Posts by Pete Zahut

24

The "figurative" heart

by Sour Grapes in

about 25 years ago i gave a talk about how when the bible talks about the heart that it is the literal heart and how the heart and the brain are connected by nerve tissue.

the watchtower even stated that some people who received a heart transplant would take on some of the personality of the donor.then all of a sudden the borg changed and said that when the bible refers to the heart that it is figurative.

then when ever the watchtower referred to the heart it always put the word figurative in front of it.. does anyone know why there was a change in the use of the word heart?

Pete Zahut

To be fair, the Society only picked up what a lot of medical reports were saying in those early days of experimental heart transplants.

Yes, that is very true and one can't fault them too much over that. The problem I have is that they seemed to gloss over the fact that they had once based their logic and interpretations of certain scriptures on the heart literally being the seat of our emotions. For a good long stretch of time, they even claimed that a person would take on the personal traits of the donor after an organ transplant and a blood transfusion. They use secular information that supports their beliefs yet they speak with authority on these matters as if what they are teaching has been revealed to them by Jehovah himself. As far as I know, they never actually came out and said that they were wrong and corrected themselves once they knew better. One could respect them for that if they did. Like other matters, they simply stopped talking about it and after a time, began using different phraseology when talking of this subject.

17

First Xmas? Or older traditions? 🎄

by Theonlyoneleft in

is anyone here doing their first xmas this year?🎄🎄.

i love xmas!

almost around the corner and i’ve started thinking of all the prep needed for family time.

Pete Zahut

Thank goodness for mothers like yours and now you.

Kids may not seem to be noticing the extra things that their parents do for them but they're taking it all in and one day, they'll look back on it all with appreciative eyes.

I was raised JW so I never had any Christmas memories, only secretly admiring the decorations and music and dreading the inevitable "why no Christmas" questions from the kids at school and in the neighborhood and having to stick up for Jehovah by sitting alone in the school library while everyone else ate goodies and exchanged gifts.

These days, (somewhat guiltily) I put up tiny white lights on the topiary trees at our front entrance and I put lighted pillar candles (battery powered) on a wrought iron candelabra, up in the arched part of our living room window. I still have a little trouble doing this, due to the residual guilt left over from being a JW, even though I know better.

Last. year we had a family dinner during the holidays. My wife is a fantastic cook and set out a beautifully laid table of food and deserts. Our youngest son and his girlfriend (also and X JW who he met at college) brought over presents for all of us. What was meant to be a family dinner, turned out be sort of Christmas like. Our oldest Son and his wife and toddler still attend meetings on occasion but had no problem with all of this. It was so nice to have the whole family there and seeing our grandchild being spoiled by her doting family and our sons goofing around like they did as boys. It was heartwarming to see their young ladies getting along so well and being such good friends.

This year we have a second grand baby and just found out there's another one on the way. We're looking forward to more of these occasions but are unsure how our Son and his wife will explain all this to their children as they grow up. There's always going to some awkwardness surrounding the holidays, I'm afraid. I know we'll never recognize them as having anything to do with religion. Rather, they will simply be memorable family occasions.

24

The "figurative" heart

by Sour Grapes in

about 25 years ago i gave a talk about how when the bible talks about the heart that it is the literal heart and how the heart and the brain are connected by nerve tissue.

the watchtower even stated that some people who received a heart transplant would take on some of the personality of the donor.then all of a sudden the borg changed and said that when the bible refers to the heart that it is figurative.

then when ever the watchtower referred to the heart it always put the word figurative in front of it.. does anyone know why there was a change in the use of the word heart?

Pete Zahut

There had to be something that caused this change.

Back in the late 80s there was a local Dentist in our area who was dying and volunteered to be the first recipient of a mechanical heart. He lived for a time afterward and showed the full range of human emotions.

This, coupled with all the heart transplants that became commonplace afterward, the JW notion that the heart was something more than a pump, was blown to shreds.

True to form, they never owned up to the misinformation they had spread all over the world. Instead, they just stopped talking about it until it just went away.
But it didn’t go away.... lots of us remember.

23

JWB 5th Anniversary GB host lineup

by neat blue dog in

the recent article on the 5th anniversary of jw broadcasting includes a helpful graphic showing our hosts:.

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Pete Zahut

On that list should also be fatherless. I would appreciate it if you could elaborate on what that equates to as well Pete Zahut. 😀

I'm not sure what you are asking?

23

JWB 5th Anniversary GB host lineup

by neat blue dog in

the recent article on the 5th anniversary of jw broadcasting includes a helpful graphic showing our hosts:.

