I have to tell you that by our European standards I don’t think at neither Bethels I served nor missionary-homes drinking was that of a big thing. At most of the misshomes I lived (with germans and danish) at noon we had a bottle of wine at the noon-table. Most of the time I had a “aperitief” before that at one of the return-visits. And at night a couple of wines. So I can’t agree with the opinions to be frankly.
Happy Alcoholic Jehovah's Witnesses
by The Bethelite 23 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
road to nowhere
Fulano
Not wine with a meal, or aperitif, but slugging it down, sometimes with zantac. A long gone elder told me about the meeting, drink to keep things going. Only thing missing was seegars
I had " shepherding" calls where they has some wine to relax us
-
WTWizard
Jokehovians are not allowed to smoke or use drugs, but they can and do drink alcohol. Their view is that alcohol, in moderation, is food. The same with coffee. It is the Mor[m]ons that are not allowed to drink alcohol or coffee. I do not know much about the Seventh Day Adventists on alcohol, but they do follow a semi-vegetarian diet.
I personally think these religions are all bunk. And I do not smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs. Drugs just make one stupid, and smoking ruins your health in every imaginable way. But, with regard to alcohol, it is your business if you choose to drink. But, if you choose to drink and drive, then it becomes my business and that of everyone else on the road. Drink driving is not merely a sin, it is a crime and can and does lead to serious accidents including death to innocent people.
-
The Bethelite
"at noon we had a bottle of wine at the noon-table. Most of the time I had a “aperitief” before that at one of the return-visits. And at night a couple of wines. So I can’t agree with the opinions to be frankly."
Of course there was no drinking problem "wine for lunch" a shot out in service and a couple of bottles at night you got all the booze you wanted and needed!
-
fulano
Well this continent has lived thousands of years this way. And we like it that way. We don’t like hamburgers, hotdogs eaten on the street, bad pizzas and donkeypi** Budweiser.
-
StephaneLaliberte
Alcohol is "don't hear don't tell". If no one complains about it, or if you don't go out of your way to confess to it, Elders won't do anything about it.
In general, they appear more concerned to what you do while intoxicated rather than simply being drunk. If you did nothing wrong while drunk, you can use excuses such as :
- I wasn't aware that I could not mix some medecine with alcohol (My favorite).
- I had worked all day and was burned out, I can see how this was missunderstood as "drunk".
- I have an extremly low tolerence to alcohol, one drink and I'm out.
However, if you trashed a party while being touchy feely with the sisters, no excuses will work.
-
fulano
You shouldn’t get drunk, that’s all.
-
LongHairGal
THE BETHELITE:
Yes, it was my observation that alcohol was the drug of choice for JWs and I sensed a tacit approval of drinking.
-
Still Totally ADD
It's one thing to have a glass of wine when you want it but it's another when you have to have it everyday especially when you have to have a drink at a certain time of the day. On the construction site we would call it Beer30. That's when anytime between 3-5 in the afternoon workers with a problem had to start having a drink between those hour, usually a 6 pack or two.
I knew many witness friends who had to be home for this. One Ex-CO and his wife were pretty must wasted by by 5pm except on meeting nights. They would wait until they got home. Even having large trash bags full of empty bottles each month for the trash man to pickup. It was a sad site to see. For me never much of a drinker. With ADHD coffee was the drink of choice. Still Totally ADD
-
sir82
HE WAS A MAJOR ALCOHOLIC. It actually was a big joke how much he drank. Died in his 90's, still an alcoholic.
Was anything ever done to him? Was he DF'd? Nope
Can't remember if it was an elder's school, or a meeting with a CO, but we once had an in-depth discussion on whether "being an alcoholic" was a DF offense.
Answer: Nope!
The Biblical injunction is against "drunkenness". "Alcoholism" is not mentioned in the Bible, so no problem, just so long as the alcoholic is not evidently impaired.
There was a whole 'nother section on the "Biblical definition of drunkenness" - basically, the scriptures from Proverbs about "seeing strange things" and having "wounds for no reason".
Conclusion - so long as you aren't stumbling drunk, hallucinating, or passed out, it's all good!
I $#!+ you not.
So, yeah, no surprise that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of alcoholic JWs.