Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  20

  My first encounter

  by SB10 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i don’t know if the woman i met yesterday will ever see this.

  but i will forever remember that day for the rest of my life.

  my grandfather has been in icu for the past 3 days.

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  Pete Zahut

  JW's have been known to watch the obituaries and send messages to the families of the deceased. I've heard of cases where they hang out at cemeteries and hand out pamphlets. The first thing that came to my mind when reading your post was that this woman followed you from the hospital or was handing out Pham-lets at bus stops and gas stations, or wherever people can be snagged incidentally and or by surprise.They do this every day of the week in every town and city. It's only a matter of time before they run into someone who is having some sort of personal difficulty.

  Why would God wait until your grandfather was ill before he reached out to you. Why would he send someone to you at a gas station when there are thousands of terminally ill children be laying in hospitals ?

  My father didn't get to become a grandfather because JW's talked him out of having a blood transfusion when he was studying with them. They don't allow it even to save their own children's lives. He died in agony upholding their rules and afterward, they wouldn't allow his JW family to use their Kingdom Hall for his memorial service because he wasn't a baptized JW yet.

  Do lots of research before getting involved or at least wait until your grief has subsided and you are thinking clearly. They prey on the vulnerable because the vulnerable are prone to engage in magical thinking.
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  16

  Matt Dillahunty From The Atheist Experience vs A Jehovah's Witness

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this was cringe worthy, and yet hilarious to watch.

  i'm sensing that this was a person studying with jws because she's so bad at defending the very basics.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0rcmjczeb8.

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  Pete Zahut

  She is the perfect JW candidate and an example of what happens when you accept things based upon how they make you feel and then surround yourself with others who agree with what you want to hear and nobody asks questions. It all sounds/feels good and therefore seems to make sense until someone dares to go off script and ask some real questions.
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  21

  First On-Screen Crush?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  many years ago, we lived in a world where the one tv in your house might be black and white, perhaps color if you were lucky, but either way the screen was small and the arial on your house would struggle to deliver a decent signal but often fail in a fuzzy mess.

  most of the movies you saw were old, there was no home video or rental - you got a chance to see something and then it was gone.

  planning your viewing was important to make sure you didn't miss something so you'd carefully scan the tv guide to pick out your favourites ... good job there were only 2 or 3 channels to look through.. but you could still see quality if you went to the movie theatre and there you got to see glorious film on a giant screen (which is only now being equalled quality wise).

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  Pete Zahut

  It's strange to think how moments in time are captured, people as they were - the actors on screen obviously as a more perfect facsimile, but also our own memories of certain moments of our life, long ago, the people we were with maybe gone, but all brought back in an instant and the feelings we had.

  Yes...even a sound or a certain smell can do that. That's why it's important to shield children from seeing or experiencing certain things because of how impressionable they are and how easily their brains are imprinted. Imagine when a child sees some violent movie or stumbles upon some pornography as many now do and what negative impression it might have have on them later.
  
  
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  15

  Double Standard of Proof

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there's a new article about john the baptist (not sure why they reverted to baptist instead of the modern english 'baptizer'), and it goes into several areas of his life followed by quotes from josephus showing that these specific things were historically documented.

  the article is summarized by saying:.

  the first-century historian josephus viewed john the baptist as a real person.

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  Pete Zahut

  ...and that Jerusalem's desolation lasted 50 years instead of 70, destroying 607 and therefore 1914

  I'm guessing this wasn't in a JW publication.

  Besides....how do we know that Josephus really existed and even if he did, how does any of it make JW's the one true religion?
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  93

  Ewart Chitty

  by NoAbuse in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ewart chitty was appointed as secretary-treasurer , which position he held until his appointment to the governing body in november 1974.. when in brooklyn, chitty seems to have preferred younger men as roommates.

  the actual charge brought to the gb against chitty was made by a former roommate and involved some sort of inappropriate conduct.

  the gb concluded that chitty had homosexual tendencies, and asked him to resign.. a rare photo of chitty in happier days.

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  Pete Zahut

  I was an 18 year old Bethelite when Greenlees and Chitty were on the G.B. I was assigned to the G.B. table and knew all of the "old guard" Knorr, Sidlig etc. I couldn't believe these were the people running the show.

