HOOKAH LOUNGE

[Shawnster]

13 hours ago, minister159 said:

I think you mean, Jefferson Airplane, not the Stones.

Ah yes. I knew that didn't sound right. 

[Gimestr]

I don't find this as a Christian environment.  Even if you don't smoke anything.  Would you go to a gentlemen's club for a lunch buffet?  no you wouldn't.  even if you don't "look" or partake and are there strictly for the lunch specials.  its not a Christian environment.  I find hookah bars to be the same.

 

but then again, scripturally there isnt anything saying that he can't.  so its a conscience issue I guess.  kinda like the GBU about toasting stated.

Edited Thursday at 06:30 PM by Gimestr

[Shawnster]

17 hours ago, Gimestr said:

kinda like the GBU about toasting stated.

 

No. There is a very big difference. 

 

For one, there is no way to go to a gentleman's club and have lunch but not look.  Unlike a hookah lounge or any other place where a patron must actively engage in the service (purchase something, etc...) the act of looking is completely passive. If one's eyes are functioning, then one see. 

 

For another, nobody would believe someone if they said you didn't look. At least with a hookah lounge it's quite possible to believe someone did not participate. 

 

Bottom line, however, is the perception. What do others think? In the case of a gentleman's club nobody would believe you didnt look and I'm sure a couple of elders would have a serious discussion with the individual. Going to a gentleman's club definitely makes one not exemplary or possibly removed from the congregation. Frequenting a hookah lounge could do the same 

 

Toasting, on the other hand, will not cause a serious conversation with the elders and one is still viewed as exemplary. 

 

[LeolaRootStew]

9 hours ago, Shawnster said:

 

No. There is a very big difference. 

 

For one, there is no way to go to a gentleman's club and have lunch but not look.  Unlike a hookah lounge or any other place where a patron must actively engage in the service (purchase something, etc...) the act of looking is completely passive. If one's eyes are functioning, then one see. 

 

For another, nobody would believe someone if they said you didn't look. At least with a hookah lounge it's quite possible to believe someone did not participate. 

 

Bottom line, however, is the perception. What do others think? In the case of a gentleman's club nobody would believe you didnt look and I'm sure a couple of elders would have a serious discussion with the individual. Going to a gentleman's club definitely makes one not exemplary or possibly removed from the congregation. Frequenting a hookah lounge could do the same 

 

Toasting, on the other hand, will not cause a serious conversation with the elders and one is still viewed as exemplary. 

 

 

Can you be in a Hookah lounge and avoid the smoke of others?

[Qapla]

If you are properly dressed, you can ...
 

[Eejay]

1 hour ago, LeolaRootStew said:

Hookah lounge

What would a Christian want to get from a Hookah lounge that they could not get elsewhere?

[LeolaRootStew]

7 minutes ago, Eejay said:

What would a Christian want to get from a Hookah lounge that they could not get elsewhere?

 

I'm not endorsing Hookah Lounges, I'm actually asking a question.

Edited Friday at 10:58 PM by LeolaRootStew

[Qapla]

1 hour ago, LeolaRootStew said:

I'm actually asking a question.

 

I have never been in one so, I can only go by what I have heard. From what non-JW people I have heard talk who have been in the college town where I live, No! you cannot avoid the aroma, vapor, smoke.

 

Others may have different information ...

[Eejay]

 

 

1 hour ago, LeolaRootStew said:

I'm not endorsing Hookah Lounges, I'm actually asking a question.

 

 Oh sorry, I was thinking about the OP.

 

3 hours ago, LeolaRootStew said:

Can you be in a Hookah lounge and avoid the smoke of others?

 

Maybe in Tennesee, (where the wordly authorities seem to be more lax on the health aspects of passive smoking in this respect), the answer would be No, you probably can't!

 

The UK has stricter regulation regarding hookah lounges (shisha cafes). They must actually provide signed, smoke-free areas, as smoke-free laws treat shisha like cigarettes, banning it in enclosed spaces. Proprietors can only allow smoking outdoors or in specially designed shelters that are at least 50% open to the air at all times, doors, windows, or blocking materials counting as walls. The laudable goal is to actually try to protect the public and staff from second-hand smoke, meaning any structure with a roof must have significant openings, otherwise, it's considered substantially enclosed and illegal.

Concerned parties point out that in a shisha session of 20 to 80 minutes, a single shisha smoker can inhale, (and exhale), the same amount of smoke as a cigarette smoker consuming over 100 cigarettes. We can appreciate the health concerns prompting the regulations. Violations of these various regulations carry substantial financial penalties.

 

So the answer to your question on avoiding smoke of others is, in the UK, (probably for the most part) YES! But only by avoiding close proximity of smokers and staying in a smoke free area.

[Qapla]

2 hours ago, Eejay said:

The UK has stricter regulation regarding hookah lounges (shisha cafes). ... Violations of these various regulations carry substantial financial penalties

 

Since the regulations have to be so strict and the violations carry substantial financial penalties - It reminds me of the king who needed a new chariot driver.

