With this new light, I am starting to try and figure out what to do with my life and my time... now that the world is opened up for me to finally explore.
I have been wondering if I will return to celebrating the holidays with my 'worldly' relatives. My parents, brother, and in-laws are all witnesses. I have pretty much rejected the holidays say for 25 years. I am sure me rejecting the holidays caused a great divide between me and my relatives. I even sent out emails trying to explain that it wasn't the family I was rejecting, but the origins of the holidays.... bla bla bla, you know the drill.
I came across this page the other day and found some of the points interesting.
http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/holidays.htm
I know that there are a few Christians who believe it is wrong to celebrate Easter and Christmas because the roots of these holidays are in paganism. There is no doubt that they have their roots in paganism. This is not disputed. What I do believe should be examined is the argument that says anything which has its roots in paganism should be avoided by Christians today. I would argue that nearly everything in our culture is rooted in paganism. Even the names of the months of the year and planets are named after pagan gods. The names of the days of the week also have their origin in paganism.
So the question is... does it really matter anymore to me where the heck Christmas and other holidays originated? Should I still be on guard against things that have pagan origins? Would celebrating the holidays bring me closer to my family? or is that just a dream?
I am curious as to how any of you have handled it. How do you feel about the holidays now? Did you go back to celebrating? How did your 'worldly' family react? How did your JW family react?
thanx