Posts by Pete Zahut

20

Normal things you missed out on as a kid (besides holidays)

by Are you serious in

since me and my siblings had to go to service every saturday, and i mean every saturday, i missed out on something so normal as watching good ole saturday morning cartoons from the 70's and 80's.

i remember wishing i could stay home just one saturday so i could watch cartoons.

but noooo we had to go save lives!

Pete Zahut

Speaking of Saturday morning cartoons...

Back in 1965 when I was about 8 years old, (I remember it as if it were yesterday) one rainy Saturday morning, the field service car group I was in, stopped to call on someone who was spiritually weak.

They had kids my age and the kids were watching bugs bunny on TV. I was utterly delighted when the adults got into a long drawn out conversation about the nearness of the end and I got to watch cartoons (out of the corner of my eye) as they "encouraged" the weak parents to improve their meeting attendance.

There were a lot of things I missed out on but mostly I missed out on the peaceful carefree time of life that childhood is supposed to be because on a daily basis, I was reminded that there was death and destruction looming on the horizon for anyone who didn't "Love Jehovah" and "Love being a Jehovah's Witness" and didn't find joy in "serving" him,

Here we are in 2017 and the kid who was never supposed to graduate from high school (1975), went to Bethel, came home got married had a career, had kids and is now a new grandpa (yeah !!) and getting ready to retire. The long dreaded "great tribulation" and the cataclysmic event (Armageddon) never materialized.

The worst thing of all is that (even here on this forum) , none of what I went through really matters to anyone else today. At a certain age, you come to realize that the things you experienced in your past life is sort of dismissed and considered no longer relevant by those who are younger and view the experiences of those who lived in the past as different and less important than their own (things were different back in the olden days). To be fair, I did the same thing myself when I was younger because I couldn't relate. Now I appreciate what the ones that went ahead of me, were taking about. And on it goes....the more things change, the more they stay the same.

13

If the WTBTS Was Disbanded Tomorrow...

by Cimarrona in

how would the gb, do, co, bethelites, elders, pioneers, etc list their now-meaningless positions on their resume?

.

Pete Zahut

Since no one would be left there to verify anything, they could write anything they wanted on their resume. Even the lowliest of workers could claim to have held high level positions in the organization and no one would be any the wiser.

35

Sexual Depredation as a function of male society by men of a Certain Age

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i would like to remind those folks younger than i that it was very few years ago when almost the entire planet earth was run by and for the benefit of men.women have throughout history been the property of men.due to religious restrictions, teachings, and fundamentalist doctrines, women in the largest societies on earth right now (muslim, chinese, n.korean) have almost no human rights at all.next year, in june, women will, for the 1st time, be allowed in arabia to drive---but--only if they are 30 years old or older, and for only a few hours per day!the old testament laws (read through them sometime) are horrifying reflective of prejudice toward gender, bodily cleanliness, guilt-tripping, and anonymity.

(what was noah's wife's name?

lot's wife?

Pete Zahut

It is still a man's world no matter what you say. 'Nuff said.

Dismissive JW: Everyone in the world is bad and no matter what youi say, we are Gods chosen people...'Nuf said.

12

Bank and ATM's..

by zeb in

jw
friends

i went to the atm to get out my housekeeping and budgeting money.

($650) this covers large bills and everyday shopping for food etc.. made the withdrawal and as i fumbled my wallet the atm took the money back.

a bank staff member was present helping another customer with the other atm and saw this.

Pete Zahut

I had no idea that ATMs did this but I can see why they would. They really should make that information more obvious to the average customer. I don't recall seeing any kind of warning on the hundreds of ATM's I've used.

As with anything in the modern world, for the most part the advances we enjoy are beneficial but there definetly are drawbacks. There is often no way to speak to a real person when something goes wrong. Even so, I'd still rather have the occasional glitch like this, than go back to having to wait for the bank to be open before I could get some needed cash.

I've always liked the following adage and try to apply it when these frustrating situations occur.

"It's easier to put on a pair of slippers than to try and carpet the whole world"

To me this means, that its easier for me to change (soften) my reaction and adjust my thinking when things go wrong, than to expect everything to go perfectly all the time. Problems are inevitable, having things go well for most people, most of the time us usually all we can expect.

35

Sexual Depredation as a function of male society by men of a Certain Age

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i would like to remind those folks younger than i that it was very few years ago when almost the entire planet earth was run by and for the benefit of men.women have throughout history been the property of men.due to religious restrictions, teachings, and fundamentalist doctrines, women in the largest societies on earth right now (muslim, chinese, n.korean) have almost no human rights at all.next year, in june, women will, for the 1st time, be allowed in arabia to drive---but--only if they are 30 years old or older, and for only a few hours per day!the old testament laws (read through them sometime) are horrifying reflective of prejudice toward gender, bodily cleanliness, guilt-tripping, and anonymity.

