Posts by SnakesInTheTower

I have a 2002 Honda Civic...it just rolled 200,000 miles. I bought it new with 38 miles (and I put 15 of those on the test drive). I have had to rebuild the transmission.... my current and previous jobs put a lot of miles on the car... but it has been reliable.

I know some blame people like me for buying Japanese..but who knows these days whether an American car company is building in Mexico or a Japanese car company is building in Tennessee... I buy what I like.

Snakes ()

32

Snakes will soon be writing a DA letter

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

very interesting thread atjeff started about whether to fade or not.

(to fade or not to fade...an opinion) thought i would start a new thread with my thoughts, but not hijack his.. here are my thoughts on my own situation which may or may not reflect anyone else's situation.

sunday is our family day.

SnakesInTheTower

WTWizard:

At least you have already been through the Value Destroyer Training School--and dogged one assignment and dropped out of another.

you've been paying attention...

Angie:

I hope that writing the letter brings closure for you. So many people write a letter to justify themself or to teach the elder who reads it about the false doctrines of the org. This never works and leaves the writer feeling unsatisfied and bitter.

Exactly.....I will write the letter if I get even a whiff of elders sniffing around. My fade has been successful because I left the last congo I was an elder in...and the new one did not get to know me...and my friend who was the PO and his wife have moved away (got laid off by the Society from their Special Service... I mean he and his wife were sent to Special Pioneer a couple of hours away) from my last congo, so no one is looking for me anymore.

I think the DA letter will simply read: "I, {SnakesInTheTower}, no longer consider myself to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I do not consider the teachings of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, its entities and its Governing Body to be spiritually valid." Probably have it notarized, send copies to my old congos and the legal department.... just for $hits and grins....lol. But no venom or malice will be in any letter I send. Hatred and anger only hurt the one spewing and holding it. That is just not who I am.

But for now, as a fader friend of mine (who refuses to come on this board) said to me...don't do it unless you have to. I will do it for myself and for my girlfriend so she has no doubt that I am serious, both about leaving the cult and more importantly, serious about our relationship. I don't want that little buzzing to be in her head thinking I might have an infitesimal chance of going back to the Lie. It will probably be a couple of months or so before I submit it...hell, I seem to have just wrote it...lol. Meanwhile I am going to start writing that story for later....

jamie:

I am so happy for you on both accounts and can't wait to hear your whole story.

soon, my friend, soon...and thank you.

Snakes ()

54

call me lucky...everyone i have met here was real.....but one...

by oompa in

jw
friends

so be careful.......there may be one out of ten.....or a hundred or a thousand......... and even the unreal one was pretty real....but had major issues..............oomps.

we are a very small club......compared to udders..........

SnakesInTheTower

i went to the apostafest in TO. I had a great time...but I think I was still too new and away from the dubs (only a month or so from attending my last meeting).... probably still too judgmental but not on purpose.... I know I would have more fun now. Met some great people there. A couple of them I wish would pop in or email once in awhile..I guess some move on...

I want to go to another,.... still would like to catch one in the midwest.... time and money are always in opposite corners....

Snakes ()

21

Mixed feelings about being shunned today.

by loosie in

well it happened today.

i got shunned in big lots today.

i am not df'd or da'd just inactive for 4 years.

SnakesInTheTower

the mum didn't shun you and in fact pointed you out to her daughter?

Highjacking again Reniaa?

mrsjones.....**sigh** I quit trying to figure out Ms. Reniaa. It's like being put in a round room and being told to sit in a corner.

loosie.... I got "counseled" at Dollar Tree by a JW momma in front of her 19 year old daughter. Is that a step above or below Big Lots?

Snakes ()

85

Not having a paradise earth in the future makes me sad - What about you?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

yes, i am enjoying realizing the truth about the truth.. but there is another side to it.

the world as we know it didn't seem to me to be the way that god intended it to be.

i know i was brainwashed, but it felt good believing that all the bad things would be changed.

SnakesInTheTower

minimus:

I'd rather deal in reality than fantasy.

I agree. And my current reality is much better than any paradise fantasy.

To BF's point, and a bit more seriously, I had to grieve properly once I learned that paradise and all that went with it was bull$hit. My dad died in 1994. I didn't grieve then because of the "Resurrection Hope™" and "Paradise®". A few years later I did cry more. But I still did not grieve. It was not until last year that I properly grieved my dad. I have come to grips with the fact that I will never see him again. And when (not if) my mom dies, I will be able to grieve properly then. I hope my JW mom has a good, healthy, long life. I love her dearly.

