Secretly celebrate?

by Solace 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  Solace

  rhett,
  I suppose your J.W. family feels in some way, that your chid isnt missing out these occasions so they are giving gifts to the J.W. child only. Not inviting you to Thanksgiving dinner for similar reasons. Either way, it is pretty rude. All family should receive the same treatment, epecially children. They dont even understand this whole religious mess. My daughter knows that she shouldnt mention birthdays, holidays, certain movies, Christmas pagants, Girl scouts, religion, etc. while e-mailing her J.W. cousins. She once asked me, "What should I talk about"? Needless to say, her e-mails are quite short.
  Its sad but I guess after awhile we have accepted the fact that we just dont have much in common with them anymore.

  LB & Dobby
  Naughty, Naughty!!!
  Dont you know you are supposed to wait at least untill the following week! Its still Thanksgiving weekend ya' know!
  

  I wonder if the J.W.s arent in fact actually recognizing the holiday by acknowledging it at all. I mean, if a holiday is truly like any other day to them, as they say, why cant they eat turkey on Thanksgiving or open a gift on Christmas.
  I am not too familiar with Jewish customs but isnt their gift giving season about a week long?
  Are J.W.s not to accept gifts during that entire week for fear they may be celebrating Hahnakka?
  Give me a break, ya' know?
• 

  BeautifulGarbage

  How I can relate to this thread.

  My Father's mother (not a JW, but did study for a while) always sent us kids birthday cards with a dollar in them. My JW Father always let us accept them.

  However, I can remember being invited to a couple of birthday parties as a kid and desperately wanting to go. I knew it was suppose to be "wrong" but I didn't care. In my child's mind, just wanting to go was an abomination to Jehovah. So, I figured I was probably already buzzard food for just having the desire to be at such a pagan event. I wasn't sure WHY it was so bad, just that I was told it was and attending it would cost me dearly at Armageddon. The absurdity of this teaching (and all the others) makes me want to kick some GB ass!

  My family always celebrated Thanksgiving with my Non JW grandparents.I cherish those memories so much. I have many aunts and uncles. The spread was always huge and I ate until I could hardly move. Even though we were JW, my parents were never hardline about it. Well, except for the Xmas and birthday parties.

  I can relate to Reborn regarding Valentines day. I was never allowed to "officially" participate, but I always accepted the cards that were brought for me. I even brought them home and my parents never said anything. However, I was not allow to bring cards for anyone else. Yep, I was surely dead meat. No paradise for moi!

  Forget Halloween. That was a huge NO NO.

  I can remember desperately wishing we were not JW's. Eventually, I got my wish, sort of. However, those experiences and memories have left an indeliable mark on my phyche forever.

  Andee
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  Solace

  Beautiful,
  It is good that your family wasnt too stern. Unfortunatly you still felt those awful pangs of guilt over such minor issues. I think kids have enough to worry about just trying to fit in. They shouldnt have to worry about being struck down any moment by Almighty God. Dont get me wrong, I think its our job to teach our children what is right and wrong. The "Put the fear of God in them" mentality has been going on for years but I think it should be reserved for more important issues.

  I remember looking out my window on Christmas Eve for Santa just in case he really existed and was just skipping me since my family didnt believe in him.
  I even called one of those 900#s "Dial a santa". Boy, did the s*it hit the fan when the phone bill came!
  I dont know about you but if we didnt celebrate Christmas and I noticed my son or daughter trying to call Santa, I would feel so pathetic and guilty for denying them this.
  Come to think of it, after that happend, my aunt would host an occasional "kids party" for the children. We had snacks, games and each of the parents would give their child a wrapped gift.
  I guess they did try to make up for it in their own way.
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  rhett

  I suppose your J.W. family feels in some way, that your chid isnt missing out these occasions so they are giving gifts to the J.W. child only.

  True, but my son is missing out on the love and affection shown to my JW nephew. If they just couldn't afford to get my son anything that would be no problem. I just really pissed off thinking my son is treated badly by his own grandparents because of the cult.
• 

  Solace

  That is very sad.
  I dont know which is worse, the fact that they are neglecting their own grandson and possibly hurting him in the process or the fact that they may not even realize what they are doing.
  They are the ones missing out on a relationship with your son.
  My uncle once said about my children that he shouldnt even form a relationship with my children and become attatched to them since they are going to be killed in armageddon anyway. I guess he was upset and crying when he said this so I couldnt be madd at him. I do however HATE the W.T.S. This is a very morbid teaching of the organization. Imagine how painful it is for them to honestly believe that you and your family are going to be tortured and killed in armageddon. It really isnt their fault that this has been embedded into their brain.
  I cant help but feel sorry for the witnesses. I know I hated believing that everyone including innocent children were going to die in armageddon. I would have rather died with them than serve a God that would be so cruel.
  It is the societies teachings that have broken up so many families.
  Not to mention how many people have lost loved ones do to the W.T.S false blood doctrine.
  Just thinking about it makes me ill.