Posts by Pete Zahut

38

I'm so confused, help?

by Ponyo in

i want to share my story.

(might be a tad long).

i have no idea where i stand anymore regarding being a jw and where i stand in my marriage.. im 28 years old and the years are certainly ticking by.

Pete Zahut

But what about feeling empty in my marriage.

Sorry to sound harsh Ponyo and to seem as if I'm trivializing you pain but based on what you've told us here, I'd say you alone are the source of the "emptiness" that you speak of. If you think about it, the things that you are fretting about, are "first world" problems. There are millions of women around the globe who would love to have a life as "bad" as yours. They'd love to have healthy children, a stable life and a hard working man who loves them. Why not focus on what you have rather than torturing yourself by revisiting something that is over. If you do that, your problem is solved.

There is an expression "You can't go home again" and there's a pretty good chance that it might apply to your situation. After the experiences you’ve been through, (marriage, motherhood and returning to the JW's) nothing will ever be the same as it used to be. So the “home” that you remember doesn’t really exist anymore, because the “you” from the days that you remember doesn’t exist anymore.

When you catch yourself going down the "what if I'd have chosen Sam instead of Leo path" switch channels and say to yourself. " thank you very much but I've already gone down this road and I've chosen to love the father of my children and appreciate what I HAVE and not daydream about what might have been". Sam is not an option to you anymore and neither is destroying your children's happy home. Stop torturing yourself by revisiting this topic and move on.

38

I'm so confused, help?

by Ponyo in

i want to share my story.

(might be a tad long).

i have no idea where i stand anymore regarding being a jw and where i stand in my marriage.. im 28 years old and the years are certainly ticking by.

Pete Zahut

I want to feel badly for you and go along with the pity you are feeling for yourself over all of this but the Husband and Father in me realizes that you have messed up the lives of 2 good men with your nonsense and are considering messing up the lives of your children as well.

The problem isn't Sam or Leo or the JW's ....the problem is your apparent inability to get past your romantic notions and see what's right in front of you.

You then allowed things to proceed with Sam even though you weren't actually attracted to him and believed at the time, it was wrong for you to have a boyfriend. You even expected him to join a religion you didn't quite believe in, yourself. Then you took up with someone else while he was jumping through all of your JW hoops. Wasn't Sam a lucky fellow to have found such a catch?

You allowed things to proceed with Leo even though you were separated from the wonderful Sam due to your initial indecisiveness and ongoing JW drama. Wasn't Leo (and his future children) a lucky fellow to have found you?

My kids are my everything and they come first. I don't want to do anything that hurts them. I'm so torn. My mind never stops. I'm so tired. I'm in a conflicting state of mind all the time.

Hopefully you'll realize that the inability to control your own thoughts (your emotional immaturity) is what's at the root of your problem. You have a great hard working husband that you seem to at least like a lot, a good life and kids you love and unless you stop entertaining these romantic notions about the past, learn how to control your thoughts and emotions and focus on what you have, you'd better fasten your seat belt cause' you're in for a very bumpy ride. Maybe that's what you want....a little drama to liven things up. Sometimes people who come from a chaotic background, don't feel comfortable when things are going well.

27

Out of the world, into the Truth

by apalro in

for some background - i studied on & off as a child with a jehovah's witness who has been patiently working on lots of our family for more than a decade and never gave up on any of us.

as a middle-schooler and a highschooler, my love for jehovah and any association with my childhoood bible teacher... faded.

disappeared.

Pete Zahut

If you'd have been raised a Mormon, a Mennonite, a Lutheran or a Muslim, you'd have thought your situation with your boyfriend and getting pregnant etc, was due to having left one those organizations. You were raised JW so that's the one you ran back to because it is safe and familiar.

Just because your life didn't turn out they way you wanted, doesn't mean that the JW's are the one and only truth in the world. Many a "prodigal" Mormon girl felt the same way you do, when she returned to the fold when things didn't turn out well after she left and many an inmate has expressed the same sentiments as you have, when they found Jesus while in prison. Most people are better off if they are following a set of rules or standards rather than bouncing from one thing to another and not really having a firm goal or vision in front of them.

If being a JW gives you a sense of belonging and something to lean on until you gain some maturity....then I say go for it. Just keep your eyes open...keep asking questions and be aware that in the past, you have been a bit idealistic about things and it lead you down a path you didn't want to be on. Make sure that this isn't what's happening now, so that you don't waste anymore time and have it end in disillusionment. Being a "moral person" and living a "good life" and having a "personal relationship" with God, shouldn't have to include possibly letting your child die because some organization decided to use connect the dot scriptures to erroneously show that blood transfusions are supposedly wrong.

To be brutally honest, a lot of the things you've said sound very cliche' and cult-ish. It sounds as if you're repeating the lingo that someone else came up with rather than ideas of your own. Be sure you thoroughly understand the beliefs (especially the blood issue) and are aware of the real reason you are going back to this organization.