Snakes ()

32

Snakes will soon be writing a DA letter

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

very interesting thread atjeff started about whether to fade or not.

(to fade or not to fade...an opinion) thought i would start a new thread with my thoughts, but not hijack his.. here are my thoughts on my own situation which may or may not reflect anyone else's situation.

sunday is our family day.

SnakesInTheTower

mickey mouse... i hadn't thought about "dobule tongued" related to the screen name that much until recently. When I initially signed up, Snakes (or Sankes before it was corrected) in the Tower referred both to the GB and to myself since I was still active. I think the GB are snakes (not to insult our friends in the animal kingdom) and I am sure the GB would think I was a snake if they knew I existed. lol

daniel-p... i am analytical... I love the logic class I am taking, but the instructor does not know how to teach. I loved the ethics class when I first started college in 2004.... that ethics class was what got me to reexamine the way I think about things.

anyway... GF left to go pick up her son at day care... and they are coming back in a few minutes and we are cooking dinner together....

Snakes ()

26

* 2nd Annual Aposta-Tahoe! August 7 -9! It's on! *

by Kudra in

jw
friends

date: august 7 - 9. location: south lake tahoe, camp richardson, right next to emerald bay state park.

maps: googlemap satellite map.

two campsites are reserved for our group and six people can stay in each site.

SnakesInTheTower

aww...that would have been a great little getaway for me and my gal... she is having surgery and recovery is right during that time. Nothing considered too serious, pretty routine.... but any surgery has its risks. I will be pampering her here instead.

I missed the ApostaTahoe last time... I would have loved to made it.

Snakes ()

32

Snakes will soon be writing a DA letter

by SnakesInTheTower in

jw
friends

very interesting thread atjeff started about whether to fade or not.

(to fade or not to fade...an opinion) thought i would start a new thread with my thoughts, but not hijack his.. here are my thoughts on my own situation which may or may not reflect anyone else's situation.

sunday is our family day.

SnakesInTheTower

daniel-p:

not possible to be inactive and in good standing a the same time

The status "inactive" only indicates that I have not participated in Field Service™ for 6 months or more.

The status "good standing" only indicates that I am not subject to any Judicial Committee™ actions.

When one has been announced/unannounced reproof with restrictions or DA/DF, that indicates "not in good standing." Back in 1991 I was JC for "being double tongued" and was active but under restrictions (couldn't offer public prayer for a month....long story but it was later found that the accusers were the liars...). But at the time I was considered "not in good standing" while under that brief restriction.

An inactive person wouldn't necessarily be considered good association. You would be seen as a potentially threatening influence on others, since by your distance from the Borg it's possible that you could be engaging in worldly sins.

In the circumstance you describe, a person may be suspected of wrongdoing but there is not enough to convene a JC or take action. There may be a lot of anectdotal or circumstantial evidence, but even in the wacked out world of Watchtower pharisaical rules and regulations, even they have to draw the line. Instead, they would have a Marking Talk® to be given during the less public midweek Service Meeting™. That would serve as a warning to the congregation to not associate with me. I have no idea if that has occured or not. Unlikely. I was only with my last congregation for 7 months and I missed more meetings than I attended. I am no threat to anyone (unless they are on this site and reading my postings...lol).

So yes, one can be both inactive and in good standing at the same time. With the exception of having to meet with the elduhs to make sure I have been a good boy (which I have not), I could jump right back into cult activities at any time ***shudder***....

and I think that reason alone, that I could turn the JW switch back on is the reason I need to DA. I NEED CLOSURE.

Snakes ()

57

To Fade or Not To Fade... An Opinion.....

by AllTimeJeff in

jw
friends

just a couple of set of ground rules i would like to set for this.

frequently, one of two options for those who want to leave jw's are 1) a purposeful, public, resignation (or disassociation as jw's call it) vs 2) what is commonly called in the ex jw internet world, "the fade".

i know that emotions run deep on this subject for good reason, because of what is at stake, and all that is perceived to be lost.

SnakesInTheTower

Very good thread ATJeff.... rather than hijack your thread with a long reply post, I started a new topic on why and how I faded.

For the purposes of reply on this thread....I faded for 7 months, stopped going, haven't gone back since Sept 2007. My fade will likely end in a DA letter by Sept. 2009.... some of my story behind that is on this new thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/176912/1/Snakes-will-soon-be-writing-a-DA-letter

Snakes ()