Massive hints against alcohol

by purrpurr 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  purrpurr

  There was many a comment in the latest assembly about not drinking at all "many brothers have decided not to part take of alcohol at all to avoid temptation and so as to not stumble others" we know this is WT speak for "don't drink"

  There was also an example of a jw couple who went to a restaurant, they discussed beforehand that they would drink alcohol (who does that?) But when they got there they looked around and no one else was drinking (seriously? ?!) So they decided not to drink after all so as to avoid stumbling the other diners... later they started a study with the chef and he said he had watched them that night and been so impressed at their not drinking that he decided to study... Guess what he got baptized blah blah blah.

  There's some serious holes in this obviously made up story, but the message is clear... don't drink oh and also when going to a restaurant only order what everyone else is having (!)
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  Fred Franztone

  I think it indicates that the religion has a lot of alcoholics in its midst, which is hardly surprising, such a closeted lifestyle is enough to make anyone turn to drink, and it's one of the few vices they have that isn't explicitly prohibited, yet

  They successfully banned smoking in the 1970s, so I wouldn't put it past them to try banning alcohol outright at some point in the not-to-distant future

  There's some serious holes in this obviously made up story

  There are a couple of gaping holes that almost hurt my brain

  If no one at all was drinking then why would the chef be impressed with them in particular, wouldn't he be impressed with everyone? And for that matter why would he be impressed with them to begin with? Not drinking alcohol is not some kind of impressive act, in fact statistically speaking, the majority of people don't drink

  But it's all beside the point because when you go to a restaurant you never see the chef, they're in the kitchen and have no contact with diners, what a fucking mental story
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  Finkelstein

  Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding

  True, Jesus was a bit of a trouble maker at times.
  

  He could have change the water into fresh fruit juice packed full of vitamins and nutrients offering something healthy to the people there.

  We have to counsel Jesus about his booze consumption and pushing.

  
• 

  BluesBrother

  They will always counsel that it is best to " go the extra mile" if that will help others or be wise in your case .

  I cannot see moderate use of alcahol ever being banned.

  Is . 25..6

  "On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines."

  
  
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  OneEyedJoe

  It doesn't matter what the scriptures say about booze, they could ban it if they so choose. Just because it says it'll be there in the new system, or because Jesus made wine, it doesn't mean that we have to drink now.

  Just like beards - the only relevant scripture in the bible goes directly opposite to their ban. They've even speculated (or told the story of someone that speculated) as to whether men would wear beards in the new system. This would just be the same thing - Oh we can have wine in the new system because there will be no chance of stumbling anyone and we'll be perfectly able to resist the temptation to overly indulge. But for now, we have to make ourselves extra pure and go above and beyond and be faithful in what is least, etc etc.

  That said, I doubt they'll completely outlaw it. As things stand it can be a useful tool to judge people and build different tiers of JWs. JWs love to rank themselves so that elders and pioneers can feel superior to other JWs. They can use it as a secondary means of judging people - if you don't want brother x to be an elder, suggest that he drinks to much. They also don't want to lose more members, so they'll be unlikely to start DFing people for drinking, so they'll likely continue to try to walk the fence like they are now - it's the perfect solution. Impose control on the JWs that are most 'in' and get them to stop drinking. Let the others that continue to drink stay donating JWs, but impose a guilt trip on them to keep them feeling like shitty people.
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  silentbuddha

  I wonder how this particular watch tower is going over it Bethel I remember back in the day at the period I was there there was a building on Henry street called the icebox because every time there's garbage picked up they would be literally thousands of beer cans and liquor bottles in the trash
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  AdrianIsMagic

  But if the ban alcohol what will they do at the memorials.

  That and jesus turned water into wine..

  (while having a beard might I add)
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  undercover

  Nothing new. They've always preached the evils of alcohol. Well, since Rutherford's been gone anyway...
• 

  sir82

  LOL.

  There's often a lot of talk on this forum about what would it take for a 'mass revolt' of JWs, for millions to walk out and never come back?

  Banning booze would do it.

  And, in my experience, it's the wealthiest JWs, those who provide the bulk of the donations, who have the biggest drinking problems.

  Never gonna happen.
  
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  OrphanCrow

  undercover: They've always preached the evils of alcohol.

  Sort of. The org occasionally warns about over indulgence of alcohol but drinking alcohol is not a disfellowshipping offense like smoking is.

  Which is odd when you consider the blood ban.

  Long term use of alcohol can (and often does) lead to cirrhosis of the liver which in turn, can lead to internal hemorrhaging.

  So smoking is banned but drinking alcohol isn't

  You would think that if the org really had the JWs' best interests at heart (like they claim with the smoking ban) that they would have also have banned alcohol because it increases the risk of facing a blood transfusion

  http://www.alcoholabuse.com/info/effects-of-alcohol-abuse/can-get-internal-bleeding-alcohol-abuse/