Oktoberfest and JWs

by NotFormer 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  NotFormer

  Is Oktoberfest one of those holidays that JWs can't celebrate? Is simply sitting in a beer tent as a tourist and imbibing a matter for the elders?
• 

  BelisemDeBelimakom

  

  J.W.'s are omnipresent during Oktoberfest
• 

  TD

  Oktoberfest is a 16/17 day long carnival/festival. It's not a holiday and not religious

  JW's (AFAIK) don't have a problem with beer, folk music, or carnivals in general as long as there is no "reproach."
  
• 

  AugustHest

  Yes and no and Oktoberfest. It is actually a combination of things.

  
  

  It was a revival of pagan festivities, secularized on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria. But since the date landed in October, the rituals associated and the length of the celebration were just carried over from the harvest celebrations that tap into that part of the world's traditions similar to Samhain or Halloween:

  
  

  Oktoberfest honors the abundance of food and drink with beer, wine and food festival.--Pagan Rituals for October.-- https://classroom.synonym.com/pagan-rituals-for-october-12086074.html

  Oktoberfest stems from an ages-old pagan seasonal celebration — in this case, the bringing in of the harvest, and the consuming of the last of the summer beer stock. It’s a time for families and communities to give thanks for another successful crop and to joyously clear the kegs for winter brewing. --Oktober Fest, Shelton Brothers, Inc., https://shorturl.at/bvw69

  
  

  So if you are one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I would say not to advertise where you go, what you do, and what you are drinking come Oktober.
• 

  TD

  Outside of the context of alcoholism, Jehovah's Witnesses have spoken of it very neutrally in the past: (Perhaps not in English, but certainly in German)

  (Wir beobachten die Welt g76 22. 1. S. 29-30)

  ◆ Das weltweit bekannte Münchner Oktoberfest war im Jahre 1975 ein Rekordfest. Dabei wurden nahezu 4,5 Millionen Maß Bier getrunken und annähernd 600 000 Hendl’n (Brathühner) verzehrt. Die Besucherzahl lag um rund 10 % höher als im Jahre 1974. Das Münchner Oktoberfest hat also trotz aller Sorgen um Park- und Sitzplatz seine Anziehungskraft weder im Inland noch im Ausland verloren. Im Gegenteil, der Werbeslogan „Leut — vergeßt die Kris’n, kommt’s auf die Wies’n“ wurde von etwa 6 Millionen befolgt, und die Sorgen wurden mit der nötigen Menge Bier „hinuntergespült“.

  Similarly, it is not on the list of events they frown on today:

  https://www.jw.org/de/jehovas-zeugen/oft-gefragt/jehovas-zeugen-feiertage-feste/

  --Die Zeugen Jehovas, die ich kenne, machen sich darüber keine Sorgen
  
• 

  NotFormer

  Yes, it was the "harvest festival" aspect that had me wondering if it was JW kosher. Samhain/Halloween is condemned by the WT, but since participants dress up as demons and witches, they present the WT with low hanging fruit.
• 

  TD

  The modern event and it's location at a fairground was based primarily on horse racing. Even the beer (And rotisserie chicken) for which it is known today, did not come until much later.
  
• 

  joe134cd

  I’ve known a few JWs who have been. Took pics and everything. Didn’t have a prob with it.
• 

  Jehalapeno

  In the german town in Texas that I grew up in, they had a festival called "Wurstfest" that just so happened to coincide with Oktoberfest in Germany.

  It was common for JWs to attend some of the festivities, especially the amusement rides and food stalls.