Birthdays
I have always questioned the Witness belief that birthdays are not to be celebrated. From what I’ve read…..celebrating your own birthday is frowned upon because it is self-indulgent and neither Jesus nor any of Jehovah’s servants in the bible are reported as having celebrated their birthdays. Another reason is that various customs that tend to accompany birthday celebrations have pagan origins. But the biggest reason is that in the two birthday celebrations that are mentioned in the bible…..both of the men that were celebrating were "worldly" and in both cases, a murder took place. And everything that was put in the bible….was put there for a reason (2 Timothy 3:16) therefore we were meant to deduce that birthdays are bad.
Yet such reasoning holds a bit of a "guilt by association tone" does it not? I think rather than read such texts (the ones referring to the 2 birthday murders) and assume that the situation is the culprit, shouldn’t we read them and ask ourselves. "what is the actual source of the evil in these accounts?" Is it really the birthday or the people involved (Pharaoh & Herod…or perhaps more so…Herodias) themselves? In its zeal to condemn an observance that the bible itself does not say to condemn…..the society loses sight of the real sin in these two accounts. Murder. The sin of murder would have been bad regardless of the day it occurred. In the past I’ve heard certain witnesses argue, "but in the case of John…..the only reason the murder took place was because there was a celebration going on. Herodias’ daughter would not have danced had there not been a celebration and Herod would not have promised her whatever she wished in appreciation for her dancing. Therefore she would never have asked for John’s head had there not been a birthday party." I used to agree with this reasoning…..until I actually let myself review its soundness with a critical heart.
Now I can see how faulty it is. It is truly unwarranted guilt by association. Again….the birthday celebration is not the culprit. It is obvious that Herodias (who influenced her daughter to ask for John’s head) wanted John executed. And ANY celebration would have done the trick. Had this celebration been a celebration of say……appreciation for the Roman rulers at that time…..Herodias’s daughter still would have danced…..Herod still would have promised her anything she wanted, and Herodias still would have schemed to ask for John’s head. Is it really reasonable to believe that had this been ANY other type of celebration…..Herodias would have softened her heart and NOT wanted John dead? No. The REASON for the celebration had nothing at all to do with how wicked Herodias’ heart was and what her intentions were. She didn’t do what she did because it was a BIRTHDAY celebration. She did what she did because the opportunity was there….and that same opportunity would have been used regardless of the reason for the celebration. The society wrongly emphasizes the birthday in this account….when the real problem was the people involved and the sin of murder. Birthdays were a known practice back then. If the celebration of one were truly a sin, the bible would say so.
In addition, Romans 14:5 & 6 advises us not to judge one another based which day(s) one person might hold as more important than the next. Is it a biblical law to avoid birthday celebrations? No. Then the stance taken that 2 Timothy 3:16 applies in regard to the two birthday murders seems to me to be speculative at best. Especially when you consider that at Job 1:4 the NW translation reads that Job’s sons celebrated, each one "on his day". (the word "day" was translated from the Hebrew word "yowm") Some translations render it "on his birthday". Which translation is ultimately correct? I don’t know for sure. But even if the NWT is, the context indicates that this is a special day for each of Job’s sons….quite possibly their birthdays. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word "yowm" was also used in Job 3:1-4 when he curses the "day of his birth". That alone indicates that the previous example (Job 1:4) may have been referring to the birthdays of Job’s sons.
Furthermore, if we are to assume that all birthdays are to be condemned, then (I know this may sound crazy) but what about dogs? Dogs are mentioned over 40 times in the bible (Deut 23:18, 2 Kings 8:13, Psalm 22:16, Proverbs 26:11, Phil 3:2, Rev 22:15 to name a few). To the best of my knowledge, not once are they viewed favorably….yet we don’t avoid dogs like the plague. In the bible, dogs are vile creatures. They lick ulcers. They return to their vomit. So then….should we avoid dogs? The bible is clear in what it says about them. To the best of my knowledge….none of Jehovah’s servants in the past had a dog as a pet. Such guilt by association (the association being how dogs are depicted as loathsome creatures in the bible) would be ridiculous and I think anyone would agree to that. Yet to avoid birthdays because of those two bible citations would be akin to avoiding dogs due to the bible’s seeming disdain for them.
Another argument against the celebration of birthdays is that they are "self-indulgent"…..promoting "creature worship" of the guest of honor. That argument should hold absolutely no water. Weddings and anniversary celebrations are acceptable, yet they are just as self-indulgent…..except…two people are involved as opposed to one. Graduation and retirement parties are self-indulgent. So is it ok to be self indulgent every once in a while (i.e. at a graduation party or a retirement party)……just not every year? What about baby showers? Why are baby showers acceptable? The purpose of the shower is to celebrate. And what are we celebrating? The birth of a new baby. Whether or not the baby has already been born is irrelevant as the purpose of the event remains the same. So is a baby shower not a celebration of the birth of a child? So if baby showers are ok, then can it be said that birthdays aren’t necessarily to be condemned, but rather…..just the anniversary of one’s birthday? If a wedding and each subsequent anniversary is to be celebrated because "marriage is God’s arrangement" then what are births? Births are a gift from God THROUGH the marriage arrangement. So are they really to be condemned? God commanded humans to become fruitful and to fill the earth….thus creating billions of birthdays…..that are somehow to be looked upon with disfavor? Seriously, does that make any sense?
As mentioned before….another argument against birthdays is that the remnants of ancient pagan festivities are associated with birthday celebration. Can the blowing out of birthday candles be traced back to pagan Greek origins? Sure. Can the giving of a gift on one’s birthday be traced back to pagan origins? Yes. But so can the tradition of giving gifts at weddings. So can the tradition of wearing a wedding ring. So can the tradition of partaking of wedding cake and going on a honeymoon. But those pagan traditions are ignored because the significance of their original meanings have long been lost.
Regarding the usage of piñatas during a celebration, the September 22, 1993 Awake says "we found that for many people in Mexico, the piñata has lost its religious significance and is considered by most to be just harmless fun……A main concern is, not what the practice meant hundreds of years ago, but how it is viewed today in your area". If this reasoning applies to piñatas, then why does it not apply to other festivities and practices that no longer have any religious or pagan ties? It would be a double standard to apply this kind or reasoning to one particular festivity that has ancient pagan ties but not another yet, the Society has done just that.
Finally, if birthdays are to be avoided because of pagan ties…..then what about the example of Joseph? On another note, we have the example of Joseph at Genesis 49:29-50:3. This is the account where Jacob dies. Joseph orders to have him embalmed so that the body can be taken back to Jacob’s requested burial place. The point is, the Egyptians at that time were the only ones that performed embalming. And the reason for doing so was to preserve the body properly for their superstitious afterlife. Joseph was a faithful servant of Jehovah. Was he engrossed in Egyptian Pagan worship and traditions? Undoubtedly not. But although the practice of embalming was steeped in pagan beliefs and came from pagan origins, Joseph still saw the practicality of the actual embalming process. He did not let its previous and even current connections to paganism stop him from embalming his father. What does this have to do with modern day celebrations? I believe this is proof that it shouldn’t matter what a celebration or day meant in ancient days. It is what the day means now that matters. What bothers me is that the Society seems to pick and choose what is and it not acceptable. Throwing rice at a wedding? Not acceptable due to pagan ties. Feeding one another the wedding cake (as a pagan sign of fertility)? Somehow that is ok. For certain traditions and celebrations…it is ok to forget where they originated and what their history is. But for others it is not. How is such a view point not regarded as hypocritical?