SnakesInTheTower

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Posts by SnakesInTheTower

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  46

  Finally finding my way out...

  by cognac in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, its been about 2 1/2 years and have slowly done less and less.

  i've been to about 30 minutes of a meeting in the last month and a half where i stayed out back and with my daughter.. i've been looking for the right timing to leave but had decided i will go anyways by the time my daughter is about 1 years old.

  but, it just so happens that my some members of my family including and mostly my parents have actually given me a good enough of an excuse to get out.. they have broken to many rules.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  congrats cognac.... I wondered what has been happening with you...

  freedom is sweet.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  2

  NGENZINI and The Music of Goodbye (Out of Africa)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought it might be fun to interpolate a traditional african chant (ngenzini) with john barry's love theme from out of africa (the music of goodbye).. .

  here is my arrangement.. enjoy!.

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser /> </w:worddocument> </xml><![endif]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1595587/barryesques/the%20music%20of%20goodbye.mp3.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  Nice... I like it... I downloaded the MP3 to listen to again...... and it reminds me I havent heard that soundtrack from that movie in a long time. I have the cassette but no longer have a player that works. I will have to order it from Amazon on CD. Made my day with nice music.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  45

  MP3s !!! 2010-2011 DC TALKS

  by yknot in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  commentary on mp3s: (in addition to circulate as you see fit!).

  in light of the wts's recent attempts to conceal it's talks from broader inspection and documentation, mp3s to the public are now mostly the works of the 'conscious class' and those exjws who force themselves to endure hours upon hours of control-laced presentations.

  kudos to all those who embody anonymous.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  marking
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  24

  A, uh, belated introduction

  by SweetBabyCheezits in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  quick bio: born-in, third gen jw, devout family, dad an elder/po, mom pioneered off/on, baptized at age 10 (my elder dad asked me to wait but i didnt), had overall good childhood, toured bethel, aux pio off/on, finished hs early, reg pio for a year then pio school, met amazing jw girl (also third gen devout), spent a year in community college (paid for by fairly conservative jw parents), got a good job, married amazing jw girl, appointed as ms, delivered public talks and parts on ca/dc, wife and i had first child.

  it was a near-storybook jw life (except no bethel).

  i had a couple of normal issues in teenage years, but sought the assistance from the elders and ironed it out.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  welcome cheezits....excellent telling of your story. My JW mom, who is 66 and has been dub since 1970, will not hear anything about questions about the Org. She just keeps repeating the mantra: "I know its not perfect. We have the Truth®. Where else will we go? Jehovah is still God. The light gets brighter and brighter." **gag**

  Q. How do you fight that kind of cult mentality?

  A. You don't. They have to figure it out and want to find out something different.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  11

  Heath Insurance recommendations?

  by sweet pea in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  currently we don't have family health insurance here in the us.

  could you please recommend a good company/plan that deals with the self-insured?.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  i used ehealthinsurance dot com to compare rates and policies. I ended up getting a temp (bridge) plan until I chose a permanent individual plan ...ehealthinsurance connected me to a major provider, Aetna. The ehealth people were knowledgeable...licensed insurance agents.

  It is expensive. I have a $3,000 annual deductible plus copays... so I have to pay out of pocket for everything since I dont go to the doc much. What it does do is you pay the contracted rate to the providers instead of the rack (highest..uninsured) rate. Provider submits to insurance, insurance makes the contracted adjustment, tells provider to send you the remaining bill (if you havent met the deductible).

  I pay $175 month.... it keeps going up though I have few claims. Cant get my fiancee on a family plan because of pre-existing conditions. Have to get a plan through an employer to get her covered (she has soemthing else right now, which she hates, because she works for a living..but at least she is covered).

  good luck navigating US health care.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  23

  What is your reaction when you see dubs with name badges? Here was mine:

  by SnakesInTheTower in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the things i really like about being out of the cult is that i no longer have to go to those long, boring district conventions.

  instead, i can do other things with my new family (fiancee and soon to be step son).

  we were out and about sunday, i had taken the day off from work, no point in bothering people with collections on a sunday and a holiday.. we had planned to go to a suburb of st. louis, mo (st. charles) and see some of the vendors on the riverfront in the afternoon and then wait for the fireworks in the evening .

