And there are wives in bonnets and pinafores (or hijabs) who would passionately defend polygamy, deadly certain that polygyny does not threaten gender equality...
Why would anyone (let alone a child) think he/she is deprived of anything when they think they have good reasons for making sacrifices? Of course they wouldn't call it a sacrifice. What is not having a party compared to praising Almighty God Jehovah? What is the stigma of not saluting the flag compared to the *impalement* of Christ?
But once you de-construct those reasons, once it can be rationally proven that the JW stand on birthdays and the like have NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD, but everything to do with fulfilling the sense of order and control for ultra-conservative fundie old white men in Brooklyn...THEN we see deprivation... THEN we get angry...
Whether a person celebrates a birthday is of little consequence. Even outside of the JW Village, some people do, some people couldn't be bothered to.
But when you abstain because you BELIEVE in a hidden truth that no one else of the world heeds... when you make great pains to conform according to the lies of wicked, deluded men, then THAT should be a concern.
INQ