FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Certain Holidays?

[The Librarian]

Consider three important questions regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses and holidays.

 

 

Source

 

[Jack Ryan]

They say if it's not a religious festival everyone must make up his mind according to their own conscience. Then they list a scripture that criticises every form of special day whether it celebrates a country, a person, a flag, the moon, whatever. Basically don't celebrate anything. Conscience! They're not allowed a conscience, just follow the GBs rules.

[Space Merchant]

1 hour ago, Jack Ryan said:

They say if it's not a religious festival everyone must make up his mind according to their own conscience. Then they list a scripture that criticises every form of special day whether it celebrates a country, a person, a flag, the moon, whatever. Basically don't celebrate anything. Conscience! They're not allowed a conscience, just follow the GBs rules.

But then you have to deal with other Christians, be it a group or a single soul who do not obverse such holidays, one example being Thanksgiving, whereas you can feast but on that same day it is a day of mourning for others.

[Srecko Sostar]

"Is the holiday based on an unscriptural teaching?" -https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-celebrate-holidays/

This question from their web is interesting. Because all of us who are familiar with WT history knows very well many of WT "unscriptural" teachings.

Also, all WT teachings together, scriptural and unscriptural, living and influencing in parallel mode the whole life of JW members.     

[JW Insider]

2 hours ago, Space Merchant said:

one example being Thanksgiving, whereas you can feast but on that same day it is a day of mourning for others. 

True. And the entire idea of Thanksgiving was to try to instill a positive political message about an atrocious period of U.S. History.

[The Librarian]

11 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

True. And the entire idea of Thanksgiving was to try to instill a positive political message about an atrocious period of U.S. History.

So true...

 

[JOHN BUTLER]

https://biblehub.com/romans/14-5.htm

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

We as Jehovah's Witnesses have the lamentable custom of having personal opinions, and teaching them as Edicts from God ... which does convince those not aware and educated about the very real difference between a deeply held personal opinion, and an Edict from God.

There IS a difference.

It is intellectually dishonest to have a deeply held personal conviction, and not clearly label it as exactly that, and no more.

Emotionally, I have a deeply felt belief in the "Rainbow Bridge"

Intellectually, I would never teach that, because it is ONLY a deeply felt complete fantasy.

There IS a difference.

I hope Jehovah God, and the people whose lives we ruin because of our adamant cultural fantasies, will forgive us, for screwing up their lives, and condemning them to a lifetime of isolation,  of loneliness, and of unnecessary fear and paranoia.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

if the above confuses you ... meditate that it DOES make sense ... and think about it until it really does.

Thinking properly is REAL HARD WORK!

That is why most people stay confused their whole lives , or are easily misled by which ever way the wind is blowing.

[JOHN BUTLER]

2 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

We as Jehovah's Witnesses have the lamentable custom of having personal opinions, and teaching them as Edicts from God ... which does convince those not aware and educated about the very real difference between a deeply held personal opinion, and an Edict from God.

There IS a difference.

It is intellectually dishonest to have a deeply held personal conviction, and not clearly label it as exactly that, and no more.

Emotionally, I have a deeply felt belief in the "Rainbow Bridge"

Intellectually, I would never teach that, because it is ONLY a deeply felt complete fantasy.

There IS a difference.

I hope Jehovah God, and the people whose lives we ruin because of our adamant cultural fantasies, will forgive us, for screwing up their lives, and condemning them to a lifetime of isolation,  of loneliness, and of unnecessary fear and paranoia.

@James Thomas Rook Jr.     Luke 17 v 1 & 2.   It's called stumbling others JT. 

Your last sentence missed, condemning them to spiritual death and possibly physical death. 

And for anyone above 'private' (ordinary congregant) then why should they be forgiven ? 

[JOHN BUTLER]

3 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

if the above confuses you ... meditate that it DOES make sense ... and think about it until it really does.

Thinking properly is REAL HARD WORK!

That is why most people stay confused their whole lives , or are easily misled by which ever way the wind is blowing.

JT, the confusion wasn't about the words written, it was about you personally. 

Its like we are getting back to this collateral damage thing, like just throwing people away. 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

It's usually JTR, not JT, but they should be forgiven because they do it out of gross ignorance, not premeditated evil.

And I do not condemn ANYONE ... I just comment on stuff, and people in a group and how they behave collectively.