Posts by Pete Zahut

27

I Ended my Bible Study

by Maria Nieves in

i ended my bible study today.

several months ago, i began to feel that the truth was not the truth.

as the months progressed, my feelings intensified.

There'll be a bit of a grieving period because of your disappointment but it will soon pass. Give it a couple of months and you'll likely come to see that your study conductor may have been kindly but she wasn't really a friend. Rather she too is a victim of a cult like religion that easily dispenses with people who don't buy into their program... even their own flesh and blood.

She may have felt that she was studying with you because of a genuine interest in saving you from the wrath of God but its likely that her motivation was from peer pressure and from wanting to save her own skin. She was counting the time she was studying with you and was required to report it to the congregation each month so they could monitor her activity and make her feel guilty if she wasn't doing enough.

If there is a god, you can pray and live your life in the manner that your own conscience and ability to reason, directs you. Within the framework of your own life circumstances, you can show kindness and or do good works that provide real hands on help to those in need around you or who you may come into contact with regardless of their religious affiliation.

62

Enjoyed the Memorial

by ScottyRex in

probably not a popular opinion on here....and haven't been actively attending meetings since 1988....(i know i know a submarine attender) however thoroughly enjoyed attending this evening...was good to see lots of people i remember whilst growing up in this faith, they were genuine and the whole atmosphere was one of love.

sure if i suddenly wanted to become active again and didn't change my lifestyle they would drop me like a bomb.....however i haven't and won't and they didn't and don't.

this works for me.. i cannot demonize the witnesses on what i have seen tonight.

Pete Zahut

I know what you mean when you say you enjoyed the time you spent with the JW's. I too hold nothing against the JW's individually and usually enjoy being around my old friends mostly because its familiar and feels safe and not because of anything related to the actual religion or its beliefs.

The thing is, the whole reason I've known these people since extreme childhood is because they convinced my Mother that they were the one and only true religion and being one of them was the only way to be spared destruction by God. None of that is provable and noting they've ever said, has turned out to be true. So what's the point of continuing on? Especially when so much irreparable damage has happened to my family because of the blood issue.

18

I’m so sad . . .

by HappyBlessedFree in

so my husband asked me if i’m going to the memorial.

i said “no”.. he asked would it be okay if i take the kids.

“i would prefer that you didn’t”.. why can’t he see the lies!

Pete Zahut

What works best is to attack the credibility of the leaders/organization.

Attack may not have been the best choice of words. Any kind of perceived attack would very likely put him into defense mode and close his mind off even though he sees that things you are saying are indeed credible.
What worked best for me was to ask legitimate questions about the Bible that lead to a JW explanation and in the process the flaws in the doctrines that weren't noticed before, were revealed.

18

I’m so sad . . .

by HappyBlessedFree in

so my husband asked me if i’m going to the memorial.

i said “no”.. he asked would it be okay if i take the kids.

“i would prefer that you didn’t”.. why can’t he see the lies!

Pete Zahut

The thing I found that works the best is to get your spouse to see the inaccuracies of the beliefs one at a time and then it will have less and less of a hold on them. Ask him to help refresh your memory on the beliefs by asking simple non judgmental questions and let him answer without judgement or argument. Let him see things for himself without having to be on the defensive.

Since it's the Memorial you could say:

You: I've forgotten a lot of the details of who eats of the bread and the wine, such as where the number 144,000 comes into play.

Him: There will be 144,000 who are chosen to rule with Christ in heaven Revelation 7:4. 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

You: Are they literally from the 12 tribes?

Him: No that's symbolic

You: Ok so they're not literally from the tribes of Israel but does that mean that the number 144,000 is symbolic too?

Him: No, that's literal

You: So one part of the scripture is literal and another part is symbolic? How do we know that for sure?

Him: That's what the faithful and discrete salve says is the understanding.

You: Are some of the 144,000 who partake of the bread and wine at the memorial, women?

Him: Yes

You: So the women who partake of the emblems don't teach or have any position in the Congregation now, but they'll be ruling with Christ in heaven and judging mankind.

Him: Yes

You: Yeah....ok...it's convoluted but it's starting to come back to me....I guess I was never sure about how I could prove anything like that to anyone who wasn't already a JW.

7

Have you been embarrassed just to be with somebody?

by stillin in

jw
friends

the cult draws a lot of strange people in.

people who act like snobs about education and how much more important the witnessing work is.

people with hang-ups.

Pete Zahut

My wife and I went to New York to tour Bethel in 2006 with a group of 8 JW's from our Hall. We went around the city and did some sight seeing as well. As we were walking along in Times Square behind our group, we realized that they were the fattest people on the street....everyone of them was overweight and they were all walking along eating something. Even though they were youngish, they were having trouble with all of the walking. We had to stop so they could buy cheap flip flops for several of the sisters to wear because their feet were aching.