 

Three drivers applied for the job. The king took them to a place in the road along a slight curve with a guardrail along the side where a high cliff dropped off to a ravine a thousand feet below. He asked each driver how fast he could come to the edge of the cliff without driving the chariot off the cliff.

• The first driver said he could drive the chariot within 25 feet of the edge at a half-gallop
• The second driver said he could drive the chariot within 10 feet of the edge at a full gallop
• The third driver said, "Are you kidding? I'm not driving the chariot anywhere near that cliff at any speed even if it does have a guardrail"

I guess you know who got the job

 

With that in mind, regardless of what regulations are supposed to apply to a Hookah Lounge ... shouldn't we ask ourselves, "How close do we want to come to the edge of the cliff?"

 

Like driver #3 - I'm not going anywhere near one.

Edited yesterday at 03:39 AM by Qapla

[Jim Jam]

Many people here, including OP, seem to be assuming things that only the brother we're discussing about can clear up

[Qapla]

While that is true @Jim Jam the general discussion in this thread is not just about the person(s) or situation(s) the OP originally posted about. They are a discussion of visiting hookah lounges in general ... not just the one in the OP.

 

That is what a forum is for. Discussions.

 

As long as a thread does not turn into judgements of individuals, a gossip thread, he said-she said or blanket rules where the FDS have not set any ... why is it wrong to discuss the OP actual question?

 

Note - he did not say anything along the lines of, "Should the brother and his wife be counseled, reprimanded or removed from the congregation?" He asked, "would be a fitting practice for a true Christian". A general question that is proper to ask.

 

The bulk of this thread has been about hookah lounges and if they are a place for us to visit - not about any particular person(s).

[Jim Jam]

27 minutes ago, Qapla said:

He asked, "would be a fitting practice for a true Christian"

 

Depends, each situation is different and each Christian is different 

[Qapla]

Exactly - that is why the thread is not about "assuming things that only the brother we're discussing about can clear up" since it has not solely been discussing the person in the OP but the subject of hookah lounges in general.

[Eejay]

10 hours ago, Jim Jam said:

each situation is different and each Christian is different 

Life can be a real challenge without hookah lounges.

I can remember when people were allowed to smoke tobacco in the workplace with impunity. In the early 70s something like 45% of adults smoked in the UK. You could be surrounded by smokers in a workplace, particularly in an office. There was simply no escape. In some offices you could hardly see the end of the room in the afternoons. In fact, with the amount of passive smoking, probably an average office saw 100% smoking. That was a challenge for Christians trying to make a living. Even brothers smoked up to 1973, but I never saw someone smoke in a Kingdom Hall.I was shocked when I saw a brother sitting in front of me with a cigarette behind his ear! After experiencing such ordeals, it is entirely strange to me that any Christian would voluntarily enter a Hookah lounge today.

[Shawnster]

On 1/9/2026 at 5:51 PM, Eejay said:

What would a Christian want to get from a Hookah lounge that they could not get elsewhere?

 

Apparently some tasty treats, at least in the OP case. 

[Eejay]

1 hour ago, Shawnster said:

tasty treats

Probably they could get likewise elsewhere. 😊

[Jim Jam]

5 hours ago, Eejay said:

After experiencing such ordeals, it is entirely strange to me that any Christian would voluntarily enter a Hookah lounge today.

 

That's between them and God

[ReadYourBible]

Years ago, I went to a restaurant that served Lebanese cuisine. While there, I learned that there was some Middle Eastern folkloric dance, and each table had a hookah. No smoke, just water vapour, scented water with non-toxic additives, mostly for show. The atmosphere was warm and the people friendly, the food was delicious, and nothing untoward went down.

 

It would likely depend on the restaurant though and whether any other parties were renting it. 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by ReadYourBible

[Eejay]

1 hour ago, Jim Jam said:

That's between them and God

Everything anyone does is between them and God. But there are some of those things that involve others for a variety of reasons.

[Shawnster]

I like the word hookah 

[Shawnster]

5 hours ago, Jim Jam said:

 

That's between them and God

 

It might be, but anything that could be a cause for stumbling has an impact on everyone that observes them. In this case their choice of break venue could make them no longer exemplary. 

 

Our choices have consequences. 

[Jim Jam]

35 minutes ago, Shawnster said:

 

It might be, but anything that could be a cause for stumbling has an impact on everyone that observes them. In this case their choice of break venue could make them no longer exemplary. 

 

Our choices have consequences. 

 

If you go to a hookah lounge to smoke, it's logical that you would not be exemplary. But if you go to a hookah lounge and not do anything wrong, why would you not be exemplary? It doesn't seem logical for me that the exact same sentence is applied for both cases 

 

When Paul said that he will not eat meat so as to not to be a cause for someone else to stumble, it seems to me to be a personal decison of his. He says nothing about congregational consequences 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Jim Jam

[Jim Jam]

4 hours ago, Eejay said:

Everything anyone does is between them and God. But there are some of those things that involve others for a variety of reasons.

 

Getting involve in something is one's own responsibility 

 

Nobody is being forced to be involved in something, a personal choice has been made

[Eejay]

13 minutes ago, Jim Jam said:

Getting involve in something is one's own responsibility

Yes indeed. But consequences can be indiscriminate.