Posts by Pete Zahut

41

My Mothers Ultimate Rejection

by What Now? in

i went into my mother's office to leave her a small note to say that we love and miss her and would love to get together.

i found this on her desk.

this is jehovah's witnesses.

It seems to me that anyone reading this after she's gone, will realize how coldblooded this Will is. Not a very nice thing to leave behind as ones last message to the world. In the end, by her own words, she will demonstrate what kind of persons she was and you will be vindicated.

20

The Great Pyramid and the Flood of Noah

by TerryWalstrom in

the great pyramid and the flood of noah.

_________________________________if your world view rests firmly upon the foundation of bible accuracy matching the reality of history, sooner or later you’ll crash into the question of when the great pyramid was built.why?let’s see why…2 peter 3:5-6 complete jewish bible (cjb).

5 but, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by god’s word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, 6 and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed.________________________________________________.

Pete Zahut

The dinosaur was in the early versions of My Book of Bible Stories and was omitted in later editions.

Since the Watchtower Society believes that mankind has only been on the earth around 6,000 years or so, I'm surprised they didn't omit the Woolly Mammoths from the illustration as well because (except for a small group of them that lived in the arctic until 4,000 years ago) I think the rest died out somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 years ago. Then again, they also believe the arctic didn't exist before the flood so why the need for the woolly coat.

As long as they continue to teach that the flood was a literal event, I'll know they aren't the true religion.

9

In the name of the...

by btlc in

when i was a kid, i was occasionaly attend to baptism at conventions, and i remember that brothers who immerses candidates in the water, said: "right hand to nose, left hand to right hand, and i baptise you in the name of the father, son and holy spirit, amen".

i remeber that same mantra at my baptism too, back in the eighties.

but, some years ago, i was asked to help to move some props around baptism pool, so i attend to baptism after so many years - there was no "in the name of the..." part.

Pete Zahut

there was no "in the name of the..." part. I asked a nearby elder, why is that? and he gave me look like I said something nasty, and he said: "we don't use that phrase for decades, dude...

Snarky Elder: "we haven't used that phrase for decades, dude...

You: Was that because it wasn't correct to baptize people in the name of the holy spirit?

Snarky Elder: Yeah...there was new light about that years ago...(duh)

You: So I guess that means the baptisms of all of us who were baptized in the name of the holy spirit, was never valid....good to know !

41

How much do you think the internet has hurt JW growth?

by HereIgo in

the internet is what helped bring me and so many others out of this evil organization or at least confirmed our doubts.

i have to say, i have seen quite a few youtube videos recently of ex jw's secretly recording their interactions inside of different congregations, halls, etc and see how empty the halls are!

so many people comment on how the attendance is so low, far more emptier than when i was in 6 years ago, even on a weekday meeting.

Pete Zahut

I talked to a woman in her 50's at a literature cart parked outside our office building two weeks ago.

I explained to her that I used to be a lifelong JW and former Bethelite blah blah blah

She asked me warmly if I ever thought of coming back but I told her that I had experienced a number of back to back, bad life changing JW experiences that made me realize that I needed to listen to the gut feelings about the religion that I've had since childhood.

I explained that my Father's death from not taking a Blood Transfusion and then a year or so later having the GB allow blood fractions, started me wondering what else they could be wrong about and what else they might change.

I told her that I used to produce 6,000 books a day when I was at Bethel and none of those books is in use now because the information in them was wrong.

Me: In the door to door work, most people refused to take one of those books when they were offered to them and most of those who did take them, didn't become a Jehovah's Witness. Could it be that they recognized that the information in them wasn't right ? If so, I hope Jehovah won't hold it against me for having participated in turning people away from him with false information."

I told her my JW story and I could see that she was moved by it. I told her that I've since learned so many things about the organization that I should have known before getting baptized when I was 17years old but that was in 1974 and 1975 was right around the corner. They told me that if I was of an age of understanding and wasn't baptized, I wouldn't survive Armageddon.

I told her that I had many relatives who were baptized as kids but now were cut off from their families because they chose not to be JW's when the got in thier 20's and 30's. Some of them have children who've never met their JW grandparents because they are being shunned by them.The expression on her face told me that she knew these things were true.

She said the society never printed anything in the literature saying that Armageddon would come in 1975 and asked me where I learned all this information. I told her that I used the societies own literature from the past to prove much of it but there are many many places on line that one can hear the experiences of other current and former JW's and can find out things that are happening or have happened in the organization that the average JW doesn't know about or has forgotten . (ie, 1975, child molestation lawsuits, closing of branch offices, UN, Malawi etc)

Her: Oh well....I never believe anything from the Internet....anyone can make up lies or alter the literature.

Me: What about the complimentary things you hear about JW's on the Internet....I'm guessing you believe those things though....am I right?

She didn't like this and turned and went back to her literature cart.

Me: The Society only prints the things they want you to know about or things that support their current beliefs. Instead of wondering how imperfect men could possibly always be so right about everything, like most JW's you've been taught to fear anyone who says anything less than complimentary about the organization and that they are from Satan. This is why you are able to be so dismissive about what happened to me. You've as much as said that I'm lying to you.

Me: There's good reason for them not wanting you to look them up on the Internet but it's all out there but it will take having something happen to you personally, before you stop dismissing your doubts and really look into things.

She turned away with a stony expression on her face and looked off into the distance and the woman she was with was looking down at her shoes, so I walked off. Now when I see her as I come and go from our office building on Thursdays she suddenly looks the other way.

Little by little people are daring to look into things on the Internet but most older ones are still too scared to look behind the curtain.

27

September 7, 2017 Re: Donations for Disaster Relief Work

by wifibandit in

september 7, 2017 to all congregations in the united states branch territory re: donations for disaster relief work.

