Pete Zahut

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Posts by Pete Zahut

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  6

  Behold the face of JESUS!

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  eight years ago, i lived in a kind of "retirement" hotel.the palm house.no - it wasn't an old folks home.

  it was an ancient folks home.mostly senior ladies living off of faith and a dead husband's money.. my encounter with jesus came about in that environment.. once a week there would be a coffee and doughnuts get-together to get to know your neighbors.. well .

  .i got invited repeatedly, badgered, coaxed, pestered and i gave up.

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  Pete Zahut

  Each one of them was cocking their head this way and that like a puppy in a pet shop window.
  "Isn't it amazing?"

  Umm..I think you meant to say each of them was "clocking" their heads...
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  38

  The Motive of the Governing Body

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been quiet of late, developing other interests, happy that there are a whole group of people producing great resources.

  however, i found some old emails from ray franz that promoted me to write an article that answers a question i regularly receive.

  it is in regards to the motive of governing body members.

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  Pete Zahut

  I made the comment below a day or so ago in response to a post made inquiring about the motive of the Governing Body. I sat at the Governing Body table referenced in Rays email and was also surprised at how ordinary and unexpectedly un-religious they were when off camera. I sat next to Ray and Cynthia Franz and Ray was my "entrants school" instructor. He was the real deal and I could tell when I was there that something was bothering him. He was doing his best to instruct us but his heart wasn't in it and he hedged his answers to our questions so as not to personally influence us one way or another. He was just there to deliver the material so it seemed. I was not surprised at all that happened to him after I left Bethel. It was interesting to me while reading Ray's email, that I had much the same opinion of the Governing Body members as he did.

  (Previous Comment)

  I too was at Bethel and sat at the governing body table every day with all of the old time GB members and their wife's. Knorr, F. Franz, R.Franz, Sidlig, Jarred, Schroder, etc etc.

  They were generally pleasant but they are in an altered state of reality and are quite caught up in being who they are. I don't think they sit around looking for ways to trick JW or get money from them per say but I do believe they realize that they've screwed up royally in so many ways. They like to put it all down to being imperfect and one could forgive them for that. The unforgivable thing however, is the way they never admit outright that they were wrong and that Jehovah isn't telling them what to say and do.

  It's my opinion that they feel that for the good of the greater number, they are justified in just about any action that covers their tracks in order to avoid stumbling those who they've influenced wrongly. Most of us would call it lying and or cowardice but they call it "spiritual warfare". They are expert at convincing themselves of any number of delusional ideas and that includes the delusion that it's a kindness to the rank and file JW's who aren't as strong as they think they are, to shield them from too much reality including the fact that they aren't any more enlightened that anyone else.
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  84

  Do you have any evidence that the GB had bad intent?

  by AlainAlam in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do you have any evidence that the gb had bad intent?

  as opposed to blind faith/cognitive dissonance and honest mistakes.. i'm inclined to think they have the best of intentions and are just wrong (primarily because the bible is wrong), but i'm willing to consider the evidence otherwise..

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  Pete Zahut

  I too was at Bethel and sat at the governing body table every day with all of the old time GB members and their wife's. Knorr, F. Franz, R.Franz, Sidlig, Jarred, Schroder, etc etc.

  They were generally pleasant but they are in an altered state of reality and are quite caught up in being who they are. I don't think they sit around looking for ways to trick JW or get money from them per say but I do believe they realize that they've screwed up royally in so many ways. They like to put it all down to being imperfect and one could forgive them for that. The unforgivable thins is the way they never admit outright that they were wrong and that Jehovah isn't telling them what to say and do.

  It's my opinion that they feel that for the good of the greater number, they are justified in just about any action that covers their tracks in order to avoid stumbling those who they've influenced wrongly. Most of us would call it lying and or cowardice but they call it "spiritual warfare". They are expert at convincing themselves of any number of delusional ideas and that includes the delusion that it's a kindness to the rank and file JW's who aren't as strong as they think they are, to shield them from too much reality including the fact that they aren't any more enlightened that anyone else.
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  18

  Brainwashing left a stain

  by Fadeaway1962 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi one of my jw parents died recently of old age , after decades of brainwashing of the dead are just a sleep and if we are good we would see them again in paradise .. i fully understand now you have one life and should make the best of it but finding it difficult at the moment to get my head around it .. it's just a bit of a rant but your the only ones that i can try and express how i feel and be able to understand after the years of brainwashing how it affects my thinking process.. thanks for any help and advice..

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  Pete Zahut

  I was a born in JW and was carefully "inculcated" (their term) from birth and was trained to think that being "inculcated" was a good thing even something to be proud of.

  The notion of the resurrection became real to me when Mom died. She was raised and spent her young adulthood in Europe and had a beautiful accent and way of expressing herself that was unique to her. I realized that in the new system, the country that she came from would no longer exist and we'd all be speaking one language and eventually we'd all sound, look and think the same for all eternity without end. Visiting one region of the world would be the same as the next and eventually we'd be sick of everything. "Let's go visit Mexico". "Why bother...we've been there literally ten thousand times and they do everything the same way we do".

