Posts by Pete Zahut

29

1975... the year that keeps on giving.

by silentbuddha in

so i recently moved back to my really really really small hometown in the south.

it was the place that my parents moved to from a major city up north in the early 1970's.

when we lived here times were very tough financially and i was always told that the reason we did not attend meetings was due to the fact that we had no car / no gas for the car / could not afford repairs for the years we were there.

Pete Zahut

Thanks for relating your interesting Story.

It reminds me of a family from our area ( a large City up north) who also went to a tiny town in the south because they wanted the husband to quit his well paying job so the family could start a janitorial service and serve out the rest of this system as "Need is Greaters". I wonder how many other families like yours out there are who's story wasn't something that would end up in the JW yearbook.

This family (lovely people) struggled financially the whole time they were serving where the need was great and they lingered on in the small town, long after 1975 came and went because they were kind of stuck. They eventually ended up being able to move back to our area where the "need was greater" for middle aged Janitors. After that, they never could afford a decent vehicle and the one they were using had a faulty fuel gauge (among other things) and they never knew how much fuel they had.

One day the wife ran out of fuel along a major highway. The husband came to her rescue with a full can of gas. As he stood along the side of the side of the road filling the tank, he was fatally struck by an oncoming car.

It was interesting to hear the JW's spin things and almost made the whole incident seem like it was a fine witness for Jehovah.

78

Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)

by rulehayl in

jw
friends

hi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.

my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.

she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.

Pete Zahut

I try my best to follow all of Jehovah's rules, but sometimes I just want to quit now because it becomes too overwhelming and difficult.

How do you know for sure whether the things they are telling you are"Jehovah's" rules or the rules made up but humans who started their own religion? You can prove just about anything if you know the right combination of scriptures to daisy chain together.

Deciding whether or not to be part of Christmas festivities at work is minor compared to the other things they'll want you to do. One of "Jehovah's rules" they'll expect you obey is to sacrifice your life or child's life (if you're a parent) should you have a medical emergency or surgery that requires a blood transfusion. My father died a horrible death in front of his 4 children and 5 grandchildren who were visiting him in a modern hospital full of professionals who were at the ready to save him. He died because he signed the Jehovah's Witness required "NO BLOOD TRANSFUSION" papers before having a surgery. Like you, he was only studying with the Witnesses at the time and the only thing he knew about blood transfusions was what he learned on his "Bible Study" with them. A couple of years later Jehovah's Witnesses changed "Jehovah's Rules" and decided it was ok to accept blood fractions but not whole blood. These fractions would have been enough to save my father.

Even though the elders told us that my Father will surely be resurrected in the "New System because he died upholding "Jehovah's Rules", they would not allow us (his JW family), to have his memorial service at the Kingdom Hall because he was "only studying" he wasn't a "Baptized member of the Congregation".

They used to say it was "Jehovah's rule" not to accept organ transplants or life saving vaccinations. Many JW children from years ago, contracted polio and other diseases because they were following "Jehovah's Rules" which were changed later when a newer generation of JW's realized the folly in these and other life altering beliefs that were in place at the time.

Funny how it is that " Jehovah's Rules" seems to always change along with whatever the current JW's believe.

10

JW gatherings

by Jules Saturn in

one of the things i don’t like about witness gatherings is the way everything you have to do or say has to be witness related.

the songs played at a party couldn’t be played if the lyrical content was “worldly”, and also hearing the same phrases.

a conversation about something in the news and someone will say “well, we’re living in the last days” or “we’re in this wicked system of things, everything is horrible”.

Pete Zahut

One of the things I don’t like about Witness gatherings is the way everything you have to do or say has to be Witness related.

....and if any kind of food was served, naturally there would the obligatory prayer said over it, as if were all in an "upper room" attending the "Last Supper".

11

stupid questions

by road to nowhere in

paragraph 4 today: "what are we gonna consider?

" maybe that is the article title?

the other is: "what will we consider next week?

Pete Zahut

"Today we are going to "consider" the study article in the October 1st Watchtower and by "consider", we mean that each and every one of us, is going to conclude, that the information presented is absolutely true."