32

New Song to be sung for Warwick Dedication on Oct 7

by Drearyweather in

jw
friends

a place that will bring you praise.

https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/latestvideos/pub-jwb_201801_8_video.

Pete Zahut

"You made our hope a reality....with this place that will bring you praise."

Isn't the hope "everlasting life"? They've replaced that hope with a religious compound where they can live in comfort on the donations of others and shut out the world around them.

114

JW Stumper Questions - List You Best Here

by pale.emperor in

hi guys.

sooner or later we're going to get a jw knocking on our door.

just like when we were jw's doing the knocking, it's good to have a question prepared to get them thinking about their own beliefs.

Pete Zahut

1. How is it that you can believe that that a complex all powerful being such as Jehovah has always existed, has no parents no family no beginning etc....yet you find it impossible to believe that the earth ( a rock in space) couldn't have come into existence unless a supernatural being created it?

2. Are the children of JW's allowed to freely investigate other religions by attending their services and studying their doctrines, before they get baptized as a JW, or would that be a huge tragedy for a JW parent to have their child look into other religions and would they forbid them to do so?

3. If someone studied with Jehovah's Witnesses and was baptized, then was shunned by his non JW family members, would you think it was reasonable for them to do so? If not, why do JW's shun their own children and family members who leave the Watchtower Organization or for joining another religion?

9

I had been waiting for this video since 2013... DEFINITIVE PROOF that the Flag is placed in Kingdom Halls in Chile!

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

now with english subtitles!.

this is the definitive proof that kingdom halls in chile display the flag.

a brave person went inside the kingdom hall while the meeting was happening and took video of the flag being displayed inside the kingdom hall property.

Pete Zahut

My Mother and Father grew up in Europe in a country where Protestants were outnumbered and looked down upon by Catholics. They grew up being restricted from local activities, were often taunted for not being Catholic and were sometimes made to sit at the back of the classroom in school.

Later after they grew up, my Protestant Grandmother was invited to play the organ, one Sunday, in the Catholic church in the village and she did so. I remember my Mother being utterly incensed at the idea that her own Mother, after all they had gone through out of loyalty for their Protestant beliefs, would even enter the Catholic Church let alone play the Organ for their Sunday service.

This is how I feel about this business of flying the Chilean flag at the Kingdom Hall....can't believe they've found a way to rationalize this. I guess I shouldn't be at all surprised.

36

Jehovahs witnesses that believe its "The Truth" vs JW's who know it isn't

by Christian Gutierrez in

jw
friends

hey guys!

what do you think is the percentage of jw's believe that it is the truth and the percentage of those who think it might be some false or all false??

?.

Pete Zahut

There are also those who are "In for a Penny....In for a Pound". They're part of those who adhere to the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/173/Sunk-Cost-Fallacy

22

Approximately how many JW have left permanently?

by longgone in

jw
friends

i did try a search before posting this question and found nothing current.

pew research -2016 says approximately two thirds of those born into the religion in the united states alone, no longer consider themselves as members.

(sorry, still don't know how to link, but it's an easy google search.).

Pete Zahut

I don't have any data to base this on, or hard numbers to show you, but if you think about all the DF'd, DA'd or faded JW's you've personally known or have been related to, and if you assume that this is also the case for the 8 million current in JW's ; that's a whole lot of people whose lives have been adversely effected by having been involved with the Watchtower organization.

If each one of the current 8 million JW's knows or is related to only 3 DF'd, DA'd or Faded individuals, that's 24 million people. When you think how many people over the decades who have come and gone from this religion and how their lives and family lineages were forever altered, it's astonishing.

36

Jehovahs witnesses that believe its "The Truth" vs JW's who know it isn't

by Christian Gutierrez in

jw
friends

hey guys!

what do you think is the percentage of jw's believe that it is the truth and the percentage of those who think it might be some false or all false??

?.

Pete Zahut

Hello Christian...hope you and the Mrs. are doing well.

I think there are three different groups that JW's fall into.

Those who are totally on board with the program.
Those who believe they should be totally on board with the program but aren't quite there anymore.
Those who have to stay put for now or are staying put, just because they don't know what to do or don't have any other choice or don't want to be bothered making a change to their comfortable rut.

27

Irma Message

by wifibandit in

greetings brothers,.

the branch committee has prepared an encouraging video meant to encourage and reassure those affected by the recent storm.

please note that this link or any images from the video are not to be posted to the internet or any social media.. irma message - english.

Pete Zahut

We have been EARNESTLY SUPPLICATING JEHOVAH in your behalf.

Three questions:

Why would they need to "supplicate Jehovah" in behalf of someone else, isn't he aware of what's going on with his people or does he have to receive a certain amount of "supplications" or "supplications" from noteworthy individuals such as the GB memebers, before he will do anything to help ?

What other kind of "supplication" is there other than one that is earnest...are their times when their "supplications" are insincere?

Why would he do anything, since his (supposed) intent was that the earth be cursed and life on it be made difficult so that human kind would suffer and pay for the sins of Adam and Eve?