Posts by SnakesInTheTower

28

When you were an active WT door knocker... How did you knock?

jw
friends

on the door frame, on the door, door knocker, bell.. loud, very loud, regular, soft... gentle... or just pretended and never knocked at all?

we just had a city worker come a knocking on our front door and my responce after she left was, she should go down to the local kingdom haul and give lessons.

her knock was so loud, she could raise the dead.

SnakesInTheTower

As a pioneer and elder, I "volunteered" to be the odd number in a car group and "offered" to work by myself so others didn't have to. Also, I often "extended the offer" to drive my vehicle. And "kindly" moved the car every block so others wouldn't have to walk back so far. All of this was "greatly appreciated." Especially since coffee breaks were a priority. Time counting for me was "fluid."

If, after all of that, I still had to actually had to knock at a door? Phantom knock or bell ringing, Pioneer, "extensive" record keeping. On the rare times I spoke to someone? Either 30 second tract offer, or 10 minute conversation about pets, gardens, etc.

I was SUCH a great example.

Snakes (Rich)

PS... when I became a in person "at the door" bill collector, I knocked like a damn cop. LOL. So, not afraid of knocking.

22

India ... what's the latest?

by no-zombie in

we haven't heard much recently about india.

whats the current situation over there?

.

SnakesInTheTower

I think at the time I was surprised at the blatant honesty if the brother on the desk there. I am certain that variations of that occur everywhere. I observed it first hand here in the US.

The whole Borg is corrupt.

Snakes

47

What did you regrettably not do because you were a Jehovah's Witness ?

by minimus in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses cannot do a lot of things.

i remember pioneers having to quit their jobs because they could not work in a convenience store and sell cigarettes.

i know of a young man who was offered a scholarship to any college or university if he wanted to go to because of his football abilities.

SnakesInTheTower

My mom got our family into JW in 1970. Dad was 17 years in Coast Guard. We were in Alaska. Dad was gone 30 days at a time, mom home with us two little kids under age of 4. Long winters alone, Special Pioneers from the KH down the street and the rest is history.

Mom baptized, gave dad the ultimatum. One more move, probably Seattle, and he found have retired before age 40, gotten a Federal job, retired by age 60 with 2 pensions. Instead, he got dunked, quit the CG. We moved back to his hometown in Illinois, and we struggled until he died...short of his 60th birthday. Still believing this shit.

I gave up a chance to go to Ranken Tech in St. Louis right when computers were taking off. Local PO even offered to loan my folks the money. He believed in trades. Somehow that was derailed by my dad. Menial jobs for both of us after that. He finally got a good job with the city, but the financial damage was done.

I eventually went to college 10 years ago at age 39. Those 2 degrees and $3 will get me a coffee at Panera. Of course, if not for studying for college at Panera, I wouldn'the have met my future wife who worked there at the time.

At least something good came of my path out of the cult.

Snakes (Rich

22

India ... what's the latest?

by no-zombie in

we haven't heard much recently about india.

whats the current situation over there?

.

SnakesInTheTower

In 06 I spoke with Service Dept in India. They acknowledged that local congregations often do things differently than Brooklyn. Bribes and payoffs to avoid DF and get position recommendations often occurred. Even the less than 50k Indian JW don't even beat to the same drumbeat as Mother Borg. Very much a blip on the religious scene. Likely hasn't changed in a decade

Snakes

22

Being a Rude Jerk, It's Awesome!

by Simon in

maybe it's a british thing, but we tend to be polite.

too polite.. even if someone is inconsiderate, we apologize as though we did something wrong.. prime offenders?

people in supermarkets, specifically costco.. they have nice wide isles and yet somehow, for some reason, some idiot will find a way to put their trolley sideways and keep a hand on it while reaching for something, thus blocking the entire isle.. or another favorite ... you're going through the entrance and someone just stops, maybe to answer their phone.. how about you wait in a queue at a checkout for ages and when it's their turn, then they start looking for their purse.. how many times have you thought "idiot" or muttered under your breath?.

SnakesInTheTower

I can't be too crazy or flip the bird because I drive my company car on and off the clock (nice perq). Drawback is the company logo on the sides. Which also makes me a target of bad drivers.

Got in an accident the other day, now the company is providing a rental from Enterprise.... sans-iogo.

***'evil grin*** guess who is flippin' the International Symbol of Displeasure to bad Drivers?

Snakes (Rich)

117

2017 Yearbook released

by bohm in

jw
friends

i saw this on reddit:.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/5mlgsm/2017_yearbook_of_jehovahs_witnesses/.

overall the numbers are better than last year (1.8% growth compared to 1.5% last year -- as i predicted ;-) ) with an increase in all major figures including 1300 more congregations (i assume this is not physical kingdom halls?).

