Posts by SnakesInTheTower

21

No More Bookbags in Service?

by White Dove in

every time i see jw's in service, they are not carrying bookbags but rather plastic holders and small fold over purses to hold them.. what ever happened to the big ol' bookbag in service?.

When I was an elder, I had a large case with wheels and a retractable handle. Of course, being secretary, I could probably justify it a bit better (esp when I also cared for territory briefly). After I quit the cult, I carried my school books for college in it. Since our school has so many stairs and slow elevators, I moved to a small canvas bag (ironically I had from an international convention...since it just said Hamburg Germany and not JW stuff, it was fine).

The large case is now in the garage.

Snakes (Rich )

14

Goodie night

by PYRAMIDSCHEME in

jw
friends

i was reading through another thread and this was briefly mentioned.

i remember goodie nights, i also remember how they just kind of faded out.

was that an unofficial thing or was there official direction from the fds in the form of a letter/article or local needs talk that put a stop to it?.

SnakesInTheTower

One of the things that made being a kid in the cult barely tolerable was "treat night" (aka "goodie night") at the Congregation Book Study.

Not long after I left that congo and started my fade (dec 06), I had noticed that it was coming to an end. First the goodie night goes, then the CBS goes....

...Brooklyn (Patterson) better not mess with coffee breaks....field service will come to an official halt. I tried to shorten breaks (from 45 min-hour) to the normal 15 and got shot down...that told me all I needed to know as a JW and an elder...that people hated FS as much as I did. When I became secretary.... I could tell that the amount of time turned in did not match the amount of time (minus breaks) that was put in.

Maybe the GB will shoot itself in the foot and WT, et. al. will die a quiet death.... how many people do you know are actually contacted at the door anymore by a dub in FS?

Snakes (Rich )

12

'OKM_October_2010_for_Britain_OCRd.pdf'

by fokyc in

by popular request,.

http://www.box.net/shared/zhhrff8yp5.

remember this file is available for preview and/or downloading as you wish,.

SnakesInTheTower

misery:

Elders who get schooled during the latter years be up to date on new light? Will those trained at the first schools need to go back to school?

Snakes (Rich )

3

Went to the zoo today

by watersprout in

woke up to a beautiful warm summers day, the sun was shinning and the sky was a beautiful clear blue!.

so baby sprout and i deceided to go to the zoo.

i was very excited as i don't get out much!

SnakesInTheTower

watersprout....

that is ok...my 9YO (soon to be) step son finds me boring too. Completely ignored me when I picked him up at school today. Literally. I had to gently grab the top of his head and slowly swivel him around and have him look at me. Apparently, discussions of Pokemon battles with his school buddy are infinitely more interesting than some 43 year "old guy."

I love the zoo. The St. Louis Zoo is world-class, mostly free (free admission all the time, just certain areas and shows charge a small fee) even to us non residents and non members (though we did join the zoo friends this year...more than paid for itself already).

Snakes (Rich )

21

The borg and eggshells...

by VampireDCLXV in

"do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.

" ecclesiastes 7:9. have you noticed: .

how so many witlesses get their nose out of joint if you make a wisecrack/joke that's even the slightest bit off color or heretical?

SnakesInTheTower

aussie oz:

Or that they are first to preach forgivness ...

and the last to practice it.

And if you bring it up YOU will recieve counsel.

PRICELESS.

Snakes (Rich )

30

Did you ever know any JW's/Pioneers who frequented popular nightspots and got drunk?

by James_Slash in

it used to make me sick at these hypocrites.. they would be at the meeting the next day or out in field service, obviously still intoxicated from the night before but putting a show on before the congregation.

i knew a couple of girls who would be regulary doing this over a weekend yet they would be pioneers all week, answering up at the meetings yet would be heading into popular nightspots and coming home at 4am drunk.

their dad was an elder (surprise, surprise).. i remember telling an elder about this once.

