Ex-Elders, please answer this question. Thank you!

averyniceguy

What if a brother or sister say Happy New Year and another brother heard it, how would the elders handle it?

If the elder was going by the book, he would probably just pull you to the side and give you a friendly reminder of why a JW would not want to say such a greeting. Its no cause for judicial investigation. Of course there are elders who would see something like that as a warning sign that the person is leaving the "truth," and proceed to look at other aspects of their life.

tsof

compound complex

Dear Nice Guy,

My first reply exploded. Elders are different as to how they handle matters. At Bethel a young brother complained to Br. Swingle about swearing he had heard. Lyman Swingle's alleged reply was, "I'll be damned." An elderly brother sent a b'day card to his non-JW son and was DFed. Turned in by his theocratic wife. When I was an elder, if somebody said a bad word like golly or gee whiz or bulletin board or a season's greeting, I probably would not have made an issue of it but would gently and lovingly guide them in the way of WT directives so as to ensure their entrance into the kingdom. Really. It was all part of Jehovah's loving arrangement. I had no brain.

CoCo

avidbiblereader

Every elder is different, some are Zealots and others have more wisdom from experiece, it is a shame that the unity that they brag about doesn't exist. I agree with CoCo, that is how I would have handled it.

abr

LittleToe

Yup, a lot of variance there, and my opinion would have changed throughout the period I was an Elder. At first I was pretty self-righteous and would have made an issue of it by taking the individual aside and pointing out that it was a pagan holiday, etc. As time wore on I stopped sweating the small stuff, and would probably have grinned (assuming noone else was there to see me grinning).

BluesBrother

Many years ago we had in our group a dear old 'sister' , who was very zealous but more than a little eccentric.

She would always wish everybody "Compliments of the season, brother", [old fashioned way of saying Merry Christmas]..The following week it was "Happy New Year". She never got the point that such things were 'just not sad' (Or did she really?)

Whatever, we recognized her good intention and let it ride..The Borg is the worse for the demise of characters like her

Mulan

much ado about nothing!

I wasn't an elder, but my husband was for 25 years, and I used to say "Happy Birthday" when I knew it was someone's birthday, and Happy New Year all the time. We even had New Year's Parties.

I sent birthday cards to my brother in law who is a year younger than I am, just to remind him he wasn't "that young". My mother never failed to call me on my birthday to wish me a happy one, and still does.

It was all done tongue in cheek, and everyone knew it.

Maybe we are just in a more liberal area. I just can't imagine anyone getting upset by someone saying "Happy New Year".

Athanasius

Happy New Year everyone!

Though the Watchtower rules have probably changed in the 20 plus years since I served as an elder, it wasn't considered a sin to wish someone a Happy New Year in my old congregation pre-1984. However, if someone wished us a Merry Christmas we were instructed to say "thank you" rather than the customary "same to you" with which non-JWs would reply.