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With it being our first year of putting all our Xmas lights up, we haven't gone too mad..😉
I've done it: Christmas Lights Outside
by StephaneLaliberte 39 Replies latest jw experiences
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TonusOH
I'm not sure I see the problem with following the world, in this context. Paul may present it as a dichotomy, as an all-or-nothing choice, but it doesn't have to be that. Not being bound to a religion, I can pick and choose what I want to do or not do. Each of those decisions could be described as 'following' something. We're social animals, after all; belonging to a group is built into us.
I chose not to follow an organization that is too controlling and has policies that I find unsafe and unhealthy. If that means I am following the world, then following the world doesn't seem like such a bad option.
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Dagney
You know what Bob Dylan says, "you gotta serve somebody." lol
If you like lights, why not have lights, or cactus or rose bushes or neon signs. That is when you are doing what you were meant to do...be yourself.
At least it's not being a slave to a real estate corporation disguised as a religion. That ship has sailed and has no relevancy whatsoever to anything or anybody.
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Beth Sarim
Following the world. Instead of following an organization disguised as a religion.
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peacefulpete
lol....I suppose former Mormons are 'following the world' by drinking Pepsi or wearing regular underwear. Former Catholics are 'following the world' by wearing condoms. Or former Amish are slaves of the world by wearing colors.......
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NotFormer
From my discussions with Mormons, Pepsi is fine*. It's another one of those points where a high control religion demonstrates inconsistency. We outsiders see their prohibition of tea and coffee and logically project that it is a prohibition on caffeine. So, back in the day when the Mormon church supposedly owned PepsiCo**, I brought it up and they said "So what?" The prohibition by JS himself is not on Pepsi, but on tea and coffee alone. Apparently the Mormon church is not bound by the "ejusdem generis" principle. Mormons can happily knock back Pepsi by the gallon. We outsiders might wonder if there's any cognitive dissonance going on, but they're right: Pepsi isn't tea or coffee.
* If anyone knows better, let me know
** Probably an urban myth of the time
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peacefulpete
Notformer...Ok coffee then. Is a former Mormon compromising their individuality by enjoying a caramel latte? How silly the idea when seen from an objective, dispassionate perspective. Rattigan's charge of 'following the world' is just the product of cultish us/them inside/outside thinking.
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NotFormer
I had a bit more of a look into it and it didn't get any clearer 😕. The original prohibition was against "hot drinks", which was later clarified to mean coffee ☕ and tea 🍵. Modern Mormons apparently argue over the whole issue. Some won't drink caffeinated beverages of any sort, some probably don't drink decaf, others do.
It can be a problem when a founder creates an immutable law that doesn't make sense as society progresses. The SDAs probably find it with some of White's "revelations". The whole vegetarian thing was founded on the belief that a meat rich diet made one strong and virile, and it also provided fuel for the baser passions. Their vegetarian diet was deliberately intended to make people weaker, who would therefore have less energy to channel towards those baser passions.
Interestingly, defying the above rules would probably be seen as "following the world" by devout practitioners of the above faiths. And to an outsider, one who'd never been in, such a view would make as much sense as Rattigan's stance on Christmas lights.
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TonusOH
An ambiguously-defined rule that gets interpreted in many ways, thus creating confusing for years and years? No way!
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peacefulpete
Friends of ours celebrated, for and with us, our break from the controls of the WT. Emblematic of that break to personal freedom was our first Xmas tree. For us, the holidays are not only sharing in beautiful traditions but represent our choice to leave the church that forbid them.