SnakesInTheTower

First hand observation. St. Louis Assembly Hall. There were official functions that were held on the premises outside of the assemblies. There was the local version of the Annual Meeting was held to make key decisions for the upcoming Service Year. Assembly Hall Committee members, the wives of the committee members, COs, DO's and their wives, some key elders and their wives were all invited to a special dinner after the private meeting. Some long-term volunteers were invited to prepare a nice meal (steak, chicken) and all the fixings....drinks included wine, beer, and other harder alcoholic beverages were made available. Of course, quiet counsel was given about drinking in moderation. I can tell you, having been one of the volunteers prepping and cleaning up, there was often very little moderation, based on the amount of drink containers I cleaned up and unsteady walking out the door I observed. Some were clearly drunk. If they had been stopped while driving, they would have blown more than a .08 (legal limit in most states in the US). There were many other times that I seen large quantities of beer bottles/cans, wine bottles in the recycle bin after a weekend outside of the personnel/CO apartments.

I dont have an issue with them enjoying an evening together, or being rewarded for their unpaid work (the meal was paid for out of private donations of well off brothers not WWW funds). My issue is/was that these same men were so outspoken against drinking alcohol..esp in excess...holier than thou......and were the first to serve on JCs for alcoholics (DF for "loose conduct"....sure to be changed to "brazen conduct." ) Hypocrites.

Snakes (Rich )

PS....anyone in Southern Illinois ever hear of the monster parties held by some teens/young adults in the Carlyle, IL area?

22

freeloaders steeling our tax $$$$$$

by DaCheech in

http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/110492/millions-of-american-taxpayers-make-money-off-federal-taxes?mod=taxes-advice_strategy.

feel free to comment.

.

SnakesInTheTower

I am a bill collector, our company is contracted by the local cable company to collect past due accounts and retrieve equipment. We also disconnect.

Two of my zip codes are extremely poor areas. Mostly subsidized housing complexes. A third zip code also has a lot of this. In itself this is not bad. What is bad is that people living "off the dole" are driving new cars, have 50"+ HD TVs, monster stereo systems, hundreds of DVDs and CDs....The men (living with the women who are officially living there) pay me off a roll of cash.....untaxed cash...because based on my discussions with them I know they work off the books....or deal drugs (I see it first hand). The women mostly return the equipment and let us shut them off....until they get new service in their 3 year olds name........Yet, they get subsidized (or completely free) housing, subsidized utilities, food stamps (Link card) and Medicaid and do not work a job.

By contrast, I know of a single mom who gets Medicaid for her and her son and takes the EIC each year....but she works (nearly FT...her job recently cut all but managers to below FT) a regular job. I dont mind my taxes going to benefit her. She cannot get regular health insurance through her work because they exclude pre-existing conditions for the first year.... if she takes that (expensive) insurance she loses Medicaid which does cover it...barely....she is treated like crap because she is viewed as lazy because of Medicaid. She cannot win. Hopefully when she graduates college she can find a regular job that has benefits.

So is it fair to stereotype everyone "steeling" our tax money? Nope... it exists...but not everyone is stealing. (Please tell me the subject line is a typo and not a reflection of a poor education or laziness).

Snakes (Rich )

38

Reinstatement-Curent elders please reply

by truthlover in

while being reinstated several months ago -- no restriction were given other than no commenting - service was allowed - getting over the average for the cong, not missing meetings - its been months now and the brother met recently with someof the jc members - they praised his hours and meeting attendance but because his lessons are not completely underlined, and he does make notes during the meeting, he has not been allowed to still make comments and become a fully active member of the congregation as they say this note taking is causing a problem with other members of the congregation.. have you even heard of anything so off the wall?

is this the way its done in most cong??

he thought if someone was interested enough to listen and make notes of a good point in their mags, it would be something to be referred to in the future... i know i have seen folks doing this while the lesson is being read.... .

