They say they don't celebrate Xmas, but...???

by JH 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  JH

  Every year, on Dec 25th, witnesses in our area gather at a book study group, and they have a dinner together.

  Although they say that they don't celebrate Christmas, why do they gather on Dec 25th like Catholics do and share dinner together? I'm sure that neighbors think that it's a Christmas gathering.

  I know that there isn't any Christmas decorations there, or gifts being given, but I find it odd, that every year, some book study will organize a dinner on December 25th. Although they don't celebrate Xmas, they seem to miss the fun it brings...so they gather together...
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  OUTLAW

  My mom will be over at "my wife and her boyfriends house" showing them how she dosen`t celebrate Christmas.She`ll have a drink in one hand and an Awake in the other..How come the outside world dosen`t take J.W.`s seriosly??..LOL!!...OUTLAW
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  vitty

  If we`d not been fading this year, we would definatly have had an invite to a brother house for a "party"

  This year its been very quiet, havent seen a soul, ironic
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  Country_Woman

  one of the first things, a sister told me, was that on the 25th, she organised a dinner to prevent us "feeling lonely"

  Wordly people had all that joy and fun - and we had to be in a house without any Christmas decoration just at our own - So: dinner together.

  Although it was nice - is was peculiar too.
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  mkr32208

  Well what about the mag for this month? The title article was something like "a birth we should remember" or some such $hit! I asked my wife (duba) how they could put out an article like that and say you shouldn't celebrate... She came back with well they are against the pagan traditions! So I brought up (for the 100,000th time wedding traditions...

  Well, no sex for me this Christmas!
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  glitter

  My mum's friend is a Muslim and her teenage sons were requested to spend from Friday prayers on Christmas Eve until Boxing Day at Mosque to make sure they weren't celebrating - the boys were having none of it!
  
  I suppose this is similar, it's fellowship and a chance to prove you aren't celebrating (while having a celebration...) if someone is invited to the dinner and decline it's "Oooh, what better things did they have to do today...?"
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  eyeslice

  I suppose that there is a lot of grey area here.

  The 'Shepherd' book when listing disfellowshipping offenses, lists apostacy says

  Celebrating a false religious holiday would be similar to performing any other act of false worship. (Jer. 7:16-19)

  So, in theory and if you are careful, you can get away with a lot. You can have a holiday on Xmas and Thanksgiving day, so that's not a problem. Then there is the question what is celebrating a religious holiday? To me to celebrate Xmas as a religious holiday, you would really have to go to church and celebrate midnight mass or go to church on Xmas day.

  If you take these away you have just a commercial holiday! Not so sure that too many body of elders would see it that way.

  Eyeslice
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  FairMind

  Eyeslice, I see it like you. Christmas is a day off work and many JWs use it to socialize and for field service. There is nothing wrong with getting with some friends and having a meal. It is to me simply an extra and appreciated day off work.

  FM
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  Gill

  My mum tends to have the 'true christians' round on one day and us riff-raff round on another day.

  In the summer, before I made our position on JWism totally clear to her she mistakenly invited us at the same time as the 'true christians' and didn't invite my sister who had decided to live with her boyfriend. Once I told her the deal with JWs and us she made sure to separate the 'sheep from the goats' at family gatherings.

  (In my opinion, they're the goats!)
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  azaria

  My mother is having dinner with friends today. She called me yesterday to say that she has no problem with Christmas as long as it's secular; getting together with family, but feels that bringing Christ into it is absolutely wrong, pagan and she let me know that yesterday. She called her sister and niece in the Netherlands yesterday also. I really don't get it. She is totally against it yet she calls us on Christmas Day. She rarely calls, so it's not like she called and it just so happened that it was a holiday. I tried to get her off the phone, telling her that I was preparing supper , but she ignored me and continued talking. A very strange woman. I can't believe that I'm related to her. Anyway I hope everyone had a great Christmas. In spite of my mother I had a very good Christmas.