They were always out in the aisle and often the owner of the bag would forget that it was there and would stumble over it when he got up during the meeting to use the bathroom or take care of some other urgent business that couldn't wait.
Pete Zahut
JoinedPosts by Pete Zahut
-
-
-
-
30
How Could We Have Been So Heartless?
by BluesBrother ini am addressing here those who, like me, spent decades in the organisation that we called “the truth”.
perhaps like me you were brought up in it from an early age.
looking back now i wonder that i could have been so heartless as to believe that the mass slaughter of billions of people was “good news”.
-
-
Pete Zahut
I don't think it was a matter of being heartless. We were taught that the destruction of the wicked was a done deal as far as Jehovah was concerned and the only way out of it was to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It was more a matter of saving our own souls. Those scriptures reaffirmed our fears and gave us hope that if we played our cards right, would be spared and we could help spare as many people as possible if only we were diligent enough.
What didn't make sense is the idea that Jehovah was going to kill everyone who was not a JW and if we didn't warn them thoroughly enough by using every possible available moment of our time to do so, we too would be killed. We were taught that he hated "token witnesses" and anyone who was "lukewarm". We learned that he was going to kill the wicked and he was also going to kill people who weren't necessarily wicked but who didn't spend their free time wisely going from door to door as much as they could have or joyfully enough, attending meetings regularly enough, studying and underlining th literature enough and participating in the meetings enough. We knew that we could do everything right but fail at the end by giving in when tortured. We knew that if we made it into the new system, we didn't deserve it but were there because of Jehovah's undeserved kindness and that in a thousand years, we'd be tested all over again.
A lot of JW's said they "love Jehovah" but I just never could...I feaerd him and didn't understand him but I never loved him and I felt guilty for this and feared for my life since childhood.
-
104
Aunt Jemima and Mrs.Buttersworth Need To Be Destroyed!
by minimus inwe have to get rid of these racist relics.
i propose that we destroy all these bottles of syrups and burn every pancake box !
we need to get rid of anything that reminds us of anything negative concerning slavery.. in boston they decapitated the head of christopher columbus and got rid of his statue.
-
-
Pete Zahut
With Aunt Jemima gone, eventually people will stop referring to JW's as Jemima Witnesses.
What about Lucky the Leprechaun? Isn't he demeaning to Irish people with his stereotypical red hair and backwoods Hollywood version of an Irish accent ? "Always aaafter me Lucky Chaaaarrrms"
-
18
dump google
by phoenixrising ini have noticed as of late that google searches are heavily filtering searches and shopping.
i know they keep track and monitor your activity but when i can not find things or articles because they don't fit googles bs naritive its time to leave.
duck duck go is my replacement.
-
-
Pete Zahut
My son has converted to Bing and sings its' praises.
I refuse to ever use bing because it randomly attached itself to my computer several times and took over my browser without authorization. It highjacks your searches away from the search engine you normally use and its a devil to get rid of.
-
17
Covid19 "Suggestions" (aka rules)
by Huxley1979 inso a co just said in his talk yesterday that anyone that doesn't follow the branch's covid19 "suggestions" is disobedient and the type of person that won't survive armageddon.
didn't the letter say that each head of household would choose for himself how to apply the "suggestions"?.
the funny thing is there are other countries where none of these "suggestions" have been given..
-
-
Pete Zahut
It’s not so much about obedience, it’s about image and liability.
If JW's disobeyed the CDC guidelines and continued attending meetings and going from door to door, they'd be known as Covid's Witnesses (not a good image).
-
20
Pioneer School Funny Picture
by pale.emperor infound this on one of the exjw reddit pages.
a "hilarious" group photo.
another sign that this isnt the same religion we remembered of the 80s and 90s - and i dont mean that in a good, progressive way.. you can just smell the virginity oozing out of the front and back row.. .
-
-
Pete Zahut
This is either a bunch of Pioneers who had a normal group picture taken and were asked to do a " crazy photo" just for fun...
-or-
This photo was taken moments after the overlapping generation concept was explained to them for the first time.
