Smoking (page 3)

FL_Panthers

Problem addict you raise a good point. facial hair grows naturally on men (and some ladies) so why can't we have facial hair. did jehovah get one thing wrong. Was facial hair a mistake?

designs

In the 1960s we would fire up cigars after Saturday Service.

problemaddict

FL panthers, the arguement used is that while it is natural (even jesus had a beard?), society frowns upon it and the message would suffer. You can't even have a beard while cooking at In N Out!!!

But really society has moved beyond that in the US by and large. I can't throw a stone in the air in California and not hit 3 hipsters with various beards on the way down.

James Brown

They used to celebrate Christmas also back in the day.

I believe the ban on smoking came about, as hoser said, for purposes of the public image of JW's. As a non-smoker, I can tell you that smokers can smell bad and have disgusting breath! I once had a job helping people look up information, and sometimes had to stand pretty close to help them interpret civi engineering drawings. Sometimes I almost gagged when standing next to a heavy smoker. Being clean, beardless, presentable and not smelly makes a "good" JW.

tim hooper

My dad smoked for about a year after his baptism. In fact, he lit up minutes after becoming baptised. Smoking was regarded as something that was rather immature, so ministerial positions would not be awarded until the smoker had quit. However, a number of German PO's had been in office before the societies total ban and they continued to smoke and retain their PO status up until around 1960.

LoisLane looking for Superman

My mom smoked cigarettes and my dad smoked cigars even after they were baptized.

When I was a little girl, my mom would write a note to the store owner giving me permission to buy her cigarettes. ??? lol She would tell me which brand she wanted (Camel's or Lucky Strike. (Whichever was the more fashionable advertised brand of the moment) She would send me off alone to walk the 3 blocks to the Boulevard, where the store was. I remember doing it when I was 4 years old!

I remember one party my parents had. Only JW's. The ash tray's overflowed and some careless ones left burnt marks in our wood living room furniture. The booze... There was a lot of it. One sister was too drunk to go home, so spent the night. This was about 1955.

LL (not Bean)

PS My mom was trying for a cleaner image, so it could be that that party was the last time she and dad smoked OR had that much free booze at a party.

krejames

It's worth clarifying that the custom of not approving beards is not an organisation-wide ban as smoking is. It does seem to depend on local customs and attitudes within the congregation, based on the fact that assembly speakers are not allowed to have facial hair. I was a MS and had a beard at the time I was appointed and never shaved it off. And there are still plenty of elders in this part of the UK with beards. Regular smoking on the other hand is considered a gross sin and a disfellowshipping offence.

Da.Furious

So what about e-cigarates? Is this wrong too?

Smoking