Posts by Pete Zahut

54

Fasten Your Seatbelts - The Crazy Has Started (Also, bring the Koolaid)

by berrygerry in

from facebook:just saw my jw mother after not seeing her for more than 2 years.

when i do see her, it is brief, she never asks about my life, doesn't ask about my 4 children her grandchildren, doesn't ask about my grandchildren...her great grandchildren, she doesn't ask about my other 2 brothers that she is also alienated from, she doesn't ask about my brothers family.

she doesn't talk about the jw/org either.

Pete Zahut

4

The Sin of Omission

by stuckinarut2 in

have we heard of the sin of omission?.

it refers to a situation where someone deliberately withholds some relevant or pertinent information from an investigation or enquiry.. in a criminal situation someone may purposely neglect to mention he was present, or involved in something.

it may lead the other person to a conclusion that is not accurate...and yet the person under investigation never actually lied.. now think of a jw "judicial committee" .

Pete Zahut

The individuals who they omit information from are overly trusting powerless JW nobodies, so apparently it doesn't count.

22

Did Being a JW Make You a Better Person?

by Boredposter in

i heard many times when i was a witness how much "learning the truth" helped people.

many have been said to have become much better people.

addictions were given up.

Pete Zahut

Most people do better when they follow a routine, follow a set of rules or a lifestyle that is based around a positive set of behaviors. This can come in the form of joining the Boy Scouts, Joining AA, being part of a civic group or club, joining a church or religion....any religion.

Anyone who is a drug addict, living a debased life or a life with no moral compass , would benefit by replacing those activities with ones that involve joining others with positive goals. There are people whose lives were improved by becoming JW's but this doesn't mean that JW's have the one true religion and that if you aren't one of them, your life will be a train wreck or that you'll soon to be destroyed by God.

18

"Slaving For Jehovah Is Great, Because Your Life Won't Go Wrong." Sigh...

by Sorry in

granted, i'm a pimo status, so i normally just play on my cell phone and ignore everything during meetings and assemblies.

but at the assembly this past weekend, my ears were pricked for two experiences of two sisters dedicating themselves to pioneering.

this was probably because i was extremely freaked out by both of them.

Pete Zahut

I know you're African-American yourself so it concerns you. But slaving for Jehovah is great, because he's a perfect God and your life won't go wrong if you serve him obediently".

The word "SLAVE" has negative connotations for anybody and it certainly doesn't make serving Jehovah, sound very pleasant. What about all the "JOY" that they claim to have? In addition, the word "SLAVE" has the desired dramatic effect of making the user of it, sound more virtuous and self sacrificing. Imagine if they were more literal and said "I quit my job so I could drive around knocking on the doors of empty houses or to stand silently by a literature cart, doing nothing". Besides, doesn't the bible say not to go "blowing a trumpet before yourself" when doing good works? What's up with these folks getting up on stage and bragging about how self sacrificing they are?

It's been my experience that there was often a self serving motive a play when anyone left a career or gave up opportunities, to "Slave for Jehovah" . Sometimes it was a way to "cop out " of the challenges of working or getting an education yet still have the adulation of their peers for doing so.

30

Another reason Watchtower may be hurting financially

by shepherdless in

i don't think anyone else has raised this point.

below i set out the case that the jw demographic in usa has a steadily decreasing combined income, and as a consequence, has less money to donate.

not only is the flock not growing, the flock is producing less wool for the borg to fleece.

Pete Zahut

For a century, thousands of JW marched on Court Street in Colombia Heights, 24/7, wt winning every Court battle by the way.

Or did we only hear about the ones they won? Even today with all the media out there, most JW's don't know about the child abuse cases. Early on they lost a certain case and the GB was thrown in jail but as we all know, they only publicised that loss because they could spin it as part of a fulfillment of a bible prophecy, a prophecy that has been changed and rearranged but still hasn't come about.

Now, wt changed their position, they moved away from Court Street in downtown Brooklyn and are at Warwick

Not sure what you mean by Court Street in Brooklyn ? Their HQ was at 124 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn and today, of course, is in the Town of Warwick.

30

Another reason Watchtower may be hurting financially

by shepherdless in

i don't think anyone else has raised this point.

below i set out the case that the jw demographic in usa has a steadily decreasing combined income, and as a consequence, has less money to donate.

not only is the flock not growing, the flock is producing less wool for the borg to fleece.

Pete Zahut

They started out with the goal of providing low cost Bibles so that everyone could have one and it turned into this big machine that has taken on a life of it's own and needs more and more money to keep it alive. If they'd have stuck to printing bibles and the occasional bible study aid,t hey wouldn't be having the financial problems that Steven Lett admitted to (not enough money coming in vs. the money going out).

They say they model themselves after the early Christians but whoever heard of anyone in bible times, living by the thousands together in luxury resort like accommodations, producing goods to distribute and sell. When I was at Bethel, most of the people working there were "support staff" working to feed and clean up after the factory workers and the workers who were renovating the buildings. It was a endless cycle of purchasing, properties needed to house the volunteers that were brought in to renovate and maintain those same building and to house the support staff brought in to clean up after them. How did printing Bibles get so complicated?

There's over 8 million JW's world wide. If each gave $1 per month, the Watchtower Society would have 8 million dollars per month ($96 Million per year) to use to spread the word. Between all the willing volunteers they alread have have and the availability of today's (practically free) social media (Internet, Youtube, Instagram,facebook etc), if they are unable to get the message out there for $ 96 million per year, there's something wrong.

