Posts by SnakesInTheTower

41

Another Elder Suicide?

by still_in74 in

well it looks like a southern ontario elder just took his own life.

i cant go into details as we live in a very small world in "the truth" and even the smallest amount of detail on this one could quickly connect this to me, so for now its on the d-low.. it is a relative of a very close friend and he is godsmacked by it.

he said to me, " we sure seem to be seeing more of this lately arent we?

SnakesInTheTower

still_in74 said:

did you ever notice that anytime a JW commits suicide they are ALWAYS labeled as having a "mental illness"?

Unfortunately, it is TRUE that the majority of those committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide. Consider this:

"More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder."

UNLIKE the Borg publications, I have a verifiable reference for the above quote: Conwell Y, Brent D. Suicide and aging I: patterns of psychiatric diagnosis. International Psychogeriatrics , 1995; 7(2): 149-64. This info came from the National Institute of Mental Health, a US government web site.

I said that just to clarify that it is most likely true that they are mentally ill. I WILL AGREE, still_in74, THAT IT IS THE BORG AND ITS PSCYHOLOGICAL DEALINGS THAT MAKES SUCH PEOPLE HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES and drive them to that point.

WTBTS policies are mentally abusive, leading to mental illness, sometimes leading to suicide.

SnakesInTheTower (of the "shaking the mental cobwebs from his head" Sheep Class)

47

Ever been lied to by anyone on this forum?

by snarf in

jw
friends

you all know how it works...you post a few topics, comment a few times and pretty soon people get to know your name, then they p.m. you and you start talking, then suddenly you find out through their posts and comments that they were lying to you.

has this happened to you?

did it make ya mad?

SnakesInTheTower

I have not been lied to as far as I know. Ive never lied on this or any forum. I have omitted some details of my life because I am still technically active and am not ready to be identified. I dont want my witness relatives (few as they are) and close JW friends (even fewer) to be forced to make a choice about associating with me in public. I have left out details of some of my experiences for the same reason. One day, I will tell the whole story here.

One poster here, Choosing Life, I believe has figured out who I am, and I am fairly certain I know who that person is (notice my lack of pronouns when describing CL). They have not outed me and I appreciate that very much. I tell that person that their secret is also safe with me. They still have family in too. We have PMd back and forth a few times, comparing notes...I think we are both afraid to confirm the others identity. I respect that. As far as I know, they are inactive and not attending at all....good for them...soon I will be there too. I hope CL is doing OK....I appreciated their comments before I knew they were local, I am more appreciative now that I believe I know them personally.

Thank to all of you who are upfront and truthful....much better than what I experienced growing up in the Borg

SnakesInTheTower (of the "up front and in your face" Sheep Class)

2

Lunch at Jason's Deli - JWs spotted

by Jim_TX in

jw
friends

(now - that's not 'spotted' jws - as in leopard spots...).

my wife and i went to jason's deli (it's a soup and salad bar) today at lunch time... around 11:30-ish.

when we got there, i noticed a group of about 3 or 4 people (among the crowd), that just didn't seem to 'fit' with the others... if you can understand that.. anyway, i made a quick scan of them, and made some observations about them.

SnakesInTheTower

Jim_TX:

She was a little 'hottie' and knew it - and had a sense of fashion, and was trying to dress accordingly - and yet within the limits of what is 'jw-acceptable'. Her dress was long, but it was fitted.

Isnt that sad that these young teens cannot be comfortable with their changing bodies and be accepted, being told to hide their natural beauty? Im not saying they should dress like ProstiTeens, but they are made to feel guilty if they even wear something that is just a little form fitting....or a little skin.

We had some beautiful girls, as well as some beautiful women, in my previous congo. They were known in the circuit as the Melrose Girls (after the TV show Melrose Place with all its beautiful women).

Reminds me of ...a single pioneer sister in another circuit, in her mid-40s now, always had a good sense of fashion, but always dressed modestly...I seen her at a wedding about 5 years ago and OMG! she was HOT!. all black, backless dress, plunging neckline...plunging for her (but still not showing too much), a bit form fitting...which I enjoyed.. I had never seen her wearing something that nice before. She was early 40s then...today she still looks amazing as she creeps up on 50. ...and despite being one of her closest friends for so long, ...she doesnt have anything to do with me now.... the pressure to date for 2 singles hanging out together was too much for her to take. If she werent so brainwashed she could be happily married to someone...... If she could only come here and see she has wasted over 20 years of her life pioneering? .....maybe she could salvage the rest of her life.