(what was noah's wife's name?

lot's wife?

Pete Zahut

I am with you there about the discrimination in employment and women being treated as sex objects. Nothing more revolting than being approached by unattractive men I didn't want.

Sorry my comment bothered you - as in how dare I think some man is unattractive.

This is a discussion...your comment didn't bother me in the least. As far as I'm concerned you can "dare" to say whatever you please. I'm a little curious as to why you seem to have jumped to the conclusion that I was "bothered" or that I thought you shouldn't have "dared "to speak your mind? Could it be that you've been conditioned to believe men in general are out to repress you somehow? Hopefully you don't treat the men in your life as if this is so.

When I was a young girl I'd never go with an older guy (yuck) , even if he was good looking!

Again, your words seem to indicate that the problem here is the man's appearance, attractiveness or age rather than his inappropriate behavior. You seem to be indicating that you would even be offended if a single eligible man approached you, simply because he was old (yuck) . I completely understand that, but when a man passes over an older woman, simply because of her age (yuck), he's considered a superficial jerk...even a pig. The point I was trying to make earlier is that men are sometimes held to a different standard, by women. Some women are flattered when a an attractive man shows interest in them but are insulted and even call it harassment when a unattractive man shows the exact same interest.

Handsome Guy: You look nice today

Woman: (beaming at the compliment) Thank you!

Old or homely guy: You look nice today.

Woman: thinking to herself (yuck, why do I get all the creeps?)

This thread is about sexual harassment, by the way, and not about white men being blamed for the ills of the world (I happen to agree with you but that's for another discussion).

I'm well aware of the topic of this thread. All I'm "daring" to say is that men through the ages have done what was expected of them by their mothers and fathers. They were expected to take charge, be assertive go-getters and were considered weak if they didn't follow suit. These days, men take all the heat for the actions and traditions of the past and their resulting problems. No one would ever dare to blame the world situation on the lack of assertiveness or the weakness shown on the part of women because women wouldn't stand for it. Today, somehow it's ok to blame everything on men in general even though they were expected to take charge and were despised by women, if they were weak. As I said before, those who are in charge or appear to have all the power, whether it be a parent, teacher, politician, minister or whatever. Even though they are doing their duty, they are often resented and have a target on their back and are damned if they do or don't.

Despite the obvious oppression, and even though mothers expected their daughters to be demure and "ladylike" there were many women (even doubly oppressed black women) who did what they wanted despite the expectations of their Mothers and bullying by men. Sarah Bickford comes to mind.

Men who sexually harass come in all colors. If a man thinks he can get away with it, he'll go for it.

Isn't that a known human trait in general? Men women and children all tend to want what they want and will "go for it" if they think they stand the slightest chance. Most people do the right thing but we only focus on the Men and children who bully others and we ignore the women who've oppressed and bullied and taken advantage of other women when they had the chancel.

All I'm saying is that as long as we keep hashing over the wrongs of the past, pointing fingers and participating in these old double standards, our progress will be hampered. As long as people are taught to view themselves as victims, they will look for someone to blame their problems on and ignore the fact that it is possible to take charge of their own outcome.

The original post reminds me of how popular it is in the media to focus on these topics not because they actually care but because these these divisive topics sell $$. The general public falls right into line with the hate. People who have never been harassed or repressed are angry for the people of the past who were and focus on that rather than focusing on the majority of good that takes place and the strides that have been made. Just think what a mess a family would be if the parents focused on the past mistakes of their kids even though they've made good progress.

The same thing has happened with our human family.

35

Sexual Depredation as a function of male society by men of a Certain Age

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i would like to remind those folks younger than i that it was very few years ago when almost the entire planet earth was run by and for the benefit of men.women have throughout history been the property of men.due to religious restrictions, teachings, and fundamentalist doctrines, women in the largest societies on earth right now (muslim, chinese, n.korean) have almost no human rights at all.next year, in june, women will, for the 1st time, be allowed in arabia to drive---but--only if they are 30 years old or older, and for only a few hours per day!the old testament laws (read through them sometime) are horrifying reflective of prejudice toward gender, bodily cleanliness, guilt-tripping, and anonymity.

(what was noah's wife's name?

lot's wife?

Pete Zahut

While I don't disagree with what you've written Terry, your post has a hint of "virtue signaling" to it. I'm not sure why this topic came to mind. I'm not that much younger than you are and I never thought women were inferior to men. The women in my family for the last 3 generations, had careers, were educated and had families as well. The ones I knew, wouldn't have tolerated being downtrodden. Maybe I'm clueless but it seems to me, most men treat women fairly and most people aren't racist. It's only the actions of the bad guys that are played up. The rest just go about our business as best they can.

