Posts by Pete Zahut

17

"I still miss it Dad" My 41 Year Son Admitted

by 1234 in

jw
friends

on the 18th of september i turned in my disassociation letter in to the tigard congregation, 19 years ago.. my son turned in his letter in november 2001, 19 years ago shortly after me.

he was 21 years old.. two days ago we were working together on a wrap for his a/c unit on his bus.. out of blue, he says "i still miss it dad.

not the religion.

Pete Zahut

I would just like the ones I knew, could see me now, doing things most people do for enjoyment and pleasure , not things like robotic , as attending assemblies, or participating in JW speak.

Yes...it is very satisfying to run into former JW friends and have them be amazed that you're looking so well and that your life isn't the train wreck that they fully expected it to be.

When we left the "Truth" I half expected my life to be cursed by God or to receive an onslaught tribulation from Satan. Instead, the years of anxiety that I suffered through as a JW, disappeared as if overnight. I landed the best job I ever had, our son enrolled in university and ended up with a degree and a job as an Environmental Scientist and so on. A tiny part of the former superstitious JW part of my brain suspected that all this success could be Satan rewarding me for going against Jehovah. Fortunately I was old enough to realize that this was nonsense and went out of my way to prove them wrong. But some young former JW's don't have the benefit of hindsight and fall into the trap of letting the old superstitious worrisome JW mindset, control them.

I wish that every former JW could have the same success that I had and many, if not most ; do well. Unfortunately, "still in" JW's don't hear of, or don't speak about them. They only discuss the ones who fit their narrative. The ones who because of the low opinion of themselves that they were conditioned to believe, headed straight for the things not worth having in this world, simply because as JW's they were taught that if you're not a JW, then you are "worldly" and "worldly people" only do bad.

17

"I still miss it Dad" My 41 Year Son Admitted

by 1234 in

jw
friends

on the 18th of september i turned in my disassociation letter in to the tigard congregation, 19 years ago.. my son turned in his letter in november 2001, 19 years ago shortly after me.

he was 21 years old.. two days ago we were working together on a wrap for his a/c unit on his bus.. out of blue, he says "i still miss it dad.

not the religion.

Pete Zahut

It's human nature to look back on the past with rose colored glasses. Even abused children can look back on certain aspects of their childhood with fondness.

If your son could snap his fingers and step back to that time period knowing what he knows now, it's likely he'd take one look around and want to leave. He'd realize that it wasn't as good as he is remembering that it was.

27

How do you switch off the thoughts of being raised JW and feelings of anger

by Zeds Dead in

raised as a jo blow and married into it.

37 years in it and now last 7 years out of it which feels great.. have memories of being a kid in school in the uk and just hating everything about being the jw kid.

bullied, embarrassed in front of others and self-esteem went into the toilet.wished i was born into a different family.. what angers me is the messaging i would receive at home when i talked about being bullied.

Pete Zahut

These memories and feelings sometimes play in circles in my head and looking for comments on how others handle this?

Our feelings are caused by our thoughts and our thoughts are only as important as we allow them them be.

Like any bad habit, it takes about 6 weeks of concentrated effort to unlearn the habit of dwelling on unwanted thoughts, but it can be done.

Write your unwanted thoughts down as they occur and write down the conclusion you've drawn about these thoughts. Then write down a positive statement to replace the unwanted thought.

Example:

Negative Thought: "I wasted my whole life as a JW"

Conclusion: "The past is over and it can't be changed. I don't want to waste anymore of my life over this matter."

Positive Thought: " I have learned valuable things from my past but I choose live in the present moment and to live my life one day at a time"

_______________________________________

Negative Thought: "I'll never get rid of the anger from being a JW."

Conclusion: "A lot of things happened to me that should never have happened but millions of people have overcome worse experiences than the ones I had. I can rid myself of my anger as well."

Replacement Thought: "I am in control of my thoughts and emotions and I choose to think positively about the future."

Collect as many of these positive thoughts as you can and memorize them. Practice them 3 times a day for 6 weeks by physically writing them out and saying them out loud as you write them. When you catch yourself dwelling on your JW past, start repeating your memorized thoughts over and over (silently or out loud). This can be done just about anywhere and at just about any time.

