Posts by Pete Zahut

54

Allegheny Pyramid Desecrated

by RolRod in

sometime within the last 2 weeks, someone took a sledgehammer to the pyramid monument in allegheny.

they stole the topstone, smashed the cross and crown emblem and removed the seal.. personally i'm surprised it lasted this long untouched.

although through the years russell's grave has been vandalized, it was always repaired by the bible students..

I read somewhere that the cemetery located in Pennsylvania was originally meant for Bethelites and Pioneers etc. The Cemetery and pyramid is owed by the WT Society and the Pyramid marked the section where "noteworthy" JW's were to be buried.

When Russell went to prison for a time, the headquarters were moved to New York and because of shipping costs, they began burying deceased Bethelites there.

in the 1940's local Pennsylvania JW's were given the opportunity to purchase a grave site at this cemetery. The former Bible Students used to hold the memorial there. They even though the ancient bible noteworthiness may visit the site one day and view it as reverent ground

Many/most of the graves were never used. I believe there were about 115 unused grave sites. and the pyramid covers 4 more. I'm wondering if they're moving the pyramid because they're going to sell off the whole cemetery, much the way they're selling off many of their properties. Given that cemetery plots can go for around 3 to 5 thousand and up to 35 thousand depending on the location, this might be an opportunity to get rid of an embarrassment and make a few $$

41

Is the door to door preaching work not the primary focus anymore?

by pistolpete in

a few months back, one of my uncles who was an elder, asked the co, why jehovah would allow the door to door preaching work, to come to an abrupt end.

this was when my uncle was starting to have serious doubts about the organization.. the co told him to be patient, and hang in there, because the governing body was on top of things and in time would explain what is happening regarding the preaching work.. my uncle asked; “what do you mean?”.

co said; “focus on the wt study articles in the coming months” .

Pete Zahut

There were quiet (albeit rare) rumblings that the Org wanted to dial back the D2D work for a while now, for a handful of reasons.

Like a lot of what goes on in the JW world without it's members being aware of, I'm guessing there have been many scary or even deadly encounters that have occurred in the door to door activity, especially for the sisters.

41

Is the door to door preaching work not the primary focus anymore?

by pistolpete in

a few months back, one of my uncles who was an elder, asked the co, why jehovah would allow the door to door preaching work, to come to an abrupt end.

this was when my uncle was starting to have serious doubts about the organization.. the co told him to be patient, and hang in there, because the governing body was on top of things and in time would explain what is happening regarding the preaching work.. my uncle asked; “what do you mean?”.

co said; “focus on the wt study articles in the coming months” .

Pete Zahut

I remember back in the early 70's when they introduced the "tract" work. The "end" was so imminent that we were instructed to get these important "tracts" distributed immediately. We were to get in and get out. No presentation, no conversations, just leave the tracts at each door and scurry to the next. Everyone was so enthused...this was finally it and it was so easy.

Tract #1 came and went as did Tract #2 .

When Tract #3 came along they told us that this third tract would be like Joshua's "trumpets" when his army circled Jerico for the third time and they blew their trumpets to bring the walls of the city, down. Such would be the case with our "tracts" and this system of things. The world would not be alerted of this cataclysmic event quickly within a few hours via a worldwide media campaign but instead, they would rely on hand delivered tracts delivered to every door on the planet. Makes sense right?

4 decades later looking back, I realize that no one has ever been concerned about the end coming in someone else's lifetime, only their own. Every Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses that has come and gone has always indicated that the currently living JW's would witness the end of the "system of things" in their lifetime.

As far as I can see, every few decades, they need to create something that seems ominous and exciting and is so far fetched that it has to be true. This has always been an effective way to keep the Troops enthused and interested enough until enough time passes and anyone who might remember the nonsense from the past, is long gone or too old and irrelevant or too entrenched, to care.

17

What JWs don't know they believe

by StephaneLaliberte in

in a post this morning, i suggested that a way to wake up fellow congregants is to plainly comment or make talks on teachings and rules the jws don't really know too well.

the idea is that you can say these things, other jws will be bothered by the comments, but will not be able to do anything about it as this is the official teaching or stand on this or that.

the key here is that when troubling rules and teachings are thought in the watchtower, they generally use wording that makes them go down easy.

Pete Zahut

I think the current JW's only have a basic overview of their religion. They know the big chunks about Armageddon, Paradise and living forever. They're convinced that all non-JW's are wicked and everyone else's religion is false and dismiss any proof to the contrary.

I've had them call at my door and tell me :

"Oh, we don't claim that only those who become JW's will be saved at Armageddon...that's up to Jehovah to decide".

I ask them if that's the case, why do they claim that their message is "urgent" and "life saving"?

Why do JW's claim that other religions are part of "Babylon the Great" and anyone who belongs to them will go down with her at Armageddon?

Why do your tell us former JW's that we need to "return to Jehovah" before it's too late?

Their usual response is "Oh...we don't say that either"

My reply is "Do you even read your own literature" ?

