Posts by Pete Zahut

19

My sister has a different view of shunning to my brother-in-law, but he doesn't know

by Xanthippe in

my library has volunteers who run the local history department.

they put up an exhibition last month called women at war and they asked for photos of people in uniform who aided the war effort in wwll.

i offered a photo of my mother in her red cross nurse's uniform but then i couldn't find it so i had to write to my sister asking if she had it.. i addressed it to her and her husband explaining why i wanted it and just wrote as if this is family property and i needed it.

Pete Zahut

Sorry Pete, I just don't understand people like this, it just doesn't compute.

When JW's behave this way to their family members it reminds me of the time Jesus Apostles, full of their own importance, were heavily condemning the prostitute . They were willing to condemn her to the fullest while Jesus himself, the Son of God, was kind and forgiving to her.

It's a case of "The Butler(s) being more grand than the King himself".

It's sometimes the same way in an office. The head manager might be casual and have an open door management style but to speak to him one must first get past the $10.00 and hour clerk who is being far more officious than she needs to be by creating unnecessary road blocks because she's on some kind of personal power trip.

Shunning people is the only power the the GB allows the lowly individual JW to have. When shunning, most of them aren't primarily concerned with "sticking up for Jehovah". Their main motivation is the extra sense of virtuousness they get to experience by doing so. They get to play the role of the martyr (look what your actions done to me). Then also enjoy how noble it makes them appear to the group. This is referred to as "Virtue Signaling".

19

My sister has a different view of shunning to my brother-in-law, but he doesn't know

by Xanthippe in

my library has volunteers who run the local history department.

they put up an exhibition last month called women at war and they asked for photos of people in uniform who aided the war effort in wwll.

i offered a photo of my mother in her red cross nurse's uniform but then i couldn't find it so i had to write to my sister asking if she had it.. i addressed it to her and her husband explaining why i wanted it and just wrote as if this is family property and i needed it.

Pete Zahut

The text was delivered, Pete.

I suppose it's possible the number may belong to someone else now and your message was delivered to the new party instead of your Sister. I've received " wrong number" texts and have ignored them unless they've seemed important in which case I've texted back and let them know they had a wrong number.

I'd hate to see you miss an opportunity to keep in touch because you thought she was ignoring you. ( just sayin' )

19

My sister has a different view of shunning to my brother-in-law, but he doesn't know

by Xanthippe in

my library has volunteers who run the local history department.

they put up an exhibition last month called women at war and they asked for photos of people in uniform who aided the war effort in wwll.

i offered a photo of my mother in her red cross nurse's uniform but then i couldn't find it so i had to write to my sister asking if she had it.. i addressed it to her and her husband explaining why i wanted it and just wrote as if this is family property and i needed it.

Pete Zahut

Then I thought I would like to thank my sister so I used the mobile phone number I've not used since my parents died and sent her a text telling her how good the photo looked enlarged in the exhibition and thanking her.

Are you sure she still has the same phone number? Is it possible that she just didn't receive your text message?

23

Why Jehovah witnesses don't say, "Bless you" ?

by Issa in

jw
friends

bless you, that was a big sneeze you let out sister.. sister- ah, what does "bless you" mean?.

oh, it's pagan.

because people bless the soul of the person so they don't escape from their physical bodies.. sister- right, it is difficult to change the little things, but we can please jehovah by staying away from those things.. .... this is a scenario that happened when i accidentally (naturally) said "bless you" to the jw sister.

Pete Zahut

Sister- Right, it is difficult to change the little things, but we can please Jehovah by staying away from those things.

You: Well what about the "little" matter of mispronouncing his name tor all these decades?

Anyway, the words Bless, Blessed and Blessing are often used by the religious and they usually have something to do with God so therefore, JW's are automatically the authorities on the matter. If it wasn't their own idea to say "bless you " to someone who sneezes, then doing so is displeasing to God, unless the Governing Body has new light on this and other equally important matters.

15

I wonder if their are any parents of theses children on here now .May 22 1994

by smiddy3 in

i know it could be a sensitive subject however we were all once firm believers and could have very well let one of our loved ones die due to what we once believed.. and not to be judgemental on what we would have done or did do in the past ,i sometime wonder if any of the parents or even one parent of the children of the may 22nd 1994 magazine of "youths who put god first " have now regretted their decision to let their children make this decision on their own.. after all these years i find it hard to believe that not one of them have no regrets to what happened to their child.. i can also accept that it would be extremely hard to admit that you allowed your child to make a decision to die on a belief you instilled in them that you no longer now believe in.

i think that would be very hard to live with and come to terms with.. if any of you are here my heart goes out to you because you have gone through hell and my thoughts/vibes are with you..

Pete Zahut

I am the son of someone who died not taking blood at the advice of JW's but he was only studying at the time. The Elders assured us we would soon see him in the New System but because he wasn't baptized, they wouldn't let us have his memorial at the Kingdom Hall. He was worthy in their estimation of a resurrection but not unworthy of having his memorial held in the Kingdom Hall and he certainly wasn't worthy enough to be featured on the cover of the prestigious AWAKE! magazine.

