Posts by Pete Zahut

49

What Did You Do With All Your Meeting Clothes?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i literally had dozens of suits.

i still have more dress clothes than anyone i know.

i did give some suits and clothing away and to be honest, i still like wearing a nice suit.. brothers and sisters, are all your “ meeting clothes” still in your closet?

Pete Zahut

Awhile back I noticed that the suits hanging in my closet actually had dust on the shoulders. That was kind of a welcome to reality moment in terms of how long it's been since I went to a meeting. I kept 2 of my suits and a tie for each one and 2 pairs of dress shoes and gave the rest to the Goodwill. Those will be gone too as soon as they're a little more out of style.

Growing up as a JW and later as a married adult with kids, it seemed to me that everyone put more emphasis on what they were going to wear to the assembly than they did on the assembly itself. I remember hearing big discussions about having to shop for some new outfits for the assembly and what outfit would be worn on what day. I remember overhearing my wife and a bunch of sisters lamenting about not having anything to wear or being able to find anything new to wear to the assembly. In passing I said, " It won't be the end of the world if you can't find a new outfit to wear to the assembly...speaking of which, what does one wear to the end of the world anyway??

Concern for new assembly clothes was followed closely by wondering what get togethers there would be afterward. There was little or no concern about what new light there might be or what they might say about the nearness of the end of the world. Come to think of it, there was never any discussion about the assembly program afterward either.

42

Elon Musk, And The CyberTruck That Homer Built

by Simon in

i think tesla and musk have officially jumped the shark.. did you see the "cybertruck" they released?

it's like the car that homer built!.

it has to be the ugliest vehicle ever built.

Pete Zahut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zau8Hb6UCn4

25

What was the retirement plans you heard brothers talk about if any

by JimmyYoung in

i know some would not think about retirement.

i had one brother who would pioneer as he could afford and when he paid off his home he was about to collect social security.

he made enough that his plan was to work two to three days a week and pioneer the rest of the week.

Pete Zahut

I was never supposed to graduate high school of course (I graduated in 1975) but once did that and once I got back from a stint at Bethel I started a job that had a pension. The older brothers said I'd never get to use it and every meeting and assembly that I attended for decades confirmed that this would be the case.

Fast forward 33 years, I got to retire early a few months ago with a pension that will pay me 66% of my highest salary for the rest of my life and it will get cost of living raises every year and be passed on to my wife after I'm gone.

A few times over the years, I had the opportunity to take the money out and use it but thankfully I didn't let the JW mindset influence me to do that.

From what I could tell, very few JW's were thinking about having money set aside for their old age.

My wife's JW elder father died of cancer at 48 with 3 of his 6 kids still at home and his wife (my mother in law) received a widows pension until the kids were grown. She regular pioneered and worked part time until she was too old to do so. We all kicked in each month to cover her expenses. Then there was a class action suit that paid her $300k for the death of her husband who was exposed to a certain chemical that was linked to his cancer.

If it weren't for those awful worldly people, who found her, sought justice for her and made sure she got what she was entitled to, she wouldn't have a dime to her name right now and we'd be paying for her dementia care.

33

Unpopular Opinion on Convention Protests

by Jehalapeno in

i think it's really sad that people that wasted countless hours preaching for a cult are deciding to waste more hours on that same cult after leaving it.. get a hobby.

enjoy life.. "the best revenge is a life well-lived.

" - some person said this..

Pete Zahut

I think it's really sad that people that wasted countless hours preaching for a cult are deciding to waste more hours on that same cult after leaving it.

I get what you’re saying but remember, some might say the same of you regarding the time spent here,

9

My JW mom tried telling me this

by Jayk in

going thru a bit of a life situation right now... i should have listened to a few of your a couple months ago.

this girl i was seeing has completely stopped talking to me as of 2 weeks ago.

she springs on me she is pregnant possibly a abortion, but would consider adoption or sever the rights.

Pete Zahut

From reading your post, I'm not exactly sure what took place but if there's a chance that you'd be willing to raise the child or that she might give it up for adoption, you might want to talk to her about all of this again.

Maybe you could explain to her that you lost your head and have come to grips with the situation and are willing to discuss this again with her.

If there's a chance that all of this will haunt you in the future, at least you'll know you tried.

20

My first encounter

by SB10 in

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.

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.

16

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

by pale.emperor in

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.

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.

21

First On-Screen Crush?

by Simon in

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).

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.

15

Double Standard of Proof

by neat blue dog in

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.

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?

93

Ewart Chitty

by NoAbuse in

jw
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.

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.