Dumb FUC*ING JW mindset!....

SnakesInTheTower (of the "appreciating hotties, where's mine?" Sheep Class)

25

wtbts = ...

by DeusMauzzim in

jw
friends

when true believers think, shun!.

will the blood terror stop?.

when tower breaks, tears stop!.

SnakesInTheTower

Will Truth Be Told Soon?

Why Teddy (jaracz) Believes This Stuff

Why True Believers Think Stupidly

Why Think? Be Told Sh*t

Was This Baloney Too Stale?

We Talk Bullsh*t, They Stare

SnakesInTheTower (of the "Way To Bright To Sink" Sheep Class)

26

Higher education ban busting at the seems ?

by 5go in

i know of alot of brothers and sisters in my congregation deciding to get at least two years in.

some have certificates and regret it and are going back for mainly money reasons.. me i got a certificate in a area and i am going back to get a real degree.

preferably in a diffrent field.. what is it like where your at ?.

SnakesInTheTower

my area (midwest US) has strong sentiments against any higher education. some are pursuing 2 year degrees. I got 2 year career associates, getting ready to finish last 5 requirements for regular associates (one to transfer to a 4 yr program as a junior) to pursue bachelors...dont know what yet. I was an elder when i was pursuing my degree....really caught hell over that...but CO said could not remove me for it...they tried....

too many dumb old timers who think you can still grad high school and go get a job that will pay well w/benefits...that despite the closing of almost all major industry and the loss of car manufacturing jobs across the river. ...hmmmm

SnakesInTheTower (of the "pursuing a real education" Sheep Class)

19

Paper or Plastic bags?

by JH in

jw
friends

i expect this thread to be on warlock's best of the week thread next week.

.

i prefer platic bags because they take less place, but my cat prefers paper bags because she cat can play in it..... .

SnakesInTheTower

Neither. I prefer resuable cloth bags. But if I forget to leave them in the car, I usually get paper. I use them to put my newspapers, etc in for the recycle man.

If I am unfortunate enough to get plastic, I make sure to put them in the plastic sack recycle bin at the grocery store.

SnakesInTheTower (of the "Recycling" Sheep Class) (can sheep be recycled?...I dunno, i digress...)

15

Another update.

by R.F. in

just wanted to fill you all in on what's been going on with me lately....... well it's been about a month and a half and i've been to 2 congregation meetings within that time span.

i've gotten no calls from any of the elders accept two, and they might've called twice each at the most, but it does seem like they're inquiring about me through another person at the moment.

but either way, i feel im on the right track with fading, and i really don't care about what the elders think anymore, or any other jw for that matter.. my dad who was on my case hard at first has backed off.

SnakesInTheTower

sass_my_frass:

Good odds they won't get around to it for months or years. Make it their problem.

We can disagree w/out being disagreeable.It was Voltaire who said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." That's the nice thing about being here.

Sass..and its rare I disagree with you, I must in this case. It is not like the old days where they kept brothers on for ever and just let them coast. The COs have been trained in their TOS (traveling overseer school) about this sort of thing. The CO may not insist on removal this visit, but if RF was already doing the fade LAST vist, then yes they will "fire" him. Usually the CO will give the BOE 6 months to try to help save a MS/elder or even a pio....but RF is not even making an effort ( RF)...bye bye on the elders terms.....so if he doesnt write a letter, he gets the boot and LOTS of questions that he has no time to think of answers, answering on the fly...lots of chances to trip himself up.

If he DOES write a letter ahead of time he can head off lots of questions by asking and answering them himself in the letter after much thought (and prayer ), which is what he can write in a resignation letter. I would have preferred that RF resigned as an reg pio 6 months ago, then MS now...but he has been too nice now he has to resign as both. Thankfully, the whole fiancee fiasco only happened 2 months ago (right?), so he can still legit say he is still battling his emotions on that....wait too long...the BOE will tell him to "toughen up"...

RF: do what you want my friend, but keep control of the situation. Either way you are outta there as far as "privileges" go. You know they dont "officially" announce the reasons you are no longer. But if you write the letter, then the gossip line (ie, elders wives) will say you stepped aside because of a girl. (GOOD). If you dont, the line will make up all kinds of things....(BAD)

If you dont care how it goes down, do what Sass said....just my long winded opinion.....

