Thanksgiving: The lamest of all Holidays... (page 2)

skeeter1

I have 2 JWs coming to dinner, and I got the, "Well, I am not really coming to celebrate Thanksgiving...A turkey is ok, but not pilgrim decorations if I was throwign the party"

To which I replied, "Well, of all the holidays, it seems to me that Thanksgiving would be the most agreeable. If it weren't for the Pilgrims seeking religious freedom, the United States wouldn't have been formed with the broadest and most liberal freedom of religion Constitutions in the world. And, if it weren't for that, the Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't have won the Supreme Court cases it did, and now enjoy a very broad right to preach. And, this broader view of religious freedom is taking over the world."

Pass the cornbread and gravy.

Skeeter

MrDarkKnight

I did not bother to even mention that I did not celebrate Thanksgiving. Especially since I knew we were frying a turkey and having half the congregation over to eat it!

MrDarkKnight

In fact I got in trouble for having the Congregation Bookstudy in the morning on Thanksgiving Day so everyone could have the evening free!

lilbluekitty

I never could explain that one, especially since my family all but celebrated Thanksgiving, they did everything but call it that! We got together as a family (JW family anyway) and sat around the table and had a whole roast turkey, stuffing, cornbread, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce on our best dishes. My grandfather at the head of the table saying the prayer thanking God for all we had and my sister and I being allowed to put our handprint turkeys on the table as decorations that our "worldly" teachers had us make!! Right now on Facebook some of my JW friends and family (only 2 are shunning me right now) are talking about running over to Walmart to get their turkey's before the holiday so they'll be cheap!! Oh the irony...

carla

I struggle with this one every year! Even though my jw has to go to all my family holiday stuff. Some family members have finally got it and will just say things like, "so on Thursday....."

I remember reading an ex jw story (here?) where a new jw was told she couldn't do Thanksgiving with her family and it broke her heart to tell her family and hurt her family like that so the elder said she should come to his house for the day. What did she find when she got there? yep, a complete turkey dinner with family & friends. She couldn't eat with her own family but could with his?!

blondie

We were all jws and celebrated and invited the non-jw relatives. We had a good time, good food, sport games on telly, booze. Because we had Thursday meetings we shifted it to Saturday. No Thanksgiving plays or hymn singing. Just food and family. So many jws did the same. Other holidays that we widely celebrated, New Years, Valentines Day, Mardi Gras, fireworks on the US 4th...If you look in the dictionary you will find the WTS listed under HYPOCRITES.

NewChapter

I'm celebrating my first Thanksgiving since leaving the cult. I've been going to the Unitarian Universalist church, and a couple families decided to meet at the church and cook up the turkey. It's a very comfortable building--nothing like a kingdom hall. So they have movie nights and sleep overs and such. Today we'll be playing games, watching movies and eating and laughing. I can't wait!

NC

WTWizard

Originally, Thanksgiving was a religious holiday intended to give God thanks for making it through hard times. It became more secular since Christmas shopping became attached to it--however, it can still be used to give thanks for whatever blessings we happen to have (if we believe there is in fact a God that actually deserves such thanks).

However, explaining why the witlesses don't celebrate it is another matter. To most people, it is a day of giving thanks--what is so wrong with that? To most people, the excuse that we give thanks all the time simply doesn't cut it. Most people believe that people should spend most of their time going about their lives, and occasionally reflect on their blessings. Usually, this time out allows them to regroup so they can experience more of the same, usually through new ideas and plans. We are not supposed to give all of our time in thanks, since doing that would only defeat the whole purpose by preventing us from actually finding any time to enjoy anything (which is the case for the witlesses).

stillin

furthermore...why can't I have a pumpkin on my porch? One elder said, wisely, "Too close, Stillin, too close."

Now, I'm not so easily convinced.

Found Sheep

I celebrated as a JW just didn't say happy thanksgiving

Thanksgiving: The lamest of all Holidays...

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