Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  22

  Shift in beliefs?

  by blankspace in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was wondering whether anyone observed this point in the previous week's wt study, in paragraph 17: "jehovah’s spirit moves “the faithful steward” to keep giving his servants their food supply.".

  i see this as a subtle move away from earlier claims to be channel for spiritual food.

  the gb earlier said that they weren't inspired or infallible.

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  Pete Zahut

  Double Think/ Double Speak .... whatever you want to call it, this is yet another example of a “ mixed message” put out by the Watchtower where the rank and file get to hear what they want to hear (ears tickled) and yet there’s an “out” for the Watchtower where they can claim that overzealous publishers read more into their comment than was intended.
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  21

  Absolutely mind blowing. Wow just wow!!!!!

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.facebook.com/rafael.riveraarias.3/videos/2271651422931947/.

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  Pete Zahut

  This kind of thing has long been tolerated in certain cultures so long as it wasn't done by westerners/europeans AKA white people. They are held to a different standard and are supposed to know better and be above this sort of thing which is supposedly borderline Pagan and even considered primitive.

  We were even told that it would be displeasing to Jehovah to have friends over to our homes to study Sunday's Watchtower lesson because it wasn't sanctioned by the Society. I can only imagine what would happen if we organized groups of singers and salsa dancers even if Kingdom Songs were what they sang and danced to.

  Kingdom songs were supposed to be a form of prayer or communication to Jehovah and were to be done in a reverent manner.
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  10

  Inside The Lost Tunnels Under Brooklyn Heights

  by Tahoe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://youtu.be/l9e7nkzhyt4.

  from this article:.

  http://gothamist.com/2019/05/22/brooklyn_heights_tunnels_jehovahs_witnesses.php#photo-1.

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  Pete Zahut

  Wow....that was a blast from the past from my Bethel days. The Commissary was kind of a nice amenity for us to have. There was also a few washers and dryers down there that were available for us to use if we got tired of having everything shrunk by the Bethel laundry.
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  40

  Still dont get the friggin birthdays

  by nowawake14 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have read extensively about the origins of birthdays, and i still don't get it.

  but it's not what it means today.. even wedding veils were used to ward off the "evil eye".

  but it's not what it means today.

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  Pete Zahut

  They used to use the account from the Bible where John the Baptist was beheaded and his head was presented on a serving platter at the birthday celebration of Pharaoh's Daughter.

  I never saw how that account meant that we shouldn't celebrate birthdays. What I took away from it was that we should never behead anyone at a birthday celebration and we probably shouldn't use serving platters since the Pagans apparently used them.

  For that reason, we always used to acknowledge our boys birthdays by recanting the story of the day they were born and getting them a little something special even if it was only a special dessert at dinner, just for them.

  Now that they're grown up and the Watchtower is a thing of the past, I'm glad that we went with our gut on that one (a few others as well) and we weren't robbed of yet another harmless life experience.
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  62

  2019 BOE Elders letter May 13 England - Ireland Data Protection

  by Not_Culty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://tinyurl.com/y2bzncu9.

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  Pete Zahut

  I remember when I was a kid back in the 70's my Mother called at the door of a young couple who showed interest. It was the 70's so the guy had long hair and faded jeans, the girl had beads around her neck and was wearing faded patched jeans etc. My Mother was fastidious about keeping the required house to house records and also wrote their names and address in her own "Return Visit / Back Call " book and made a note that said "Young Hippie Couple" to remind herself of their conversation.

  When she called on them again, she left her "Return Visit" book open and the young woman saw the note and said indignantly "We're not Hippies !"

  Mom was embarrassed of course and tried to explain that to someone of her generation, anyone with long hair and faded jeans, was what was they though of as a Hippie, which of course isn't true.

  Try as she might to apologize, the young woman suddenly lost interest and my Mom learned a hard lesson about not pigeon holing people based on their appearance. Mom always felt that the ministry was a life saving work and keeping accurate house to house records was of utmost importance so that no one was missed. She worried that she may be held responsible for "stumbling" a potential sheep in this particular instance.