-
41
Removing Historic Monuments and Statues - Does the Term "Historical" Make it Right or Wrong?
by RubaDub inafter further review and thought, i really don't see how removing a monument or statue that may be truly offensive to a large group of people is in some way rewriting history.. i think of germany or other parts of europe.
you don't see swastikas on buildings or statues of hitler or mussolini or other upper level generals in public.
would it be good for a person (think jewish) to drive around a city and see hitler in a public park, even though it is "historical?
-
-
Pete Zahut
I think if we look at any countries history it will be full of offensive and barbaric things that the then leaders did even though at the time they were considered heroic. I was at a museum exhibit that displayed ancient Greek and Roman statues and I asked the tour guide why it was that these beautiful statues were always uncovered by archeologists. How did they wind up under so many layers of dirt?. He said that when each empire fell during some sort of uprising, the next group would pull down all the statues and bury them or just dump them and they'd become covered with sand and dirt over time. As the centuries passed, all was forgiven and old grudges forgotten and the modern people could took these statues at their face value. The U.S. is too new for that yet and there are those who are bearing a grudge even though as bad as they may think it is, what those people did, led us to the modern things we enjoy today even though there are some bad memories left over and things that still need to change. They were doing what they thought at the time was the natural/normal thing to do.
Because we have so little history, part of me thinks it would be a shame to loose the relics of the past especially since we are able to understand that the things that were done back then wouldn't fly today and nobody is truing to bring them back. I think most people can live with these historical places but there are those who want revenge and they'll never be satisfied because there's no way to undo the past and they really don't want to get past this issue. It seems like they might loose part of their identity if they didn't have this grudge to bear.
I'm glad no one tore down what's left of the Mayan ruins because of the horrific things they did to women and children and neighboring peoples. They serve as a reminder of how far humans have come even though we have a long way to go.
-
246
Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?
by minimus ini agree with people who say all lives matter.
i think blm is a racist group.
if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..
-
-
Pete Zahut
If someone comes to you in grief and says that there mom just died, it would be insensitive to respond with, “so what! My mom died too and you don’t see me crying and grieving like you are!”
You needn't explain to me what empathy is and your example of the deceased mother is full of holes because you're not comparing apples to apples.If you wanted to use the example of the death of a mother as an equal comparison, you'd have to say that your mother died and no one suffers the way a black person does when their mother dies. to which I would have responded with examples of how much I too suffered when my mom died.Instead you gave examples of things you had to put up with because of your race as if no one else could possibly have had those things happen except a black man. I responded with examples of my own that demonstrated that as a White Man, I too have experience with being treated unfairly. I didn't say "So What?" It's just that you didn't like hearing that so you concluded that I was discounting your experience and being unempathetic when in reality it's you who is discounting the possibility that a privileged white male could possibly have anything comparable to complain about when it come to being treated unfairly. It's easier to find fault with me than to consider the possibility that others may actually have a valid point.My parents brought me and my siblings to this country when I was small. My Dad worked his regular job and cleaned his office building and other medical offices at night and on the weekends. I as an 8 year old boy and all the way through high school (except for meeting nights) worked all night and on weekends with him and went to school the next day and struggled to stay awake and learn. My best JW friend was a black kid and we grew up together from 1st grade to 12 grade practically living at each others homes, we even went to Bethel together. His Elder father got a 0 interest minority loan to start his own business. They had every material advantage, drove fancy cars had new clothes and went on lots of expensive vacations. He and I were out in the door to door work one Saturday and there was a house that had lots of cat figurines in the yard and a sign on the door that said "No Dogs Allowed" My friend told me that the sign meant that they didn't want black people at their house. He was skeptical as I explained to him that these people were cat lovers and the sign was probably a joke or at the very least, meant to protect their cats. He wasn't convinced even when the people were very nice to us.One day during summer vacation his sister Ann was staying overnight with my sister. The nice kid across the street was in Band class at school with her (she played the Clarinet) and he called out , " Hi Annie...how's the Ol' Licorice Stick?" She burst into tears