Thanksgiving is it.............................. (page 7)

defd

searching4 ok ill be here for awhile if youd like to talk.

D.

And almostatheist I am thinking how I will answer your question.

D.

searching4?

I am disfellowshipped. Still want to talk?

truthseeker

Defd, there is no such thing as a balanced witness, from the Society's point of view.

I consider myself a balanced, liberal witness and I would be viewed as spiritually weak. I observe but do not celebrate birthdays. It's kind of hard to celebrate your own birthday by yourself, and is quite frankly, rather odd. One needs tact and diplomacy along with a spoonful of discretion around practising family members.

There is nothing wrong with birthdays, everyone has them, regardless of religion or race. Funny, we can celebrate the birth of a child, but not acknowledge it in any way once that child is 365 days older.

The Society and others have said it amounts to creature worship - this is simply pathetic. I have seen no creature worship and very few really observe a brithday with religious undertones.

At most, you get a card and a cake.

I mean, if you wanted to light the candles on the cake and make a wish, well that's something different.

Now regarding Thanksgiving, we have witnesses in the hall who have the turkey and trimmings on Thanksgiving Day; one of them is a servant - it must be acknowledged though, that this is generally not the norm. The people who celebrate exercise discretion over who they will invite.

Plmkrzy,

The day Jesus died. I've heard it referenced as a celebration on occasion. The day we get to go and observe a marriage/wedding. That’s if someone in your cong drinks the wine and eats the bread anyway.

The Memorial is not in the same league of "celebrations" as a wedding or anniversary would be.

defd

I am disfellowshipped. Still want to talk?

Yes, I have said this before on here. It is something that I have learned from here. That alot of people get disfellowshipped for reasons ohther than them being bad.

D.

TheListener

I would just like to add that the 1983 School and Jehovah's Witnesses brochure has been updated with the 1995 Education brochure.

The education brochure is much less specific. It doesn't cover each holiday separately as the school brochure did.

The School brochure is no longer available in print.

____________________________-

Defd I like your idea of being balanced. I know I'm not in the same place you are, however, even as an elder and bethelite I always believed in balance. I've known many who are unbalanced in these types of things and this too can detract from the message and Jehovah's name.

Perhaps there are certain aspects of specific holidays that can be avoided without avoiding the entire thing like it has the plague.

Father's Day, is an example. The only real discussion of it occurred in a '50s AW. It doesn't have pagan roots at all, nor do grandparents day, boss' day, secretary's day, etc. Mothers day does have pagan roots, so perhaps you could curtail the types of activities the children, and yourself, partake in. Maybe a card or gift but not going overboard with it.

It's ok to give thanks on a particular day, especially a day of rememberance. Anniversaries are an excellent example. We have one day that we remember our wedding more than other days. It doesn't mean we aren't thankful the rest of the year, just that we're more aware on our wedding anniversary day. Again, even with anniversaries not going overboard or being unbalanced might be the key.

Some holidays are easier to completely steer clear of, like halloween, christmas, easter and the fourth of July. Of course, many watch fireworks on the 4th or go see light displays around christmas. Balance, balance, balance.

I wish you well.

daystar

That alot of people get disfellowshipped for reasons ohther than them being bad.

I find it very, very messed up that you realize this, yet still remain faithful to the very effed up religion that allows this to happen to "alot of people".

It should be obvious to you from this very fact alone that the FDS and the entire WBTS structure is diseased.

searching4?

Okay good, because I have a questions for you.

Are you completely dedicated to Jehavah and his organization here on earth? If so, then why are you on the computer instead of going out in service? And don't tell me you are going to count your time on this site as service. I have read a few of your posts and I started coming to this site because it is a place of acceptance, and you seem to be unaccepting. I hope that will change as time goes on. After all, here you are talking to a disfellowshipped person. I think you have doubts and are here looking for answers. The brothers would not approve, and you should listen to them if you are going to count yourself as part of Jehovah's organization- or get out.

TheListener

Searching4, I'm glad you're here. This site is for absolutely everyone; and everything Jehovah's Witness is up for discussion. Defd has as much right to be here and defend his beliefs as any of us. If you've really read Defd's posts you'll know that he has as many issues in life as the rest of us. We're all at different places along the same road - life. Go a little easy on him.

searching4?

I didn't mean get out of this site. I mean don't be lukewarm. Don't sit on the fence. You're either in Jehovah's organization or you're out. No disrespect meant, I just don't understand where he sits.

truthseeker

searching4?

Are you completely dedicated to Jehavah and his organization here on earth? If so, then why are you on the computer instead of going out in service? And don't tell me you are going to count your time on this site as service. I have read a few of your posts and I started coming to this site because it is a place of acceptance, and you seem to be unaccepting. I hope that will change as time goes on. After all, here you are talking to a disfellowshipped person. I think you have doubts and are here looking for answers. The brothers would not approve, and you should listen to them if you are going to count yourself as part of Jehovah's organization- or get out.

I think that very very few are 100% completely dedicated to the organization and try to do everything they say. I started looking at JW stuff on the net because of the way I was treated by members of the congregation. I was still defending the Society for some time until I made sure of all things, like the Boreans.

Defd must be under a huge amount of stress, and I already see signs of cognitive dissonance.

Thanksgiving is it..............................

Share this