Posts by Pete Zahut

58

Don't you think that some people are just better off within the org?

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

this is my first post, i will introduce myself later.

first of all, i must say that english is not my mother tongue (i'm spanish), so excuse me if i make any mistake.. do you think that some people simply can't cope with being outside the jws?

some of them are too worldlyphobic to be around non-jws, too dependent on a fixed set of rules in order to carry on with their lives, too dependent on the hope of paradise and resurrection, too unable to leave their personal comfort zone within the organization.

Pete Zahut

Hi Paradiseseeker,

I agree, there are those who'd be lost if they didn't have somewhere like the JW's to go, and they are the scariest and most dangerous of all JW's to be related to or to be at the mercy of, such as in a judicial committee hearing etc.

A lot of people do better when they have a routine or a standard set of behaviors or rules to follow. The trouble is, that after being a JW, they've ruined you for anything else. JW's thoroughly and systematically discredit the whole world and everyone in it and make it nearly impossible to fully fit in anywhere else once you've been part of them.

Anyone who buys into the program fully, not even allowing themselves to consider alternative viewpoints, is the perfect candidate for climbing the ladder of JW success and having dangerous powers over others.

40

Introduce myself

by dantoole87 in

i'd like share why i went from being a teenager determined to work in full time service for jehovah my entire life, to now being on here commiserating with you all.

i use to be an atheist but i now believe in god.

but i'm not preachy about god.

Pete Zahut

An incredible and yet not surprising story.

The convoluted tale you told was about your life and the impact the JW's had upon it . As real and painful as it was, when time passes and you step back form it, you will realize that everything that happened to you was much ado about noting...caused by a bunch of nobodies who were taking advantage of your inexperienced and trusting youthfulness and abusing their power.

It's amazing how we once allowed these people to not only influence our lives and intervene in our personal relationships but also allowed them to enforce their man made organizational rules on us as if they had any real authority.

Glad you got out of there and out of that mess. It was all so unnecessary but like so many of us it had to happen in order for your eyes to be opened . Better now than later.

19

Prophecy question as hysteria sets in

by Isambard Crater in

a load of j.w's in my family and the congregation i attend as a pimo have been saying the end is very close because the anglo american world superpower is clearly still the king of the south, and russia is now clearly king of the north due to persecuting and banning the religion there and seizing property.. i've forgot what the religion used to teach and maybe still does, about the timing of all this king of north + south stuff, the attack on all religion by the u.n and then the attack on j.w's who will be left standing.

i mean, i thought jehovah was going to put it into the u.n's minds to ban or attack all other religions, then the attack on j.w's, but witnesses seem to think the end is so, so close because russia has banned them.. it's sad, as some dubs i know have sold their homes and made other big decisions so they can pioneer in these 'very last of the last days'..

Pete Zahut

JW's suddenly and mysteriously went silent about the Kings of the north and south prophesy when the Soviet Union dissolved back in 1991. It was as if they were embarrassed that they ever said anything about it...didn't want to talk about it even though the end was "Just around the corner" back then as well.

27 years later they conveniently bring it up again when it suits them even though the original prophesy was that there would be conflict between the two kings themselves rather than between one of the Kings and a group of his subjects.

12

Curiosity

by Jrjw in

i was just sitting daydreaming about answering up during a watchtower and exposing one of the lies the wts has stated in the study material and wondering what the reaction would be 😊 has anyone ever done this on their way out?

?

Pete Zahut

I was just sitting daydreaming about answering up during a watchtower and exposing one of the lies the wts has stated in the study material and wondering what the reaction would be 😊 has anyone ever done this on their way out??

Sunday Watchtower Study:

Study Conductor: "Question number 8...What is significant about the year 1914?"

(Brother Fading raises hand)

Study Conductor: "Let's hear from Brother Fading please."

Brother Fading : "The other day I had someone at the door show me in an encyclopedia, that the worlds most highly trained and experienced Archaeologists and Historians, who have spent their entire careers on such matters, agree that Jerusalem fell in 587 BCE rather than in 607 BCE.

However we see from our paragraph that early on in the organizations history, the faithful and discrete slave of old, determined that Jerusalem fell 20 years later in 607 BCE. Counting forward from the year 607 rather than from the year 587 that Historians and Archaeologists agree upon, the faithful and discrete slave determined that it was 1914 when Jesus rulership in heaven commenced and marked the beginning of the last days, rather than the year 1894.

We know that although the Governing Body is made up of "unlettered and ordinary men" and who admit to being imperfect, we can still trust that the dates they provide for us in the literature that we study and present to the public, are 100% accurate, 100% of the time."

Study Conductor: "Ahemm.....yes, lets move on to paragraph 9 shall we?"

14

Watchtower Rebranding

by Fred Franztone in

jw
friends

the wtbts has finally decided to join the rest of us in the 21st century and has begun rebranding.

they've dropped the iconic watchtower sign from their heaquarters, and it's only a matter of time till they drop the now embarrassing watchtower name completely; a name synonymous with failure on the one hand and concentration camps on the other.. the organisation will soon be known solely as jw.org, bringing them right up-to-date with the web 2.0 revolution of 15 years ago, and making them the only company still to use a full web address as their main identifier, very forward-thinking of them.. it's inevitable that they'll gradually rebrand everything.

what methods do you think they'll go with?