SnakesInTheTower

havent been an elder in almost 4 years (yay)

Back in 1991 I was a pioneer and MS I was accused of lying by a bunch of jealous pioneer sisters. I was removed as MS and pioneering, stopped from going to bethel as a long term temp...but the only restriction I was given was not allowed public prayer....which lasted 30 days. Hell, in the congo I was in, that was not a punishment...we had so many brothers it might have been 2 or 3 months before one could give a prayer for a meeting (other than FS).... I was given the restriction because the CO told them if they JC'd, there had to be a restriction, even if something so technically small as that.

I have a fader friend who has been inactive for several years and is done with JWs except he still is married to a JW. When he was a MS, the Einstein Elders decided it would be good to place a ministerial servant on restrictions...even though he had not been through a judicial committee....it took a couple of COs, a DO, and the Society to untangle that mess. Fortunately it was the thing he needed to get the hell out.

Snakes (Rich )

highlighted in case elders are looking over my shoulder for spirituality checks:

ps..I have heard through the grapevine that the new 2011 elder's manual is going to have more specifics about JCs and such matters. as if Unit 5(a) (b) and (c) were not enough...they need an additional 5 (dumbasses get it right) section. Glad I dont have to deal with that $hit anymore.

28

Elder's message to me, on me being disfellowshipped tomorrow.

by whereami in

jw
friends

it saddens me greatly to see all that has happened and to see my friends in this position.

for me its a great loss but i hope that it will only be temporary.

please allow jehovahs discipline to mold you and youre way of thinking.

SnakesInTheTower

whereami...

congratulations on the beginning of the rest of your life.

As to the realities of relationships... fortunately I met my fiancee after I left the JWs, so I do not have to deal with the issue you have with your hardcore JW wife. My JW mom is issue enough, so I do understand some of what you are facing. For some reason I have yet to be DF, though they have plenty on me (though I would love it if they would DF me for apostasy...the worst of the worst offenses in their eyes...LOL).

I also understand life from that elder's point of view having been an elder until shortly before I left the organization. However, in my opinion....email has made it too simple to take the easy...and cowardly...way out of a friendship. An in person visit -- by himself, in blue jeans and a tshirt...not a suit and tie -- would have been more genuine. His email shows he is mind controlled by the cult. The fact that he sent that to you at all is surprising... it is going off the reservation. Once a decision to DF has been made by the elders, independent contact like that email is generally not acceptable to the Organization. Who knows, maybe there is doubt in that ones mind.

Wish you the best with your wife...do not give up...there are many here who gained their hardcore JW mate.... I met a couple at the 08 Apostafest in Toronto where one was in and the other out for a long time? I forget who it was...thought the poster name started with a P....crap...I forget....

Snakes (Rich )

25

Do You Constantly Think About The Witnesses At This Point in Your Life?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i was just talking to a guy who's been df'd for years and he still talks about things like it was yesterday in watchtowerland.. are you still consumed by your jw past?.

SnakesInTheTower

NO

However, my mom is a dub, so it is still there a bit.. and she speaks less and less to me as time goes by. Being hundreds of miles apart (12 hour drive) exascerbates that. She told me a couple of weeks ago that she will not discuss Spiritual Things® with me anymore and that is what made us close as mother and son; friends; Spiritual Brother® and Sister®.

Apparently she has nothing but DNA in common with me anymore so she rarely calls me. When I call her, she puts me on speaker phone to talk to her UBM (my stepfather), who I, for awhile I liked a lot, but recent events show me that he is crude, sexist, and stuck in the 60s.

I see dubs occasionally in the area, but few reach out to speak to me, and when they happen across me I speak to them as if there is nothing wrong... and with me there is not. MY life is great post-JW.

My fiancee and I want to move away from this area maybe in a couple of years..but less and less dubs and their stuff mean nothing to me. I come here because there is more to people than just JW stuff. I received support and hopefully can occasionally still give it.

Snakes (Rich )