Posts by Pete Zahut

It's all pretty fuzzy to me now too but wasn't there some nonsense about a prophet (Ezekiel:4) who lay on his side for 3 days which they said represented the time that the JW's were out of commission while they served their time in prison?

As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it.For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

They also used to say that the clergy were all sending each other gifts and congratulating themselves because they finally got the Watchtower shut down. They somehow used Revelation 11:10 to prove this was also fulfillment of a prophecy.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

I can't believe I ever bought into such nonsense.

A similar situation that happened a few years ago, was discussed HERE

Many JW's, because of what they've read in the literature and heard from the platform, feel they are protected while engaged Jehovah's work. (rightly so)

One JW brochure (see illustration on the lower right) indicates that the angels are hoovering above JW's as they go from door to door. Apparently they weren't watching out for vicious dogs...again.

Too funny....that dog's going down at Armageddon for sure ! Just for grins (evil grins) I'm going to enlarge this photo, print it and put it up on the wall of our office building just above where the JW's stand with their cart each week. Maybe I'll come up with a caption for the photo such as.

" NEW LIGHT....CHRISTIANS MUST ABSTAIN FROM URINE HOWVER URINE FRACTIONS ARE ACCEPTABLE"

I'll take a photo of it if I can do it without being too obvious and post it tomorrow.

See my earlier post

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5134558795137024/reverse-witnessing-literature-cart

Here's their story http://www.jdubsbrewing.com/the-story/

A link to their merchandise http://store.jdubsbrewing.com/

I'm just wondering how the rest of you deal with your birthdays after leaving the organization.

I was born on the 4th of July (U.S Holiday) so every year on my birthday, there were two fun occasion that I wasn't allowed to participate in. Even as a born-in, I never could understand the reasoning behind the JW birthday ban.

When I became a Dad my wife and I used to secretly do a little something special for our boys when it was their birthday. I'd bring home a special desert and after dinner I would recount the night they were born and our trip to the hospital and all excitement that took place on the occasion of their birth. I loved the shy yet proud look that would come across their faces as we let them know in this small and "forbidden" way, how very much they were loved and wanted.

The year we stopped going to meetings, I turned 50 and even though I had lost every friend I ever had, instead of everything going wrong like they say it will, everything got better. I had started a new job and it was and still is the best job I ever had. Apparently when I was hired, someone kept track of when my birth date so on the day before the 4th of July Holiday, my name was announced over the P.A system and I was summoned to the penthouse on the 22nd floor. I thought maybe I was in some sort of trouble or something bad was finally going to happen. Instead, I walked into a beautiful banquet room with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony that overlooked the City and the waterfront. It was all decked out with balloons and streamers and a cake with candles and food and smiling faces. Even when they all began shouting "Surprise !! "and "Happy Birthday!!", I had no idea what was going on.

After realizing what was happening, I remember being embarrassed because I was the center of attention. As a JW's it was drilled into my head that drawing undue attention to ones self is frowned upon. I was a bit panicked because I didn't know how to act or what I was supposed to do or say. Everyone was laughing because they had to instruct me each step of the way. "Go on Pete....Make a wish"...."Blow out the candles" "Open your present", they shouted.

They thought my awkwardness was due to their success at my being so completely and thoroughly surprised. Little did they know that at 50 years of age, I had never ever celebrated a birthday in my life and had never even so much as been to a birthday party let alone had one in my honor. Nor did they suspect that I was half scared that I would be struck down with lightning for participating in a pagan ritual and for not making my usual righteous stand for Jehovah....(AKA the Governing Body).

The following week, I went to the Lake Tahoe Apostafest and a wonderful group of former JW's sang 'Happy Birthday" to me, as we all sat around the campfire on a beautiful starry night.

I well understand the melancholy one can feel when they've reached a milestone that seems as if it should be marked in someway. It can leave a person feeling a bit flat, when such occasions come and go and no one notices. My 50th was memorable but I've had lots of times that instead of being "occasions" like one might hope, they simply came and then went.

Anyway, your 50th year is 365 days long. There's still time to mark the occasion in some memorable way. Make your 50th year one that you'll never forget !

So Happy 50th birthday to you...you're not getting older....you're getting better !

Many of the middle aged JW's I know stay off of facebook because there were such dire warnings from the platform about the internet around the same time that Myspace first came out and so they view facebook in the same suspicious way even though just about every JW under the age of 40 has a facebook account.

The same older ones who won't use facebook, will use Instagram because in their skewed minds they figure it's somehow different or less suspect since it can be accessed on the phone rather than on a computer. Many of them made such a point of badmouthing the internet, myspace and facebook, that out of pride and in order to save face, they still refrain from going online but they will allow themselves to use Instagram because they think it's not the same.

I think because being a JW is mostly a social outlet these days and the adults who grew up as JW's aren't as uptight as the old hard core JW's I grew up with, the kids today probably have more opportunities to have fun and know lots of JW's around the world.

It used to be all about bible knowledge and defending the truth. Now it seems to be about presenting an image and playing along with the rules just to fit in and pass yourself off as acceptable to the group.The kids now have social media to keep in touch with their friends and they have access to more information than we did and it's probably easier for them not to take the religion too seriously yet still take advantage of the social aspect of it.

They've seen so many videos of the JW leaders, that they've become commonplace to them. Many JW's don't seem to be as in awe of them anymore and some will even get up and go back to the bathroom, during their televised talks.

On the flip side (another old term) we still say some expressions even though they don't apply as much anymore such as:

• "Luggage" even though our suitcases have wheels on them
  
• "Clockwise and Counterclockwise" even though most clocks are digital now.
• Cc: (carbon copy) even though we don't use carbon paper anymore.
• We still say "post something on a message board" even though the post office isn't involved nor is there an actual bulletin board.
  
• We say web page even though there isn't a sheet of paper
• Starting over with a clean slate even though no one uses chalkboards
• We still say "step on the gas" even if we're driving a electric car.
  

I'm in the PNW as well. Are you able to list the congregations that are merging? If not could you send me a PM? I'd be curious to know.