Posts by Pete Zahut

28

Should I stay or should I go?

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

hello everyone, i haven't posted anything on here for a while and today i just really felt like i needed to get my thoughts together.

(if you don't know me please read some of my previous posts).

so pretty much not much has changed in my life, i'm still living with my parents and going to all the meetings and service.

Pete Zahut

"Better the devil you know, than the one you don't know"

"Wherever you go....there YOU are"

In other words, who knows if things will be any better with your Aunt. You may get tired of each other, you may get tired of caring for kids and feeling isolated, you may regret not being able to go to college, you may miss your family.

Whether you stay at home or move in with your Aunt or choose another path, you will still be you, no matter where you are, your personal happiness is up to you. You decide how you're going to feel in any given situation.

On a rainy day, one person may choose to stay indoors and wallow in their own gloom while another person chooses to grab an umbrella and go for a walk and stomp in puddles. The difference between them lies in what they have chosen to believe about rainy days. One believes that rainy days are gray and unpleasant and the other is able to find something good about the rain. The experience they have is based on what they've chosen to believe and the feelings that come, are a result of their choice.

It seems like you have decided that living with your parents and family is the basis for your current unhappiness, so that's how it will be from now on until you realize that it's up to you how you feel. You are in control of your own thoughts feelings and emotions. The sooner you learn that the better off you'll be.

You say your parents have given you a car (and insurance I assume), a new phone and that they are getting nicer to you and you love them. You indicate that you have an opportunity to go to college while living at home so why not take it? Things may improve when you start taking classes and meeting a wider circle of people who will likely be more mature than the ones you already know. You'll be away from home for long stretches at school and work and you may feel like you're progressing. You may be quite surprised at how happy you are to get home and see your family at the end of a long day.

I don't want to dismiss your complaints, but to put things into perspective, there are millions around the globe who would love to be in your situation no matter how unbearable you feel they have become.

"Happiness is not like a bus stop that one simply arrives and there they are. Happiness is a day to day, moment by moment thing. Sometimes it's fleeting and sometimes it comes in long stretches and everything in between. One must be on the look out for it and enjoy it as it happens."

This is not to say that there won't be times in where changes in your life are needed but if you have control of your thoughts and emotions, you can spend your energies focusing on the needed change rather than wasting your energy obsessing on how unhappy you are and who's fault it is.

Can you tell us about your job search? What are you doing each day, to look for a job? Perhaps we can help you with that.

How about college? What are you doing each day to make that happen?

19

Bought My First Christmas Tree Last Night

by pale.emperor in

last year i didn't bother with christmas as it still felt like a "nothing" day to me (thanks watchtower!).

this is the 2nd christmas since waking up and leaving the cult and i've finally bought my first christmas tree:).

i have no idea what to do with it though.

Pete Zahut

This is the 2nd Christmas since waking up and leaving the cult and I've finally bought my first Christmas tree:)I have no idea what to do with it though

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+decorate+a+christmas+tree+how+to+basic

20

Deceptive comments or lies that you have heard from platform or brothers & sisters?

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

ok, so what are the most deceptive comments that you have heard from your experience in congregations?.

my top three are;.

1) service overseer during the ’ how did we do?’ annual talk, twisted the figures to such an extent that it looked like the congregations ministry was in tip-top shape.

Pete Zahut

They read a letter from the Society some years ago and announced that there would be a new and loving provision from Jehovah that was meant to ease the burdens of the brothers handling the literature by going to a donation basis rather than having a set price for it.

It turns out this was done to avoid having to pay sales tax like the other fundamentalist religions do when they sell their literature and religious trinkets . Avoiding taxes seems like a legit reason to make this change but why not "own it" rather than lying by passing it off as a blessing from Jehovah?

13

Anybody know about this one?

by careful in

a new book has just been published called the oxford handbook of the bible in america.

in it is an article by michael gilmour, professor of new testament at (the evangelical) providence university college in manitoba, canada, on jws and the nwt.

that's chapter 41. but that is not the only time jws are brought up.

Pete Zahut

Be mindful of the carcinogens from the burning ink.

12

Is it just me

by Jayk in

or is thanksgiving a massive animal sacrifice ritual?.

Pete Zahut

Is a trip to the zoo or to the circus the same as condoning and glorifying the practice of placing animals in captivity for human entertainment ? Yes, I suppose it is, depending on how you look at it.

At least with Thanksgiving, everyone was going to have dinner that day anyway and instead of beef, chicken or fish being served as the main dish, they served turkey.

