by BrendaCloutier 14 Replies latest watchtower medical
Welcome Brenda,
As I've said several times on related threads, the drinking culture is pervasive at Bethel, a vestige of the Rutherford era. During my four years there in the mid-late sixties, I can count at least six cases of alcoholism serious enough to warrant treatment; two women, wives of high-ranking types, and four very senior staffers.
Welcome to the board!
We had a sister in the cong. that conducted wine tastings, so she would regularly hold them at her home and the few times that I went it was always the same people that were there, and all these people were doing a lot more than just tasting the wine. Any gathering we went to had plenty of alcoholic drinks available. I remember when I was ten I was at a wedding reception, I stumbled upon the 'in' group of kids downing quarts of beer, and I got into shit when I went and told someone about this..
While I don't drink regularly I unfortunately do cut loose when I do, resulting in a 2-3 day haze that I don't remember much of, takes a while to recover from that but it only happens once or twice a month.
The advantages of not having an addictive personality mixed with not having to much cash to spend have helped me in this regard..
Hi Brenda
We have a lot in common. I was DF'ed 18 years ago when I was 18. I was already drinking and drugging a lot and it only got worse after I was let loose from the Borg by being DF'ed. When I was 25 I decided that some of my misery in life might be related to or exacerbated by my drinking. I went to AA in '93 and have been sober ever since. My life has also been getting progressively better ever since. I remember also feeling strange being the only one who didn't know the words to the Lords Prayer. I also remember telling my therapist that I didn't like the feeling of being brainwashed - I was trying to get away from that. He said my brain might need to be washed - funny because the JW's would say the same thing to a new recruit. I eventually accepted it because I actually found real freedom through AA. It is also what helped me find my spirituality and get over the abusive religiosity of my past.
Congrats to you on being sober and welcome to JWD!
I have also read Fr. Leo Booths books on religious addiction....great resources!!
21 years clean here.......... When I quit drinking, the WT was just beginning to come out of the dark ages about alcoholism, and acknowledged the 12 step programs, although with the caveat about "religious practices that are wrong", a sideways reference to praying the Lord's prayer with non-witnesses (OH NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!). I have learned MUCH more from the number of AA and NA meetings over the years in comparison to WT meetings; it is funny. My first real spiritual awakening came after getting clean. And when my faith fell apart due to realizing that I was raised and remained in a cult, being in recovery helped me to reconnect with my higher power and discover where it was, and was not. Welcome to the board!! P
The last congregation I attended meetings at had a prominent MS and his wife who were both RAGING alkies. He would get toasted every night and try to 'teasingly' chase his very well endowed 13 year old daughter around the house to get her shirt off (I'm not kidding - saw it myself). His old lady would start getting hammered around 9 a.m. by filling one of those big insulated drink cups (like you get at the local Stop-N-Rob) with 75% vodka and some diet coke. She would drink all day and by the end of the afternoon be totally trashed. Every day. She would come to every meeting at least partially sloshed and reeking of booze. The sad thing is that this was not a 'closet' situation. Everyone was aware, but he and the 'top brass' of the hall were big buds. Most, if not all, of the elders there would 'party' w/ this guy and thus gave tacit approval to his behavior.
Ironically, this was part of what led to my leaving the organization. After years of seeing the hypocrisy and mistreatment of those in the congregations that I had attended, I finally got to REALLY experience it myself. After the memorial one year, I had a few people over to the house for some wine/cheese/dessert, that type of thing, and had 3-4 glasses of wine. No big deal. Anyway, one of the 'brothers' claimed that I had stumbled he and his wife with my 'excessive' alcohol intake and I was counseled by the above mentioned MS and an elder (they were our book study conductors). I was like, you've GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!!! I told him he was a hypocrite and a disgrace, basically gave them two big middle fingers, and I've never been back.
