Posts by Pete Zahut

24

Why do some JWs love seeing others get disfellowshipped?

by Tameria2001 in

i'm not sure how many in the organization is like this, but there some jws who love seeing others get disfellowshipped, and my father-in-law is one of those.

he became a jw because he loved the idea of being the head of the household, and lording it over his family.

as a jw he is very hypocritical, my husband would tell stories of how they would celebrate christmas until his mother-in-law called him on it.

Pete Zahut

Other than when someone who had repeatedly wronged others and had finally gotten their comeuppance, I never saw anyone actually be glad when others got disfellowshipped.

What I did see were certain ones who had very little authority or power in their own lives and consequently reveled in the extra virtuousness and the small bit of (Watchtower sanctioned) power they were able to experience when they shunned someone once they had already been disfellowshipped. I remember those who would go out of their way to be seen by a disfellowshipped person just so they could walk by and ignore them or those who 'd make a big show of scurrying away horrified, snatching their children up out of harms way when a disfellowship person came into their presence.

17

So I've been warned about whether I should reveal my feelings of a Deity

by HiddenPimo in

all i have to say about that is that i agree with the following quote attributed to marcus aurelius:.

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Pete Zahut

The ideas quoted sound reasonable to me and to add to it I'd say that if the God of the Bible does exist, surely he must know how confusing and or unclear his message to mankind was written in places and he would likely be forgiving to anyone who did their best to live a "good life" even though they didn't belong to a certain religion who claimed to be his one and only chosen group.

28

Who Resurrected Jesus?

by snakeface in

one of the heresies of the wt is denying the divinity of christ.

during this "memorial season" they say that jehovah (god the father?

) resurrected jesus.

Pete Zahut

If you no longer believe, good for you, we respect that. All the same, you should be respectful enough not to interject or attempt to hijack a thread by stating your personal opinion and not adding to the OP conversation.

If you no longer believe, good for you, we respect that.

Who is this we that you seem to be representing and who are you to not only reprimand those who with good intention have answered a question posed in another individuals post but then proceed to accuse them of attempting to hijack a thread that's not even yours?

It seems to me that it is you who has successfully hijacked the post by stating your personal opinion rather than adding anything to it.

28

Who Resurrected Jesus?

by snakeface in

one of the heresies of the wt is denying the divinity of christ.

during this "memorial season" they say that jehovah (god the father?

) resurrected jesus.

Pete Zahut

There's no way to actually prove anything about Jesus or his resurrection

To me it's like being taught from childhood that the characters from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy actually existed and then siting passages from those books to prove that they did.

519

Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

by UnshackleTheChains in

i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

you can't write this stuff.

right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

Pete Zahut

1 Cor 10:23. "All things are lawful but not all things are advantageous. All things are lawful but not all things build up. No one should seek his own advantage but the advantage of others."

Tony M. isn't doing anything "wrong" or illegal in my opinion but it does seem more than a little ironic that a man in his position, would risk "stumbling" someone or creating a controversy by possibly being seen entering a liquor store and purchasing a large quantity of expensive hard liquor. Weren't they always warning us to avoid at all cost, stumbling anyone or bringing reproach on the organization, even if it meant inconveniencing ourselves ?

Luke 17:2 " It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble."

I'm guessing he went all the way to New Jersey in an attempt not to be recognized by someone from Bethel or by someone in one of the local congregations there in Warwick. "If " that's true, then he knew his actions were questionable.

Regardless...I still maintain that there's a secret "Speakeasy" there at Bethel and all of this came about because it was Tony's turn to stock the bar.

6

Any ex jws Seattle

by Wagurl in

jw
friends

anyone that is near that area in general?

just curious on that?

.

Pete Zahut

Yes

25

I think I made up my mind

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

a month ago i travelled alone to italy for three days and i had the opportunity to visit the beautiful florence and re-visit many parts of rome.. but most importantly, i had the opportunity to stay alone and think about my situation and to make up my mind.. i've had very clear for almost 5 years that i will eventually leave the religion, but i couldn't decide when.. but now i know : i will leave on april 20th, the day after the memorial.. that day i will talk to my parents (this is by far the hardest thing to do) and soon afterwards i will talk to my closest friends, then i will send my disassociation letter.

i know that i will let them down, i will hurt them, most probably some of them will cry... but i need to live coherently for the first time in my life.

i'm sure that living in this contradiction is affecting and will affect my mental health and it's time for me to help myself instead of others.

Pete Zahut

I agree with others who recommend that you say nothing....just fade away. It may feel good to get things off your chest but the good feeling will only be momentary.

Most of your friends and family at this point, still want to be lied to. They want their "ears tickled" and they don't want to hear anyone say out loud what they already know. People at this stage are frightened and scared people will act irrationally in order to relieve their fears. This will likely include punishing you for being the one who made them think about things that scare them.

If you slowly fade away, you won't have to face this huge confrontation that you are dreading and if you do it right, you'll still be able to speak to your family and friends and possibly help them.

Trying to use normal logical thinking to handle people who are themselves trapped in a religious cult, won't work. You need to help yourself first before you can help anyone else. Fading isn't being cowardly...you are simply making the best of a crazy situation.

Again...think twice about putting anything in writing or sharing your plans with any JW. You already know what they think and what they'll do, why put yourself through that?

6

Child Abuse n Jws Just the tip of iceberg (must read)

by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/03/30/jehovah-s-witnesses-child-abuse-scandal-only-the-tip-of-the-ic/.

jehovah's witnesses child abuse scandal: "only the tip of the iceberg".

pascal mertens, an activist against child sex abuse among jehovah's witnesses, claims that the number of complaints in the public domain are only the tip of the iceberg.

Pete Zahut

I will gradually learn abusive slang))

I hope not....I'm no prude but I don't know why a former JW or (anyone else for that matter) would resort to such a low level form of communication especially when it seems so uncalled for in this case.

29

Funeral Fashion

by ThinkerBelle in

i have a funeral to attend for a non jw family member and the jdub family member reminded me that i should not wear black.

for the life of me, i can't recall where this belief came from in jw teachings and i'm born in.

is there something in print or is that just a personal opinion belief?

Pete Zahut

The biggest reason JW's don't wear black at a funeral is because unlike the awful people in the world, they don't want to appear to be too glum about the death of the loved one since they have the belief that they'll be resurrected any day now. How would it look to go from door to door saying that the end is near and then being all grief stricken, upset and wearing black just because someone you cared about died.

15

Serving where the need is great or serving where their needs are great?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

have any of you come across this rare breed of jw?.

i know a brother who spends 9 months of the year living in a caribbean island where he is an active jw and then he flies back to his home european country for 3 months to work and save up so he can fly back out again.

he is an active jw in his home country.. he's not a missionary and has never been to gilead though he attended pioneer school back in the '90s.

Pete Zahut

Serving where the need is more fun gets you the accolades of your peer group and a network of connections from whom you can take full advantage of for jobs, accommodations, meals and anything else you might need.

I've never heard of anyone going to Nome Alaska or anywhere in the frozen north. It's always some sunny destination.