Posts by Pete Zahut

11

Something you won't see on JW.org ... They discourage music education

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz4tfrt1nk0&list=plcd6f28c13a0a9ac2&index=4.

Pete Zahut

I'm so sickened and angered by that violin video.....I hardly even know what to say.

I hadn't seen this one before but I heard this same crap 40 years ago. "Wait till the New System Pete where you'll have all eternity to pursue your interests." Here I am about to welcome my first grandchild into the world !

Was asked to be on the H.S. Swim Team and wrestling team (didn't do it...what fun it would have been. Thankfully I let my Sons do it and it was amazing to see how much confidence it gave them)
Wanted to become a Pilot (didn't do it....regret it and may still give it a go)
Wanted to become a Dentist (didn't do it and wish I would have...to this day, my Dentist always is surprised by my knowledge of the field, Instead I was sent out into the world to make a living taking any job I could and having to be around some pretty lowlife uneducated people at times.)
Skiing (Naughty Pete did it anyway and its been a life long joy)
Guitar Lessons (Disobedient Pete took them anyway....another life long joy)
Art Lessons ( Spiritually weak Pete took them anyway...another life enriching ability)
Architecture (Nope....Good Boy Pete went to Bethel...now I work in the Engineering field and am asked by College educated co workers from foreign countries (Engineers) who barely speak English "Why you no go to College Pete ...you grew up in America....I am from India and I have 2 degrees? " I'm the one who reviews and approves their Engineered drawings yet they make more than me because I don't have a Degree.

What about Prince.....he continued pursuing his dream after becoming a JW and even wore make-up and women's clothes in the process and was considered to be in "Good Standing"???

It's a good thing I don't know what number to call because the phone lines would be on fire and somebody at Bethel would be getting their head bitten off right about now.

11

Something you won't see on JW.org ... They discourage music education

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz4tfrt1nk0&list=plcd6f28c13a0a9ac2&index=4.

Pete Zahut

My Mom played the Harp in the Orchestra and there was a lot of infighting among the musicians. Who should play what part, who was too loud, who should be asked to leave etc. I think they finally got fed up with the whole thing and went with recordings. Too bad because they weren't as good as the real deal....at least in our area anyway.

11

Something you won't see on JW.org ... They discourage music education

by Greybeard in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz4tfrt1nk0&list=plcd6f28c13a0a9ac2&index=4.

Pete Zahut

Nope....this video doesn't feed into their belief that all non JW's are evil oriented.

I'm glad you posted this G.Beard, you've inspired me dust off my Ukulele and have a bit of a sing along with the family this evening. Going to have to do this more often... I'd gotten out of the habit of playing and had forgotten how much fun it is.

Thanks !

Pete

26

I think I figured out their strategy with all the creepy videos

by JeffT in

i came in during all the hype over 1975. the predictions about that date were the real driver behind all their activity.

since then, they haven't had a good goad to prod the sheep.

they seem to be smart enough not to try another date.. i think they plan to use fear instead.

Pete Zahut

I think they plan to use fear instead.

I doubt if they actually sat down as a group and said...."OK fellas, we've got to get these people under control. We saw what happened when we used a specific date, so why don't we trick them to doing what we say by scaring them into it".

However I do think JW leaders really believe what they are preaching and don't think they are trying to trick anyone but instead have become officious about the role they are playing. When people are acting in an official capacity they often start out being eager to help others but somewhere along the line out of a misguided sense of duty, they stop being themselves and start coming up with complicated policies and unnecessary and unwanted ways to control the same people they were trying to help.

The original Bible Students met and studied the Bible and published a Magazine. The next thing you know, people are writing to them in New York and asking for scriptural advice and clarification. Eventually they had a following and began thinking of themselves as having real authority. It took on a life of it's own until decades later they believe that they have the responsibility to intervene in and govern everyone's personal relationship with God and the members personal lives by any means necessary.

I think they really believe what is being said in these " creepy videos" and that they are necessary but instead of simply teaching people what the Bible says and letting them act accordingly as they see fit, they believe they need to control them and force the desired outcome.

96

New Shunning Video - RC 2016

by wifibandit in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g20rww_-7ua.

Pete Zahut

Yes, Jehovah is ready to forgive.....but your sins have been chronicled in detail in the file that will follow you from Congregation to Congregation for the rest of your life and some snooping Elders wife or kids may get a hold of it when it arrives in the mail.

The parents waited 15 years to be given permission to talk to their daughter and her kids....what a tragedy. I noticed they left out the awkward scene where the Grandparents meet the Grandchildren they've been shunning all of their lives. Of course the husband was missing, which indicates she hooked up with a looser and the JW's were right. So many obvious subliminal manipulation techniques employed throughout the video...fortunately most young people see right through these.

27

Embracing, Not Running From, My Repressive JW Heritage, Finding A Few Things Worth Salvaging

by TMS in

yes, we could have been born in an alley in calcutta or with the physical deformities associated with thalidomide.

instead, we were born into or introduced to a repressive, american, religious cult, that shielded us from the warmongering game of chess, the militaristic boy scouts, fornication-inducing sock hops, the twist, as well as the hokey pokey.

we heeded the warnings, avoiding the greedy self-worship associated with masturbation, decadent rock 'n roll and anything preceded by the word "extra-curricular.".

