The risk of beheading at them is just too high in these "troubled" times.
Yes, and don't forget about the candles....OMGosh....THE BURNING CANDLES!!!!
Birthdays
by showme 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Double Edge
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Yadirf
You're right, Farkel, beheadings at such events were the exception rather than the rule.
Friday
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SYN
Wow, Friday, you've changed! *clapclap*
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Oroborus21
This is much ado about nothing!
B-days are not really condemned in the Bible. The most JWs can do then--since this JW cultural custom arose sometime during the hardline Rutherford days--is to find other scriptural hatracks.
One is point out that the "only other mention of B-days" in the bible is Herod's birthday where the end result of the account John the Baptist was beheaded. If you ask me beautiful dancing teen girls seems to have been the problem not the birthday itself.
Other things are brought up like "lighted tapers on sweet cakes" harking back to superstitions and worship of pagan gods. Therefore in a completely arbitrary to remain free from such things a birthday cake, and presents are avoided.
But this is just one example of where we, JWs, are completely arbitrary on avoiding superstitions and relics of false worship. I have read a book on superstitions and frankly pretty much anything you can think of has some superstitious or false-religious connotation or association!
To JWs that avoid B-day cakes, saying "Bless You" etc, I point out that they should not be eating breakfast cereal either!
After all it was precisely this meal of early grain harvest and milk that became a sacred offering consumed in the honor of the roman goodess of the harvest: Ceres (hence the name).
getting back to the topic, your girl will never figure out that B-days are no big deal unless she figures out other more important problems with some of the teachings.
In the meantime, enjoy things yourself, you are off the hook for an expected present, etc. but you know if you subtlely take her to dinner or by her a present (unwrapped) and present it to her the day before, evening before or next day, she will be happy none the less to receive it.
Many JWs unofficially celebrate birthdays this way--this is similar to the Thanksgiving celebrations in many JW households!--without having to directly confront the silliness of the "no-birthday celebration" rule/doctrine.
--Eduardo
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Oroborus21
I know it is unusual on the NET but I just want to apologize for my atrocious spelling that hastily typed post.
Slightly OCD, Eduardo
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Bona Dea
It seems that if the actual act of celebrating a birthday was wrong, apparently even Job didn't know it. Because in Job 1:5 when it talks about him offering "up burnt sacrifices according to the number of them"; Job says, "MAYBE my sons have sinned and have cursed God in their heart." Now if it was common knowledge that the act of celebrating a birthday was sinful and wrong to Jehovah, then there would be no "maybe" about it. Job would've known for sure that they had sinned.
Bona
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Yadirf
Bona Dea,
Going on the assumption that Job's sons were indeed celebrating their birthdays (and it has to be assumed because the word "birthday" isn't found anywhere in the account), what do you think explains the fact that Job himself wasn't in attendance?
Friday
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plmkrzy
Yesterday she was talking to her friend on the phone, and they went on and on about how terrible it was that someone they know went to a birthday party.
oh puleeeze. cough up the bait people.
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Bona Dea
Yardif, I really don't know. I also don't know why it only mentions the sons having these banquets and not the sisters...it only says that the sisters were invited to the sons. Perhaps the sisters had banquets as well but it made no note of that. Perhaps Job was invited but the scripture makes no note of it. It doesn't mention their mother being invited either. I simply have no idea why. Maybe they knew he was a busy man, or maybe they didn't invite him because Job very well may not have felt it was right. I don't know. But my point is that it is obvious that even Job wasn't sure if what they were doing was wrong. It is doubtful that when Job was making these sacrifices that he was worried about the act of celebrating a day of birth as being disobedient to God, but rather he was concerned about anything his children may have done against Jehovah. I, personally feel that the verse (5), was not written to infer that his children were even doing anything wrong, but rather written to show what a good man and father Job was.
I do believe that the scripture in verse 4 is talking about their "birthdays". All one has to do is compare the scriptures referring to a persons "own day" (Job 3:1,3, Jeremiah 20:14) to find that it means the day on which that person was born.
Why do you think he would have used the word "maybe", if he knew that celebrating the day on which you are born is wrong?
Bona
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showme
plmkrzy
What do you mean by bait?