. They can be a bit hard nosed and can end up burning bridges unnecessarily.

I was on board with your letter and everything you said in it, except for the inclusion of your brothers name and his location. Not a cool thing to do... and as far as pompous asses are concerned, I'm guessing it runs in the family and it's quite possible that your brother has other non JW related reasons to distance himself from you.

32

Letter to my JW elder brother

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

i sent the following letter to my older brother, a jw elder in grand prairie, texas, who actively shuns me since i left the religion for conscientious reasons two years ago.. may 11, 2017. dear ronnie,.

in the opening scenes of the movie gone with the wind, a field worker hollers out, “”quttin’ time!” big sam protests, saying, “i’s da fo’man on tara.

i sez when it’s quittin’ time.

Pete Zahut

@Pete Zahut, that's the nice thing about having disassociated from the Watchtower for conscientious reasons;

I wasn't thinking about the folks at the Watchtower seeing your post. I was thinking in terms of general security and privacy. At the risk of sounding paranoid, when it comes to posting personal information on the internet, less is more, especially so since I'm guessing your brother didn't give you permission to post his name and his location on the internet, nor would it help your relationship if he were to find out you have done so.

I got the impression that you didn't like the fact that he is shunning you. If it were me, and I had written a letter to my brother trying to point out the ironies of his decision to shun me, I wouldn't post the letter and include both of our names, States and Cities on a public forum where it will live in cyberspace for all eternity.

When it comes to the internet, it's a small world and it would be easy enough for anyone reading your post, to find him and tip him off, even years from now. That alone could ruin all of the good the letter may have done. If I were you, I'd ask the forums moderator to edit your names and locations, off the letter.

Just sayin'

32

Letter to my JW elder brother

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

i sent the following letter to my older brother, a jw elder in grand prairie, texas, who actively shuns me since i left the religion for conscientious reasons two years ago.. may 11, 2017. dear ronnie,.

in the opening scenes of the movie gone with the wind, a field worker hollers out, “”quttin’ time!” big sam protests, saying, “i’s da fo’man on tara.

i sez when it’s quittin’ time.

Pete Zahut

A very good letter but I'm wondering if it was a good idea to have used your names and your locations when posting it here. In less than a minute, I was able to do a search and locate both names.

Maybe I'm being paranoid but you might be able to ask the forums moderator Simon to remove your names from the letter if you're concerned about it.

22

As an Ex JW now, how would you react if you met your Bible study conductor?

by EverApostate in

i was a jw for 11 years , came to know ttatt and wrote my disassociation letter 5 years ago.

since then i had been an atheist and trying all i can to spread awareness for “still in” members.

my wife and mom are still jws and i do get along with them perfectly.

Pete Zahut

You said your former Bible study Conductor (s) were good people so they most likely didn't have any ill intent in teaching you what they had come to know themselves. Treat them as you would like to be treated yourself. After all, when you were a JW you may have studied with someone or may have brought them some literature that influenced them greatly.

I've run into old JW friends who didn't realize I was no longer a JW and they start asking me about JW things in my area. I tell them that I realize that this won't come as good news to them, but being a JW just wasn't working for me any longer, so a number of years ago I stopped attending the meetings.

Sometimes they want to know why and I've told them, only to have everything I've said, promptly dismissed. Lately rather than explain anything to them and end up in some kind of debate that doesn't end well, I simply say:

Me: I discovered a few things I should have known before making the decision to be baptized as a JW.

Them: Oh....like what??

Me: Well, let's just leave it at that, but don't worry, I'm doing well. I'm still the same person as before only now I'm not one of Jehovah's Witnesses. How have you been...how's the family?

At that point they usually get the picture and since you're being polite or haven't said anything they can argue with, the ball ends up in their court. It's up to them to change the topic or wriggle their way out of the conversation.

Sometimes people want to be lied to and they are quite willing to punish anyone who doesn't play the game. I find it's better to leave them wondering rather than have them blame me for telling them something they already know, but have been successfully denying.

21

So how come Jehovah can do anything but he still needs angels.

by zigua in

as the title says :p.

Pete Zahut

There is no actual proof that there is a God or that there are Angels. Those things are all part the explanation that Christians came to believe as it was passed down to them at infancy and when they were trusting and without the the reasoning skills to question nor the coping skills to deal with the consequences of having done so.