and ran into the house crying to my mother that the boy across the street is prejudice and called her a Licorice Stick because she's black. Later, the boy explained that in Band class, they call the Clarinet a Licorice Stick because it's straight and black and shiny like a licorice stick and he was just wondering how she was doing over the summer vacation. My friends parents were the warmest loveliest people but they kept a wall up, kept everyone at arms length only associated with black people from their old congregation and I heard them teach their kids in subtle ways, that white people were out to get them and not to be trusted.My parents were white of course and spoke their own language but English was their 1st language and they spoke it perfectly. They were both well educated. As soon as they opened their mouths to speak their European accent became evident. I heard people tell them off for coming to this country and taking their jobs away. I heard JW's say to my highly educated school teacher mother "For a foreigner, you sure do speak good American " ( not English well, but good American.) They were good dancers and they had black people comment that they dance real good...for white folks! As if all white people have no sense of rhythm and that was supposed to be a big compliment coming from them who considered their way of dancing to be the gold standard.We came to this country and were automatically included in the racial mess that was going on here for hundreds of years even though none of our ancestors had anything to do with it.There are millions of white people in the same situation but when (some) black people see us, and they automatically assume we are against them simply because of our skin color. I was in Charlotte N.C recently and a black woman at a fast food restaurant was courteous to the entire line of black people who were ahead of me. When I stepped up to the counter she wouldn't even look at me or ask me what I wanted. I could see what was happening so I went ahead and gave my order and she made no indication that she even heard me. When the food came she put the bag and my change on the counter out of my reach and I had to reach over into her work space and get it and pick each coin up off the metal counter one by one as she smirked.When I was in Bethel, I was riding on the subway home from meeting and stood up to give my seat to a weary looking older black woman. She said "Sit your white ass down Cracker !!"I'm a City Inspector and recently had to ask a black woman not to park in the employee parking lot. I said, excuse me Mam' you probably didn't realize it but this area is for City Vehicles. I need to ask you to move your car. In the most hateful contemptuous voice she said, "Don't be telin' me what to do WHITE MAN !"A middle aged black woman in my office was fired after a year of being warned not to be late and not to call in sick so often. Everyone loved her and hated to see her go but she just wouldn't change. On the day of the firing, she slammed out of the Directors office, shoved the phones and computer off his secretaries desk, smashed a printer to the floor and kicked over a plant stand. If a white woman did that, the cops would have been called and she'd have been fined for the damages. Instead, all the white people in charge felt bad for the poor underprivileged black lady and let it go. Later she sued for discrimination and fortunately, her supervisor had kept meticulous records and took photos of the damage she did. All the other black employees in the office knew she was in the wrong but wouldn't come to the Directors defense for fear of looking like traitors.I don't really know why I'm bothered to go into all that other than to show that everyone has a story to tell but when you indicate to me that I don't have empathy or say that I'm trying to deflect or invalidate your experience, I suggest that you consider the idea that when you're participating in a discussion on an open forum and when someone relates their own experience, they aren't necessarily trying to be unempathetic or undermine yours, they are simply participating in the discussion. -
246
Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?
by minimus ini agree with people who say all lives matter.
i think blm is a racist group.
if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..
-
-
Pete Zahut
In conclusion, I have not denied your experiences. Please don’t deny my experiences or the experiences of millions of people of color.
Did I deny your experience or the experiences of millions of people of color? If you read my post again you’ll see that all I did was relate my own experiences with injustices and unfairness as a white man. You decided that I was denying your experiences, all by your self.
Nobody is trying to point the finger at anybody
Thats exactly what you’re doing when you call an entire race of people that you don’t even know, privileged « across the board regardless of their personal circumstances. Isn’t it the height of racism to paint an entire race of people with the same broad brush?
-
246
Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?
by minimus ini agree with people who say all lives matter.
i think blm is a racist group.
if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..
-
-
Pete Zahut
When I was a Jehovah’s Witness we were told the world hated us And I saw evidence of it everywhere. Now I realize that no one even knew we existed… So where did all that hatred go that I once was sure was there?