Straining the gnat, gulping the camel.

by Rush 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Rush
    Rush

    I remember the stink caused in the congregation when the sweets 'Skittles' were released in the uk. they were advertised as containing 100% natural flavourings and colourings.

    The problem was, the dye they used in the red skittles was cochineal. Cochineal is made by pulping the dried bodies of a mexican beetle and produces a vivid red colour that has been highly sought after in the past.

    I'm not sure where the issue arose, but some bright spark decided it was against the blood policy to eat this as the beetles hadn't been bled before they were dried and crushed.

    The congregation was in an uproar. I'm pretty sure there was never any formal anouncements about the point, but the elders when asked said it was a 'conscience decision'. People were scouring ingredients on foodstuffs in a religious fervour, convinced this was another satanic ploy to corrupt god's people. A sister in our group found cochineal in the dye on top of a bakewell tart, tried to scrape the icing off but 'the whole cake was just ruined, I had to throw the whole thing in the bin.' (I wonder what her unbelieving husband thought of this use of groceries?)

    It finally came to a finish when one of the wiser sister's in the congregation, who'd kept respectively silent to avoid defending people, proclaimed the whole business ridiculous and asked if anyone seriously thought John the Baptist bled his locust with a pin before eating them in the wilderness.

    Unbelievable.

    Rush.

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere
    and asked if anyone seriously thought John the Baptist bled his locust with a pin before eating them in the wilderness

    These JWs are only able to have knee-jerk reactions... they never really think things through.

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    I remember the Skittles incident well The red ones were the nicest, too.
    LOL

  • Vivamus
    Vivamus

    Never had skittles in my life... I must have mised out on something (again)

    Lol @ the mental image of John bleeding lil' animals with a pin...

    -

    And the world shall tremble in the wake of the Blue Bubblegum
    Dutch District Overbeer

  • RunningMan
    RunningMan

    This must have been a European thing. Over in Canada, I have never even heard of such a thing.

    Although, I don't really relish the idea of eating bugs... Isn't there some good, old-fashioned chemical coloring that they could instead?

  • minimus
    minimus

    This is the 1st time I've heard about this one. Skittles, huh? I remember in the 60's everyone was flipping over chocolate bars with lecithin. There were those saying you couldn't eat a candy bar because it had blood in it. Ditto for hot dogs and cold cuts......WACKOS!!!!!!!!!!!

  • blondie
    blondie

    Yes, minimus, that skittles foolishness never made it to my part of the US.

    Blondie

  • RunningMan
    RunningMan

    Yes, I remember the lecithin scare, although in my area, it was applied to ice cream. Finally, some Einstein made the discovery that the lecithin in ice cream came from plants.

    I can't believe that people were stupid enough to think that dairies poured vats of blood into their ice cream - especially when you consider that I came from an agricultural area. They should have known better.

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    They were small colourful candies looking similar to the chocolate M&M's (I suspect you know what they are, Minimus ), but instead of chocolate they were made of a chewy, sugar-based candy with a crisp sugar coating. Each colour had a different fruit flavour.

    They are still on sale here and I didn't see an American equivalent, when I was over there, earlier this year.

  • minimus
    minimus

    They have Skittles here in the gold ole USA. I like 'em but not as much as my little M&M's.

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