Ah, the pleasures of shunning and exclusion! What would the 'truth' be without it? The thrilling self-delusion that God loves you but really hates others.
Except......
that it cuts both ways.
Witnesses get to exclude people thru df'ing and general shunning (oh, what fun!) but must also exclude themselves from Halloween festivities, Thanksgiving dinners, some weddings, christenings, Christmas celebrations and , of course, birthdays.
"What's that, Grandma? You can't make it to Joey's birthday again? Well, that's too bad. We'll all miss you"
And so it goes. Not much of a trade-off, is it? The Witness gets to go to long, boring meetings with 'brothers and sisters' who (supposedly) love them instead of relaxing with their extended family - the folks who might donate a kidney, if needed. Or visit them, one day, in a nursing home. Or pay their bills if they get cancer. Or lots of other things that Witnesses get to ignore by simply saying, "Sorry, I have to go out in service and get my time in".
What can I tell you? Karma's a bitch.
metatron