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  SnakesInTheTower

  OUTLAW:

  Just be happy your not one of the clowns in the circus

  Amen.

  LHG:

  I hated those name tags. I remember once I forgot to remove mine after attending the summer assembly. I needed to go shopping afterwards and when I was in a pharmacy I detected a few people looking at me. I then looked down and realized I was still wearing my stupid tag. Boy did I feel like an idiot! Too bad I didn't qualify for a discount in the store.

  I feel the same way when I am working and go into a store or restaraunt for lunch. I work for a cable contractor, and that cable company is hated for its lousy service. I can feel the eyes of death staring at me. I usually leave the work name tag in the car. Funny, when I was a dub, I always left my name tag in the car. Or if we were just out for lunch (in violation of Command 5 not to go out to eat during lunch), I would put the tag in my jacket (if I wasnt violating Command 6...brothers wear jackets).... Snakes (Rich )
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  12

  Question about private reproof and weddings

  by JerkhovahsWitless in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've posted before about someone i'm friends with who was going to go to the elders with his girlfriend about some things they've been doing.

  well, they got young and very liberal elders who weren't by the book.

  the experience didn't end up being quite as bad as i prepared him for and they both only got private reproof.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  notverylikely:

  Oh, snakes....not because i don't beleive you, but when i read that i thought "he's lying!"

  Of course, I also thought "we should vote to lynch him!" at the same time. I guess that just means I need sleep.

  LOL ....werewolf game reference...(I hope) in case you anyone was looking at that and going "whaaat?" Inside joke.

  And there is at least one poster on this board that can tell you how I directly or indirectly affected their relative and their wedding plans.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  23

  What is your reaction when you see dubs with name badges? Here was mine:

  by SnakesInTheTower in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the things i really like about being out of the cult is that i no longer have to go to those long, boring district conventions.

  instead, i can do other things with my new family (fiancee and soon to be step son).

  we were out and about sunday, i had taken the day off from work, no point in bothering people with collections on a sunday and a holiday.. we had planned to go to a suburb of st. louis, mo (st. charles) and see some of the vendors on the riverfront in the afternoon and then wait for the fireworks in the evening .

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  SnakesInTheTower

  One of the things I really like about being out of the cult is that I no longer have to go to those long, boring district conventions. Instead, I can do other things with my new family (fiancee and soon to be step son). We were out and about Sunday, I had taken the day off from work, no point in bothering people with collections on a Sunday and a holiday.

  We had planned to go to a suburb of St. Louis, MO (St. Charles) and see some of the vendors on the riverfront in the afternoon and then wait for the fireworks in the evening . We had not been there more than a half hour when it started to rain. By the time we made it back a few blocks from the riverfront, across the historic downtown district, and up to the car, it was pouring rain.

  We figured we would go and get something to eat, come back a few hours later in the evening and watch the fireworks then.

  We drove closer to the central city to the Delmar Loop. Lots of restaraunts and eclectic shops. The 9YO wanted pasta, but we didn't particularly care. By this time it was around 5 or so. Not sure which restaraunts had pasta since there were no obvious fast food (except for chains like Noodles and Co or Pasta House). I stopped at the corner to run into a restaraunt that looked like it wouldn't be too expensive. When I get inside, and my eyes adjust to the lower light levl, I notice a large contingent of Witnesses all adorned in their Sunday finest, nametags included. What originally caught my eye (or ear in this case) was a baby in the group crying. My first thought was: "Oh, that's right, it was the first weekend of two of conventions in St. Charles this month." My second thought was: "That kid, and the other little ones with them, had been cooped up for six hours, now you have them cooped up in a very un-kid friendly restaraunt while you all babble on about the fine points of the convention."