27

hi, I am new, God bless all.

by Daniel Ronjom in

jw
friends

hi everybody.i am new to this forum.i have grown up as a christian in a christian family, but i recognized that jehovahs are more positive about peace on earth.

i believe in peace on earth too.

i believe in god and jesus and angels.

Pete Zahut

Welcome Daniel,

I'm glad you had a good experience with the Jehovah's Witnesses you encountered.

I'm curious as to how you knew they were Jehovah's Witnesses. Most people who do something kind for someone else, don't typically tell you what their religious background is unless they have an ulterior motive.

37

My Cognitive Dissonance is Eating Me Alive (Intro Post)

by pometerre21 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for a couple of weeks now.

i'm starting to "awaken" and it is all that has been occupying my mind.

i've always, always had doubts, some of which i expressed to family members who always had the same replies:.

Pete Zahut

"You don't always have the answers."
"You can't get answers right away."
"Where is your faith?" (Certainly not in seven men, that's for sure.)

Faith is a word that people often use to make themselves feel good about having given up searching for the real answers.

65

What is the benifits to living forever?

by Jayk in

can anyone give me a valid reason for it?

growing old is a drag.

the witnesses idea of ever lasting life, that you will come back to your most youthful state is such a bs answer..

Pete Zahut

The last time I went out to dinner with a group of JW couples was just before we stopped going to meetings about 8 years ago. We were all munching on appetizers of cheese and crackers. One rather ditzy heavy set middle aged sister was picking up pieces of cheese, sniffing them and holding them up to her eye like someone examining a diamond and then popping them in her mouth. This went on for a time and then she proclaimed, using a little girls voice "I just love cheese....in the new system, I'm going to learn everything there is to know about cheese".

Before I could stop myself, I said jokingly "So a month or two later, what will you be doing for all the rest of eternity?"

Everyone chuckled but the expression on her face told me that she hadn't really given much thought to how she could possibly fill her days, for all of eternity. A round table discussion started on the topic of eternal life. I said I was concerned that when I'm a 950 years old and my wife is 948 years old and my kids are 925 years old, we might not have much left to say to one another. Like the flowers in spring, maybe they're only special because they are here for such a short time. We probably stop noticing them if they bloomed all year long. The same might be true of life, it's special because it short.

The general JW consensus at the table was that it doesn't matter what we'll be doing in the New System so long as we make it there. Jehovah will make sure that we're happy. That kind of answer puts a nice bow and ribbon on a topic that topic that doesn't bode well if you think about in a literal way for too long.

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

To other commenters - no my Study Conductor has not tried to separate me from any non-JW family members - and I don't really have any JW friends either.

Ask your Bible Study Conductor:

Why do we need a study manual to study the bible? Weren't Gods rules meant to be clear enough for humans to understand?
Did Jesus, his apostles and the early Christian Congregation study with people from a set of study aids?
Can I study with you straight out of the Bible without studying in a book or books that were written by men?
Why aren't the Study Aids from the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's being used anymore?
If the JW's had "The Truth" and were God's chosen religion since the late 1800's why have their beliefs changed so much and will they change again after I get baptized?
What about the people who died upholding those beliefs, if they were incorrect, did they die in vain or in a state of disapproval by God?
What are the two questions they ask you just before you are baptize and do I have to answer them?
Does the Bible show that Jesus and the early Christians asked those questions before they Baptized people?
Can I get baptized without having to join the Ministry School or without having to go from door to door each month?
What happens if I join the Ministry School and go from door to door but decide to stop doing those things after I'm baptized?
If someone I know gets married or has a funeral in a church, can I attend ?
Can I vote in a local or national election on issues that are important to me?
Once I'm baptized, will I be allowed to research anything I hear in the meetings, from outside sources or participate in religious discussion groups outside the organization?

For many of these and other questions, you'll be told that "it's up to your own conscience" but if you don't do things their way, you'll be heavily advised to comply and if you don't you'll be marginalized by the rest of the congregation and viewed as spiritually immature, spiritually weak or as a "bad associate". The individual Jehovah's Witness is typically a sincere person but is so heavily steeped in the religion that they don't realize the degree to which they have been mislead and they are able to rationalize the fact that they misleading you and that they are doing so for your own good.

25

Charles Manson Is Dead

by Bangalore in

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/obituaries/charles-manson-dead.html.

Pete Zahut

My Dad died young by supposedly upholding God's laws by not taking a blood transfusion and Charles Manson lived on the taxpayers dime for 36 of his 83 years then died of natural causes.

This is how I know there is no God.