Pete Zahut

What fucking good is a Bible going to do them when they have died and their children and families have their life's possessions ripped out from under them ???

But Flipper....they can simply turn to the book of Job and be encouraged by reading about all the trials Job endured and how Jehovah lovingly solved all his problems in the end. For instance he replaced all of Job's 10 children who died when the family house collapsed on them. Job's already aged wife, had the privilege of spending at least the next 10-15 years of her life, pregnant so Jehovah could fix the tragedy by giving them10 new children....what a logical solution and what blessing it was for all concerned.

P.S I understand that the new "Silver Sword" edition of the New World Translation, also serves as a flotation device.

28

JW critically injured after being electrocuted in assembly hall

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

a newspaper reports that in bornem, belgium, a jw volunteer was critically injured after being electrocuted:.

bornem - a man was electrocuted while performing maintenance on a high voltage installation in the assembly hall of jw in bornem friday afternoon.

the man was critically injured.. possibly the man, who is a volunteer with the jw, tried to clean the installation with a vacuum cleaner.

Pete Zahut

The Surrey Assembly Hall site of a sister turning up and working all day in high heels, the keys to the dumper trucks were a free for all, the utter stupid pointless waste of time that quickbuilds were haunt me to this day, someone holding a plank of wood, someone else marking with a pencil, someone with the saw and someone else walking off with the cut plank, the ultimate in inefficiency

Too bad about the old gent. He probably saw some Cob Webs in an electrical box or vault and stuck the metal vacuum cleaner hose into it. I'm guessing this is one experience they won't be using on the assembly stage.

It's easy to be critical but I remember one quickbuild where they were unloading a load of seats from a truck and instead of parking the truck close to the door, they parked if far away and formed a "human chain" and passed the seats a piece at a time down a line of 30 people instead of having two people unload it at the door. (of course it wouldn't have been as much of an "encouraging" sight to see if they'd have done it the smart way and it kept a whole lot of unskilled folks out of the way.)

39

JWs Among the Least Educated in the US

by jp1692 in

september 6th, 2017: a just released research survey shows once again that jehovah's witnesses are among the least educated people in the united states: .

america’s changing religious identity.

it is also interesting to note how jws rank in the categories of: income, insurance coverage and homeownership.

Pete Zahut

In my experience, most members received a college degree before joining the cult, but they are counted.

I listened to the "Society" and because of the nearness of the end, chose to go to Bethel rather than go to College.

While I was there, one of my co-workers (who became a JW after he graduated from college) was taken off the Bindery line in the sweltering factory and was assigned to the Legal Dept. He was sent to Law School and received a Law Degree, on the Societies Dime (or should I say, on the donations of other JW's who weren't allowed to go to college themselves).

Those of us who listened to the Societies advice, were passed over (even at Bethel) for not having a College Degree even though many of us were quite capable of having earned one.

Years later, he left Bethel and the JW's went on to have a career in Law.

23

Does anyone under the age of 25 know what KFC stands for? (What about WT or JW?)

by stuckinarut2 in

as we have seen, the society has so smoothly rolled out the rebranding of the organization in just a few short years!.

(in fact, i remember a thread post here a few years back, where it was mentioned that all halls are going to get the jw.org signs on them.

it was initially laughed off and doubted) https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/279409/jw-org-signs-put-on-all-kingdom-halls-new-directive.

Pete Zahut

So will the next generation (overlapping generation sorry) of witnesses and non-witnesses even know about the society's previous names?

I don't know how old you are Stuckinarut2 but I'm sure (like me) you were unaware of what the JW's before you were told and what effect it had on their life. I have found that the younger JW's of today, don't really care what happened before they came onto the current JW scene. They are able to dismiss the experiences of those who came before them quite easily, without seeing the pattern that we (of a certain age) are able to recognize.

When current JW's hear about "Miracale Wheat, Beth Sarim and UN membership" they view them as amusing anecdotes from the past and even chuckle at the notion that JW's once believed (for example) that Immunization against disease, was at one time considered to be against God's will.

So on it goes....the more things change....the more things stay the same.

11

Assistance

by bola in

as experienced people, i need your assistance..

Pete Zahut

My question now that I am no more with this jw.org religion, what are the consequences of being reinstated as one of jehovah's witnesses again now that I have disassociated from them for a year now? Please I need your replies.

If you are actually reinstated, it will be because they've determined that your current life is in line with what they deem as appropriate JW behavior. Once you are reinstated, you can resume the regular activities of a JW.

If your current lifestyle isn't in line with their requirements, before you will be "reinstated" you will have to demonstrate to them that you've changed it. A sufficient period of time will need to pass to make sure you are sincere. They will want you to admit that you recognize the Governing Body are God's spokesmen on earth and that your past course of life wasn't in line with their interpretation of Bible principles. They will want you to admit that your decision to disassociate was a mistake and you are repentant for having done so.

23

How many "leave the truth" because of the behaviour of harsh elders?

by stuckinarut2 in

just wondering how many are assisted to wake up after experiencing harsh treatment from "the loving shepherds of the congregation"?.

perhaps some were starting to wake up, and such behaviour or treatment gave them the push to leave?.

as jesus supposedly said "come to me all who are toiling and loaded down, and i will refresh you.

Pete Zahut

Pete is raising his hand....

My 26 year old son was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks after he was unfairly DF'd and we were shunned by everyone we knew, simply because we had him stay with us while he endured surgery, chemo and a stint in intensive care. We were dumped by everyone we knew, including JW relatives.

Thanks to the kindness of "worldly" neighbors and coworkers who came to our rescue, we made it through the worst year of our lives. Our Son is now cancer free and we are free of the shackles of a lifelong religion that we had long suspected was not what we had been lead to believe it was and doctrines that were full of holes, that up until that point, we dared not question.