SnakesInTheTower

When I was in MTS, a discussion was had about how many publishers a congregation had to have on average to split into a second congregation. The direction was an average of 75 strong adult publishers per congregation. Taking the 8.132 million avg publishers / 75 = about 108k congos. Current 2017 figures are 119k congos.

Looks like lots of room for consolidation...... lol

Snakes

31

"Historical" Announcement This Week?

by headisspinning in

my daughter asked if anyone has heard anything about a 'big announcement' being made sometime this week in congregations in canada and possibly beyond... in her words "it's like a biggggg long thing, they cut out part of the book study for it and people heard it was a historical thing"... any ideas?

could it be the mexican branch closing or the theme of the convention?

or something else?

SnakesInTheTower

If you are a local dub, you cannot just "show up,'" you have to be assigned or invited to International Conventions.

BUT, if you are just John Q. Apostate, you could just show up as an interested visitor. LOL.

Snakes

12

Posting reunion photo soon with my granddaughter

by Nancy K in

jw
friends

dear friends, i am relatively 'new' on this website, but i have been posting about not being allowed to see my granddaughter and the 'shunning' thing..i was just going to start a court proceding(my husband is an attorney)to try and get visitation, then my dad passed away..many of you wrote to me and showered me with much needed support.

thru my dad's 'passing', i had to contact my daughter and we had a long 'talk' and she wasn't 'shunning' me after all..my sister, who is a "double-life" witness told my daughter some terrible lies about me which were ridiculous, and my daughter at that time was being treated for depression, so she didn't know what to think(as my sister is a witness, and she naturally assumed she was being truthful)..i have a damaged neurological system from 8 months of very high-dose chemo, at times i use a cane, i have chronic pain, etc.,but it is all from my illness..my sister was telling my daughter i was on drugs, and yes i am on medication, but not medication that gets one 'high', this is medication i must be on for life.

so, thru my dad's passing, a miracle has happened, after 2 years of missing my granddaughter, in a few weeks i will be spending an entire weekend with her and my grandson whom i haven't seen, so my daughter and her husband can have some 'alone' time!!

SnakesInTheTower

It would be interesting to know how the now 16 yr old grandchild and family are doing. Sometimes resurrected threads can be fun.

Snakes

21

Living Vicariously Through the Sheep.

by donny in

when i got baptized as a jehovah’s witness in the summer of 83, my honeymoon period lasted about two years before i began to wonder if the society and its adherents were all it claimed to be.

no of the things i encountered for the first few years was really faith shattering, they simply just made me pause and think.

after a short while, i would file those issues in the back of my brain files and move forward.. .

SnakesInTheTower

No, I believe the OP. We had an elder who asked the most inappropriate questions in sexual cases.

I was chairman on a JC of a single sister who was involved in sexual conduct with a worldly man at work. Despite being single, as an MTS grad and an outsider, she trusted me to "confess" to. Our pervert elder (former PO), wanted to chair and me not be on the committee at all, allegedly because I was single. The other elders agreed she had come to me and I had the details and I was chair.

This other elder insisted on being on the JC. Couldn't figure out why he wanted to so badly. The reason was apparent when he started to ask very innapropriate questions. I asked the sister to give us a few minutes. When she left, I ripped him a new one. I took over the questioning, carefully, asking for only the bare minimum of details. I made sure the notes also only had the same. I tried to help her maintain her dignity.

It was after that I began to really examine the scriptural foundation of JCs, which we discussed in horrible detail in MTS. Of course there was none.

Not long after this the same elder finally succeeded in having me removed for unrelated "unreasonableness," starting my departure from the Borg.

So, all that to say, I have no doubt of the veracity of the OP details. I do question the need to detail it here, just my opinion

Snakes (Rich)

30

Is it morally wrong to put Watchtower behind?

by Darkknight757 in

with our latest and final run in with the elders, the wife and i had a very long talk about what's next in our life.

do we try to help others see the light as it were concerning watchtower or do we just let it go and move on with our life?

we have made it perfectly clear that we will never go back to watchtower and we are finally happy.

SnakesInTheTower

Dark knight, move on and be glad you have your wife along with you. This board has been a great support. I probably still come here because I see stories of older JWs leaving WT and it gives me hope that my 73 yr old JW mom will leave it behind.

For me, I cannot take on the role of ex JW activist. If someone comes to me, knowing my exit story, and asks for my help, I will. Once my mom either leaves the cult, dead or alive, I'm done too

Enjoy your freedom.

Snakes