My witness mum sang happy birthday to my daughter on her first birthday but didn't get her a present or card because she claimed it went against bible teachings.
What did they all do on "worldly holidays" when you were home alone?
by LongHairGal 29 Replies latest jw experiences
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Doubtfully Yours
Since everybody was off from work anyway, we usually end up doing a lot of the same things others do: Gathering together for a little food, a little drink, games, just a joyous and nice time.
DY
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Bumble Bee
I usually spent the holidays with my grandparents. Thanksgiving and Easter were usually just like another long weekend off school, no big deal. Christmas, my grandma would usually cook a turkey and invite my parents. (Funny now that I think of it, she never invited my elder uncle and his family, and they lived in the same city!!)
Now, at Christmas I always cook a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I love it!! My mom has no problem with it. One year my sister in law and I got together and decided we'd all exchange gifts. Well that made my mom very uncomfortable so we didn't do that again, but this year we had a family fun night early in January, did a gift exchange, had a pinata etc, and she was fine with it. I guess as long as you don't do those things on the actual day that everyone else is it's ok.
BB
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love2Bworldly
I'm finding this thread rather amusing. If you really stop and think about it, most JWs do celebrate holidays--they just do it a little differently from other people.
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Ellie
Bumble bee - interesting what you say about not celebrating on the actual day because in my sisters family everyone gives presents to the kids on her wedding anniversary and they all admit its just in replacement of Xmas, but I just can't get my head round it, thats just like admitting they do actually celebrate Xmas just a few weeks later than everyone else.
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Tigerman
Witnesses having their own parties and gift giving around the same time as ' worldly ' holidays allows them to appear to their children as not being too asocial. In this way the pretension of not being ' too much' outside acceptable social structure is maintained while at the same time encouraging in their children a sense of separatness from the world. This is just another control method ( mind game ) handed down from the GB . . . no wonder so many JWs have emotional problems.
I feel so sad for them.
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delilah
In my family, we'd all go up to my parents house for the "holiday", mom always had turkey, as it was usually on sale. There were no gifts, of course, but we always got together. There were a few elder's in the cong. who always exchanged gifts with their children ON christmas day, they simply called it "family day"....but the first year we celebrated "christmas", without the tree, i might add, we got a visit from an elder, who wanted to make sure we weren't celebrating Christmas. WTF????? I guess it's a case of "do as we say. not as we do"
Dee
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jeanniebeanz
We always had a "family gathering" on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, Anniversaries etc., etc.
(sung to the tune of the Mickey Mouse Club)
H Y P
O C R
I
S
Y!!!!!!!!!
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Tigerman
jeannie . . .
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Icansaylucky
You are so right longhairgirl, when I got disfellowshipped and met with the committee, I remember looking at 2 of them and thinking "neither one of you have spoken one word to me in the 3 years I had been in that congregation and now they get to decide on whether my family can talk to me or not. One of them, the one that was the hardest on me ended up getting disfellowshipped about 5 years later for molesting the young boys in the congregation. Of course they didn't turn him in to the authorities.