Jehovah's Pagan Witnesses?

by smmcroberts 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  mP

  And noone sjhould drive cars, zillions of animals die because of roads, rice killing or not a few birds is insignificant.
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  smmcroberts

  MP: killing or not a few birds is insignificant.

  It is significant to each and every one of the "few birds."
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  JWOP

  Let's not forget the Pinatas!
  (Excerpt from my newest book: Jehovah's Witnesses -- Masked Mysticism, pp.72-75)

  For example, even though they prohibit Christmas and Easter due to the inclusion of ancient pagan religious ties, the Watchtower Society does not prohibit the use of piñatas in spite of the fact that piñatas are as equally steeped in ancient pagan religious rituals as Christmas and Easter.

  How close are piñatas tied to ancient pagan worship rituals?

  According to the Watchtower Society's article “The Piñata – An Ancient Tradition in the Awake!, September 22, 2003, pp.22-24, they state that the Chinese made piñatas, and upon breaking them open they'd burn it to ashes and keep the ashes for good luck [Superstition and luck is considered to be inspired by Satan: Awake! March 2008, pp.10-11]. The article goes on to state that explorer Marco Polo brought the piñata back to Italy from China, and eventually the piñata became a customary activity during the first Sunday of the Lent season.[The Watchtower Society teaches that Lent is also fraught with forbidden pagan practices, The Watchtower, March 15, 1966, p.188]. Additionally, the article states that the ancient Aztecs used a clay version of the piñata in celebration of the birthday of their false god Huitzilopochtl, using the treats contained within as an offering to that god[Clearly a case of idolatry].After these admissions to the piñata's strong roots in false religion, the article continues on to state:

  “ ...the piñata became part of the festivities of the posadas during the Christmas season and continues as such to this day... Breaking the piñata is also considered indispensable at birthday parties...

  [The Watchtower Society generally does not approve of activities which are associated with Christmas due to the view of Christmas being a false religious holiday, Jehovah's Witnesses and Education, 2002, pp.16-18]

  After explaining all of these things, the Watchtower Society then tries to soften the piñata's image by explaining that “the piñata has lost its religious significance and is considered by most to be just harmless fun...A main concern is, not what the practice meant hundreds of years ago, but how it is viewed today in your area.” The article closes with the idea that the use of a piñata is a conscience issue – meaning it can be acceptable so long as it doesn't “stumble” another fellow believer.

  After reading this article, one has four particular questions come to mind:

  1. Since the article admits that piñatas are “ indispensable at birthday parties ”, and Jehovah's Witnesses refrain from holding birthday parties (also due to ancient pagan religious customs)1, why should it be acceptable to use an item that is so strongly associated with birthdays? Even though a Jehovah's Witness may not be using a piñata for a birthday party, that is tantamount to displaying a figurine of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny on your bookshelf out of season – indespensable items for holidays – something no self-respecting Jehovah's Witness would do.

  2. Since Christmas customs, Easter customs, and piñata customs all stem from strong backgrounds in false religion which were absorbed into Christian worship, what makes one acceptable and not the others? What is the difference?

  3. We also have to ask: Since they have already admitted in the article that piñatas are currently used for Christmas “Posadas” 2 festivities, how can it be said that they've lost their “ religious significance ”?3

  4. AND... If assimilating pagan rituals into modern celebrations is an insult to Jehovah, then why is it acceptable to assimilate piñatas into modern celebrations?

  When a reader wrote to the Watchtower Society questioning this acceptance of piñatas, the Watchtower Society replied “...if it is very obvious that a custom has no current false religious significance and involves no violation of Bible principles, each Christian must make a personal decision as to whether he will follow such a custom.” (Awake!, July 8, 2004, p.30).

  So now we have to wonder about this response of theirs: Although they admit that piñatas are currently used globally for the Las Posadas Christmas festivities – which they view as false religion – how can they say the custom has “no current false religious significance” – especially since Las Posadas is celebrated by roughly 350 million people worldwide (that is equal to the entire population of the United States)4 – and that it is not counted as being in “violation of Bible principles?

  Clearly, the Watchtower Society is contradictory in their view as to what is acceptable and what is not.

  1Reasoning From the Scriptures, (1989), pp.69-70

  2“Posadas” is a nine-day celebration in which celebrants commemorate Joseph and Mary's search for “posada” – lodging. Since this is a Bible based celebration, it is certainly of religious significance.

  3“Las Posadas” is a widespread observance in Hispanic-influenced countries such as Mexico, The Philippines, Guatemala, the United States, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Columbia, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, etc.

  4According to current world population statistics,(2012) this would be roughly 5% of the world population, i.e. 1 out of every 20 people in the world celebrating Las Posadas each year, complete with piñatas.
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  smmcroberts

  Great post, JWOP! Thanks for all of the research.
  
  Your book looks very interesting.
  
  As for the WT, one begins to wonder: is there no end to the inconsistencies (and absurdities)?
  
  In order not to drive oneself bonkers from all of the cognitive dissonance, a Witness is virtually forced to disengage the brain and just numbly respond to everything handed to them by the WT with: "It's another blessing from Jehovah."
  
  It's little wonder when they show signs of not being able to think clearly.
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  redvip2000

  No reasonable person can live in a modern society and separate itself from anything that has some sort of pagan origin or connection. Jehovah Witnesses pick and choose a few to be able to boast about how clean their worship is, ignoring the fact that it is the motivation with which you do things that determines if it is pagan or not.

  For example, anything wrong with eating pizza? No. What if i take a pizza and lay it front of a pagan god statue, hold up a slice while praying to that pagan god and then eat it? As silly as this sounds, this is what JWs do. Their point is that someone somewhere 2 or 3 thousand years ago, used something for pagan worship and thus it ruined it for everybody else. How absurd....
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  Apognophos

  Yes, exactly. The ring finger is another pagan tradition which, as far as I know, Witnesses have no problem with.