  I think she'd have felt better had she known that 4 decades later, the end didn't come after all and in fact they would be told not to keep house to house records at all.
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  45

  New Light on the 144,000?

  by Ding in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  someone on facebook is claiming to have reliable information that the gb is about to announce new light on the 144,000 -- that it's symbolic, not literal.. one person suggested that they will retain the two-class teaching and just change the meaning of 144,000. his idea was that the change would avoid three problems with the current teaching:.

  1. embarrassment over more and more partakers at the memorial when the number should be getting less and less.. 2. embarrassment over 12 symbolic 12,000s somehow equaling a literal 144,000.. 3. solving the problem of running out of "anointed" ones who are old enough to be on the gb.. thoughts?.

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  Pete Zahut

  If they change that teaching, many an apostate will have been correct all along and will be welcomed back into the fold.... all is forgiven. (NOT).

  Its more likely that if there is a god, they will be held responsible for having spread this nonsense throughout the world for a hundred years and for having turned honest thinking person's away from him altogether.

  Think of the forrests of trees that were cut down and the oceans of ink that were used to print this nonsense not to mention the lifetimes that were spent blanketing the globe with it and the utter disappointment that came to those who realized they'd been duped.
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  58

  Do You Support a Sex Strike?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  alyssa milano is saying that women have to go on a sex strike to take control of their bodies.

  what do you think about this?.

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  Pete Zahut

  I heard Alyssa’s husband David Bugliari has gone back to his old girlfriend Palmala.
  
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  27

  I Ended my Bible Study

  by Maria Nieves in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i ended my bible study today.

  several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

  as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

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  Pete Zahut

  There'll be a bit of a grieving period because of your disappointment but it will soon pass. Give it a couple of months and you'll likely come to see that your study conductor may have been kindly but she wasn't really a friend. Rather she too is a victim of a cult like religion that easily dispenses with people who don't buy into their program... even their own flesh and blood.

  She may have felt that she was studying with you because of a genuine interest in saving you from the wrath of God but its likely that her motivation was from peer pressure and from wanting to save her own skin. She was counting the time she was studying with you and was required to report it to the congregation each month so they could monitor her activity and make her feel guilty if she wasn't doing enough.

  If there is a god, you can pray and live your life in the manner that your own conscience and ability to reason, directs you. Within the framework of your own life circumstances, you can show kindness and or do good works that provide real hands on help to those in need around you or who you may come into contact with regardless of their religious affiliation.
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  62

  Enjoyed the Memorial

  by ScottyRex in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  probably not a popular opinion on here....and haven't been actively attending meetings since 1988....(i know i know a submarine attender) however thoroughly enjoyed attending this evening...was good to see lots of people i remember whilst growing up in this faith, they were genuine and the whole atmosphere was one of love.

  sure if i suddenly wanted to become active again and didn't change my lifestyle they would drop me like a bomb.....however i haven't and won't and they didn't and don't.

  this works for me.. i cannot demonize the witnesses on what i have seen tonight.

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  Pete Zahut

  I know what you mean when you say you enjoyed the time you spent with the JW's. I too hold nothing against the JW's individually and usually enjoy being around my old friends mostly because its familiar and feels safe and not because of anything related to the actual religion or its beliefs.

  The thing is, the whole reason I've known these people since extreme childhood is because they convinced my Mother that they were the one and only true religion and being one of them was the only way to be spared destruction by God. None of that is provable and noting they've ever said, has turned out to be true. So what's the point of continuing on? Especially when so much irreparable damage has happened to my family because of the blood issue.
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  18

  I’m so sad . . .

  by HappyBlessedFree in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so my husband asked me if i’m going to the memorial.

  i said “no”.. he asked would it be okay if i take the kids.

  “i would prefer that you didn’t”.. why can’t he see the lies!

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  Pete Zahut

  What works best is to attack the credibility of the leaders/organization.

  Attack may not have been the best choice of words. Any kind of perceived attack would very likely put him into defense mode and close his mind off even though he sees that things you are saying are indeed credible.
  What worked best for me was to ask legitimate questions about the Bible that lead to a JW explanation and in the process the flaws in the doctrines that weren't noticed before, were revealed.