Drinking (booze) among "Gods" people......More then ever now?

by new boy 32 Replies latest jw friends

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  new boy

  Looking back its amazing how many alcoholics I knew in the "borg".....................

  There are 3 elders in my old hall alone........ that are full blown alcoholics.....................

  When, have you ever heard of someone.......anyone.......let alone and elder............ getting "DFed" for drinking too much?

  When I was at bethel........You wouldn't believe how much drinking was done there!

  There are stories of the old days ( Russell & the Judge)..where they would find guys passed out in front of the 124 building on Sunday mornings........No big deal, just dust them off.............. and bring in. I knew many guys who were found drunk (even pass out), when I was there......The most anyone got, was a slap on the hand.............."Lets be careful brother"

  The JWs my be a bunch of "Tight a....s".............. But they will cut you LOTS of slack.......when comes to drinking.

  One Sunday, driving a "brother" ( been at brooklyn Bethel about 40 years) back from giving a talk at my hall, we were driving down the F.D.R. drive...........he pointed over to the Shafer brewery.......and said ..................."HAY.......they ever shut down that factory...........they would have too shut down that factory too"..................pointing to Bethel!

  Most of us drank way to much there.......One of are favorites was a place called "Steak & Brew".........there for the cost a burger you could get ALL the beer or wine you wanted..........we would get hammered..........of course at $14 a month....... it wasn't very often.

  Our main deal was Budwiezer for .69 cents a Quart...............Hard Booze when you could get it..

  The old timers did alot...................Knorr's favorite was J& B scotch. He would buy it by the case.

  At Gilead graduation lunch...............Everyone would go to their rooms before lunch and have a few...........It was the only time you would see "the family" and Knorr with a smile on our faces.

  If they took BOOZE away....................... the whole organization would come apart.........

  What is your story of alcohol............and the organization?
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  owenfieldreams

  I concur. Back when i was at bethel in the eighties, the liquor flowed pretty freely, especially at the gilead grad. dinners and after monday evening wt study. if you were 21, it was like having a free pass to drink as much as you want, as long you were at morning worship the next day.
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  wunce_wuz

  Having been at Bethel during the 70's I can concur with the drinking. When I traveled with other Bethelites and Bethel Elders we would openly drink beer in the car. I remember once when we stopped for gas and got out of the car, a good number of empty beer bottles fell out of the car. The gas attendent gave "that look". Thankfully he did not call the police...
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  uwishufish

  I remember growing up an beeing a teenager the teenage boys would spend the night at our house after the fri night ms&sm and commence to have a drinking party. Drinking age was 18 I wasnt legal but would find a place that would sell to me. Hence the bar was open. Does drink till you puke ring a bell?
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  freetosee

  The most I drank was during my jws years.

  A couple of years ago I accommodated an elder friend of my parent visiting from the Caribbean. He drank three quarters of a bottle of rum every evening sometimes more. He said he could take it without getting drunk because he is used to it and a heavy or big guy. He could quote the scripture of Jesus changing water into wine with no problem. Lots of jws I know drink lots of alc.
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  Confession

  Here's a pertinent passage from my WTS poetic retrospective, "It's The Truth!"

  Mental programming and Group Dynamics

  Are effective but often cause stressing

  So many Jay-Dub alcoholics

  Deep down find their lives so depressing

  Keep your noses to grinders and put on your blinders

  Drink a fifth of cold Absolut

  If you’re badly blue, the fault is with you

  It has to be, this is “The Truth!”

  It’s the Truth, it’s the Truth!

  Let’s drink to the Truth

  Our lives filling up with dismay

  It’s the Truth, it’s the Truth!

  Time to break out the hootch

  We need to get numb right away!

  If you'd like to read the entire sad/funny saga, go here http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/25/116628/1.ashx

  Confession
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  freetosee

  One Sunday, driving a "brother" ( been at brooklyn Bethel about 40 years) back from giving a talk at my hall, we were driving down the F.D.R. drive...........he pointed over to the Shafer brewery.......and said ..................."HAY.......they ever shut down that factory...........they would have too shut down that factory too"..................pointing to Bethel!

  lol! funny and how true that would be if they ever get new light banning booze..........never will that happen!
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  done4good

  All four of my grandparents' witness kids were alcoholics. My mother, my two aunts, and my uncle. My mother is now dead from DUI. My one aunt is a daily drinker, (even before meetings), but functional. My uncle gets completely hammered on a regular basis, and my other aunt, chooses to not drink most of the time, but when she does, it is to complete incoherency. My cousin, (df for 10 years, now reinstated), still drinks heavily even after being diagnosed with severe type 2, or mild type 1 diabetes.

  Witness parties were always full of booze, as long as it was kept to a certain group. I did all of my heavy drinking as a witness.

  j
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  rolling rock

  I know so meny JW's that drink WAY MORE THEN THEY SHOULD...
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  willyloman

  I agree drinking is prevalent among witnesses. Dubs often say eating and drinking are among the few things JWs can "do" without breaking some dub rule.

  I drank often as a dub elder, telling myself that between congregational responsibilities, raising a family and working 50 hours a week at a demanding job, I needed the stress relief.

  About three or four years before I walked away from the dub life, I quit drinking. It was about a year after that when I started to realize I was thinking a lot more clearly, and that much of that thinking was critical (as in "critical thinking"). I now realize I drank to suppress the nagging doubts that plague many a dub, particularly those who are elders.