Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  12

  Another High School Shooting ... Pleasantville, New Jersey

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.

  "fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.

  if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.

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  Pete Zahut

  Kids have 2nd Amendment rights too. Remember, the more guns we have the safer we will be. Just ask the NRA.

  Oh good...you weren't serious.
  
  
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  12

  Another High School Shooting ... Pleasantville, New Jersey

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.

  "fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.

  if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.

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  Pete Zahut

  If all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.

  Really?? You think a school full of armed school kids is a good idea?

  Imagine what the death toll of the bystanders would have been if a school full of armed teens all began shooting as soon as they heard the gunshot? Not to mention all the accidental mishaps that would likely happen during a normal school day, if everyone were carrying a gun.
  
  
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  34

  Another High School Shooting ... Santa Clara California

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.

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  Pete Zahut

  It's like blaming drink-driving on easy access to cars.
  Simon, I usually agree with a lot of your comments but I think comparing drink driving to gun violence is a classic strawman argument.

  Perhaps the similarity of the two examples could be seen if it were said that a contributing factor to the drink-driving problem is the easy access to alcohol rather than an easy access to cars and that a contributing factor of the mass shootings is the easy access to bullets instead of guns.

  The thing is, alcohol and cars have always been available to the public but the difference now is that there are the increase in the drink-drive problem is because there are more drivers on the road and the odds of there being a drunk driver among them is higher and so is the likelihood of them accidentally hitting someone on the crowded roads.

  Similarly, guns and bullets have always been available here in the U.S. but the troubling thing is that something has changed recently in society itself, to cause the use of guns for intentionally killing people in public places, to become a trend.

  I feel that the things I mentioned in my earlier post, as well as a trend toward a victim mentality and to blame others for ones problems, coupled with the availability of guns, could be the perfect storm that is taking place and resulting in what we are seeing.
  
  
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  34

  Another High School Shooting ... Santa Clara California

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.

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  Pete Zahut

  My Theory:

  There's a whole generation of kids out there, many of whom are pampered, narcissistic and too thin skinned to deal with the realities of life. We live in a time of instant gratification where Microwave ovens are too slow and fast food takes far too long. Calling someone on the phone is too much of a commitment compared to sending a text or instant message. Behind the wheel of a speeding car, even a generally balanced person will fell justified when they become enraged by a driver who isn't going at least 10 mph over the speed limit.

  Kids spend hour upon hour playing video games where one simply blasts everything out of their way. They've grown up with Social Media where one can anonymously weigh in with their opinion or spew hatred and unfriend or block anyone who disagrees. They've seen their parents, from the anonymity of their speeding car, become enraged and endanger themselves and everyone on the road, because someone dared to get in their way.

  I fear that some of the kids today have become so isolated and detached from others that their view of reality is skewed. Those they view as enemies, aren't seen as real people. Every problem they encounter or difficulty they have with someone in the real world, feels like a life or death matter to them and they don't have the coping skills they need to work things out in real time. They deal with these things the only way they know how...swiftly and with the skills they learned in their imaginary world.

  Combine all this with the availability of a gun and there you have it...
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  35

  10 Year Growth Chart

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here are some visuals to help show what is going on with the jw numbers game.

  i am not a numbers guy and there maybe a few errors (info directly from grand total pages on jw.borg).

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  Pete Zahut

  I'm not sure how the "deficit" numbers were figured.
  

  I think that the Peak Publishers number includes "Unbaptized" Publishers. Although a certain number of individuals were baptized in a given year, doesn't mean there would be an increase in the number of Peak Publishers because they were already being counted in the previous years.

  Also, each year, young ones who aren't baptized become old enough to be counted a Publishers and are included in the Peak Publishers numbers.

  Could this be where the deficit comes about?
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  6

  Paul Harvey, A letter from God

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  could it really be this simple ?.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ueqsbriu8.

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  Pete Zahut

  A letter from God, written by a man named Paul Harvey.

  Same old problem...sounds reasonable enough at first glance but there's no proof of anything being said.
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  52

  How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?

  by Ding in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".

  i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.

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  Pete Zahut

  Most JW's see the flaws in the doctrine but they have been conditioned to believe that if they have doubts, THEY are the problem.

  Deep down, I realize that I didn't believe all of the teachings but deep down, I was 100% convinced that I should and acted accordingly.
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  7

  Pinch Point

  by Solzhenitsyn in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as jw elders what were the biggest frustrations we personally had?.

  i hated rank and file members who i couldn't humble..

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  Pete Zahut

  I hated rank and file members who I couldn't humble.

  Someone who is hating congregation members who wouldn't allow you to humiliate them isn't exactly what one would think of as being humble.

  Who was having a problem with humility here? You or them?
  
  
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  21

  2020 Memorial Talk Outline!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2020 memorial talk outline.. https://docdro.id/73bh2yg.

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  petra!.

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  Pete Zahut

  Jesus "commanded" his disciples to remember his loving act in a simple ceremony, which is held once a year as a memorial (Lu 22:19,20)
  And having taken the bread, having given thanks, He broke it and gave to them, saying, "This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me,"

  I'm surprised at how much of this I've become unclear about.

  The way I see this scripture, Jesus was saying that when you observe the Passover celebration, when you eat unleavened bread and drink red wine, which is part of the passover celebration, do it in remembrance of me.

  JW's don't believe that they are required to celebrate the passover anymore . I don't see that this scripture indicates that Jesus intended to replace the passover celebration with a memorial of his death. It seems like he's saying to remember him during the passover celebration. I also see no indication that from that point on, his followers would be expected to go around the community, inviting non believers to observe the celebration with them, they way JW'd do today.

  Where did that come in to play? Am I missing something?
  
  
  
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  7

  Montana Women's Prison settles discrimination complaint by JW | billingsgazette.com

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/montana-women-s-prison-settles-discrimination-complaint-by-jehovah-s/article_d1c8c9cf-1b33-5b77-99b3-a6be5bcab357.html.

  montana women's prison settles discrimination complaint by jehovah's witness.

  the state has agreed to pay a portion of an inmate’s attorney fees and have a warden undergo training on religion rights to settle a discrimination claim.. .

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  Pete Zahut

  The JW's better hope that if Mary Simmons get's baptized, they don't cross her somehow. She's apparently not afraid too to use the law to get what she wants, no matter how petty the matter or flimsy the claim is.