Remember. Your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between the past or the future. Your body will physically react in the here and now, to whatever you're thinking about in any given moment. That's why, for example, you can physically blush when thinking of something stupid you did 10 years ago or you can feel a wave of anxiety just by thinking about something worrisome that might happen in the future.

Your positive statements need to be in the here and now.

For example, instead of saying, "I'm going to be a more positive person who tries to live in the moment", you should say it as if it is already so, "I am a positive person who lives one day at a time".

It sounds too simple to be effective but it works. In time you'll begin to catch yourself early on in the negative thought process and you will arrest them and replace them with positive thoughts. Eventually they will occur less and less often. You will be able to apply this skill in many areas of your life besides with the JW problem.

23

So the elders gave my 19 year old daughter a shepharding call depression ensues!

by nowwhat? in

against our wishes she got baptised at 16 because she got brainwashed by her cousin.

the last year or so she hasn't been so gung ho about the "truth".

anyway the elders came down on her for not getting her time in the last couple months because she absolutely hates zoom letter writing.

Pete Zahut

As a JW one is made to feel as if they are responsible for the world and that Jehovah is watching and it's fate hangs in the balance depending upon what we do. Little children are told that the Angels and Satan are watching them and they have the power to "make Jehovah sad". That's a lot of pressure to place on a child or anyone.

Your daughter may need gentle reassurance that being conscientious and concerned for others is a good thing but it can cause depression and anxiety if it isn't kept in balance. She may need to be reminded that it doesn't help anyone if she lets her concerns or guilt overpower her well being.

We are all a bit narcissistic (especially when we're young) and on a subconscious level we tend to think that this is our world and that everyone else is just a part of it and noting of import happened before we came onto the scene. Like most young people, she probably thinks on some level that adults know best and she doesn't fully comprehend that what she sees happening around her has been going on long before she was born and that she isn't responsible for it. Her life isn't the "emergency" that JW's have made her think it is. She has been convinced that God cursed mankind and is going to turn around and kill us all because of it and that she is somehow responsible for keeping it from happening.

All the (long gone) JW's who came before her felt the same way. They spent their lives being guilted into knocking on doors and standing on street corners holding magazines, thinking it was something God wanted them to do when in actuality, they were following men and making money for them. The Bible speaks of the ministry as being the work of Jesus and his 12 apostles rather than the of his followers. There were no mention of magazines, or literature carts, or keeping track of their hours. Hopefully you'll be able to help her put things in perspective and she'll see a measure of improvement in terms of her anxiety and depression.

.

9

Another suspect JW experience

by neat blue dog in

the latest jwdotorg experience tells of using video conferencing to hold congregation meetings inside jail for prisoners.

it says that the prison director himself and his wife have also started attending the zoom meetings and quotes him as saying.

“these meetings are of great importance for the spiritual and emotional well-being of the prisoners during this period of social isolation.

Pete Zahut

Also, it’s remarkable how the meetings contribute to creating a peaceful environment among them.

They’re all asleep!

20

Hillary is telling all Americans to NOT CONCEDE IF TRUMP WINS----FIGHT! What will you do if you are put in a corner.

by pistolpete in

hillary clinton is telling all democratic supporters to be ready to fight if trump wins.

other democratic leaders are telling the masses to destroy everything in their cities and cripple the economy if trump is elected president.

other democratic leaders are appealing to the military who support the democratic agenda to step in and stop any arm citizens on the side of trump if he is elected, and remove the president by force if he wins the election.. hillary clinton is making it clear to the democratic supporters, that joe biden will become president -after president trump becomes elected.. looks like a dictator coup d'état,to overthrow the usa government by non-democratic means is now in the making.

Pete Zahut

Everyone knows full well that no Republican voters will follow her directions to NOT CONCEDE, if Trump wins. Only her "AMERICAN DEMOCRAT SUPPORTERS" will follow everything she says.

Again, she is SPECULATING that the Trump camp will do something(s) unethical and is advising JOE BIDEN not to succeed IF that were to happen. Lots of people vote non partisan so she’s talking to anyone who supports Biden not only Democrats however she is only advising HIM not to succeed. She is not calling for a unilateral revolt and it is doubtful that anyone will be pushed into a corner as your original post title stated.

