Posts by Pete Zahut

35

What age were you when you were counted as a publisher?

by OrphanCrow in

the wts has always included minors and adults in the same categories - publisher and baptized.. i am interested in knowing how many minors, approximately, are included in the publisher count.

and, at what age a person started publishing.

what age was the youngest publisher reported?.

Pete Zahut

I was around 5 when I started counting time and giving talks and got baptized at 17. I can still remember the introduction of my first talk.

33

Is this another Trump backflip?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

we've seen one backflip.

crooked hillary became a hard-working woman who deserves the nations praise (in his victory speech);.

now according to a uk newspaper:.

Pete Zahut

(sigh).....we shore do need the NuSystem....(sigh)

13

Update on MIL shunning

by BeautifulMind in

hello on this beautiful sunday!

just a quick little update to the post i made a few months ago about my mil shunning us.

quick recap: during a convo after she attended the rc and was going on and on about how powerful it was and how great the videos were, blah, blah, blah...i couldn't take it anymore and told her that's not our lives anymore and i didn't want to hear anymore about it and to please respect that and move on to something else to talk about.

Pete Zahut

As a new grandfather, you have no idea how much it means to be able to see your grandchild until you have one. It was her decision to try and impose the "conditional" love of the Watchtower on your family. If that's the case, your "condition" is that the love of your family comes as a package deal. If she wants to see your children, she's got to treat the rest of you like she would any other family member.

JW's expect everyone to tip-toe around their religious sensibilities while they bulldoze their way over yours. I don't like the idea of your kids not being able to know their grandparent but you didn't choose this. If you don't draw the line, this she'll have the upper hand and the convoluted on again off again shunning nonsense will be never ending.

19

Baptism 1973 and 1985 Questions hmmmmmmmmmm!

by Beans in

i was doing some research and noticed that the baptism questions were changed several times over the years.

the questions in 1973 were as follows: *** w73 5/1 280 baptizing follows discipling *** if you feel the same about serving jehovah god and taking christs yoke upon you, we suggest that you consider the following two questions, which are asked of candidates for baptism:.

(1) have you repented of your sins and turned around, recognizing yourself before jehovah god as a condemned sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him, the father, through his son jesus christ?

Pete Zahut

It would seem to me that if as they claim, Jehovah is an exacting God and if they were directed by him to change the original baptism questions, it must mean that those of us who were previously baptized without stating that we recognized that our baptisms made us Jehovah's Witness, may not technically be Jehovah's Witnesses at all . If that's the case, what does that mean for those who were DF'd when they weren't technically JW's in the first place? What about all those folks who married someone who wasn't technically a baptized JW?

Maybe this is a loophole that someone could use during a Judicial hearing.

9

Relatives of those who have lost their lives putting faith of life or death in a religion that is neither Inspired nor Infallible.

by smiddy in

with the admission of the governing body that they are neither inspired nor infallible , i am curious to know how many of you people from all around the world know of somebody ,a relative or friend , who lost their life because of following the dictates of a religion that now says they are neither inspired nor infallible.,that they now admit they make mistakes.. how many people have needlesly died having followed the jehovahs witness religions policys regarding not getting your child vaccinated against diseases ,which was the case years ago, not having organ transplants as that was considered cannilbalismm years ago ,and since the mid 1940`s the ban on jehovahs witnesses having blood transfusions.. yet somehow today you can have fractions of blood donated by non jw`s who are designated as people to be destroyed at armageddon because they follow satans system of things,.

blood that is donated by these people ,stored in a laboratory , and processed into fractions by laboratory staff and given to jehovahs witnesses with their consent.with no consequences to them for doing so.. blood is not poured out on the ground and not used for any purpose as their bible the nwt dictates.or any other bible for that matter..

Pete Zahut

My Non JW Father was due to retire in a few months. Although he was young looking and vibrant, he found out he needed a heart bypass operation. He had studied with the JW's and attended meetings and all he knew about blood transfusion was what he learned on his study.

His doctor assured him that blood wouldn't be an issue so even though he didn't fully understand why blood transfusion was wrong, at the recommendation of the elders and his JW family, he signed the no blood paperwork just in case.