SnakesInTheTower (of the "Taking control of his life" Sheep Class)

28

Did You Take Your "Ministry" Seriously?

by minimus in

jw
friends

since all jehovah's witnesses are "ministers" and are to act like "watchmen" so as to not be bloodguilty before jehovah god, would you say that you, personally were a fine zealous preacher?

did you make sure that you accurately kept your house-to-house records up to date?

did you make sure you were back in a timely fashion once you placed literature?

SnakesInTheTower

Although I was a regular pioneer off and on for years...maybe 8 years total out of 20+ years baptized....I hated it... HATED IT ....HATED IT (get the picture?)

I too did the pioneer shuffle. At the end of my first tour of duty as a reg pio, I was accused of turning in phantom time and was removed as MS/pio (judicially) for lying about it. Ironically, at the time of the accusation, ALL of my time was legit and I was anal about keeping good records (NH, RV's BS....field reports...everything)..some months over 100 hours...even 150 one month when I was behind and did not want to be out all summer trying to make it up.

It was only much much later that I started making up sh*t on my records. Going out with the group and then after an hour peeling off to take care of calls (at the coffee shop in another territory, go home to sleep, library, etc)...starting at 7 am and doing the laundromat/parking lot/gas station shuffle until 9...easy 2 hours...considered legit, but really truly nonproductive.

With gas prices now, I dont know how anyone pioneers????!!!

Seriously...at one time...no more....ALL of my time is PhantomTime now....

SnakesInTheTower (of the "dont give a crap anymore, just living life" Sheep Class)

15

Another update.

by R.F. in

just wanted to fill you all in on what's been going on with me lately....... well it's been about a month and a half and i've been to 2 congregation meetings within that time span.

i've gotten no calls from any of the elders accept two, and they might've called twice each at the most, but it does seem like they're inquiring about me through another person at the moment.

but either way, i feel im on the right track with fading, and i really don't care about what the elders think anymore, or any other jw for that matter.. my dad who was on my case hard at first has backed off.

SnakesInTheTower

glad to hear things are going well with you (except for that crash ) ...

You have come a long way in such a short time of posting (less than 2 months as of this writing). Your prolific postings have been informative, encouraging, humorous, and appreciated.

As for the reg pio/MS thing....I am surprised you have not given up on at least the pioneering already. I dont know if you were "making your time" (tm) in February, but apparenty you are not making quota now. Yet, you stated the following about the elders in your congo:

I've gotten no calls from any of the elders accept two, and they might've called twice each at the most, but it does seem like they're inquiring about me through another person at the moment.

and this:

t's been about a month and a half and i've been to 2 congregation meetings within that time span

HUH??? How is it the spiritual shepherds have not contacted a MS/reg pioneer under such circumstances? Even the worst body of ~~elders~~ Gestapos should have been ~~encouraging you~~ getting on your case for shirking your responsibilities. I dont know when your CO visit is, but expect that if you have not "humbly" stepped aside by then, you will be removed and serious questions will be asked..... OF YOU NOT THE BORGelders.

In my experience and training in the Borg, RF, I highly recommend you step aside immediately....Write them a letter, blame it on the loss of your fiancee if you want....depressed, blah blah....just dont express doubts about the Borg! if you want ANY chance at a successful fade. (hey, I can relate to that...I started going down hill after my fiancee broke off our engagement last year). But if you wait, it will make your fade harder....unless your CO is as asleep at the switch as your elders seem to be (either that, or as cunning ...and they are waiting to pounce on you during the CO visit).

Glad your sister is being so awesome...and sounds like the mental vice grip that the Borg has on your parents is getting a serious crack in it... family is all important...despite what the Borg keeps trying to pound into our head about JW family being tenfold after losing nonJW family....blah blah...

glad to hear the story is on the upswing... love to chug a mug one day with you... cheers!

SnakesInTheTower (of the "tipping my cap to Roller Dave for his comment about my closing" Sheep Class)

Plus, you're the guy who introduced us all to the (of the 'whatever' sheep class) thingie. I LOVE that, it's a very useful device for commentary, and I thank you.

...someone finally got it!...sometimes now I just shorten it to () if I am just welcoming someone to the board...cause Im in hurry sometimes! like this one!!!...

10

Any Pioneer Letter Scans?

by Island Bro in

jw
friends

hi i was wondering if anyone had any scans of pioneer letters.

you know those ones they send out when you first become a reg.

pio.

SnakesInTheTower

i might have some pioneer letters, either from when i pioneered, or when i was secretary and kept extra copies. pm me your address and if i can find them Ill send them (and did not trash them in my recent purge)

Snakes ()