SBF, I would love to see some evidence that people are NOT supposed to be disfellowshipped for celebrating birthdays. I have a second-cousin whose elder body was apparently oblivious of that exclusion. The CO was apparently oblivious, as well.
I think maybe you still don't really know how the organization works. The brochure my niece carried to her teacher says JWs don't celebrate birthdays. If a JW celebrates a birthday, either they are very sorry for having done so and assure their elder body it won't happen again or they are "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Because ANYTHING someone does that is organizationally labeled something Jehovah's Witnesses don't do is sufficient for disfellowshipping. Among JWs, "Jehovah's Witnesses" is synonymous with "true Christians", and anyone who did something a true Christian wouldn't do is obviously a false Christian.
When was the last time you heard the reason for disfellowshipping announced from the platform?
Two weeks after my DA letter was accepted and the announcement was made, a Local Needs part was given on the dangers of Internet pornography and Internet chat rooms. Guess what the local congregants thought I was involved in? They were asking my wife why she was staying with me.
Do you actually believe the statistics the organization gives are accurate? They have EVERY reason to engage in creative accounting about the reasons people leave. They lie freely and frequently about "apostates" and have EVERY reason to do so.
I know that you cast a suspicious glance at the organization every now and then, but I believe you still want to think better of it than it deserves. Research it out, please. And let me know what you find. For my cousin's sake. Although, now he celebrates other things, too, any of which would ALSO get him disfellowshipped.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul