by pepheuga 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
In view of the many injurious substances that tobacco smoke contains, are we loving our neighbor as ourselves, are we doing to others as we would have them do to us, when we pollute with tobacco smoke the air they breathe, although many of them do not smoke but find tobacco fumes very obnoxious?
I guess that takes care of farting at a meeting or whenever a group of JWs are gathered, eh?
Robert
Interesting, as my husband is at this moment, compiling a letter to one of our sons who is shunning his older brother, who was DF'd for smoking, and shunning us, for continuing to associate with him. The 1954 article said many who had smoked, quit because it wasn't Christian, but in reality, probably because they were given "X" number of months to quit or be DF'd. On the same note, "coffee" is every bit as addictive, although granted, not as harmful to those around the coffee drinker. But we've known so many over the years, who couldn't get to the first door in service if they hadn't had their coffee "fix". Some even get physically ill for a lack of coffee, headaches etc??? Where's the sense of it all??? It must be in the CONTROL aspect, and making JW's different, at all costs.
Smoking is a great one for D'fing old people.
Sex for young people,. smoking for the oldies! Theyve got us covered every which way!
In my opinion the smoking ban by the WTS, regardless of their motivation, was a great thing. Addiction to tobacco is a dangerous “drug addiction”. I quit smoking in 1973 as a result of the WTS ban. My doctor says that it was probably the wisest health decision I ever made. Considering that my Mother, Father, Sister and Brother all died premature deaths from smoking related causes I view the tobacco habit very negatively. The link between tobacco and early death is undeniable.
I don’t believe you can seriously categorize the drinking coffee as being a similar addiction as using tobacco. Alcohol consumption in moderation is not Scripturally wrong and is not unhealthy. Drunkenness is condemned in the Bible, as is addiction to alcohol. People who have a problem drinking moderately (and that includes me) shouldn’t drink. A problem I have seen within the WTS is that quite often problem drinking by congregation members is tolerated rather than dealt with. If you are going to DF smokers then you should also DF the drunks.
In the 1970's when new lite hit again, all JWs were given 6 months to clean up their act or be df'd. The solid scriptural reason? "Pharmakia", "practice of spiritism".
I plan on giving up smoking again at some point and don't really hold it against the witnesses for banning it. It is good that something that kills you so subtely is recognised as dangerous. But at the same time, I do see the paradox, a teenager can go out on their very first night of drinking and kill themselves through poisoning in that one night, whereas smoking takes decades.