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Pete Zahut

If the people in the photo were of another race or of another gender and did all the same things the governing body has, the race and gender wouldn’t be mentioned for fear of sounding racist or sexist.

When men... especially white men are involved, there are no limits to what women can and do say about them.

The majority of JWs are women and without having a gun held to their head, absolutely and wholeheartedly supported and are still supporting these men and they systematically teach their little boys to take the lead and their little girls to be submissive. They wanted their husbands to be leaders and despised them if they weren’t. Many, if not most men would have preferred not to be expected to play the part they were forced into by the generation before them yet they carry the blame for doing what women and society in general demanded of them.

23

JWB 5th Anniversary GB host lineup

by neat blue dog in

the recent article on the 5th anniversary of jw broadcasting includes a helpful graphic showing our hosts:.

.

Pete Zahut

evidently, bald old white men prevail.

I'm surprised their weight wasn't mentioned as well. It's almost the year 2020 and white men are the last cross section of society left, who some of us feel free make uncomplimentary insinuations about. Especially so if they're old and overweight.

Perhaps the comment was meant to be complimentary, but typically:

Bald = Physically Flawed, not pretty to look at and therefore incapable.

Old = Irrelevant and no longer of value. They couldn't possible have anything to offer.

White= Suspect...all of em'...entitled, privileged....not to be trusted.

Men = Automatically evil...the cause of most of the worlds problems.

neat blue dog: That's because it's an American religion. Only 2 out of 8 grew up elsewhere.
blondie: So there are no bald old white men in non-American religions.

^ ^ Calling attention other peoples assumptions.

18

If anyone ever makes the claim that they don't focus on Money ALL the time...

by HiddenPimo in

i saw this mentioned on reddit but no link - i found the article form this weeks bible study..... in the “congregation bible study” part of the meeting this week there was a part that said and i quote: “only jehovah god and his son can receive someone into the heavenly kingdom or the paradise on earth under that kingdom.

we should diligently cultivate friendship with them by using what material riches we have in supporting kingdom interests”.

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Pete Zahut

"....and she's buying a stairway, to heaven "

17

I finally did it

by paradiseseeker in

jw
friends

it's done.. during the last month i've been talking with my closest friends about leaving the org and yesterday i finally talked with my parents.. it's been almost 5 months after i said that i would do it, but i think that this extra time has been beneficial.

i've said several times that i would opt for sending a resignation letter, but after talking to my best friends some of them suggested me becoming inactive and blocking my congregation's elders.

i've changed my mind and i will do that because the people that i care the most now know what's going on so they won't be worrying about me not attending the meetings.

Pete Zahut

Good for you for not making a hasty decision even though you've wanted out for some time now. Don't be surprised if once the newness of this has worn off a bit, you might feel a bit uncertain at times. The best thing for that is to review the information you have found that proves that the key teachings of the Watchtower are not true and therefore they are not the one true religion as they claim to be.

This does not mean that some of the values you learned as a JW (honesty, morality, protecting ones health etc) aren't still useful. Remember, JW's love to make themselves feel good by comparing themselves to the worst examples out there. Don't make the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bathwater as many former JW's have done because of their skewed view of what it means to be a non JW/ Worldly. Just because you aren't a JW anymore, doesn't mean your life has to become a the train wreck they claim it will be, without them.

6

WATCH: What Happened to The Watchtower?

by pleaseresearch in

nice little video, just under 2 minutes.

from real estate news, looking at what they will do with the old brooklyn hq.

https://therealdeal.com/2019/10/14/watch-what-happened-to-the-watchtower/.

Pete Zahut

"The perception of the community was that it was a very inward facing complex"

They got that right....keep out....you are all doomed and we want no part of you (unless you have something we need...then we'll be very charming and cordial )

16

The infamous WT article "Why Has God Been So Patient?"

by days of future passed in

i went to my sister's house because she was cleaning out the garage and she thought i must have tons of stuff left there.

i didn't but there was a box of unplaced mags in one.

i pulled out one when i got home and it was this one.. i'm sure that if i had read it when it came out, i would have felt that the wt had feelings of sadness over these children.

Pete Zahut

I always loved how in these articles, they'd invariably quote 2 Peter 3:10

Jehovah is not slow respecting His promises as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

Easy to say when you've got a full belly and are living in a multimillion dollar facility with every comfort you could possibly need. If they truly believed the end of mankind suffering would come once the word/ message was spread globally they'd spend their money on television advertising or informercials, throughout the world rather than standing silently next to carts in bus stations being ignored by busy passers by. Instead, they spend it on luxurious accommodations, new projects to keep themselves busy, oh.... and law suits.