56

Biblical incidents that bothered me.

by EverApostate in

i wanted to discuss the (supposed) biblical events that disturbed me a lot when i was a jw.

these incidents were just read and discussed in the kingdom hall as if these are normal and justified, which clearly weren't.

perhaps this led to my awakening.

Pete Zahut

Can you imagine the trumpeting of the elephants, the roar of the lions and tigers the braying of the donkeys, the bleating of the lambs and cries of all the millions of innocent animals large and small as the waters of "Noah's flood" rose and they no longer had any strength to keep themselves afloat? All because God was mad at the comparatively few humans that were living at that time.

I have 2 dogs that I'm terribly fond of and I can't imagine witnessing something like that happening to them let alone being the one responsible for carrying out such a dastardly and cruel action toward all of the animals and birds of the earth.

My only consolation is the realization that this event (and many others) never happened. This, along with a lot of other reasons, as long as JW teach that it was a real event, I'll know they aren't the true religion.

17

"Jehovah's Witnesses' withheld info will cost them..."

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

latest perspective of the san diego reader on wts loosing its $4000 per day sanction appeal.... https://m.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/nov/10/ticker-jehovahs-witnesses-withheld-info-4000-day/?templates=mobile.

Pete Zahut

Time after time we've seen these cases come before the courts and how systematically and fairly the judicial process is carried out. In the Australian hearings, we saw the Elders and Governing body members dodge questions and provide evasive answers laced with half truths and even lies. It's quite remarkable to see how fair, patient and lenient these "worldly" institutions are being toward the Watchtower Society. Even though, according to the JW's, they are backed by Satan who's main purpose is to bring "gods people" to ruin.

The courts have given the Witnesses chance after chance to plead their case and to submit the documents they need in order to come to a verdict that is based on a thorough knowledge of all sides of the issue. Two years later the JW's are disregarding the law and are abusing the system by stringing this case along in the courts.

Can you imagine an individual JW who has been brought before the Elders, being given the same leniency? If and individual JW refused to provide the information that was demanded of them, they'd be branded as unrepentant and a verdict against them would be quickly reached whether they were guilty of anything or not.

It's very frustrating that my JW relatives in Bethel, Missionary Service and elsewhere have no knowledge of what is taking place. I suppose they'd probably find a way to excuse all of it, if they did.

55

11-5-17 Warwick Protest Photos

by thebrokenkite in

let the reader use discernment:.

i was disfellowshipped in june of last year.

while i've been awake for nearly a year, i still often feel groggy.

Pete Zahut

Since the late 1800's the Watchtower has been in the business of of systematically recruiting and training people to do their bidding. Since the very beginning, they've collected the money of the individuals they've recruited making it possible to build and then hide behind the iron gates of the empire they've built for themselves.

It's small wonder that a rag tag group of former members, (most of whom are recovering from having their lives forever altered) had difficulty creating the a dramatic impact they had hoped for. An impact that would equal the negative impact the Watchtower Society has had on their lives.

All, that many of us former JW's ask for, is to be heard. We want to be acknowledged and we want to know that someone knows what has happened to us. Many of us would simply go away if that ever happened. Instead of the Watchtower Society taking this opportunity to show Christlike compassion and arranging to meet with these people in one of their auditoriums or even in some public place, they hid within the walls of their resort-like accommodations and turned their lawn sprinklers on them.

It seems to me, that in this day and age, (especially after the Scientology expose) anyone living in the area would be more than a little suspicious of a huge religious organization who builds a complex like the one at Warwick, and then proceeds to surround itself with high walls and manicured grounds and barricade itself off from the community with security gates and high tech security systems. What a fine witness it was for a giant organization who claim to be backed by the true God, to use their sprinklers as a weapon against individuals who's only goal is to be the voice of those who've died from blood loss, those who were abused as children and the countless others who no longer have an intact family.

Much of the Watchtower's operating style has been is based upon secrecy and protecting it's image, so they can recruit new members before they find out what's going on behind the scenes. Individual JW's had no idea the scope of what was happening within the organization. Most having difficulties, thought their situation was an isolated incident...a unique case.

At first glace, it might seem like the efforts of this weekends protest group may have been a bit futile , but it's a beginning. This effort, combined with all that has gone before it and will come after it, will eventually little by little, one by one, add up to something that can't be ignored. One day, anyone (except for born in children) who joins the organization will do so knowing the other side of the story that has always been hidden, in the past.

110

Exjw activists protesting inside a Kingdom Hall today!

by Crazyguy in

spoonfed nomore, has uploaded a video on his youtube site, of exjw activists protesting inside a kingdom hall during this sunday meeting.

several people speak out.

if some one can put a link on here that would be awesome, i can’t figure out how to do it with an i phone.

Pete Zahut

I'm not a big fan of invading the Kingdom Hall like this but this particular protest was handled better than most I've seen.

As unreasonable as it is, the protesters message was discounted heavily by those in attendance, just based upon their appearance. JW's have great disdain for the world and anyone who appears to be part of it. They dismiss anyone who doesn't look like them, especially at the Kingdom Hall. If the protesters would have dressed in "meeting clothes" the JW audience would have been more likely to identify and sympathize with them because they appeared to be "one of them" rather than dismiss them as scary apostates.

What about the "attendant" who was waving his arms and blocking that woman from filming. What was he trying to prevent her camera from seeing? He was going above and beyond the call of duty which often happens when you give the merest amount of authority to someone with very little personal power of their own.