Let's face it -none of them would if they DIDN'T WANT TO. They have spent some or all of their lives being told what they can and cannot do so they are not about to do something just because everyone else does it. For most, I imagine, it is just a 'winter celebration' and indeed in some politically correct areas of the UK they have renamed it a Winter Celebration so as not to upset other religions. Also, there are many non-christians that celebrate it - obviously not thinking about the Jesus aspect of the story, but the cultural one. As for upsetting children when they realise Santa is not true - this is absolute rubbish. Has there been a single therapist in the world who has had to counsel someone due to the upset caused when they realised Santa was not true? Of course not! If it was so upsetting then why would these people go on to tell the same story to their Kids? Bright lights, family, food, booze, cake, no work, relaxation, t.v., kid's amazement, sentimentality, surprises, glitter, stars, tinsel, crackers, silly games, dressing up, little black dress, kids out with new bikes, chocolate, christmas pudding, turkey, tablecloths and napkins, good wishes from friends, family walks to burn off the calories, cards from long lost friends/family, happy faces - at least for one day, mistletoe, mulled wine, etc. etc. etc. that's why ex JWs celebrate it - along with a good healthy doze of 'UP YOURS'!
Why do Ex-JWs start celebrating pagan Christmas?
by DubR 221 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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straightshooter
As a teenager I didn't celebrate xmas because my dad got mad at his brother for not sending him a xmas card one year. Hence as a family we stopped celebrating xmas. Amazingly the card showed up a year or so later, but that did not reverse my dad's anger. Therefore I still don't celebrate xmas out of habit.
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AudeSapere
I figure if I told my children about Santa, for what, 7 years and then they found out, OOOOPS, it's really mom and dad!!! They are still way better off than I was for believing I'd have a pet Panda and my own Zebra before I had children myself.
Ooo!! I LIKE that. I want to remember this and share it next time confronted.
Thanks!
-Aude.
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Aussie Oz
i had often wondered the same. I see now that for some it is perhaps more symbolic of being free than anything.
As for myself, i have found it hard to get into, but fortunatly for me, my new wifes family are very understanding of my past, very encouraging and understanding. They dont really get into it heavily but i do now participate freely and are getting used to giving and getting gifts. same goes for bithdays. Her family gave me a 1st birthday party this year!
Oz
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mouthy
Therefore I still don't celebrate xmas out of habit.
Habits can be broken....Cuddle up to some one & wish them a HAPPY HOLIDAY!
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ziddina
Urk. Here I go again... DubR, you might want to check out my two posts on page 3 of this thread...: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/185654/3/Totally-Busted-and-Scared = regarding some of the PAGAN beliefs incorporated into the bible...
And what Mouthy said about "Pagan" stuff, and what OpenMind said, and what LeavingWT said...
About celebrating Christmas, I figure, "What the heck! The bible's Pagan as all get-out, so who do those anal-retentive Middle-Eastern men [bible writers] think they were, casting stones at the so-called "Pagans" while they were incorporating PAGAN beliefs directly into the bible - and then LYING about it!! "Oh, we Isra-EL-ites are so much better than those silly Pagans around us!" Yeah, but the Isra-EL-ites couldn't even come up with original stuff - had to borrow from the Pagans...
Makes me mad... I hate hypocrites... Zid
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carla
This is the expression of most kids when they find out thats a lie..
Think you don't partake in pagan customs? Wear a wedding ring? eat knotted pretzels? go on a honeymoon? ever hit a pinata? do you say the days and months of the year? Wear a tie? eat a wedding cake? stand up in a wedding? etc..etc..etc... better check out that log in your own eye
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Dagney
I felt the same way you did DubR. Then a reindeer pooped on my head.
I had a couple moments of clarity regarding holidays.
#1 After a long and beautifull explanation about holiday paganism, loving "truth," hating "lies," (blah blah blah), to a sweet agnostic co-worker, he just looked with great respect and said, "but I love the giving, the togetherness, the celebration of it all." I had no answer. I fell off my soap box. I knew inside he respected truth just as much as I did. And everybody knows the Xmas holiday can mean a lot to a Christian no matter when "Jesus" was born, and to a non Christian, it is just a fun, happy, celebratory time of year.
#2 At an asian nail salon, all these people who barely spoke english had their little Hindu altars with Xmas decorations all around. They were all excited about the holiday even though it had nothing to do with their religious belief. It's a pretty, happy time, ending the old year and looking to start a new one.
I'm a born in exJW who loves this time of year. I am not fully comfortable with all the holidays, but I do really love the giving part and the festivities of it all. I like the fact it is a time when you stop and think about others. I think that is a good exercise for humans.
I used to think "how can parents just out and out lie to their kids about Santa?" It just seemed ridiculous and unloving of them...how to reconcile that? The reality I see is kids survive just fine with the big o Santa lie. What kids don't do well with is being raised with undeserved demands of a cult. Constantly hearing everybody but the people they know in their congregation are going to be destroyed because they are not JW's, constantly hearing "are you doing 'all that you can do,' and BTW it's not enough, not being able to find out who they really are and what their ablilities are...those are things that screw up a kid. Santa is just a fairy tale; the cult behaviors can kill a person's spirit.
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dig692
I celebrated Christmas with my family as a child and all the way through high school (I wasn't a dub yet) and I can tell you first hand when I found that Santa was really my mom, and when all my cousins found out the same thing, no one looked like this . My world didn't shatter, my love for my parents didn't fade, and I didn't feel betrayed. I think its the same for most kids too.
The way I see it, and from what many people have expressed to me, they celebrate Christmas by spending time with family they don't get to see any other time of year, exchanging gifts with people they love, enjoying the weather, the music, the atmosphere that comes along with this time of year. I can't see anything wrong with that. And Christmas isn't doing anything to harm anyone, in fact its celebrating Jesus, who most people believe to be their savior. Does it really matter that he wasn't born in December?
And like many others have posted, if you are going the "Its a Pagan holiday" route, then you need to take a look around because just about everything has roots in Paganism. You can't avoid it.
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Jim_TX
... because it's fun?