Leaving is all about building new memories, rituals and special times. The holidays punctuate the year and give us an opportunity to have fun together.
Celebrate because we can.
After leaving the Faith, do you celebrate all of the Holidays?
by Quarterback 60 Replies latest jw friends
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Quarterback
Enjoyed your comments. Could never understand why in JW world we couldn't have a celebration. The memorial is just for the partakers as
far as I am concerned. Proof of that is we will ceased celebrating it when the 144,000 have been sent up there. However, the Israelites while serving Jah seemed to enjoy some celebrations. Now, apparently that's not even accepted. We can't celebrate the pagon, and ancient worshippers of Jah celebrations. Yes, it's freaking boring.
But, we still get our family togeather, celebrate anniversaries, give gifts, and smile, and on occasion get into that sider, and ale.
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QuestioningEverything
Yes and I love it!! The origin of each holiday isn't important to me. Truthfully, I find it quite ironic that the JW's are so concerned over the origin and pagan roots to the holidays.
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Quendi
I celebrate birthdays and the American Thanksgiving Day because they are excellent times to gather with friends and family and celebrate another year of life for the friend and really reflect on what I have at Thanksgiving. Christmas is a little more complicated. I refuse to observe it as Christ's birthday and won't put up decorations or exchange gifts. I give gifts throughout the year, so I don't feel bad about skipping Christmas. I will accept invitations to holiday dinners from families who have made it clear they want me to be there and enjoy a great meal and fellowship. What is strange for me about Christmas is that it is in reality a solstice festival, and I want to mark and observe solstices and equinoxes. So this year I want to do something in that regard.
As for national and patriotic holidays, I have nothing to do with them because I believe that nationalism/patriotism and Christianity do not mix. I don't believe in extolling one nation or country over any other. So while I appreciate having the day off, I don't observe it in any way. But I do believe that many holidays and special days are wonderful occasions. So I will take note of Mother's Day and Father's Day. I won't observe Halloween or Easter, both of which I think are absolutely pointless. But I have been asked to have Easter dinner with families, and those are invitations I always accept and for the same reasons that I go to Christmas dinner.
Quendi
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Rocky_Girl
We celebrate all of the Jewish holidays, national holidays, and a very low-key secularized version of Christmas (no Jesus, just Santa) because we are slowly making our way over to Judaism and I don't want to mess with the kid's stuff any more than I have to. We celebrate the heck out of Chanukah, even though it is not a very big holiday in Judaism.
I have no issues with what JWs say are the original origins of any holiday:
1) Because they exaggerate the similarities with pagan religious symbols beyond any reasonable logic, and
2) Because I know what holidays mean to me and >99.9% of the world's population: time spent with family (religious or not)
I have tried out every fun holiday at least once from all of the religions I can find online. Who doesn't need more days to celebrate?
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LongHairGal
Quarterback:
Yes, that is one of the first things I did when I decided to start my "fade" years ago. I reveled in the holidays and greatly resent the religion for trying to isolate people from their families, especially single people. I remember having a rude awakening one Thanksgiving many years ago. I felt so "alone" and wondered where all the JWs were. They certainly weren't all out in service. I wondered to myself why Jehovah would be pleased if I were staring at four walls instead of being with some family or neighbors having a nice meal and pleasant company.
Of course, now I know the real reason. The religion is afraid that if you spend any time with your families (who offer unconditional love), you will start to resent the vacuum of a religion you joined and maybe decide to leave. Yup, this was one of my first wake-up calls that I should get the hell out. Of course, it took a while but I did.
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Quarterback
Judaism, eh. that's an interesting transition. I know that there are many holidays in that faith.
Shalome
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JustThatGirl007
This is our first year. When I was 3, I had my last Christmas. As a child, my grandmother ALWAYS had Christmas and I missed it. We would go to Grandma's on Xmas day (way to go, mom...) but no gifts were given to us or anything.
This year, my kids will get their first Christmas, but it will be very small & low key. We won't promote Santa or Jesus, but it will be a celebration of winter.
We won't participate in the trick-or-treat aspect of H'ween, but we have no problem letting the kids go to parties or doing things in school.
Having a strong knowledge of my Native American heritage, I am opposed to T-giving as an American holiday. We eat turkey around that time (at 77c a pound, how can you say no?) and stuff, but I doubt we'll have a big dinner celebration.
I'll let the kids do Valentine's day, but won't likely do anything as a family. Same for Easter. If it happens elsewhere, fine, but it's not going to be something I actively participate in.
We'll also do birthdays.
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ziddina
Yes, I celebrate the holidays.
My favorite is Halloween; and oddly enough, Xmas has become my least-favorite holiday - probably because I'M the one doing all the shopping and wrapping and cleaning and cooking and hubby doesn't do a THING even for his own relatives - I have to do all of theirs, too...
As Jamie Bowers said, everything is pagan. And not only do I agree with her, I go further and point out that everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - EVEN THE BIBLE ITSELF - is filled with PAGAN mythology, borrowed from OLDER and MORE ADVANCED civilizations - though I do like to refer to those older cultures as "heathen" rather than "pagan".
The "Genesis" story of "creation" comes largely from older, "PAGAN" cultures; "Joshua" making the "sun stand still" is REALLY "PAGAN", especially when you look at the magical and astrological aspects of that story, "Moses" and his "bronze snake on a stake" is VERY PAGAN, their worship at the foot of a VOLCANO [when "Moses" went up on the mountain to get the 10 commandments] - HIGHLY PAGAN - and don't even get me STARTED on the "New Testament" - "Jesus" in the "grave" for "3 days and 3 nights" - just like the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, over three thousand years earlier...
Since the bible itself is innately "PAGAN" - and LIES ABOUT IT, to boot - why on earth would I eschew certain heathen celebrations based on a Bronze-Age Middle Eastern male volcano "god's" edicts and "holy writings" in which the very "PAGAN" origins of that book of so-called "holy" writings are deceitfully disguised and denied???
So, I celebrate the holidays cheerfully and easily! Except for Christmas; it's a lot of work...
Zid the She-Devil
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mummatron
I celebrate Christmas because it's fun and about families getting together, though I don't go all out like many people do. Last Christmas we didn't even have any decorations, mind you it was bit of an unusual one last year as we'd been snowed-in for much of December, so many presents were delayed. My oven had broken so we had steak & chips instead of turkey, but more importantly, I'd also only just given birth a few weeks previous so we were still in a major adjustment (and sleep deprived) phase.
I don't celebrate Easter at all, though I will buy chocolate eggs & eat hot cross buns. So in that respect, Easter for me is exactly the same as when I was a JW.
Daddatron & I don't bother with Valentine's day much other than maybe a card or small gift. TBH I find Valentine's a bit sickening, all the restaurants are fully booked, I hate getting cuddly toys as gifts (fortunately Daddatron knows this!), and I find Valentine's makes many of my single friends get quite depressed when they would otherwise be OK with their single status.
We do celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day, though apart from us arranging a card/gift from the kids, it's not much different to a regular Sunday when we eat out.
Halloween is one I don't bother with. I'm sure I may do in the next year or so once my kids are old enough to want to participate. I normally just make sure I go out on that night so the neighbourhood kids are less likely to throw eggs at my house.