Posts by Pete Zahut

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?

...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.

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

Wikipedia has the second most translated website in the world and as such (by JW logic) means it also must be backed by god (but not quite as much as they are).

If they were truly concerned with reaching everyone before the end comes, they'd broadcast their message on local television stations daily via satellite around the world. Instead they focus on spending their money on luxurious resort like accommodations for themselves and on developing properties.

35

Not training speakers/teachers any more?

by eyeslice2 in

jw
friends

not having attended any meetings since about 2001, for reasons of safety (sounds a bit dramatic but i don't like my wife being out on her own late at night where we live now), i have started accompanying her to the mid-week meeting.. when i was young, the ministry school and service meeting were central to training brothers to take the lead.

you were assigned instruction talks, then if you cut it, you moved pretty rapidly to public talks - a full 55 mins at the time.

i was just 18 years old when i gave my first public talk and this was a first step to moving rapidly through the ranks.

Pete Zahut

Most of the microphone time is actually claimed by sisters that seem to get their jollies by lecturing the congregations during Question and answer sessions,

Reminds me of one of the last meetings I attended, a local elderette gave one of her long and preachy comments during the Watchtower study. Afterward, in his closing talk, the visiting Circuit Overseer counseled the sisters not to be instructing the audience from their seats when commenting at the meetings. Everyone was suppressing a smirk because we all knew who he was talking about.

29

WT study 8 December

by road to nowhere in

had to look.

first paragraph mentions that most of were probably born after 1914. most?

i bet the dubs 105 and older can be counted on your fingers..

Pete Zahut

WERE you born after the year 1914? If so, you have lived your entire life during “the last days” of the present system of things. (2 Tim. 3:1