"Drugs are demonic, mmmmkay?"

Mr. Falcon

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer filled with district conventions and auxillary pioneering. Just kidding, let's talk drugs.

As a kid growing up in the mid-80's and through the 90's, we had all kinds of lame, pointless anti-drug programs at school. The most common one was the D.A.R.E. program, which many of you would remember as falling somewhere between being stupid and being pointless. However, as I reflect on my J-dubba-dub upbringing, the D.A.R.E. program was 500 times more enlightening than any anti-drug rhetoric I ever got from "God's Chosen People".

I was raised to believe (as I'm sure some of you were) that the main reason that you should never do drugs is because drugs will put you into a mental state that will allow you to become possessed by wicked spirits, or demons. And truth be told, I believed this as I grew up. It was scary to me. Yet as I got older and even used a few "recreational herbs", I begin to develop that weird feeling you get when you realize that you may have been fed a line of dung.

And recently, a JW fella whom I grew up with made a comment regarding how drugs leave your mind open to demonic possession. And I found myself bewilderingly thinking to myself, "Holy Handgrenade of Antioch! We still believe that?"

I have boiled my reasoning on this down to a pair of points. Before I list those points I would just like to add that I am not a user. I've tried drugs, but it's really not for me. I have nothing against the drug culture; I love Fear & Loathing and all that, but it's just not my poison. I'm a drinker. And a damn ferocious one at that. So I have no real bias towards or against recreational drug use. But I do have a STRONG bias against ignorance and line of thinking that rejects logic & common sense.

"We can't stop here! This is demon country!"

That said, here we go:

1) When JWs refer to "drugs" when they point to the dangers of Satanic mental-hijacking, which drugs are they referring to? Surely any JW would say hallucinatory products like acid would qualify. Okay, fair enough. But what about someone who abuses prescription drugs? My mother (a devout JW) is addicted to narcotic pain killers, although she won't admit it. The kinds of narcotics she takes are very strong, stronger than most "recreational drugs" commonly cited by JWs. So when mother dearest is zoned out in the evenings from her usual Hemingway-strength drug cocktail, surely she is at great risk of demon attack, yes?

2) If the demons are such powerful spirit creatures, why can they only attack us if our minds are "blank" from substance abuse? It's as absurd as the notion that demons inhabit items purchased at yard sales. The Daniel book claims that the demons may play some sort of role in international conflict. So if they have that ability, then why prevents them from going after little Timmy Publisher? Why do they have to wait for him to give into temptation and pick up a spliff?

Your thoughts, please.

james_woods

Don't forget that the demons are in cigarette smoke, too.

VIII

My thoughts:

Perscription drugs for pain: My BIL is hooked on them. Hard time. He started with pot at least 35 years ago. I know that for a fact. He stole some from a client I cleaned for. (I was a cleaning lady as college student, BIL was doing some repair work) Both had the key and I stupidly told BIL and Sis that Joe Client had a huge stash of pot in XSX. Next thing I know Joe Client calls and asks me where it is. Long story short, Joe Client confronts BIL who sings like a bird. Yes, he took it. Only a little. But enough for Joe Client to miss.

BIL went on to heroin and who know what else. I do know he's on Oxy. He admits it freely. Sis is in stage 4 cancer and he takes her pain meds any time he can. Dirty PIG.

He's wasted away to nothing. Probably on Meth.

He's destroyed his family. Our family. All for drugs. Over the years he's the poster child for how to F-up your life with Narcotics. Not booze, just Narcotics.

He's stolen, sold and gone into bankruptcy.

I hate street drugs and now prescription pain meds. Everyone is getting hooked on them.

So, start with pot and eventually you could become my BIL. A heaping POS. All he does is breathe.

Should he be in jail? I don't care. I just want him out of our lives. And he will be when Sis dies.

DarioKehl

It's all because of one word, "pharma-kia." the WTBS loves to take an origional greek word and stretch it to the point of tearing. Obviously, the majority of modern culture recognizes that it's the root word for Pharmacy, not Spiritism. But one synonym in one edition of one particular dictionary gives them all the fuel they need for their rhetoric.

They did the same thing with the word "porneia." Now, according to the new elder's manual, "porniea" includes dry-f##ing! I know--first hand--that many young dubs got off scott-free on this technicality in the past. If clothes are still on, it was considered an "involuntary reaction" and reduced to "uncleaness" according to a local elder. not so anymore! climaxing through fabric is now forced into this definition. BULL$#!+

And lest we forget how they tweaked the work "parousia" (sp?) in reference to Christ's "coming." One edition of one dictionary had one little dingleberry synonym in their definition that let them run with the word "presence" in their translation. I'm not an Eng/Lit major, but I understand what connotation and denotation are. One synonym, although fitting a definition, can convey and entirely different meaning than other synonyms and all the writing department at WBTS needs to do is fine ONE that fits their skewed doctrine, take it and run with it! Then, maybe, perhaps, kind of...you know...ADD flavoring words like "invisible" next to it so we believe that the scripture specifically refers to Jesus's INVISIBLE PRESENCE which is nothing close to the origional meaning!

Don't get me started on "generation" = "overlap!"

DarioKehl

*original ...dayng phlat keeboRed maykin' mEe mispell

NomadSoul

Don't forget about meditation. Those demons sure are weak for them to wait for you to think about nothing. lol

cult classic

I swear I have been thinking about this very subject all week. My mother's secret sin was smoking and she always accused my father of bringing demons in the house. So yeah, I was screwed in the head over this one.

And I found myself bewilderingly thinking to myself, "Holy Handgrenade of Antioch! We still believe that?"

ROFL Falcon.

Mr. Falcon

VIII - sorry to hear about your family situation. As regards your BIL, I won't really comment on his life choices, but I was wondering, is he a JW?

Dario - Wow, that is pretty deep. It so surreal how you grow up believing that this organization is infalliable and God's own mouthpiece. And then you realize that they are as petty, dishonest, delusional and bogged down by bureaucracy like any other "worldly" organization.

Nomad - I forgot about that hahaha. That's a classic JW belief. Don't mediatate (unless it's on our publications) or all kinds of evil critters will inhabit your brain.

cult classic - it's quite frightening, the JWs seem to live in the Dark Ages mentally. I'm surprised they don't give talks about how Zeus causes lightening or how evil Jews are responsible for spreading The Plague. Idiots.

Bungi Bill

As well as some dictionary's rendering of the Greek word "pharmakia", much was made of drug usage in spiritistic rites:

- in parts of South East Asia and Papua New Guinea, betel nut was chewed as a signal to "The Demons" that people wished to make communication.

- likewise, Amerindian people used to smoke tobacco as a signal to open communication with the "other side."

Then, whammo! Back about 1972, tobacco smoking now gets moved from off the merely frowned upon list, and onto the forbidden list.

(Enough to make you want to tie bunches of garlic around your bed to keep them at bay - or does that only protect against vampires?)

Bill.

Mad Sweeney

He he he. Demons. They control the world's governments AND they inhabit your children's little blue toys. Is there anything they CAN'T do?

By the way, MF, welcome back. It's been awhile.

"Drugs are demonic, mmmmkay?"

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