by minimus 16 Replies latest jw friends
I was thinking about Christmas and how celebrants may lose their home and all their possessions because a Christmas candle burned down the house.
Witnesses smugly would say, "Well, they shouldn't have been celebrating the holidays!".....yet if a JW got into a fatal car accident while going to a convention, it was clearly Satan's doing.
I remember a relative expressing such a view when people in their area were flooded out of their homes, many years ago when I was still a Witness. My relative had called on them and they had shown no interest in the good news.
I didn't share this view.
Or the case of an ex witness that got cancer. The comment was made by someone in the congregation "thats what happens when you leave Jehovah"
Yep.....seriously......
The jokehovian that made the Christmas candle story probably doesn't realize how rare candle fires are. Every year, there are a few hundred candle or Christmas tree fires. Most candle fires happen because a pet knocks down a lit candle or it catches inflammable material, usually a dried out Christmas tree, on fire. Incandescent lights, particularly the big C9 lights, on dried out Christmas trees, can and do start fires. This can be prevented by keeping the Christmas tree well watered, which makes it very difficult to burn.
Too bad that idiot didn't see my Christmas candles. Nice LED, with battery power. Placed with the LED right on flammable materials, it is probably totally safe--you are more likely to burn the house down with water droplets focusing sun onto the surface than with a LED. I also use exclusively LED lights for decorations, which saves quite a bit on my electricity bill along with being far safer than those squiggly things you put in sockets to get a poor approximation for light.
Besides, how many die from miscues at the Grand Boasting Session? Probably more than burn their homes down from a Christmas tree or candle. If it gets hot enough and their venue is open air, people can and do suffer heat stroke. Falls down the stairs, blood clots from prolonged sitting in seats not meant to be sat in for prolonged periods of time, and general stress from just being there all kill more than Christmas fires. Accidents to and from the venue also take their toll.
Now, Christmas candles and lights are one thing. You can make them nearly fail-proof for fire safety, particularly if you use LEDs. Even open flame fires are safe as long as you do not use them unattended where they could get knocked down or catch other materials on fire. But, drinking and driving is another. Drink driving probably kills more people per year from Christmas than other perils, including candle and tree fires and falls from ladders putting the stuff up. Definitely, I say Bah! Humbug! to drink driving.
