Posts by SnakesInTheTower

10

Kingdom Hall Fire

by Kenneson in

jw
friends

a fire that destroyed a kingdom hall in mesa, arizona was possibly arson.. "fire that destroyed mesa church called 'suspicious' ".

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/02/13/20090213churchfire0214.html.

As much as many of us (self included) cannot stand the religion of the Watchtower, I cringe when I hear about a Kingdom Hall or any other religious place being burned down or otherwise vandalized. I am genuinely glad no one was hurt, JW or otherwise.

Freedom of worship, even if we disagree with the doctrine of the individual religion (or cult), is a foundation of this country. I still believe the JWs are a cult. Other than coming here and talking to ex-JWs, I am trying to just ignore the active JWs as much as possible.

I don't pray anymore...but if I did, I would pray for the dubs to wake up and see the real "light".....and especially for those hurt to have their hearts and minds healed because of all of the abuse (physical, mental, sexual, emotional) they suffered while a JW.

Quote from the article:

DeHoyos said firefighters were able to save important records from the building.

yeah, all of those important JC records and confidential files of pedophiles... and all of that important field circus tallies. ...

Snakes ()

16

Tornado

by crapola in

jw
friends

well, tuseday night was a scary night.

the f4 tornado tore through my little town killing 8 people.

i am so sad over this.. luckily, my house is ok but it passed only about 1/4 mile or less away from me.

SnakesInTheTower

crapola...

I have seen video of the damage...all I can say is wow...

...and I would never live in a mobile home or MH park.... just saying...

.....glad you are ok...sadly, if anything had happened to you, would we on JWD have ever known? crapola

Snakes ()

ps mega....looking at a map...no KH in that little town...the nearest kingdumb hell is only a few miles away in the nearest bigger town.... lets hope the dubs do the right thing (but not holding my breath).... and as much as we cant stand the religion, lets hope the dubs themselves are safe.

42

Greatest Lesson You Have Learned from Your WT Experience?

by cameo-d in

.

what will prevent you from being deceived again and making the same mistake?.

what is your criteria now for weighing truth vs "enlightened-sounding" fiction?.

SnakesInTheTower

happydad:

I learned that a fly will land on shit as well as a pie. So, you better take time and examine something to make sure it is really true or just shit!!

and I will add: "Don't let a fly land on you because you dont know where its little fly feet were last."

In all seriousness, I had trust issues growing up a dub... its hard to trust people post Dubville. I will never belong to a religion ever again. I have a heck of a time just trying to be employed because there are too many in management that remind me of elders.

It is why I like one aspect of my current job... I am in the field 98% of the time and in the office 2%...and of that 2% I rarely encounter management.

Snakes ()

20

How many here have been affeted by the economy and how?

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

any takers?.

SnakesInTheTower

I made about $10K less in 08 than 07. I am strictly commission debt collector. Still, if you take what I made last year and divide by 2080 (FT work), I still made in the $18-20/hr range.... and probably average 16 hours NOT 40 hours a week. I usually work two days a week. (Sat/Sun)...not much social life lol....lots of time during the week though..good for school.

Our client, a major cable company, just announced it is filing Ch. 11 reorganization bankruptcy. Our company, cooincidentally, just announced a $1/1% cut in what we make in our collections. (ie, a $100 customer payment.. I lose $1 for the payment and $1 on the amount...I drop from $18 to $16 for it). However...if we successfully sell cable to a new customer....upgrade a customer...retain a customer..... then we get our old amount. If the whole office overall makes a certain % of sales....then we actually get a raise....

Problem is...I did not sign up 3 plus years ago to sell cable...I signed up to be a bill collector. Now they want me to do disconnects and sales along with collections? Let me finish school and get the hell out. I can't sell for a product/service I don't believe in. Hmmmm.... after 30 years of selling another product I no longer believe in, is anyone surprised by my attitude?

Snakes ()

29

how much has your EXIT consumed you?????

by oompa in

jw
friends

i think i must be a bit obsessive.....i cant shut up apostating every chance i get to any old freind or family that will listen.....i drive a lot and jwshit is on my mind more than anything else....and i come here many times a day and it seems like i have been here for two years at least but it is just over a year i believe....every step i take and plan i make is about whether or not i can do it with my wife or behind her back (like otwo and others here).......she is about to go out of town for over a week and it is like i am planning for christmas!!

!......i cant wait to have friends over i only get to when she is gone....the jw effect is still omnipresent and i dont even know how much 45 years of ingraining has wired my brain.........................oompa.

SnakesInTheTower

I dont obsess. I couldnt care less about the UN, pyramids, or any of the multitude of flip flops over the years. I do care that many people are wasting their lives in the Organization. My mom is a prime example.

She was preyed upon by special pioneers 40 years ago/....although I will never fault them individually...they were not trying to hurt anyone. That is what I realize...very few JWs are actually trying to victimize others. They are just along for the ride. The few power hungry elders, MS, elderettes would still be abusive, power hungry individuals if they were not JWs. They would just find a different group of people to mess with. I cannot pull the rug out from under my mom after 4 decades. If she wants to spend her retirement years regular pioneering (without signing the paper), that is her social network...go for it. It could be worse...she could be an alcoholic (more than she might be now), or a gambling addict, or a druggie.... and I know her "efforts" in field circus are but a blip. She has never brought anyone "in"... mostly she "studies" with others who are lonely...the elderly mostly....