  I once encountered a very old and wisened Chitty on the roof of the building wearing a speedo type baithing suit sunning himself (gag). He had ill fitting dentures and was so thin, he looked like he'd snap in half if anyone bumped into him. Leo Greenlees was very flamboyant in dress and mannerisms and reminded me of an old hoity-toity lady of society that you'd see in an old movie.

  As usual, with my JW trained brain, I chastised myself for questioning what everyone else seemed to be unaware of.

  Nothing said here comes as a surprise. I wish it wouldn't have taken me so many years to listen to my own sensibilities about an organization that would put these obvious creepers, in positions of power.
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  33

  Why does he stay in?

  by Probablyshouldrun in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i was seeing a jw man for about a year and a half until l broke it off with him last week.

  we met on a dating site.

  he shouldn’t have been on there, of course, but he was lonely.

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  Pete Zahut

  He might be nice enough as a friend but on some level you realize he’s a flake and a narcissistic user who doesn’t know his own mind and you’d be foolish to hitch yourself to a wagon that has no one steering it.

  Why does he stay in? He’s heavily indoctrinated and doesn’t even realize it. He wants the best of both worlds... wants his cake and eat it too... he’s a walking JW cliche’.
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  12

  Another High School Shooting ... Pleasantville, New Jersey

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.

  "fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.

  if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.

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  Pete Zahut

  Kids have 2nd Amendment rights too. Remember, the more guns we have the safer we will be. Just ask the NRA.

  Oh good...you weren't serious.
  
  
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  12

  Another High School Shooting ... Pleasantville, New Jersey

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.

  "fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.

  if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.

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  Pete Zahut

  If all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.

  Really?? You think a school full of armed school kids is a good idea?

  Imagine what the death toll of the bystanders would have been if a school full of armed teens all began shooting as soon as they heard the gunshot? Not to mention all the accidental mishaps that would likely happen during a normal school day, if everyone were carrying a gun.
  
  
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  34

  Another High School Shooting ... Santa Clara California

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.

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  Pete Zahut

  It's like blaming drink-driving on easy access to cars.
  Simon, I usually agree with a lot of your comments but I think comparing drink driving to gun violence is a classic strawman argument.

  Perhaps the similarity of the two examples could be seen if it were said that a contributing factor to the drink-driving problem is the easy access to alcohol rather than an easy access to cars and that a contributing factor of the mass shootings is the easy access to bullets instead of guns.

  The thing is, alcohol and cars have always been available to the public but the difference now is that there are the increase in the drink-drive problem is because there are more drivers on the road and the odds of there being a drunk driver among them is higher and so is the likelihood of them accidentally hitting someone on the crowded roads.

  Similarly, guns and bullets have always been available here in the U.S. but the troubling thing is that something has changed recently in society itself, to cause the use of guns for intentionally killing people in public places, to become a trend.

  I feel that the things I mentioned in my earlier post, as well as a trend toward a victim mentality and to blame others for ones problems, coupled with the availability of guns, could be the perfect storm that is taking place and resulting in what we are seeing.
  
  
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  34

  Another High School Shooting ... Santa Clara California

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.

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  Pete Zahut

  My Theory:

  There's a whole generation of kids out there, many of whom are pampered, narcissistic and too thin skinned to deal with the realities of life. We live in a time of instant gratification where Microwave ovens are too slow and fast food takes far too long. Calling someone on the phone is too much of a commitment compared to sending a text or instant message. Behind the wheel of a speeding car, even a generally balanced person will fell justified when they become enraged by a driver who isn't going at least 10 mph over the speed limit.

  Kids spend hour upon hour playing video games where one simply blasts everything out of their way. They've grown up with Social Media where one can anonymously weigh in with their opinion or spew hatred and unfriend or block anyone who disagrees. They've seen their parents, from the anonymity of their speeding car, become enraged and endanger themselves and everyone on the road, because someone dared to get in their way.

  I fear that some of the kids today have become so isolated and detached from others that their view of reality is skewed. Those they view as enemies, aren't seen as real people. Every problem they encounter or difficulty they have with someone in the real world, feels like a life or death matter to them and they don't have the coping skills they need to work things out in real time. They deal with these things the only way they know how...swiftly and with the skills they learned in their imaginary world.

  Combine all this with the availability of a gun and there you have it...