We went into the famous Katz Deli and the line of people was all the way out the door and out onto the sidewalk. When we finally got inside, one of the women in the group ordered one of their specialties but began telling the guy behind the counter specifically how to make her sandwich, which didn't go over well.

It was like a scene from the "Soup Nazi" episode of "Seinfeld" . The man shouted in his NY accent " Lady...you come into here our Deli and tell us how to make a sandwich...do you see that line of people waiting to get in here ? N E X T !!!"

We were on a City Bus and while the Bus was in motion, one of the women went up and started asking the bus driver if he could stop at a certain street to let us out. He shouted at her for talking to him while he was driving and told her to go back and sit down.

We had a nice time but yeah....we were embarrassed a lot on that trip.

24

My JW boyfriend broke up with me

by DrunkinLove in

i am so crushed right now.

i have been dating a witness for over a year now.

we love each other so much.

Pete Zahut

Take note of the one who scanned over his phone.. this sort of controlling nosiness is quite common among sects where members get (imaginary) brownie points by seeking to know the personal bits of others lives.

And to add to that, JW's believe it's their duty to report any "wrong doing" they may find out about and can even be disciplined themselves if they don't....and that's not the half of it.

As someone who lost a father at 60 and father in law at 48 because they refused a blood transfusion, you need to know that JW's are prepared to die and let their spouse and children die rather than take a life saving blood transfusion. If you were to pursue a permanent relationship with your JW boyfriend and one day have children or need blood yourself, he'd be torn as to whether or not to save them/you at the expense of his and their "eternal" salvation. His family and fellow JW's would pressure him to allow them to die and he'd be disciplined if he didn't . This is not an exaggeration.

You'd either have to become a believing JW yourself, go from door to door preaching, not celebrate Holidays or Birthdays and not vote or he would be disciplined (disfellowshipped) for continuing a relationship with you. If he was disciplined or left the religion altogether, his family and friends would have nothing more to do with him.

2 Corinthians 6:13 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?

Genesis 24:3 and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,

To JW's you are an "unbeliever" " and your are a "daughter of the Canaanites" because you are "of the world" and not a JW. To them, he is a danger to them because he is seeing you and he must be disciplined to protect the congregation because they have the "light" and you are in "darkness".

This hurts now, but in the long run you'll be better off that this happened.

17

Does Anyone Remember Mr. Coffee

by new boy in

jw
friends

the apostate that hung around bethel back in the early 1970's.. i talk about "the frog" and "lady margret" in my book but knew nothing about "mr. coffee".

any help please.

new boy.

Pete Zahut

Yes, I remember Mr. Coffee. He kinda reminded me of Danny Devito. One day as we were all filing into the 124 building for lunch, he was out there as usual shouting his face off. This time a neighborhood lady was walking by with a little ankle biter type dog on a leash. All of his shouting must have startled the dog because he started barking and biting at Mr.Coffee's heels. Much to the delight of the crowd of Bethelites on the sidewalk, Mr. Coffee hopped around trying not to get bitten.

If you listened to him closely you realized that he was using phrases that individually made sense but none of them tied together into any kind of specific point other than he was really mad at the Watchtower. The rumor I heard was that he was thrown out because of something that happened between he and sister Knorr (pffft...of course ) his advances toward her were spurned etc and he got the boot.

Where else would you see such a sight like that other than at a JW Assembly. I don't think any other religion provokes such reactions from it's former members.

21

My disturbances about the world...

by nowawake14 in

jw
friends

i was at the store and i saw this young black girl.

i swear she had to be 13-14. she was preg!

and huge!

Pete Zahut

I was at the store and I saw this young black girl.

I'm curious as to why you mentioned her race. Would your reaction have been different if she'd have been of another race?

31

Bottlegate Revisited

by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

jw
friends

hilarious,enjoy.found on reddit.

this should set the mood for the weekend !.

zing.

Pete Zahut

Kilts worn by JW's must be at the mid point of the knee or lower - Tight Tartan Tony

9

National Siblings Day

by neat blue dog in

as has been mentioned, jws on social media seem to go overboard for the whole sibling day bandwagon, like they're so thrilled to participate in a holiday of sorts that hasn't yet been explicitly forbid that it's pathetic.

so, it's okay to honor your brother and sister on a certain day, but it's wrong and pagan to honor your father and mother on a certain day, something that the bible specifically says to do?

has anybody ever called them out on this, or seen someone else do it?

Pete Zahut

This trend for JW's to make a big deal out of "sibling day" is odd since many of them that I know, are unable to talk to one or more of their siblings due to their having been disfellowshipped or having left "the truth".