  I realized that if my Mom came back, she would meet my children as adults rather than having had known them since birth and they would view her as just another person because they hadn't bonded with her since birth. All of our photographs of the past would either have been lost in Armageddon or would have been disposed of because they were memories of the wicked system of things and probably would not approved for viewing.

  Then both my Wife's Father and My own Father, died young unnecessarily because of the JW imposed blood issue and that was the beginning of the end for me. I began to ask myself if the hopes I had for the future were really mine or someone else's. Is wanting to live forever simply an example of human greed and shortsighted thinking that I'd been taught? Why would living forever give life any more purpose that it has already?

  What I'm trying to tell you is that many JW's are living a poorly thought out fantasy that keeps them going and when things get real, they either have to keep themselves from thinking too deeply or they have to face the painful realities of life that they've been avoiding. Just try talking plainly to a JW and you'll see how upset they get.

  You are going through this now and you'll have to be patient with yourself for a time because it's a process that doesn't happen in a straight line. There are many ups and downs, twists and turns until you come to grips with you own mortality. Much of the residual JW thinking will crop up especially in stressful times. Even atheists who were once Catholic, call for the Priest when on their death bed, just in case what they were taught in their youth, is true.

  It's very freeing once you've rid yourself of other peoples ideas about life because your life takes on a new value and you are free from the shadow that hangs over you that exists when you're trying to avoid reality.

  These days I don't try to claim to have any answers about the big picture things in life the way I did as a JW. I have a wait and see attitude and tell myself that if God exists and has something good in store for mankind in the future, there's no reason I shouldn't be a part of it as well and he'll make sure that all is well.
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  16

  JW Memorial Gallery

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jwdotorg released a picture gallery with dozens of images from around the world of jws celebrating ('commemorating') via zoom, organized by continent:.

  https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/2020-memorial-commemoration-international-photo-gallery/.

  the vast majority of photos show the people's faces, but this european 'brother' is a rare exception.

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  Pete Zahut

  As usual, everything is professionally photographed and carefully staged to project just the right image. Sort of like anything that comes out of North Korea.
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  5

  Ashya king's father plague sent by god

  by Fadeaway1962 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11530647/ashya-king-brain-cancer-mum-spain-split/ .

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  Pete Zahut

  There are so many holes and gaps in this story that I can't quite believe that her husband is saying that Corona19 is literally the end or if he is saying it's a sign of the end. As a JW, she should know that they believe that Plagues (plural) along with other events, are considered sings of the end.

  Her credibility, in my book, is questionable due to the fact that she asked for or agreed to an interview that would air her families business in public.

  I'm guessing that like most things in the news these days, this story is distorted because a plausible explanation would be just too ordinary to print.
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  19

  Reasonable question - looking for reasonable responses!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  why are taxi firms still operating during a "deadly pandemic?".

  i was shopping yesterday and saw taxi after taxi picking people & their shopping up at the supermarket.

  none of the drivers or any of the passengers wore masks or gloves, nor did they keep any distance from each other - in or out of the car.. the drivers all helped to load the bags into the boots/trunks of their cars.taxi-drivers must be seriously at risk of catching/spreading covid 19...

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  Pete Zahut

  People who do risky jobs even in the best of times, are used to making certain calculated risks. For them there isn't a question of whether or not they will take the risk but how they can get their job done as safely as possible.

  I think in the last month we've been so bombarded with Covid19 horror stories, that we've become a bit desensitized to it. Most of us are sick of being cooped up and if we aren't in high risk group, we are willing to take our chances.

  Since in this case, the enemy is unseen, certain taxi drivers and others who are used to real time dangers, are probably finding it easy to go on about their business and hope for the best. It seems to me that they could at least wear a mask.How hard is that to do?
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  19

  Politically Neutral and No Part of this World....

  by Davros in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  nice to be here.

  still a pimo and struggling through my fade.

  i still have several jw friends on social media.

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  Pete Zahut

  The Witnesses of today are a watered down version of what JW's used to be. I think this will be the case more and more until eventually they become just another mainstream religion. The old time JW's that I knew, if they were still alive, would be blown away by how much the doctrinal based lines have been blurred.
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  90

  Do You Think It’s Time For Businesses To Reopen Even Though Coronavirus Is Not Obliterated?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think it’s time for business to reopen and let’s get the economy going again!

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  what say you??

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  Pete Zahut

  A recent survey showed that 85% of Americans will still quarantine themselves if things reopen. If that's the case I think they should reopen once there is a plentiful supply of, masks, alcohol, disinfecting wipes, bleach etc. As it is now, there haven't been any of those things available for over a month in our area.
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  18

  What is this forum for?

  by Kate14 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm new.. my first post here asking for a little support was deleted by myself due to the frosty and rude replies i received.

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  i don't actually understand what this forum is for if it is filled with hostile people.. little confused.. why is everyone here?.

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  Pete Zahut

  In Could you give an example of a comment that you feel is belittling? I’m not seeing any. Sometimes when we’re in a low mood or have hit a rough patch we read things into what people say or do. Is it possible that you could be misinterpreting people’s replies?

  Either way, why not tell us specifically what’s going on? Maybe we can help, after all, it’s part of the human experience to feel lost and alone at times and it’s also part of the human experience to cheer each other up.