  I knew these were locals (probably Delmar or University City congregation) because the whole group was black. I only mention that because it tells me that the congos I used to attend almost always attend the following weekend. (The inner city congos attended the one opposite of ours) I didn't know until the next day for certain that this was the case. Nice to not know, or care, when the conventions are anymore. I walked by the whole table to get to the server stand to find a menu.

  After perusing the menu at the server stand, I left to find other cuisine. Between the heart stopping prices and the nauseating conversation of the dubs, I decided not to go get my family and stay. I walked back by the group of Witnesses. None of them recognized me, maybe it was the hat. Maybe it was seeing me out of context. Or maybe they were too engrosed in their conversation which, by the way, was loud. I, on the other hand, recognized a couple of them. I had given talks in both congregations when I was an elder.

  I get back to the car, it was obvious to my fiancee that we were not eating in this establishment. She wanted to stay and "mess with" the Witnesses. While it sounds fun in a way, really, I did not care. I did not want to engage them, whether I knew them personally or not. It was like being on the outside looking in, but not in a longing, "wish I was back" way. No, not at all. More of a "I used to look/sound that way?, thank goodness I don't now!" kind of way.

  We ended up a few blocks away at Fitz's ...they make their own microbrew soda..or "pop" in some places. Root beer is their specialt; they also have a basic food menu. We enjoyed our sandwiches and a dessert of hot fudge brownie with vanilla, chocolate, and cappucino ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and marachino cherry. No JW's there that we could tell. By this time it was getting late, and the adults were tired. Even the 9YO wanted to skip the fireworks. We went home and that was that. It was extremely late by the time we went to sleep.

  I tell this little story to elicit some thoughts from you .... how do you react when you see the dubs with those annoying name tags? Especially if you are in a convention city where there are tons of them walking around? Do you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach? Or have you been out and away long enough that it really doesn't provoke much of a feeling anymore? I am leaning toward that latter feeling these days.

  While our nation (US) celebrated its independence, I celebrated my freedom from the tyranny of a cult. Celebrated it with my beautiful fiancee and her son.

  Let freedom ring.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  53

  Preparing for D2D Opposition July 26, 2010 KM

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so there is nothing negative to be said about jws?

  are they perfect?

  because it is negative does it mean it is a lie?.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  I occasionally contemplate why certain posters, if they are supposedly active (or at least apologetic to) JW's. why they continue to come on what is evidently an apostate site? Do they think they are going to sway the minds of even a single individual here?

  Just wondering.

  Snakes (Rich )
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  12

  Question about private reproof and weddings

  by JerkhovahsWitless in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've posted before about someone i'm friends with who was going to go to the elders with his girlfriend about some things they've been doing.

  well, they got young and very liberal elders who weren't by the book.

  the experience didn't end up being quite as bad as i prepared him for and they both only got private reproof.

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  SnakesInTheTower

  J'W:

  My question is, since they both have been privately reproved, are they even going to be allowed in this wedding? The wedding will not be in the Kingdumb Hell. I know if it was in the Hall, they would not be allowed in it, but I don't know about outside of the Hall.

  The answer is easy if the wedding is at the KH. However, since it is not, then it depends on how much the elders want to meddle and who the bride and groom and other wedding party members are.

  If the bride and groom have any status at all (ie, privileges...elder, MS, pioneer), then there would be serious question on their continued qualifications for setting a good example to the congregation in those positions. If an elder is conducting the wedding, he will be asking questions about all in the wedding party. So much for the "private" part of the reproof.

  I think I just threw up a little in my mouth typing that sh*t out.

  I know I meddled as an elder because of stupid ass rules, including weddings. And I regretted it for a long time. I cannot change what I did back then, only apologize and move forward. Forward and out of the cult for 3 years now.

  As to delaying dumping said GF....maybe GF wants out of the cult now too...time for some honest communication long before the wedding of a friend... otherwise it is hypocrisy all around.

  Snakes (Rich )