Pete Zahut

As far as what it was like for JW kids in the past, you really summed it all up really well. I too often wonder if I did this well after growing up in a Cult-like religion, where would I'd be if I had spent as much time in activities that would have not only have given me more employment choices but also made me a more rounded person and would have enriched my life.

My twenty something son is almost done with his Degree but laments at how behind he is experience wise as well as socially compared to his contemporaries and my wife and I feel badly for not having awakened long before we did and possibly sparing him this problem.

Like any of the experiences we have in life we can extract good and bad aspects from them and make the best of things....play the had your dealt. Even those in Nazi concentration camps must have come away from the experience with some skill that would give them an edge in the rest of their life. (strength, endurance, appreciation etc) . Even so, there are plenty of better and more pleasant ways for them to have acquired those particular skill and for us to have acquired the ones we may have gotten from being JW's.

As a former JW, you can choose to regret your past and lament the lost time or look for the positive aspects about your experience and play them up in your current life. With both of those choices, you are still a former JW but with one of them you get to feel a whole lot better about things.

8

Japanese Still-ins are outraged with this Video

by nakanozzi in

a youtube video posted by jwfairytale , japanese edition.. http://youtu.be/_adktmq-rba.

Pete Zahut

I don't understand how the JW on the phone didn't pick up on the fact that he was talking to someone who was obviously much more informed about JW's than the typical householder could be. It seemed like the guy calling in, started to believe his own story about the $100.00 donation...got quite worked up about it.

I think I would have pointed out the fact that they say the end is so close and countless millions of men women and children are about to be annihilated, yet they took the time out to make a video of themselves prancing around looking to a song written by someone they figure is doomed, and they looked quite unconcerned about the whole thing....quite giddy even, which demonstrates that they are convinced they have it made, in terms of surviving Armageddon and don't really have a true and literal grasp of how horrific of an event they are looking forward to.

18

Meet Joy Grant - Struggles of Jehovah's Witness Women

by JT-LadyC in

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Pete Zahut

My wife and I enjoyed listening to this interview . I was reminded of a time when I was about 16 or so and I had to conduct the meeting for service because I was the only Male present. I had no idea what to do even though I had been a JW all my life and I was mortified to be put in charge of these much more competent older Sisters. I also remember how nice they were as they coached me along making suggestions from their seats. Some of them were Pioneers and it was commonplace for them to met for Service without Brothers during the week and they seemed to manage just fine. The Sisters were always the ones doing the "heavy lifting" when it came to the door to door ministry.

I remember my Mother who was very smart and who was also a"Critical Thinker, being very angry when they said from the platform that the whole 1975 issue was nothing more than overly zealous individuals who made speculations on their own. They said the Society never made any claim about 1975 and scolded us about serving with a date in mind rather than simply because we loved Jehovah. During the meeting my Mom spoke up from her seat and said " Oh yes they most certainly did ! " There were murmurs of agreement here and there in the audience. I remember her being quite depressed and stumbled for a good period of time over that and "the truth" was never quite the same for her afterward.

My non JW Father died from not taking blood because of what he had learned while studying . His non JW sister is a RN in England and we had to visit her and explain what happened. She was so angry saying " This such nonsense about these blood extenders and the like....you have to have the red blood cells...there's really very little that can be done without them...this was all so unnecessary and such a waste"A short time later the society came out with the "fractions" ruling which would have saved my father had it come in time.

My Son's G-friend is a recent RN graduate. Her first hospital job orientation went into how to deal with JW's. She told us that she was told that more often than not, as soon as the Liason Committee people are gone, JW's beg the nurses not to let them die...especially teenagers. She was told to make sure to do a private follow up with patients on their own once the Elders leave.

I agree with the point brought out about how sad it is to see X-JW's who still think Jehovah's Witnesses are right. They carry around this terrible burden unnecessarily. Thanks for all the time you and your husband invest in these videos. They are really quite enjoyable and helpful and will not only open the eyes of current JW's but will also serve to free many those who are still mentally burdened by their past JW experience.

36

I was helping a Mature Sister with her tablet for downloading the meeting and then noticed ...

by Quarterback in

this sweet older sister needed help and while trying to download the clm on her tablet, the history showed some porn pictures.

how does someone overlook that and carry on?.

Pete Zahut

Since all things on the internet eventually lead to porn, she probably Googeled the words "Governing Body" and stumbled onto something a little more "Spiritually Enlightening" than she had intended.

11

Bearded Danish Elder: WORLDS APART

by compound complex in

jw
friends

do you remember our interest a few years back in the film, worlds apart?.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2245498624/tt1065318?ref_=tt_ov_i.

coco.

Pete Zahut

Yeah...I remember. It was the first thing I though of when someone made a post about the latest W.Tower that mentioned the acceptability of Brothers in certain regions, wearing beards.

What happened to worldwide unity?