Posts by Pete Zahut

32

Hidden Doctrines

by jhine in

" religions do not volunteer their most offensive doctrines to newcomers ".

the above sentence was posted on another thread as part of a quote taken from jwfacts .

l commented that this was a sweeping generalisation of the kind often made about all religions .

I don't know about intentionally hidden doctrine but It seems to me that unlike the JW's, other religious groups wouldn't disown you or treat you as if you are dammed to destruction at Armageddon because you disagreed with a certain doctrine once you discovered it or understood it better. As far as I can see, they don't intervene in a persons relationship with god the way JW's do.

I can't imagine the leaders of any other religious group coming to the hospital to make sure one of their members didn't take a blood transfusion or reporting them after spotting them coming out of an R rated movie for example.

102

The Biggest Issue Is Not Guns—It Is Mental Health!

by minimus in

jw
friends

crazy people shoot up places and kill people.

take away guns and they will find knives, poison, bombs , etc.. seriously, there are a lot of mentally unhealthy people!

they need professional long term help..

Pete Zahut

Among other things about gun ownership that is worrisome is the fact that someone who is mentally stable today and eligible to own a gun can become unstable next month or next year and still have the gun at his or her disposal.

33

Bohemian Rhapsody

by cofty in

been to see the new film (movie) tonight.

outstanding!

brought back lots of memories.

Pete Zahut

I saw A Star is Born and was probably expecting too much because of all the hype I already heard about it and was somewhat let down (somewhat). I suspect the woman sitting next to me would strongly disagree as she would begin sobbing from time to time leaving me to wonder what it was that I wasn't seeing.

Even so, I have to say Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga Gaga did a good job overall and will likely win awards for their performances. The music was good but there were a few times when I wished they'd have finished the song they were singing before cutting to another scene.

A few of the scenes were slow and the story got lost a bit. Bradley Cooper seemed at times to be mimicking Chris Christopherson's performance of the same character in the 1976 version but I didn't care, he was doing a good job of it. Thankfully Lady Gaga didn't mimic Barbra Streisand's overly permed hairdo from the 1976 version of this movie....that would have been a deal breaker. Andrew Dice Clay played her father and his performance was a welcome departure from anything else I've seen him in. I guessing he'll be nominated for something.

Looking forward to seeing Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman.

26

What was the last thing you said to your jw family?

by caves in

jw
friends

7 years ago i had my last conversation with the toxic jw that mostly raised me.

every conversation was toxic for my entire adult life with her.

the last time we spoke was right before the memorial 7 years ago and she was laying on the usual heavy guilt and fear mongering about how jeho counts his people at the memorial.

Pete Zahut

After talking to my brother on the phone about all the reasons why I left the JW's, he indicated that talking to me was shaking his faith. He said " I already have enough trouble with my faith as it is without you talking to me about all of that stuff".

I said, "Maybe there's a good reason you're having trouble with your faith. It seems to me that you have no trouble believing that the sun will rise tomorrow or that if you don't pay your electric bill your power will be shut of or that our parents are really our parents. You know unquestioningly that those things are true because of the clear evidence available yet decade after decade of studying and attending meetings and going from door to door, you still are having trouble convincing yourself that the JW religion is true. Nothing they've ever said since the 1800's has ever come about. Even Noah, if he existed, had the satisfaction of seeing the Flood happen. It sounds very noble for one to say that they " have faith " but sometimes people like to use the word FAITH to feel OK about simply not wanting to bother looking anymore".

He only texts me now on occasion rather than calling or visiting. He doesn't want to face what he knows to be true. I know that he knows the religion is B.S but his whole social and business world is built around all the JW's that he knows everywhere. If he wasn't a JW, he wouldn't have an income and wouldn't be able to travel the way he does and he'd have to face the scary reality that we are in fact growing older and will one day die.

28

Great tribulation

by dothemath in

you've likely heard all this before, but i had to laugh (silently) at the public talk today.. he focused on how close we are to the end.

we're not only in the last days, but we're in "the final part" of the last days.. also, we are nearing "the end of the final part of the last days".

he didn't read any scriptures backing up how the last days are broken up like this.. i went today since relatives es were visiting, but it was more entertaining than usual.. as well, the gb isn't warning us about armageddon, rather they're mainly warning about the great tribulation, which is "very, very, close!

Pete Zahut

8

My bucket list letter to my sons, 41 years after leaving WT

by FatFreek 2005 in

several months ago i finally sent them a letter.

they are from the group of die-hards that continue to shun their father.

the following is a paste of part of the first page.

Pete Zahut

As a father of two sons, I can well imagine how horrible this was/is for you. Have you heard anything back from them yet?

19

Do you remember this?

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

when g. was a litle kid, remembering the watchtower study at age 9, hearing all the stuff, the paragraph, the questions, the answers, about topics i could not understand, so it became so abstract that it was not entering my ears and brains.

it felt that i was no part of the group, someone alone on a distant planet.. do you remember this feeling?.

g..

Pete Zahut

Looking back, I realize that I learned early on as a child, how to zone out and mentally leave my body, as a matter of survival and for maintaining my sanity while sitting in the hot sun during those 8 day assemblies that lasted from 9AM to late into the evening.

I remember the drone of the speakers voices and how they sounded like Adolph Hitler in those old movies I'd seen about Nazi Germany and WW2. I remember around 6'oclock on the first night of the assembly thinking...."Oh good, we only have 4 more hours and 7 days left to go".

8

Positive memories as a JW child..

by fulano in

jw
friends

it is based on gorbatsjov's good topic, but we all must have had nice, pleasant, romantic moments in our congregations.. i was always a dedicated boy, baptized at 14. we had our bookstudy at 8:00 pm and before that our fieldservice at 7:00 pm .

most of times, as a 14-16 years old boy i was the only one there with our conductor.

he was from aruba, immigrated to our cold and wet european country.

Pete Zahut

Sounds just lovely...

56

Things you will never hear a good Jehovah’s Witness say (to another Jehovah’s Witness)

by hoser in

i’ll start it off.

boy did we get drunk last night.

Pete Zahut

Is it me or is there something disturbingly odd about Stephen Lett ?

______________________________________________________________

Yes you heard me right....I didn't study my Watchtower in advance because reading it once during the meeting is pointless enough as it is.

_______________________________________________________________

Elder: All in those in favor of sending additional funds to the Society, raise your hand.

Congregation Member: Excuse me....we are all just now hearing about this for the first time, will we be getting a break down showing exactly how these funds will be spent, before we vote?

12

My Dad's Funeral

by Disassociated Lady 2 in

i had not seen my dad for 15 years because i had left the borg.

(i had been out 26 years but there was a few years when the jws permitted contact with outsiders and then changed their minds again).

they made contact with me again just before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Pete Zahut

Many Jehovah's Witnesses are overly officious about their beliefs, it's the curse of belonging to a legalistic religion. Most of them just don't know quite how to behave nor are they prepared to do the right thing, when the realities of life strike. They spend most of their lives side stepping reality and using their religious beliefs as a way to cop out of doing the things they don't want to do. Unfortunately, time has a way of catching up with them and it isn't pretty. Fortunately for you DL 2, you have grown as a person and although you've been treated poorly and unfairly, you'll be better off in the long run for having removed yourself from the vicious cycle they are trapped in. Sorry that you had to go through this....you aren't alone.