by JH 15 Replies latest jw friends
When you were active, did you buy any lottery tickets? I know a XJW who told me that he never stopped buying lottery tickets, even when he was active. He always asked somebody else to go get them for him, so that he wouldn't be seen buying them. An elder told me that, if a person gives you a lottery ticket, that was ok and you could accept it, but it was illegal as a witness to buy one. I found that hypocrite. Did you gamble when you were active?
Edited by - JH on 19 December 2002 7:31:56
My JW sister buys them all the time, and if she wins she has asked me to get the money and I will get half.
It's a spiritual loop hole for her, but a bonus for me!
Beans
This is one of those double life things.
Blondie(Corban lives in the WTS)
i do ever once in a while( the lottery is just a good way to waste money) and gambling at a casino doesn't bother me. there was an article in the wt just this week(study wt) talking about betting small amounts, like playing penny poker for fun.(if someone can scan it) the words the society uses for discouraging it are very carefully placed, in all of their articles on gambling they state that it "can incite greed" and in the flock book GREED is the problem. but the articles say you should "AVOID" gambling so as NOT TO INCITE greed. ; we can notice the difference if you plug in any other sin......................... we should AVOID adultery, killing, slander,stealing,.....blood ????????? so we can see that there is not a very strong arguement to stop gambling just like eating, drinking, recreation ; when it is done responsibly and in moderation. if there was we would be instructed " you must not gamble, we would not even think about gambling, gamblers would not inherit gods kingdom" the article about a year ago in the awake said NOTHING about how bad gambling was but how 3 or 4 people stopped being addicted to gambling<
P>anyway that is my take on it... and more insight? maybe elders or people "busted" could comment</P>
I just posted on the double life thread about the elder couple that own a convenience and liquor store that sell tobacco and lottery tickets. To get around any congregational responsibility, they put the business, legally, under their "worldly" father's name.....Personally, I only spend around $40 per week on KENO......of course, if I had only a little money, and I spent $40 per week, well, that would be gambling. In my case, it's clearly justifiable.
I have been using a Gail howard book 2 wheel my Thunderball numbers,What a badboy am I!
I never gambled as far as lotteries or casinos go, but I used to like getting in on promotions from supermarkets and Coca Cola. Once I won a red teeshirt that said "I Won" on it. hahaha
It's funny that you posted this today. The man who drives me home from work stopped at 7/11 last night to buy his weekly lottery ticket and guess what? I bought my very first one! Okay, okay, it IS a waste of money, but I really got excited about buying it. I sell them at the Exxon station I work at and I will probably start buying them regularly. Hell, it's supposed to help schools, right? Edited to add: I won my $5 back! hehe
Edited by - windchaser on 19 December 2002 10:38:58
Always made sure I got into the "retirement fund" at work when Powerball got over $100 million. Didn't want to be the only one left at work and have to miss meetings because my job now required me to do the work of 6 managers. I would probably have to agree its a waste of money, except for the guy that wins at it. A dollar here, and dollar there...we all have vices as long as it doesn't become a problem. I say, "Have fun 'cause if you don't play you are sure not to win!"
Oh and the powerball in U.S., is at $215 million. Probably time to invest in the "retirement fund" again. Have fun, but play responsibly!
Still the BadJerry
I'm addicted to the scratch-offs!. Every weekend my husband and I drive to Georgia (Tennessee doesn't have a lottery yet) to fill up (gas is way cheaper) and buy $5.00 worth of scratch-offs.
Sherryl (who revealed to much about herself)
I buy the Lotto 649 and have for years...........
There's one elder in my Hall who first of all, bilked his half-brother out of his inheritence, (estimated at about $200,000 Cdn) and put about $100,000 of it into Nortel stock in 1999. (Nortel is a Canadian firm who basically was run on the same premise as Enron). He would arrogantly go around to everyone at the Hall and tell them that he "had the Stock Market figured out" as the stock was still going up then. By the end of 2000 though, he wasn't singing this tune any more. The stock crashed and is virtually worthless now. LOL!!
The point is: he took a huge GAMBLE and lost. It seems perfectly okay though, from the Borg's warped perspective, to lose 100 grand like that, but a "real Christian" isn't supposed to spend $1.00 on a lottery ticket because that's worshiping the God of Good Luck and is GREEEEEEEEEEED!!
In my opinion, there's no difference between investing in the stock market and lottery tickets. Only difference is that you generally don't lose your shirt if your lotto numbers don't come up.
