Jeffro, you know Jethro? I thought it was ironic anyway and not a slight towards you. And yes, I may very well be naive as holidays are foreign to me. Doing calls yesterday, a sister who is a pioneer raised the question about what do worldly people get out of holidays, especially Christmas. None of us in the car group were able to answer as it's all foreign to us. One brother who came into the truth later in life couldn't answer either and his wife celebrates with his sons and extended family. So yes Jeffro, I'm naive. I thank you all for your replies.
Since leaving the truth, do you celebrate holidays, and does your participation in such bring you happiness?
by Stand for Pure Worship 102 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Jeffro
Stand for Pure Worship:
Jeffro, you know Jethro?
'Jeffro' is a not uncommon nickname for Jeffrey, and has an entirely different etymology to Jethro.
I thought it was ironic anyway and not a slight towards you.
It might have been ironic if I'd misspelled my username. You should probably get a better understanding of what "irony" means.
Doing calls yesterday, a sister who is a pioneer raised the question about what do worldly people get out of holidays, especially Christmas. None of us in the car group were able to answer as it's all foreign to us. One brother who came into the truth later in life couldn't answer either and his wife celebrates with his sons and extended family.
You're all either lying (masking envy) or a bit simple. There's nothing fundamentally unusual about people experiencing enjoyment, and no good reason why even someone who doesn't celebrate a particular holiday wouldn't understand why others enjoy celebrations generically.
-
adamah
SFPW said-
Doing calls yesterday, a sister who is a pioneer raised the question about what do worldly people get out of holidays, especially Christmas. None of us in the car group were able to answer as it's all foreign to us. One brother who came into the truth later in life couldn't answer either and his wife celebrates with his sons and extended family.
WOW!
You mean to tell me that a carful of JWs couldn't possibly even imagine what it would be like to be around their own loved ones who's company they truly enjoy, who've maybe been off living their own lives as adults with busy careers and raising their children, but who look forward to returning to the family home once a year to catch up and relive old times, for their kids to play with their nieces and nephews, and to use the opportunity to grow the extended family bond?
We all know that Jesus was a real family-values kinda guy:
Luke 14:26 If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
(And let's just overlook the glaring contradiction of Jesus telling his disciples they CANNOT honor their own fathers and mothers, if they must HATE them!)
But that's just sad that a carful of JWs cannot even imagine what anything other than conditional family love would actually be like. That's what results when joining a group that demands you not engage in your extended family social activities, and cut yourself off from them to take a stand. That speaks more to a dysfunctional family situation that explains WHY someone would be primed to join the JWs: when it comes to their extended family, there's likely nothing much to lose, anyway.
I'm sure you may not mean to express it, but your condescending attitude comes through loud and clear, and is precisely the kind of stuck-up arrogance that comes quite naturally to someone who's been raised as a JW and repeatedly been told how 'special' they are as the Chosen Ones, etc. It took decades of active work to overcome that "We're JWs, and we're better than the rest of humanity" attitude after leaving the JWs.
Adam
-
steve2
Dear Brother Stand for Pure Worship,
It has been brought to our attention that you continue to seek fellowship with those who have repudiated the truth. This saddens us greatly. However, we hold out the hope that you will see the dangerousness of the course you have taken and you will humbly accept correction from Jehovah's loving organization. We urge you to refrain from further contact with any websites that seek to generate a rational-minded consideration of our many unsupportable claims. Yours in the loving service of our wonderful creator, Jehovah God. Your brothers, etc.
-
troubled mind
Yes StandsForTrueWorship , I have celebrated all holidays since leaving the Jw form of religion .
I was born and raised as a JW in a divided home ,my Dad was not a Witness ,but allowed my Mother to choose religion for us children . When we were small our Grandparents sent us cards with money ,and a couple of times we got actual wrapped gifts .That didn't happen much though . When we moved closer to my Grandparents we had wonderful holiday dinners at their home .I cherished those memories of visiting relatives ,great food cooking ,adults playing cards as cousins played ...
