-A quick thought on birthdays.

by Awakened07 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Awakened07

  This thought just occurred to me:

  We all - even Jehovah's Witnesses - mourn our loved ones when they die. We cry and wail, with good reason. At the funeral, there's music, and speeches telling people all the good qualities the person had.

  Since this is the case, and we all gather around and mourn the loss of our loved ones, then why shouldn't we be allowed to gather and celebrate the fact that a loved one is one year older, and therefore still alive?

  If it's really so wrong to celebrate birthdays because it's a kind of person-worship, then JWs should be consequent and stop holding funerals, because as mentioned, funerals are all about the person who died, with lots of people gathering, music and speeches etc. Obviously two separate occasions, one a celebration and one a mourning event, but nonetheless; a celebration of life should be in it's place just as much as a funeral is at life's end. And since we don't know when death comes knocking, celebrating it once a year would be a good idea.

  What do you think of this reasoning?
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  REBORNAGAIN

  Good point and if the day of ones death is supposed to be better than the day of one being born, why do we not celebrate the death? Just the facts that we were born and are still alive is truly worth celebrating.

  LINDA
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  Gopher

  Well at their funeral / memorial talks, they don't give much attention to the dead person anyway. It's mainly a boring "death and resurrection" sermon.
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  nvrgnbk

  Interesting thoughts, Awakened07.

  But you notice that JWs don't even eulogize their dead.

  They use funeral discourses to promote the organization.

  Unless of course you were a member of the GB.

  The organization, as the term implies, hates the "individual".

  So birthday celebrations run contrary to that subtle self-denial/self-hatred that is the core of the cult's power.
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  REBORNAGAIN

  wow....30 years in the Borg, and I never once went to a funeral. *hallelujah* I was spared the experience.

  LINDA
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  RebelWife

  Excellent points. I can see a stumper, must-ask-elders kind of conversation here. A thought I had was that it's very, very human to need to feel special and to feel a sense of belonging. They take away all the things that make a person feel special & valued for who they are (& a sense of belonging) and replace those things with being a member of the cult.
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  Younglove1999

  it's a good point however I agree with some others on the fact that most funerals in the org. are more about promoting the org a not usually a bout the person who passed.

  speaking of funerals in the kingdom hall- did anyone find it creepy when they'd keep the floral arrangements up on the stage for like the next week or two until the flowers died?
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  JK666

  I agree that the WT policies on birthdays/funerals makes no sense at all. It is especially so if you include wedding anniversaries to the mix.

  Anniversary of wedding: Good

  Anniversary of birth: Bad

  Funeral: Brief blurb about the dead one, then a recruiting pitch to worldly people in attendance.

  Gawd, sign me up! What a fun life in spiritual paradise.

  JK
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  Gopher

  in the kingdom hall- did anyone find it creepy when they'd keep the floral arrangements up on the stage for like the next week or two until the flowers died?

  Yes that was weird !! However, most Kingdom Halls were so plain and uninteresting, at least the floral arrangement changed things up (at least for a short while).
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  Frequent_Fader_Miles

  If it's really so wrong to celebrate birthdays because it's a kind of person-worship, then JWs should be consequent and stop holding funerals

  And they should also stop worshipping at the altar of the Circuit Overseer too.