Posts by Pete Zahut

39

Email from JW relative/elder

by Lynnie in

as much as i enjoy you and pete's company, you also know our understanding of how much we want you to be reunited with jehovah and his people.. .

we did not set the standards for what jehovah says about our associations with those who choose to not serve him.

so we will always be there for you and pete, but it is in your hands as to how we can enjoy your friendship.. .

Pete Zahut

So we will always be there for you and Pete, but it is in your hands as to how we can enjoy your friendship.I know the word on the street is that we are "shunning" - that is not our term, nor is it kind.
We don't take our relationship with you as our cousin lightly.

Dear Cousin,

Thank you for your seemingly kind, albeit confusing letter.

At first I was happy to hear that you will always be there for us and just as you've done with your sister all these years, you won't be shunning us simply because we are not the same religion as you.

But you are the one who can open that door of association by returning to Jehovah. It's our prayer that you do this Lynn. You are a very dear relation of ours.

Then later on you said that you've prayed to Jehovah regarding our religious choices and unless he answers your prayer and causes us to see things the same way you do, the door of association with you will be closed.

This confuses me. If Jehovah doesn't answer your prayer, isn't that an indication that your request was improper and/ or he approves of the choices we have made in regard to our personal relationship with him?

Could it also indicate that you are taking your personal opinions too seriously in this matter and are not leaving things up to him to handle as he sees fit ?

If I were to show up at your place of work and introduce myself as your cousin and showed your co-workers this letter, what would they think of you? Would they be impressed by what you've said to me and be drawn to the Watchtower organization or would they view you as a judgmental self-righteous religious fanatic who is attempting to intervene in his cousins personal relationship with God?

Your actions remind me the harsh way Jesus Disciples (weak immature humans) acted at times in their ministry when Jesus himself (the son of God with real authority), shepherded the flock with loving kindness. Please re-read your letter and ask yourself what the real motive for doing such an unkind thing like that was. Who authorized you to mete out punishment to others on behalf of God? Is your relationship with God and his Holy Spirit so weak that my occasional presence could somehow sway you from your resolve to serve him?

It is my hope that you reconsider what you've said to me but at this point, I view your letter as confirmation that my decision to leave the organization was the right thing to do. I hope you are prepared to answer to Jehovah for that.

Agape'

Your Cousin

15

November 2019 Watchtower Study....Exaggeration at its finest

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | november 2019. lessons we can learn from the book of leviticus.

16 satan and his world have done much to make the work of that faithful slave challenging, even impossible, to carry out from a human standpoint.

despite two world wars, relentless persecution, global economic crises, and unjust treatment, the faithful and discreet slave has continued to provide spiritual food for christ’s followers on earth.

Pete Zahut

Think of the abundance of spiritual food available today, free of charge, in more than 900 languages! It is undeniable evidence of divine backing.

They are constantly looking for ways to validate themselves or prove their own credibility. If they were sure of their claim to be the one true religion, they wouldn't even think about it unless someone else asked them for some sort of proof.

Satan and his world have done much to make the work of that faithful slave challenging, even impossible, to carry out from a human standpoint.

To say that Satan and his world have made it impossible to carry out their "work" is to say that Jehovah's Holy Spirit isn't powerful enough to overcome Satans obstacles.

Satan never prevented them from taking out televised advertisements or infomercials that within seconds would help people around the globe understand their message so that when it was delivered to their doors by local JW's, they wouldn't be blind sided when they showed up. Instead they choose the ploddingly slow method of driving around in air conditioned mini vans and knocking on the doors of empty houses and occasionally when there is someone home, they have no idea what the JW's are talking about.

28

What Are Your Predictions for 2020 and Beyond?

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

2020 the society will continue to have financial problems with massive pay outs because of their lack of protecting their young people from a religion that harbors thousands of pedophiles.

thus this and other religions that has an 1800's mentality will continue to lose their young people.

with the religion's lies easily found on the internet the smart ones will continue to leave in droves.

Pete Zahut

See through clothing will be the latest fashion craze and tight pants Tony will be compelled to admonish all those who allow themselves to be caught up in it. From that point on he will be known as Transparent Tony.

38

FlyingHighNow

by Ex-Witless in

jw
friends

hello forum.

my aunt, flyinghighnow, has passed away.

i don't know if you remember her, but she was a long time member.

Pete Zahut

Well this IS sad news indeed... good of you to let us know rather than let her disappear into the wild blue yonder without any of us us knowing.

12

Favorite Bumper Stickers!

by The Bethelite in

jw
friends

one the jws like.. "get busy!

god is coming and he is pissed.".

one the that people who are not jws like.. "please god protect me from your people".

Pete Zahut

" Jesus Loves You but the Rest of Us Think You're an A-Hole "

"Yeah, I'm Into Fitness....Fit-ness Whole Pizza into My Mouth"

"I hate When I Go to the Kitchen For Food and All I Find is Ingredients"

"Don't Blame the Holidays....You Were Fat Back in August"

"My Stomach is FLAT but the "L" is Silent"

"I'm So Gay I Can't Even Drive Straight"

19

JW.org greater than the Bible now

by eyeslice2 in

jw
friends

there was a time when brooklyn bethel was emblazoned with the words; "read god's word the bible daily" but it seems to me now that even the bible has taken second place to jw.org.

i remember having lots of studies using the 'truth' book.

we asked the students in those days to prepare well and look up the scriptures in their own copy of the bible.

Pete Zahut

Daily" but it seems to me now that even the Bible has taken second place to JW.org.

As I've passed by the literature carts I see on occasion, I've been known to say...

"I see lots of literature containing mans words....where are the Bibles?? "

They usually look embarrassed as if they hadn't realized until that moment that they were spreading Gods word but had no Bibles.

10

Does anyone remember?

by dubstepped in

so back when the borganization took over the congregations and their money when "forgiving" the loans for the mortgages, i seem to remember there was a congregation that stood up to them.

it didn't work, of course, but they caused quite a stir.

does anyone remember what congregation it was or any details where i could search and find more about it on here?

Pete Zahut

...and as I remember, the "forgiving" of loans wasn't done out of loving kindness as it was purported to be at the time. It was done because the U.S. government stepped in and said that the WT society had no legal grounds to be in the loan business as it had been doing for decades.

42

When was it time for you to walk away from your congregation meetings and the WTBTS?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the basic virtue for a human being is to be true to yourself – the integrity of thought, emotion, and action.. .

ten years ago ( after 32 years as a jehovah's witness), i finally decided that my own mental sanity and being true to myself was more important than attending congregation meetings and serving the watchtower society.

i stopped (years before) field service, the ministry school, answering at the watchtower studies, missed numerous meetings and walked in minutes before the meetings started and left after the closing prayer, i knew it was time to leave.

Pete Zahut

When was it time for you to walk away from your congregation meetings and the WTBTS?

I dealt with terrible unexplainable anxiety for several years preceding my final exit from the JWs. I tried just about every medication out there but nothing worked.

Toward the last I could only attend the Sunday meeting because the anxiety that I would get while at assemblies or meetings was so difficult to contend with. I'm not much of a drinker but even so I resorted to bringing a small amount of wine or beer from home in a container and ducking out to my car for a nip during the intermission between the public talk and the Watchtower study.Just a mouthful or two would quell the flip flops in my stomach and the waves of panic that being at the Kingdom Hall produced.

A couple of weeks after finally deciding to leave for good, the anxiety that had plagued me for years, disappeared for good and hasn't returned. That was how I knew I was on the right track.

18

JW's revelling in their online statistic...

by The Fall Guy in

...that their web site is the most translated in the world.. https://www.tomedes.com/translator-hub/most-translated-website.php.

do jw's genuinely believe that statistics prove divine backing?

you can fool some of the people some of the time...there are lies, damned lies, and statistics!.

Pete Zahut

Or that the most distributed books in the world over a period of time ,the JW religion had about 5 or 6 out of the 10 most distributed books worldwide .

And none of them are in use to day because as it turns out, they were full of misinformation that had to either be revised or abandoned altogether.

70

'Experiences(tm)'! Made up or totally true??

by punkofnice in

at one assembly(tm), i was asked to relate an 'experience(tm)' which i did.

however, during rehearsals, the geezer in charge elder or co or some such title, told me that i shouldn't tell it the way it was.

i did a 're-enactment(tm)' with another 'brother(tm)'.

Pete Zahut

A lot of people want to be lied to, so in terms of assembly "experiences" It's a case of telling people what they want to hear.

Upon my return from Bethel, I was asked several times to relay my experiences there on stage. I always refused because they didn't want to know what it was really like. They wanted a glowing report that matched what they wanted to hear so that they could continue to ignore their nagging doubts.