OK, my good, good wife is out of town, I bought some decent brandy, a decent cigar, and put on some Donna Summer, slipped out onto the deck, lit up, and discovered what all the noise was about all of that. Nice. I haven't smoked since I quit, learning the truth, 35 years ago. I looked up at the sky, lightning bugs active, mosquitos leaving me alone, and thought about Jehovah and the Kingdom that He's promised. Nice.
I've posed this situation, hypothetically, to a few of my closest friends in the truth in the not-so-distant past. Is it "sin?" I've worked hard. I've done what I could, under my own circumstances, and raised my kids, provided for my family, tried to be an upbuilding influence in the congregation... is it sin deserving of disfellowshipping...because I don't FEEL guilty?! My friends, of course, are non-commital, but they can see my point. I guess I've always been a troublemaker.
I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, and I don't expect that it will become a "practice" of sin, unless once or twice a year constitutes "practice." And I don't expect that this will result in lung cancer or cirrhosis or even hypocrisy.
And I'm here. With you other troublemakers. How dare you actually think about the ins and outs of the thorny details that the WTB and TS has levied upon its' adherents?
So, the thing is, I'm a brother "in good standing." I can see myself, soon, talking with somebody about the better world that Jehovah has promised. So, what? I'm a sick puppy? Really, there are lots of really good people who go gaga over every little thing that some "governing body" decrees, but the really big stuff is internal, isn't it? And who you are and whether you mean well.
What am I doing, preaching to the choir?