A few years ago however, I did meet an X-JW couple who lost their young because of the Blood issue (Leukemia) and later left the organization over doctrinal issues....talk about ongoing grief and heartbreak.

26

Male Martyrs can expect to find 72 virgin maidens, what can female suicide bombers expect???

by James Mixon in

female martyrs will be chief of 72 virgins the fairest of the women, and plus she will made beautiful , happy and without jealousy .."whoopee" their paradise is worst than jw's paradise..

Pete Zahut

Are Virgin Suicide Bombers allowed to drive yet or do they still depend on men to deliver their bombs for them?

Anyway, I suppose the best a Female Virgin Bomber can hope for, is the privilege of becoming part of a Harem of virgins who belong to a Male Suicide Bomber.

A few days later, none of them will be virgins and they['ll be looking around for something new to strive for.

25

How Would You Console A Witness Who Has Lost A Loved One?

by minimus in

jw
friends

let’s say that you haven’t been around a kingdom hall in years and everyone knows you are not a “true believer “ anymore.

yet a tragedy strikes and you want to give a real heartfelt expression of your feelings— what would you say?

would you acknowledge the resurrection hope that the witnesses entertain or say something very different?.

Pete Zahut

JW : "I cant believe Joe is gone, I'm so glad we at least we have the resurrection to look forward to"

You: " For now, it's up to those of us who are left behind, to help each other through the grieving process. I'm here if you need me...how bout' I take you to dinner tomorrow night ?"

-Or-

JW : "I can't believe Joe is gone, I'm so glad we at least we have the resurrection to look forward to"

You: " For now, it's up to those of us who are left behind, to help each other through the grieving process. I'm here if you need me...how bout' I take you to dinner tomorrow night ?"

JW: You still believe in the resurrection don't you?

You: "Well, to be honest, I'm not as sure about things like that as I once was. I'm sort of taking a wait and see attitude these days but I think that if God has something good in store for mankind, Joe will surely be a part of it. Lets focus on getting through this rough patch...what do you say we go out to dinner tomorrow night ?"

6

Random thought: Today is the 45 anniversary of my baptism

by NewYork44M in

jw
friends

i was on the bus this morning and this thought came up while i was playing candy crush.

happy baptism birthday to me.

i was a mere child when baptized.

Pete Zahut

I was a mere child when baptized. If I could only go back to talk to my 12 yo self...

A relative of mine is a Bethelite (17 yrs) who was baptized at 12. She claims to have thoroughly understood the religion and knew exactly what she was doing when she got baptized. She said her parent's or other JW didn't coerce her into it , they let her make the choice. I asked her if her parents would have allowed her to attend a local church or study another religion or would they have been deeply upset if she'd have done so and what would the elders have done if she at 12 would have been allowed to study other religions of the world before getting baptized.

She looked away and didn't answer. Later she made several complaint-like comments about all the layoffs and weird changes going on at Bethel. She, (in a worried manner), made it clear that others there felt the same way. We strongly suspect that it won't be too long that she (like you) will be taking a second look at the decisions she made when she was 12 years old.

9

The Bloody Boogeyman

by Saename in

have you ever heard a witness argue that blood transfusions are often unhealthy anyway?

it's something that they mention nearly every time to make you think... "oh, after all, it's not like jehovah's witnesses are fanatics because they deny certain medical treatments purely for the sake of the bible.

they do have medical reasons as well!".

Pete Zahut

Have you ever heard a Witness argue that blood transfusions are often unhealthy anyway? I have... very often.

There are certain risks involved simply by being admitted to a hospital for treatment in the first place but that wouldn't prevent one from doing so when the alternative to doing so is dying.

There are certain risks involved with taking blood fractions as well but JW's are allowed to do so and yet claim to be "abstaining from blood".

28

Why I lost my religion

by Sour Grapes in

i was a jw for over 50 years and recently just stopped cold turkey going to the meetings.

years of sitting at the meetings with the boredom, the gloom and doom, repetition of doctrine, the gloom and doom, the fake love, the gloom and doom, the end being so close, do more - do more, just got to be too much for me to stomach.

i stopped praying to god and no longer thank god for the food before i eat.

Pete Zahut

Years of sitting at the meetings with the boredom, the gloom and doom, repetition of doctrine, the gloom and doom, the fake love, the gloom and doom, the end being so close, do more - do more, just got to be too much for me to stomach.

Same here....I was an anxious depressed wreck and it got to the point that only could attend the Sunday meeting. Even at that, I couldn't get through the Watchtower study without ducking out to my car after the public talk, to have a sip of the beer or wine I stashed there, just to stop the waves of anxiety and flip flops going on in my stomach.

A week or two after ending my meeting attendance, the years of anxiety I had been suffering, magically disappeared. Not dwelling on all the ills of the world and listening to continual dooms day predictions, was all the cure I needed. This gave me the motivation to find out what else I could jettison from my psyche to improve my life.

Your story and thought process pretty much mirrors my own but you've managed to articulate it much better.

Thanks !