To be fair, we men are the skape goats for just about all the ills in the world. As it is, it's open season on men, especially white men and we just take it because men aren't allowed to complain. We don't allow ourselves to complain and women wouldn't tolerate it if we did. If women were portrayed the way men are in the media etc, there'd be riots in the streets. Men, husbands and fathers are portrayed in movies and TV as immature inept fools who are disrespected by their families. Here it is 2017 and we still think it's ok and even funny when we see a woman being violent toward a man who's made some blunder.

Not that there haven't been huge injustices done, but it seems like it's the style now for people to find someone else to blame their own failings on.

3rd world countries resent western countries and revolt

Employees resent repression by Employers and revolt

Students resent repression by Teachers and revolt

Kids resent repression by parents and revolt

Gay people resent repression by Straight people and revolt

Women resent repression by men and revolt

Men resent other men and go to war.

Men on the whole, are held responsible for repressing women. White Men on the whole are held responsible for repressing non-white women and men.

I wonder if repressed men of color are included in the repression of all women, or are they only responsible for the repression of women of color? Do repressed white women by nature of their skin color have more privilege and suffer less repression than men of color, or are men of color, by virtue of their gender less repressed than white women? Are men of color said to have "male privilege"?

It's all very confusing but it's clear that there's a double standard and anyone who appears to have the upper hand in any given situation, is the enemy....the problem...the bad guy...the one to blame It's not enough for the injustices to be stopped so everyone can move on because moving on would mean that we wouldn't have anyone left to blame our problems on.

35

Sexual Depredation as a function of male society by men of a Certain Age

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i would like to remind those folks younger than i that it was very few years ago when almost the entire planet earth was run by and for the benefit of men.women have throughout history been the property of men.due to religious restrictions, teachings, and fundamentalist doctrines, women in the largest societies on earth right now (muslim, chinese, n.korean) have almost no human rights at all.next year, in june, women will, for the 1st time, be allowed in arabia to drive---but--only if they are 30 years old or older, and for only a few hours per day!the old testament laws (read through them sometime) are horrifying reflective of prejudice toward gender, bodily cleanliness, guilt-tripping, and anonymity.

(what was noah's wife's name?

lot's wife?

Pete Zahut

Nothing more revolting than being approached by unattractive men I didn't want.

Would it have been acceptable if they were attractive?

29

Why "fancy dress" and "theme weddings" were BANNED by our Congregation!

by Witness 007 in

our kingdom hall was in a boring town of 30,000 people so to spice things up me and some special pioneers living with us decided to have a fancy dress up party!

what could go wrong?

nice clean fun, and no booze (oh crap!).

Pete Zahut

We had a 50's themed party back in the late 80's early 90's and if anything, it was rather bland and uneventful. Word got to the C.O that there were guys dressed as "Greasers" and a Sister dressed as the "sex goddess" Marilyn Monroe and people were doing "suggestive" 50's dances.

When he came to visit, there was a talk given and scriptures sited that showed how wrong this was and how if a costume party was held, it would only be appropriate if it was bible themed or if people came dressed as JW's from the 1950's. engaged in the ministry, for example.

There was a lot of eye rolling and smirks among the audience as they envisioned a party where everyone was dressed as JW's going from door to door in the 1950's. Nevertheless, that was the last costume party we ever had.

Flash forward to the past few years, we now have JW relatives and friends who post Facebook and Instagram photos of themselves dressed in movie themed costumes at parties taking place on "Oscar" night. And we've all see the video of the dancing and costumed skits at the Kingdom Halls that took place a few years ago, where they were dancing on stage to "worldly" music. My how things have changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QxDGtAsKFM

21

Shunning: Extreme apathy!

by StephaneLaliberte in

i thought i'd share this one with the group.

many years ago, my mom was disfellowshipped.

then, my sister passed away in a car accident, she was fairly young, as she was in her early 20s.

Pete Zahut

I can tell you from experience, this is not an isolated incident . It happens often and no one speaks about it. DF'd people are invisible and until the internet came along, they had no voice.

Those days are gone.

20

Strip off the old personality

by eyeuse2badub in

yesterday’s watchtower talked about how by becoming a jw it enabled “worldly” people to ‘strip off the old personality’ and make really significantly good changes in their life.. paragraph named 4 individuals (anonymous names of course and probably embellished tales)) sakura, ribeiro, stephen, and hans.

their lives changed for the good because they found god or because they became jw’s---right?.

so on the way home from this wt meeting, my wife commented to me how wonderful our brotherhood is and how it helps people who would otherwise be ‘lost’ n this world.

Pete Zahut

Most people do better when they are following some sort of plan and or have structure in their lives

Many a prison convict had a "come to Jesus" moment while incarcerated and turned their life around without JW's.

Many a lost young man, found his way when he joined the military.

Many a Drug or Alcohol addict turned their life around after joining AA or some other 12 step program.

When talking up their particular program, most organizations avoid talking about those who come to them and have a bad experience or when things didn't work out for one reason or another.