Thank you to all for your responses. I notice that no JWs have responded, so I must assume that those JWs who are on this board agree with the statements by others here that purport to represent their views, are too timid to respond, or have no idea what they believe but are comfortable with being told what to believe by others. With that in mind, I'll respond to the some of the points made here.
Blondie: Thanks for your points and excerpts from the WT publications. However, my parents were in the religion since the 60s, and Dad, who is quite the authority, has never raised that point (his focus was on the "defilement" aspect). Nevertheless, you certainly did support it with the excerpts from the WT pubs. Filip raises a good point in response; there are other addictive drugs used by Jehovah's Witnesses, including caffeine. Additionally, the scriptures cited in the Watchtowe publication excerpts you presented refer to druggery. If all drugs are related to spiritism, and spiritism is a bad thing, then the Witnesses ought to ban all drugs, including those that are essential for one to survive. Interestingly, your quote also reveals the racist, bigoted attitude of the Watchtower against American Indians, another example of the Watchtower's intolerance of others. How hypocritical for the Watchtower to constantly demand that their beliefs be tolerated via their trips to our Supreme Court, when they in fact do not respect or tolerate the beliefs of others.
Filip: Thanks for the point about coffee drinking. Caffeine and nicotine are both drugs, and neither are essential for our survival (OK, Starbucks, please call off the hit men - I won't bag on coffee any more).
Willpower: (Re: blood) - I don't recall any scriptural differentiation to support the views you attribute to the JWs. Furthermore, JWs eat blood all the time; inasmuch as they are permitted to eat the flesh of animals. But we're not talking about eating blood here; we're talking about injecting it into our circulatory system. Additinally, the blood in an organ is indeed utilized as sustenance, as without it, the organ would not be viable for transplant.
LittleToe: Good point; but alcohol has always been favorable to the Witnesses due to Rutherford's enjoyment of it. This is just another example of what I referred to with respect to the "politically correct" aspects of the Jehovah's Witnesses; those who wield the political power on the boards of directors of the various corporations that control the Jehovah's Witnesses make the rules.
Blondie: I don't smoke either and wouldn't even if I had never been involved with the JWs. I only have one body, so I try to keep it in good working order.
