Happy Birthday Minimus - I give glory to you.
Clam
How about birthdays?
by molybdenum 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Shepherd Book
Molybdenum:
Yes, some secretly do ignore it. We (my wife and I) "secretly" celebrated my son's first birthday by giving him a cupcake (his very first taste of junk food), buying him a gift and taking his picture. Things started to get carried away, though, when he asked for the cupbearer's head on a platter. :)
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icyestrm
Just look at the picture of the GB, thats a bunch of old men who loves having fun. RIght? Wrong, the only fun they have is screwing with people's lives and their pocketbooks.
Celebrate birthdays, holidays, etc. We do have free will to do things that have no harmful effect on others.
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38 Years
Welcome! As a JW, I didn't celebrate birthdays for 38 years (hence the name). After quitting 4 years ago, I celebrate everything, with no looking back. Anyway, here's some information with the link if you want to read more:
http://www.jwinfoline.com/Documents/Holidays/pagan_celebrations_allowed.htm
How are new converts instructed?
When a new convert becomes a Jehovah's Witness they are quickly instructed on the pagan origins of our modern day celebrations. The Watchtower has made it known to its followers that they are to reject national holidays, birthdays, mother's and father's day considering them all to be of pagan origin. It is interesting to make a comparison of the rejected celebrations compared to what is allowed for a Jehovah's Witness.
Why aren't birthdays allowed?
Birthdays are not allowed by the Watchtower because two pagan rulers in the Bible killed people on their birthdays. The Pharaoh of Egypt killed his baker (Gen 40:20) and King Herod killed John the Baptist. (Matt 14:6). Is the actions of two wicked rulers sufficient enough proof that God condemns the celebration of birthdays? Is there any evidence in the Bible that proves that a Christian who celebrates a birthday is worthy of eternal death? It is apparent that the forbidding of birthdays did not make it into the ten commandments nor is it listed in the sins that God hates in the New Testament. Don't you think that God would have commented directly on the sin of celebrating birthdays if he provided such a harsh punishment as eternal death?
What is allowed?
Job apparently saw no problem with birthdays as he did not stop his children from regularly celebrating their own special days (Job 1:4,5; 3:1-3). And Abraham had no problem giving a party for Isaac when he was weaned, a celebration of his special day. (Gen 21:8) The Watchtower concludes that since the early church did not celebrate birthdays, we must not either. A birthday is in reality nothing more than an anniversary of a special event. Although the early church did not celebrate birth anniversaries, they did celebrate the anniversary of the death of the saints. The Watchtower allows the celebration of wedding anniversaries which is the celebration of the birth of the marriage. The Watchtower had no problems with celebrating their own 100th anniversary of the birth of their organization. Yet at the same time they disfellowship and condemn to eternal death those who celebrate the anniversary of one's birth. How can one celebrate the birth of an organization but not celebrate the birth of one's mate? Surely if the Watchtower is right, the same God who destroys people forever for celebrating the anniversary of their birth would not thinking lightly of people who celebrate the anniversary of their wedding or the anniversary of an organization's birth.
Are there inconsistencies?
The inconsistency in the Watchtower's rules is highlighted in the marriage celebration. The Watchtower allows wedding rings to be given even though secular sources show that they have a pagan origin. Should they be allowed for Jehovah's Witnesses? Honeymoons are allowed for Jehovah's Witnesses even though they have their origin 4,000 years ago in Babylon with what was then called the "honey month" after the wedding. Perhaps an article will be printed in the future in the Watchtower banning the honeymoon. Jehovah's Witnesses are allowed to use the names of the days and months of the year that are clearly from pagan sources yet celebrating the anniversary of the first coming of the Savior is a definite no-no. Perhaps the Watchtower is waiting until someone reinvents the calendar before they institute a ban on the present Roman calendar. Although the Bible says to honor your father and your mother, the Watchtower says you can't honor them on one particular day - Mother's day or Father's day. If you brought them a card wishing them a happy day on that day or brought them a bouquet of flowers on that particular day, you would be subject to being kicked out of the Watchtower Society and subsequently face eternal death for your actions. Is the Watchtower going beyond what is written in the Bible?