I left at age 44 and finally all my adult children have left too . We began slowly celebrating and now we are in full swing ,and I can say YES we enjoy it ! None of us practice any type of religion ,but we enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas . My husband does a huge light and music program in our yard for Halloween and Christmas for the sheer joy of just doing it . He loves a challenge of programming everything into the computer and having all his hard work being enjoyed by neighbors and friends . We have people all over town sending him Thank You cards for doing this at the holidays . We have people tell us how much their little kids are so excited to come by our house at night to see the shows . We find JOY out of watching those families enjoying time together because of something we did .
One of my main concerns while being a Witness was that I felt the joy in life was being sucked out of my soul . Now little things just fill my days with happiness so much so I find myself smiling as I drive alone in my car . Holidays are a big part of that such as remembering a friends birthday with a card or small treat ....it makes another person feel good about themselves .That is a great thing !
You asked if there was one special moment because of a holiday that comes to mind that left me with a cherished memory ,and again I say YES several in fact .My 84 yr old Dad has now been properly remembered on his birthday and at Christmas ,and I saw the sparkle in his eye . My brother ,that I once shunned because of JW doctrine ,is now our go to Thanksgiving dinner home to attend . I am thankful for every dinner with him ,and his family because he FORGAVE me for not treating him the way family should treat family . I will never waste a moment to make a memory ...
-
Stand for Pure Worship
TroubledMind, thanks for sharing that.
-
Julia Orwell
I wore a red poppy today for Remembrance Day and did the minute's silence at 11:00. It made me feel more connected to my community and culture, though this doesn't mean I now think war is great. It's about showing respect to the war dead and finding meaning in our cultural heritage.
Other holidays I still feel a bit awkward because of years of indoctrination, but they do make me happier in that I feel more connected to other human beings rather than an uncomfortable observer looking in from some strange parallel universe
-
PrincessCynic
I think if it was just me I wouldn't bother celebrating anything. But then if it was just me I would probably still be a mind-controlled JW.
Anything we celebrate will be for the sake of my son but he's too young to appreciate it at the moment so we're easing in gently. We celebrated his first birthday in the summer with a family day out and a few gifts but won't be doing much for Xmas this year, we'll just enjoy spending time together as a family. We're just going to follow his lead as he grows older with how much he'd like to do For different holidays.
I'm reluctant to start gift exchanging traditions with non-JW relatives, mainly because I feel bad about compelling them to buy things for me and remembering to send a card just because I did the same for them. I've always thought that side of things must be quite awkward and a bit of a burden, especially if people are hard to buy for. I love giving gifts but not under pressure.
-
jam
"Can any of you say that the holidays you're celebrated have
left you with cherished memories." Ask that question to the ones
that have left the borg, any cherished memories from being raised as
a JW.
I wasn't raised in the borg, so I had good memories from childhood. I
always felt guilty when the holidays came around with my kids. So like many
JW parents (ones that wasn't raised in borg), we gave gifts after Xmas.
I would wrap the gifts for the kids (of course not in Xmas paper) but
the joy I saw in their small faces, good memories.
The borg is not a happy religion, especially for kids.
-
Julia Orwell
I grew up celebrating Christmas and birthdays and mother's day and rebelled mightily against them when I started down the jw path from my mid teens. I was a real pain in the butt about holidays and really hurt my mother year after year. Even though I'm not a jw anymore, I still see that holidays are mostly a big money grab for retailers and businesses, and can put a lot of material pressure on families. But, every culture has some sort of communal events and celebrations where people come together and share in the things that make us human. Take a break from day to day life and enjoy food, dancing, decorating and company. Holidays, love them or hate them, are what enables people to express culture and identity. Take that away and you have a bunch of jws in a car who can't imagine what it's like to be human. I know because we all know. We've all been there.