10

"entitled" talks

by road to nowhere in

one thing that bugs the heck out of me is the exclusive use of entitled when offering the name of any talk or article.

can;t it ever be "on the subject of", named, titled, called, about or anything else.. i guess technically it is a correct usage, but entitled always (to me) means gives the idea of being in a special privelege, having a right to something or such..

Pete Zahut

Entitled means, to give a person or thing a title or to bestow a privilege or right of some kind.

The usage is correct but it does make it all seem more grand than it really is. No matter how mundane they might be, they refer to their meetings as "spiritual banquets" and "spiritual feasts" so it follows that they'd use the word "Entitled" to inflate the value of the talk to be given.

17

Bad experiences in waking someone up?

by Fred Flintstone in

i mean, is it advisable to try to wake a friend up?

what about the risk of he/she falling into depression?

anger?

Pete Zahut

Whether you're talking about waking up from literal sleep, or waking up from personal ignorance, both are best done gradually. Some people wake up swinging their fists if they are awakened too suddenly.

14

JW Baptism Anullment

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

has anyone ever successfully annulled their jw baptism?

especially if they were very young when baptised?.

Pete Zahut

No need to annul anything because a baptism is only as legit as you imagine it to be.

37

Convention “Highlights” - bwhahaha!

by Muddy Waters in

jw
friends

taking a walk down memory lane at those looooonnnnngg, tedious conventions... .

(boy, they weren’t kidding when they spoke about being long-suffering and having endurance!).

but what were some of your convention highlights, or lowlights, from back in the day?.

Pete Zahut

Speaking of Highlights..

Remember how there was always someone sitting nearby and you couldn't help but notice that almost their entire Bible was highlighted in yellow?

I always wondered if this was done to impress nosey people like me or were the comparatively few scriptures that were left un-highlighted, the ones that they considered noteworthy?

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

Wait...the guy does have a point. Why would Satan be wasting his time on the Jehovah's Witness organization if they didn't have the truth?

What proof is there that Satan exists and who says he's paying any attention to the JW's. If there was a Satan, don't you think he'd have destroyed the entire world by now? It's been 6000 years (supposedly) since the Garden of Eden.

Even worldly unbelievers don't reflect as much hatred towards JWs as apostates, so again, this guy has you there

"Worldly" people, even thought they are (supposedly) being controlled by Satan, barely know JW's exist. JW's are treated fairly in "worldly" courtrooms and their rights are upheld by worldly authorities. The only reason former JW's are angry is because they've lost their families because of the religion. Worldly people couldn't care less wha JW's do.

You guys are all apostates, whilst I'm an unbeliever. And you're a lot worse than I am.

According to JW's God loves Apostates. Their organization was founded by an Apostate when he left to establish his own organization. JW's knock on doors and try to convince others to become apostates of their current religion and join the JW's .

So why do I have to suffer the same fate? Doesn't seem quite right.

Because that's what JW's have told you. A thief, an axe murderer or someone who leaves their organization, or someone who simply doesn't take their offer to study with them, all suffer the same fate. Destruction at the hand of God. Who ever said god was fair?

If you guys end up being wrong, what are YOU going to think when Armageddon hits at 3:38 p.m. GMT on January 7, 2018? Your last thought would be, "Oh, my God, I was sooooo wron...." and then you're gone. Nothing more.

Death is death, whether it happens at a so called Armageddon or from old age, from some disease or from some fatal accident. Once it's over there's nothing more. That has been the case for everyone who has ever lived on this planet. What will you do on Jan 7 when nothing happens (again). Will you finally realize that your only interest in God was because you wanted to save your own skin?

Maybe I'll get a second chance due to my disarmingly good looks and pure spirit.

If that's how it is, then I'm in for sure !

See ya in Paradise !

7

Not to toot my own horn...

by Jayk in

my older jw brother tried telling me "you don't take orders very well" which stopped him from inviting me to do a job a make some side cash..we got into a disagreement because recently i started having back problems only while i sleep on my sides.

i think it's because i have a wide back from working out.

once again i explain that and he said "well the job required heavy lifting which is also why i didn't call you" my response being "it's only when i sleep i can still work just don't won't to strain it so i can.

Pete Zahut

Normally I would never say this but is there any way you could get to the point?