Since leaving the truth, do you celebrate holidays, and does your participation in such bring you happiness? (page 5)

losingit

Im calling it-- STFU is no longer a JW, probably df'd but still believes the nonsense. Lonely bc he's being shunned, but looking for ppl that understand his beliefs. No true JW would be on this site.

factfinder

SFPW- there was no-one in that car group who knew what holiday celebrations felt like?

I have happy childhood memories of Hanukkah and Christmas.

But our extended family were not close to us, so I don't know what big family gatherings were like.

I feel I am missing out when I see people with their family & friends celebrating Christmas together.

Nothing special ever happens in our house, being a witness made me miss out on a lot of wonderful things I can never get back.

LongHairGal

STANDSFORPUREWORSHIP:

No offense, but you can stop calling the religion the "truth". This was one of the first bad habits I rid myself of when I left.

I "celebrate" holidays in the sense that I spend time with family.

Since the religion tried to separate me from my family (the only people who really care) and attempted to substitute a bogus, cruel group of people who couldn't care less about me, and would have ruined and DESTROYED me if I let them, I treasure any amount of time I can get with my actual family. It has nothing to do with paganism or false worship.

I learned some serious, painful lessons about life in the JW religion and I am glad it's OVER.

LisaRose

Losingit, Did you intentionally put STFU instead of SFPW?

Because STFU means something entirely different, LOL.

marriedtoajw

"Since leaving the Truth"??? That just sounds weird, keep in mind that I've never been a JW but been married to a JW for 20 years, although she was baptized only 6 years ago... I read things on here that from time to time that capture my attention because I'm thrown off by the terminoloy used by xjw's who still use the jw lingo as if it's legitimate. "The Truth" spoken from a jw would mean the wtbts. I know what you mean but to those of us who profess to be Christian, "The Truth" means Christ who is the prosonification of the word of God... So when you say "leaving the truth", while not believing in what the wtbts teaches seems to expose the strong mind control the organization has on even exjws. I know what you mean but, I don't know, it's just strange. Christmas is worldy to you, and you are thankful to never celebrate it. Look, I know the Watchtower taught you that Christmas has pagan origins but if you are no longer a jw I assume you have managed to see ttatt so why even use the lingo. I don't just direct this to you but to any jw who still uses the lingo because it exposes the fact that you still have vestiges of the jw mindset. Might want to work on that, no judgements though...

valkyrie

To answer your question, SFPW -

Although having left the JW religion in body and mind, I am evidently still a JW at heart - here's why.

Since I am not bound to any cultural or religious tradition (they were stripped from my birthright, before I was conceived), I am free to adopt any celebration I choose.

Yet, I continue to experience each one of the year's 365 days as just as dour and uneventful as the other... just as they were during those years, wrapped in the JW-shroud.

The exception being that I no longer consider myself special, set apart for honourable use, for having the fortitude and strength of mind to drain every day of its natural colour (i.e., the joy of life).

Finkelstein

Leaving the WTS Corporation isn't leaving " The Truth", what that accomplishes is leaving lies and commercialized fraudulent charlatanism.

When I left I never took it upon myself to make traditional holidays a big thing ... ie. Christmas, Halloween .

Christmas in particular I think is overly commercialized and hyped.

Birthdays I do cerebrate with loved ones for it is a special time for individual expression of love and respect.

Jeffro

Finkelstein:

When I left I never took it upon myself to make traditional holidays a big thing

It's one thing to choose not to celebrate any particular thing. But it's quite another thing to (claim to) 'not understand' that people enjoy celebrations. That's just stupid, and a bit sad.

Bugbear

Being the father of 6 children and a growing nrs. Of grandchildren, were none of them are Jw´s any longer, this is my wife’s nightmare. Every birthday and Christmas when our children and grandchildren is gathering together celebrating Christmas, birthdays and so on - but my wife is not invited, because she is still in. Sometimes I have been invited as “grand old dad” , but refused to go just out of loyalty to my wife who should be home completely alone, wondering what we all are saying about her believes. I can see on her that she is frustrated, and that she of course, would prefer to be with her children and grandchildren. The only one who suffers from this of course is my wife…

I try to easy her pain….

Bugbear

Xanthippe

I remember the year my daughter was Mary in the school nativity play. We had loved watching the children trying to remember their lines and chatting afterwards with parents and teachers.

We had a warm glow of happiness and mulled wine and the pavements twinkled with frost like they were covered in diamonds as we walked home.

The houses we passed had beautiful trees in the windows and Christmas lights on the outside. Grandma, Grandad, my husband, myself and our lovely daughter walking home through the December evening with the stars twinkling above, the pavements twinkling below and Christmas trees lighting our way home.

I will never forget it and it does bring a tear to my eye because one of that group cannot be with us for another Christmas.

Since leaving the truth, do you celebrate holidays, and does your participation in such bring you happiness?

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