Do A Number of Jehovah's Witnesses Have A Drinking Problem???

by minimus 70 Replies latest jw friends

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  Francois

  Drinking problem? When I was a JW? Not me; I just went out and purchaed a big ol' funnel. That sucker must have held at least a six pac.
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  wheres caleb?

  Before I went to Bethel, I was at a DC and a brother from Bethel was sharing some pictures from there. The pictures looked like a drunken brothel was going on. One guy had displayed all the alcohol bottles in one of the pictures. They all looked like they were very happy to be indulging themselves. I was meeting this guy for the first time and I noticed he was getting a little embarrassed by the display. He closed the picture book.

  Another brother was accepted to Bethel but got caught in some under-age drinking. He was counseled and his acceptance to Bethel was revoked. When the parents called Bethel to plead his case, they were told by the person there, that they had enough problems with alcoholics at Bethel and didn't need more.
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  minimus

  Yup, Bethelites are drunks. But what do ya expect from a dead end job?
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  HadEnuf

  Compared to "worldly" people , I suppose the JW's drink no more or no less than these "worldlings". BUT...since JW's are supposed to be such good, upstanding, sterling examples in today's debauched, immoral and excessive world...they should be doing LESS drinking than the "world". From my fine-tuned observations over the years, I have witnessed many a witness overindulging in the bubbly and other alcohol laden beverages. Especially at JW wedding events, which in this area were notorious for underage and elderage drinking. But a blind eye was the method of dealing with this "worldly" problem. Also...my daughter-in-law worked for a time as a cocktail hostess at a local supper club and was frequently serving a fine and vast variety of mixed alcoholic beverages to our esteemed and irreprehensible elders. They could slug 'em back with the best of them. I also remember having fine association when invited over to many elder's homes & ms's homes where the liquor cabinets rivaled something you might see perhaps behind a SALOON/BAR located at the Playboy Mansion. I also believe, and this is pure speculation on my part, that a few of our older elder's succumbed to diseases which were hastened by overindulgence in alcohol over a period of many years. This of course was all hush hush and again, a subject of gossip and conjecture which of course I NEVER participated in. But nevertheless; from what I witnessed about the witnesses is that they had a certain fondness for a brew or two, or three, or four, or five, or six.....etc. etc. etc.

  Cheers .......Cathy L.
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  stillajwexelder

  German Bethelites at Selters have a reputation for it -- I know many other JW drunkards - true alcoholics -- many others on the edge -- derinking is still viewed as ana acceptable "sin" there have been other threads on this topic
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  Francois

  Jehovah's Witnesses disclose a great deal more social dysfunctions than do other groups. Within the JWs we find more spousal abuse, more child sex abuse, more drug abuse and more alcohol abuse. It isn't recognized quite so much among the witnesses because the "floor" or tolerance for alcohol is already quite high due to the acceptance of alcohol in the bible.

  Read some of the works of Dr. Gerald Penton to see just how much more dysfunctional the typical JW family is in this and other regards.

  Being a JW in an upper east Tennessee dry county was an eye opener for me back in the late 50s and early 60s. The length the JWs went to obtain and consume beer was eye-opening indeed.

  Do a number of JWs have a drinking problem? Yes, a GREAT number do. Then there is a great number who are accomplished oenophiles as well.

  frank tyrrell
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  teejay

  He told me that he had to give the Watchtower Study the following Sunday(as part of his duties).... he said, "I always have to have at least three beers before I can do it". I felt sorry for the man, for some reason.
  
  That *is* sad, Bad-O.
  
  I'm looking forward to what more you have to say about your visit with him, but for now I'd say that the man is experiencing a lot of pain that he's trying real hard to not deal with. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that a lot of that pain was JW-inspired.
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  oldcrowwoman

  Yes both , ex and I abused alcohol through my 14 yrs of jw land. Full time pioneer and MS.

  I knew 2 other couples abused alcohol at that time.

  Thank goodness I did'nt sober up in the org. I would'nt have survived. Just praying does work.

  I put myself in treatment after DA'ed from the org. As far as I know my ex is still using. And active in the org.

  Using was my way of surviving the abuse in the marriage. It was my saving grace at the time. Sober 19 yrs 8 months.

  OCW
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  Brandy

  iiz2cool your post craked me up.

  I heard one elder say in a talk that we shouldn't go to PG rated movies, that PG stood for "Pure Garbage". I later saw some porn flicks at his house.

  Sounds like that elder leads a double life. lol

  When I was a new JW I asked an elder about the JW stand on oral sex. His answer was "A little face in the right place is no disgrace."

  hmmmmmmm this one did not read his WT. lol I think a lot of us chose to ignore that stupid rule.

  I remember a WT article in 1974 stating that cold sores were the cause of most herpes. Duh if you have a cold sore don't do it. But if you do not well then why the hell not do it. That article was just plain dumb.

  My fondest memories from my JW daze were from drinking in strip bars with my MS buddy, who used to get on the stage and dance with the strippers! Somehow, he never got bounced out! Going there was a great stress reliever

  You were a very naughty JW That MS you were with set a bad example

  Well at least you have some good memories of your prision sentance in the borg.

  brandy
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  MNJAR

  I was so naive. We were invited, after a WT study, to the so called holier than thou elder's house for dinner. Our young children stayed with their children while the 4 of us went for a short drive to pick up something. The something was lots of booze and then I walked in to the restroom and found Sister Wonderful (so noted by the congregation), pulling her cigarettes from the top of the towel holder. Like I said, I was so naive, it shocked me.

  We never did eat our supper and our kids were so glad we came back, they didn't know what was going on. Never in our lives had we experienced something like this. It really set us back because these people are still in excellent standing with the cong.

  Did they have a drinking problem? Very definitely. Later we visited them because of an illness in the family and found the sister passed out from liquor.