Pete Zahut

"The Watchtower & Awake magazines will be phased out completely within 5-10 years,"

"Within 20 years the physical books will be gone as well, replaced with online-only publications"

It's possible that the books and magazines may become a thing of the past, even sooner than that. According to a family member at Bethel, a lot of the "work" they are doing is focusing on the production of videos and the printing is being phased out little by little.

At least the Watchtower and Awake magazines and the books brought in some money when the 8 million JW's paid/contributed for them at the literature counter. I'm not sure how they'll be able to make up for this loss of revenue from the magazines and books unless they convince the JW's that as part of their duty to Jehovah they must contribute to the world wide work, by purchasing a yearly online subscription/membership that will allow them to access the videos etc. at JW dot Org .

64

Wave your phone lights and dance at the Assemblies!

by days of future passed in

my sister sent me this youtube.

in it are witnesses waving their phone lights and dancing in the aisles.

sorry if this vid has been posted before.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k7iw-zisgw.

Pete Zahut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNh1j3dsp8

114

JW Stumper Questions - List You Best Here

by pale.emperor in

hi guys.

sooner or later we're going to get a jw knocking on our door.

just like when we were jw's doing the knocking, it's good to have a question prepared to get them thinking about their own beliefs.

Pete Zahut

Householder: Are JW's allowed to take a blood transfusion or use blood for other purposes?

JW: No, the bible says to abstain from blood

Householder: Are JW's allowed to eat fat?

JW: Yes, it's left up to the individual as to whether or not they eat animal fat or use it for other purposes.

Householder: What about Leviticus 2:16, 17 ?

…16 The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma; all fat is the LORD'S. 17 it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or blood"

JW: We are no longer under those laws

Householder: So why the ban on the use of blood or blood products?

30

Annoying jws

by Jrjw in

jw
friends

a 'concerned' jw in my congregation rang me earlier and said she's noticed my daughter sits miserable at the meetings and said she's a right miserable girl in general.

i said she's happy and hyper when she's not at the meetings they're just really boring and she doesn't want to be there.

apparently i'm a bad parent coz she feels that way.

Pete Zahut

Apparently I'm a bad parent coz she feels that way. She said I Need to sort her out and make her interested. Gave me an example of a single mother she knows who prayed every day with her 3 kids

Sister Big Nose: "You need to be like Sister Goodexample...she's a single mother yet she's able to set an upbuilding example to other mothers in the congregation."

You: "My daughter and I do our part in the Congregation by making you and everyone else look good by comparison and we provide a way for all of you to feel superior about yourselves."

After saying that to her, rest the phone receiver down on the kitchen counter and go on about your day as she replies. Maybe start vacuuming the floor or something equally noisy. She'll get the point and never bother you again.

64

Wave your phone lights and dance at the Assemblies!

by days of future passed in

my sister sent me this youtube.

in it are witnesses waving their phone lights and dancing in the aisles.

sorry if this vid has been posted before.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k7iw-zisgw.

Pete Zahut

There are several things that I see at play in this video:

This isn't really about praising Jehovah....it's more about silly, repressed, gullible and childlike individuals finally being allowed to (or daring to) have fun.
The people in the religion these days aren't really concerned with facts and doctrine. They are more interested in the emotional aspect of having a dream or fantasy to cling to that distracts them from the realities of life.
They are grateful for anything that will break up the monotony of an otherwise dull and uninspiring program.
They are desperate to "feel" something and are forcing themselves to feel as if they are having a spiritual moment.
Others join in because they don't want to seem as if they aren't being spiritually moved as well, or that they aren't on board with this new trend.

I imagine the elderly and or disabled folks in attendance who weren't able to stand, felt a bit cut off and isolated from the festivities, when their view of the program was blocked by all those shimmying backsides. I think we're going to see more of this as this boring stodgy old white man's religion is primarily made up of people from non western lands.

76

Hi, all...I'm a faithful JW who is sick of lies about us

by James Donalds in

i was baptized 30 years ago and have been in the faith for over 35 years.. our organization isn't perfect.

but i'm sick to death of seeing stereotypes about us.

we are not mindless automatons.

Pete Zahut

We are NOT mindless automatons. I smoke an occasional cigar. I've been known to curse a bit. Hell, I even vote. Others in my congregation know all this (except the voting) and I've never been given a hard time about it. Many of us ARE highly educated. I have a Masters Degree.We are not all scraping to get by. I have a comfortable six-figure income

You forgot to mention that even though you admire the governing body, you disregarded their admonition to avoid higher education. If you met them in person you'd probably also hide the fact that you smoke the occasional cigar and visit apostate websites and post comments there as well.

I don't think JW's are mindless drones at all. The problem I have is that most of them are like you. They know on some level that what they believe isn't altogether true or provable so they reconcile this reality with the real world by making an appearance of listening and obeying while secretly picking and choosing which of the governing body admonitions they are going to completely disregard. While doing this, they readily shun former JW's who are actually honest about who they are and the lives they want to lead. This includes cutting ties with close friends and family members who were disciplined for doing the exact same things you have done but they chose to admit that they disagree with the governing Body's direction on certain matters rather than hide it.

Rather than just go away and go their separate ways, they harrass us, make videos maligning us, endlessly whine about us and even go so far as to disrupt our meetings. If I decided to leave the JW's, I'd do just that. I wouldn't obsess over them.

Most former JW's would love noting more than to go away but they've lost their entire family and support system to the religion. They are hoping to salvage what they can of their lives by alerting others to the things they now know about the organization.