Addition too the birthday thread. Not a DF'ING OFFENSE (page 2)

carla

Sir82, that story is almost too hard to believe, if it wasn't jw involved I would probably be skeptical. Sadly I have heard similar stories.insane.

Skyman, you could do a birthday party for your kids just have the parents bring the kids to a bowling alley, chuck e cheese (if you can handle that place) or better yet, the evil Y, the YMCA does a nice job with kids parties. They can swim, climb rock wall, etc.. If you don't have it at your house maybe nobody would have to know. If it was at the Y, I'm sure you wouldn't run into too many dubs would you? The age in which kids do the whole party thing goes by so quickly! Soon comes the preteen age and those kinds of parties are done with. Then it moves onto smaller sleepover, movie nights usually. High school? forget it, they don't want mom & dad planning anything for them usually. They do their own thing and let their friends plan suprises. Basically if you want your kids to experience birthday parties with classmates, you have k-5 to that. Not even to grade 5 sometimes. The age in which boys and girls are there together? k-1 or 2, then they become strictly gender based.

Gary1914

Russell, in my opinion, had a more balanced view:

The December 1, 1904 Watchtower, page 364, states "Even though Christmas is not the real anniversary of our Lord's birth, but more properly the annunciation day or the date of his human begetting (Luke 1:28), nevertheless, since the celebration of our Lord's birth is not a matter of divine appointment or injunction, but merely a tribute of respect to him, it is not necessary for us to quibble particularly about the date. We may as well join with the civilized world in celebrating the grand event on the day which the majority celebrate - "Christmas day."

TallTexan

He worries that his separation is not "scripturally based", and therefore he won't have "privileges" (carrying microphones, reading Watchtower, etc.) within the congregation.

The only reason privileges are important is because they help break up the monotony of the meeting. What was cooler than cruising around in the aisles with the mic while all the other poor suckers had to sit still in their seat for another hour...

greendawn

Imagine someone losing eternal life because of celebrating birthdays, that is what the JWs claim or at least used too claim for along time. It is simply ridiculous and it shows how extremist this organisation is.

blondie

I have never found anything on the current WT-CD or the elder's manual saying that celebrating birthdays is a DF'ing offense, yet people have posted here saying that they or someone else in their congregation had been DF'd for that very thing.

Does anyone else know about this? What basis would a JC use to support such an action? This is assuming they haven't done something else that is considered a DF'ing offense.

Blondie

AlmostAtheist

Blondie,

I can imagine a JC deciding that a person displayed a "rebellious spirit" in regard to following direction from the organization. Even if the official charge wasn't "celebrating birthdays", I could see them DF'ing you for the attitude.

It might not stand on appeal, but many aren't willing to appeal. For such an allegedly united organization, there is shocking disparity in the way things are handled from one congregation to the next.

Dave

Addition too the birthday thread. Not a DF'ING OFFENSE