(crickets)

9

9 Year Old Used Basic Logic And Came To An "Apostate" Conclusion

by pistolpete in

related experience;.

basically what happened is my mom was studying with my 9 year old sibling and they were talking about the paradise.

my sibling then proceeded to ask, in a clearly joking way, "what if jehovah was tricking us and we don't go to paradise?

Pete Zahut

I think t’s a healthy sign that your sibling feels free enough to to joke about such things out loud rather than needing to repress his/her thoughts.

Even so… I’m pretty certain he or she will be going straight to ~~Hell~~ …er-um Gehenna, for entertaining such notions. 😜

9

Just saw this on Reddit…

by Biahi in

a person said they were working at an adult bookstore…a jw came in to do exterminating.

saw the former brother working behind the counter.

lol.

Pete Zahut

if the checks are from a private individual they can not do anything

I wonder if they followed this procedure themselves when they sold off all those Kingdom Halls to other churches?

30

East Pennines A$$emb£y Hall

by punkofnice in

so, my spies tell me that the east pennines a$$emb£y hall is being sold and all proceeds going to jobo hq.

there's a surprise.....not!.

i understand there are other properties too.

Pete Zahut

we all pledged to give so much per month to build this place. Cost a fortune but at least it looked good and won quite a few architectural awards for its design.

It may have won a legit award but if it's like a lot of things JW's allegedly get awards for (such as their videos) it could have been given to them because they submitted it and paid a hefty entrants fee. There are professional "associations" that give out awards to anyone who pays the entrants fee. The fee they pay covers the cost of the award and gives them the right to publicly claim to be award winners which makes them appear more credible or noteworthy.

16

Where are the JWs on cross dressers?

by mickbobcat in

so if a man lets say is heterosexual, married and happy but likes to in the privacy of his own home wear women's cloths and his wife is ok with it.

i know a person could just shut their mouth and who would know but i am talking about jw who is very concerned about telling the truth to the dubbers.

my guess is it would not be a dfing matter but they would not be a ms or elder.

Pete Zahut

I’m surprised JW women are allowed to wear pants at all.

Deut 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto the man, neither shalt a man put on woman’s raiment: for all that do so, are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

18

If all GB members died at once?

by Jofi_Wofo in

i don't suppose anyone knows for sure, but do we have any kind of hint of what would happen if all of the governing body members died at the same time- such that nobody was left to appoint successors?

in lieu of any solid evidence, i'd also be interested in hearing some speculation based on what we already know about the organizational structure.. it would certainly throw a wrench in either the teaching that the faithful and discreet slave will survive into the great tribulation and/or the implied doctrine that the the gb succession arrangement is justifiable biblically.

let me firmly disclaim any implication that i am encouraging violence or wishing death on the governing body.

Pete Zahut

what would happen if all of the governing body members died at the same time-

Suddenly there would be marvelous "New Light" about "The Rapture" and JW's worldwide would immediately adopt it enthusiastically and wholeheartedly.

16

Squandered Life of Jehovah's Witness Youth

by silentbuddha in

08:30 - 15:30 = school.

Pete Zahut

19:00 - 22:00 = Eat lukewarm pizza and play video games with the witnessed that lived across the street.

Whaaat ??? You were allowed to play video games?? Your family must have been spiritually weak...possibly demonized LOL!

Seriously though...sorry about your friend. The only thing I can personally add too your sad and pathetic list, from my own is:

Saturday : 6 AM - 9 AM get up and drive 35 miles with a group of JW youth who were old enough to drive into the city to do "street witnessing" before regular "field service".

9 AM -10 AM Drive back to the suburbs to our Kingdom Hall to meet for regular Saturday "Field Service".

10 AM - 12 AM Engage in "Field Service" walking around in a suit and tie in neighborhoods filled with kids from my school and pray they didn't see me. Then do return visits on people who were only taking the magazines from me because they were too kind to say no.

Sunday: Go to morning meeting and Watchtower Study. Come home and change into work clothes to do Janitorial work cleaning toilets and emptying garbage cans with a brother in Congregation who paid me $5 for 4 hours of work.

Monday: Meet with other JW youth to study the Watchtower for Sunday. (this involved studying in advance so that you'd be prepared to answer at the Monday study...for the real Sunday study. The elders put an end to this eventually because they thought it was a ruse for us teens to get together.)

Wednesday: Family study with my Mom and siblings. Dad wasn't a JW so mom had to wear a dish towel on her head while discussing the upcoming "great tribulation" to show subjection to my Father who didn't know what to do about this crazy religion, so he just handed over our entire upbringing to her.

P.S. We lived in mobile home in a crummy mobile home park across from the Kingdom Hall where many other JW families lived. Mom convinced Dad to sell our nice house so we could be debt free when the "tribulation" hit. Our family along with the rest of the JW's were all hunkering down waiting for the tribulation which never materialized.

Then came the Bethel years....