To me, your original post seemed as if it might be intentionally trying to use the most feeble evidence to stir things up. It's good that your posts on this and other sites will be more inclusive as you say and will hopefully seem less influenced by your own bias.

20

Hillary is telling all Americans to NOT CONCEDE IF TRUMP WINS----FIGHT! What will you do if you are put in a corner.

by pistolpete in

hillary clinton is telling all democratic supporters to be ready to fight if trump wins.

other democratic leaders are telling the masses to destroy everything in their cities and cripple the economy if trump is elected president.

other democratic leaders are appealing to the military who support the democratic agenda to step in and stop any arm citizens on the side of trump if he is elected, and remove the president by force if he wins the election.. hillary clinton is making it clear to the democratic supporters, that joe biden will become president -after president trump becomes elected.. looks like a dictator coup d'état,to overthrow the usa government by non-democratic means is now in the making.

Pete Zahut

Hillary is telling all Americans to NOT CONCEDE IF TRUMP WINS----FIGHT! What will you do if you are put in a corner.

The title of your post is "Hilary is telling "All AMERICANS" Not to Concede If Trump wins. What Will You Do If You're Put In A Corner? ". You have distorted her words.

She is speaking to Biden supporters and is SPECULATING that there COULD be corruption from the Trump camp. At the 2:00 mark is telling only JOE BIDEN, not to concede (not "Americans" in general as you say ) and that's only "IF " Trump actually does use intimidation etc outside the polling places as she speculates he will. He likely won't.

Again....you have to LISTEN to the entire context of what is being said and you have to do it without confirmation bias so that you only hear what you want to hear and then jump to the wrong conclusions.

Again....she did not tell ALL AMERICANS not to concede if Trump wins. And what "Corner" are you talking about?? Sounds like you are trying to create hysteria.

You have demonstrated why people have to be really careful about what they hear and what they say.

28

Do You Think We Will Ever Get To “Normal” Again?

by minimus in

jw
friends

will we ever be able to congregate together for a concert or a theater?

will we forever be wearing a mask at walmart?

will restaurants and bars allow people to eat drink and simply hang out?.

Pete Zahut

I fear that all the x-tra hand washing and sanitizing may be making our immune systems weak or lazy and more susceptible to the regular germs and bacteria that we were once able to fight off because we were exposed to them on a day to day basis.

I remember a few years ago I was going on winter vacation to a sunny tropical place and I wanted to make sure I didn't catch a cold or the flu before we left and ruin the vacation. A few weeks before we left I was super diligent about washing my hands and using hand sanitizers and not touching my face. I even went so far as to wipe down the armrests and tray table on the plane with a antibacterial wipe.

Two days after we arrived, I got some sort of flu and it just about knocked me out. I have never been so sick before or since. My wife, who is in the medical field, says it was because I had weakened my immune system by killing every germ and bacteria instead of having built up a resistance to them.

Who knows ?

3

The Most High

by Lost in the fog in

saw this on a friend's facebook page.

of course all the jws were quick to say that it must have been the apostate israelites.

bbc news - 'cannabis burned during worship' by ancient israeli test.

Pete Zahut

Makes sense since religion has been likened to the "opium of the people" and Marijuana is considered a "gateway drug".

20

Hillary is telling all Americans to NOT CONCEDE IF TRUMP WINS----FIGHT! What will you do if you are put in a corner.

by pistolpete in

hillary clinton is telling all democratic supporters to be ready to fight if trump wins.

other democratic leaders are telling the masses to destroy everything in their cities and cripple the economy if trump is elected president.

other democratic leaders are appealing to the military who support the democratic agenda to step in and stop any arm citizens on the side of trump if he is elected, and remove the president by force if he wins the election.. hillary clinton is making it clear to the democratic supporters, that joe biden will become president -after president trump becomes elected.. looks like a dictator coup d'état,to overthrow the usa government by non-democratic means is now in the making.

Pete Zahut

I would like to know the exact context around Hilary's statement before I drew any conclusions. Surely people must realize that video's can be edited . What she may have said two seconds before or after her comment about Trump, could change the whole meaning of what she said in this clip, if it were to be edited out.

I always have to examine the possible motives behind the use of clips like these.