The pedophile thing bothers me the most. I cannot do anything about it. There are people (Silent Lambs, SNAP) and others who have been after WTBTS a lot longer than my exit time.... I will leave it to those experts to keep after the WT. I have nothing useful to contribute.

I dont actively go after WT. I dont submit my DA letter because I do not believe in their JC system. If they want to DF me that's up to them. I only care if they do because I am still in a town with a few inactive dubs that associate with me. It is more about not hurting them than about me. Once I move away, game over.

If I can help someone else that is trying to leave, I will. Someone else helped me.

I am on here nearly every day. JWS occasionally.... I go through spurts of posting. One day I may just stop. Today is not that day.

Snakes ()

11

I'm still on a book study list after 10 years...what??????

by Hope4Others in

jw
friends

today i found out that for some strange reason and i say strange we are still on a book study list.... .

something to do with field service meet ups at various houses....well i haven't been to a meeting since.

1997.....or memorial since 2001....go figure...... what are they thinking?

SnakesInTheTower

there is probably a "master" list of everyone ever associated in the last 20 years that might show up for field circus.

If they did it the way I think, they will (as they did for book study groups) assign a certain number of "strong publishers" (guaranteed to show up no matter what), some "average publishers" (will show up a couple of Saturdays a month but not if something better comes along) and then the "inactive, irregular, got to assign them somewhere" (but will never show up) publishers.

Congratulations, you made the third category. Unless you are DF, you will make the grade..lol

Snakes (of the "never was assigned to a book study at my last congo" Sheep Class)

145

How Old are You ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

i know- you aren't used to seeing me ask a simple question like this.

so- i'll start .

i am 49 years old, will be 50 in october .

SnakesInTheTower

priest:

My age? 1225

√1225 = 35?

Snakes (of the "smart enough to plug that in my calculator" Sheep Class)

70

Ladies - Educate us Men - What Do you Want From your Man ?

by flipper in

so i started this thread on another board too.

we have a sizeable number of people - men and women not in a relationship perhaps here.

ladies - what is it that you want in a relationship emotionally, mentally, sexually, and materially ?

SnakesInTheTower

rebel8:

Respect is #1. This means no making insults thinly disguised as jokes

why do men do this?. I have seen it alot .....in and out of the borg..and there is nothing funny about it...there will be that nervous titter of laughter as everyone knows what just happened and hope it goes away real fast..... but you know the girl is humiliated (and that goes for girls doing it to their guys,...equally bad).

If I ever find a gal willing to put up with my silly old self, I would treat her with kindness...genuine kindness and respect leads to trust... and trust is the basis for a gal being my best friend and me hers. My worldly brothers tell me that is my problem..I am too nice. I dont believe in the "bad boy" image...even if I hadnt been a dub..its just not who I am......I couldn't pull it off for long if at all. lol

Take care of yourself.

Anyone that has seen me in person (or seen one of two pics of me on this board) knows I will never make the cover of GQ. So I figure I better make up for what I was not given by taking care of myself. I am not overweight, my BMI is good, I try to eat healthy but am not fanatic about it. I go to the gym occasionally but walk alot for my job.

I give really good massages, but rarely get to give them.

chelle:

i dont ever want to go to bed angry

that is certain to doom a relationship.

be cuddly once in a while its lovely

I miss hugs. Close human contact with someone you care for and knows they care for you?...nothing better... and way to rare in my life.

Snakes ()

43

As a JW Did you Feel you Could Fully Trust the Elders ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

i know for many of the 44 years i was in the jw cult from birth - i felt i could.

or should i say i was conditioned to feel that " i should " trust the elders.

as jehovah's witnesses we were all told the elders were " crags in a waterless country " who would be a " spiritual stronghold " for us.

SnakesInTheTower

In the back of my mind I wanted to trust the elders..."Jehovah" said so...., but my paranoid self didn't allow it. I grew up not trusting anyone in school..I had a hard time forming friendships because I couldn't trust people (there is a dark story behind that). There were elders I thought I could trust...and I wanted to be like them...and then....

....I became an elder....and sadly, I became just like them...... by definition an elder is self-righteous and judgemental ...its in the job description..... I said I cared but in retrospect, it was only after leaving the Borg that I became a truly caring person..so I have been told. I am still working out who the hell I am now. Right now it is "what you see is what you get" and that is an angry individual....pissed at being...not so much duped..I knew something was off back pre 1995..... definitely knew it post-1995.

One so-called "worldly" friend of mine that I had worked with in the past had lunch with me a few months after I attended my last meeting...and she paid a compliment and a kick in the gut at the same time. She said, "{Snakes}, you are a really nice, funny guy.....I knew you cared about my husband and I when you...{}, but this is the first time I seen what I felt is your real personality...don't ever go back to the cult."

I realized then that my personality had been molded beyond recognition by the cult. Looking back, I wouldn't have trusted me as an elder either. Ironically, a lot of the elderly publishers did trust me. Occasionally, I hear from one of them calling to see if I was coming back. Saddens me I cannot fully tell them the truth and just avoid the calls.

My last attempts at trusting elders were dashed in the last few months. I have written about those incidents here. They are not my friends. I thought they were, but they are not. They would throw me under the bus in negative point zero zero five seconds if they knew I posted on a "so-called" apostate web site or told them how I really felt about the religion I grew up with. I still trusted them as friends if not elders. Based on their last actions, I no longer trust them as friends either.

Snakes ()

145