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TheListener
Welcome Molyb.
I will say that my wife and I ignored the counsel about birthdays. We love our kids and use every excuse to have a good time.
Also, I would add that the argument that Job's kids celebrated their birthdays doesn't actually hold up under close scrutiny. It's one of those issues that we're not able to perfectly define.
However, the WTS reasoning on birthdays is not logical. There are some great older threads on this board - which have been catalogued - that you can use to get a full understanding of the birthday celebration issue and other holiday issues.
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glenster
Finally, we're starting to distinguish the 144,000 with the really important
stuff. The Devil wants to lure you from the light with the creamy frosting.
And if that shouldn't work, he invented festive balloons. He may have had a
hand in children frolicking in merriment--I'm not sure.Rom.14 gives holidays as matters of personal conscience. Paul could have
worried that some who celebrated Mosaic feast days or such would create a conno-
tation of a need to be under Mosaic law, and he didn't care.As far as being worried about the pagan connotations of things goes (allegedly
crosses, holiday-related things), some people have worshipped nature--that's
everything. The JWs leaders play prophet and pick some things then cook up
cases for them. It's just an exclusiveness pretension.1 Cor.8-11 parallels an idol temple with the Lord's Supper to show that the
things aren't important--whether or not you have strong faith and worship the
one true God is at either one (1 Cor.8:7;11:29). If you're not sure, did you
ever hear of an atheist who worried he might have to go to church every Sunday
because he ate something near a church? It doesn't work that way by common
sense or apostle Paul.Just try not to behead people as entertainment.
The Pharoah/Herod birthday parties aren't given by the Bible as showing birth-
day parties per se are bad.The JWs leaders took the idea that they're bad from Origen, 200-250 AD, when
Christians were a minority, and he didn't like birthday parties celebrated "as
though honoring Pharoah," and noted that only sinners (Pharoah and Herod), not
saints, celebrate birthdays in the Bible. It's probably best to take it as just
a comment on the mostly non-Christian social trends of the time.The general idea of a birthday party per se isn't ruled against in the Bible,
and some even see a precedent for scriptural approval for the celebration of a
birth as possibly meant as held for Job at Job 1:1-5, in how many would rejoice
at the birth of John the baptist at Luke 1:13-15, and shown by the praise of the
heavenly host at the birth of Jesus at Luke 2:10-14. If celebrating the birth
of someone good is good in the Bible, what's supposed to be bad--doing something
annually? Job's family may have done that. What's the "annually" rule?Rom.4:15 "But where there is no law, neither is there violation."
As it says in "Why December 25?" by Elesha Coffman at the next link, "Not all
of Origen's contemporaries agreed that Christ's birthday shouldn't be cele-
brated, and some began to speculate on the date (actual records were apparently
long lost). Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) favored May 20 but noted that
others had argued for April 18, April 19, and May 28. Hippolytus (c.170-c.236)
championed January 2. November 17, November 20, and March 25 all had backers as
well."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2000/dec08.html -
Leolaia
"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!'? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence" (Colossians 2:16-23).
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Hoping4Change
That ((Colossians 2:16-23).) would seem to be some powerful refutation on their stance of forbidding holidays and df'ing anyone who chooses to celebrate them. How do they justify themselves? Do they just conveniently ignore those verses? Cut them out of their bibles, or what? I'd really like to know how they explain away this.
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kicky
I called WTS a few mins ago (for a bit of fun) to ask about birthdays. After being transferred 3 times and older man (who said he’s 50 yrs in the org) came on…I told him I am not a JW but was wondering if I could invite JW friends to my son’s b-day party, and if they went if they’d be dfed. He asked me if and how I am associated with the JWs. I said I am not. Then he proceeded. He never answered if they’d be dfed. He stated 2 bad examples and the murder resulting…then QUICKLY went on to talk about the day of ones death being better than ones birth and started to expand on that- a good way to change the topic. Added his point that JWs LOVE to talk to and be with people. And closed out by saying that JWs have SUCH a busy schedule.