His surgery went well and he was recovering well then suddenly, he began to get weak and was coming in an out of consciousness. They discovered that one of the grafted arteries was leaking and his blood count was dangerously low and they'd need to do a transfusion or give him fractions to build it up enough for him to survive the repair work.

He was not lucid enough to resend the no-blood paperwork so all they could do for him was use the standard measures to expand and to build the blood up. The attending nurse was a JW and she came to us quietly and said there's no way she'd ever refuse blood if she wasn't a JW. She wondered why our Father was doing this if he wasn't baptized. She said, "you need the red blood cells and the oxygen they deliver....despite what the society say's, there's no way to get around this". There's no way I would do this if I were him.

A short time later, we were all in his room sitting around his bed and talking to him as he came in and out of consciousness. He was hooked up to monitors and I V drips etc when suddenly he bolted upright and scrambled down to the end of the bed toward us. He grabbed my sister around the neck and roared in pain then dropped dead while my sister and us tried to hold him up and get the tubes and monitors untangled.

The medical staff came rushing in and shoved us all out of the room. On the way out the door, looked back to see them tear open my fathers wound and start pumping his heart by hand. My sister was in hysterics and my kids were frightened.

Unfortunately Dad didn't make it. There was nothing they could do without blood. About 2 years later they made the ruling that it was OK to use blood fractions. The blood fractions would have been enough to extend his blood and give them a fighting chance to go in and re-attach the artery that was leaking. Not only that, I'm sure my father would have seen the ridiculousness in this ruling and would have looked into this issue more.

To top it off, the elders arrived and told us how we'd soon be seeing Dad in the new system since he died upholding Jehovah's laws. We asked if we could hold his memorial at the Kingdom Hall but they denied our request because he wasn't baptized. I said " So you say Jehovah's most assuredly going to resurrect him in the New System, but in this System of things, even though he died upholding this JW no blood ruling, his JW family isn't allowed to hold his memorial in the Kingdom Hall because he's not baptized?" They all looked down at their shoes in shame at the ridiculousness of this policy.

Thank you Watchtower for killing our kind and wonderful Father. A man who was more honest and decent than most of you are, and who didn't deserve to die so soon and in this most horrific way. He didn't get to enjoy his retirement that he worked for, didn't get to see my younger sister grow up or know any of his know his 5 grandchildren thanks to your inspired yet always changing directives.

6

Interviews to select new Governing Body members

by Lostandfound in

imagine the scene, a comfortable conference room in brooklyn hq, with a round table with a handful of current gb members on one side.

a lone chair opposite is for the prospective new gb members to sit and be questioned as to their fitness.

lett asks, "have maintenance fitted your room with new light bulbs?".

Pete Zahut

...and will you be wiling to occasionally provide urine samples for random Kool-Aid screening throughout the year ?

25

2016 death of my father who told me don't come back if your a Witness...still hurts my soul! Warning you all!!

by Witness 007 in

i last spoke to my father in march 1990. we finished a "quick build" kingdom hall and i had a 17 year old spiritual awakening and decided to drop high school to pioneer full time.

(yes i was a dumb ass) he was not happy since my parents were divorced he was catholic.

we had a arguement and he said stay in school get a degree...and dont come back if your a witness!!

Pete Zahut

So sorry that things happened this way. If it helps your grieving process, try and remember, you were an immature kid (which is to be expected...that's what kids are) and he, as an adult, was the one to tell you not to come back if you were a JW. As a parent, I'm sure he realized that most of how was things went, was his doing and that you as a young JW, were not entirely to blame.

There's no good way to explain all of this away, but time will be a friend to you as you come to grips with all of this. Family is like good health, you miss it only when it is gone, so thanks for putting that reminder out there...I'm sure there are those who will reconsider their own situation based on your experience.

21

Org Is RACIST! Towards Sisters Of COLOR In Particular--IMO!

by HiddlesWife in

i'm sorry--i'm getting this very sensitive vibe that the org (mainly those at the top) don't have any respect--forget about love--for sisters of color.

i'm coming to this conclusion from a couple of videos on jw broadcasting about single sisters.. after watching this video: .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnjrbkggp4g.

Pete Zahut

I understand your point HW and I'm not saying their isn't any truth in what you're saying but I also think that depending on ones point of view, they can find a problem and a reason to complain over just about anything.

Just for the sake of argument, if one of these videos shows a woman of "color" being warned about dating issues, one could conclude that they're being oppressive and singling out women of "color".

If a video shows a white woman being warned about dating issues, one wouldn't necessarily conclude that they're being oppressive to white women but instead one might conclude that they are being oppressive to women in general. However if only white women are used in these videos, one wouldn't necessarily conclude that they're picking on white women but they could conclude that women of "color" are being left out of their videos as if they don't exist.

If a video were to show a white man being warned about dating issues, it's unlikely that a white men would feel that they're being singled out or oppressed and a man of color probably wouldn't feel he's being left out. If a man of color was featured in the video, it's unlikely that he would think that men of color are being singled out in regard to dating issues. However in either case where a man was being counseled, a woman, if she chose to, could conclude that women are being oppressed because the men are being taught to be overly cautious and restrictive about the women they are interested in, thus making it even more difficult for women to find a man to date.

When men watch these videos, I'd be willing to guess that in general, they see them at face value and don't read anything more into them than just another stern warning and another restriction in their lives. They don't typically feel victimized because they haven't been conditioned to see themselves as victims nor would they ever be allowed to. Men (especially JW's) are expected to uncomplainingly take everything on the chin and never blame their problems on anyone else, lest he be viewed as a wimp or a whiner and to some degree, women have been conditioned not to tolerate men sticking up for themselves even when they're being "bashed" and men in general, go along with this or just let it slide.

Depending on how you look at it, it could be said that JW men are the "highly oppressed" ones even thought it looks like they have all the (so called)" privileges and power". Most of them don't want it ! JW men are viewed as failures or weak by women and other JW men, if they don't "reach out" "take the lead" and "set an example". JW women are advised to only be interested in men if they have a position in the congregation and if they are a "good provider" "spiritually strong family head" so they, as women, have the option to stay at home or pioneer if they choose, rather than know how to fully support themselves. Men are expected( by the GB) to organize everything, conduct the meetings, be the head of their households and have the trade skills and do the heavy lifting when it comes time to build a Kingdom Hall. They are the ones that are supposed to handle everyone's problems in the congregation, enforce the rules and they're the ones who are at the brunt of a lot of thanklessness and whatever complaints the women may have about them for their own personal limitations.

No matter how you look at it, men and women regardless of their race can find something to complain about when it comes to the way the society manipulates everyone into playing roles they don't necessarily want to play and the weight of the unnecessary burdens that have been added to them.

13

Jehovah's Witnesses DO break up families

by UnshackleTheChains in

this recording was the final straw for me.

https://youtu.be/ks2ld6pjybo.

Pete Zahut

This is a case of humans intervening in someone's personal relationship with God. It's crazy what one must do to prove to others that their relationship with God has been "mended". The thing is....this recording will be proof to them that she was unrepentant and they were in the right to continue shunning her.

Who knows...she may be a bit of a flake and they may have a history of her being unreliable or untrustworthy. If they insist on doing something, they should just make an announcement that they're going to restrict her from participating and associating with others in the meetings and let others decide for themselves whether or not to associate with her on their own time..

They go too far with things...they're behaving as if they are rulers of a nation or tribe and can supersede the law of the land. They should restrict their authority to within the walls of the kingdom hall and shouldn't intervene with she and her family's personal life.

14

Fudging The Numbers JW Style

by pale.emperor in

i know most of us have probably figured this out already, but remember the good old days where you could only count full hours in the ministry?.

then one of the gb get some "new light" from their ass and proclaim that they lovingly will allow people to report 30mins, then even 15mins of time.

this was, supposedly, so that the old and infirm could have a joy in the ministry and report what little they could do.

Pete Zahut

JW`s would be happy to count hours preaching to their dogs..

IT WOULDN`T SURPRISE ME,IF SOME DO..

And why shouldn't they?? After all, God is Dog spelled backwards