Friday, March 1, 2013

What holidays are JW’s not allowed to attend?

Just before Thanksgiving I received a question from a family who’s daughter is a JW. They asked, “Would you list all of the normal holidays and events that JW’s ARE NOT allowed to attend.”

My answer:

It would be much easier to list the special days that JW’s can celebrate rather than list all the special days they can’t celebrate. I have checked all the JW resources I have and I can find only four special days that JW’s can celebrate.

(1) JW’s do celebrate the “Memorial of Christ’s Death,” which occurs at roughly the same time as the Christian Easter and the Jewish Passover. This holiday is acceptable because Christ himself instituted it. The Memorial is the one time during the year in which the Lord’s Supper is observed.

(2, 3, 4) Weddings, anniversaries, and funerals are observed, though they avoid incorporating certain traditions they see to have pagan origins. Also, where the celebration takes place may determine whether or not the JW can attend. When my wife and I were married, her parents (JW’s) could not attend the wedding if it was held in a Protestant church. So we held the wedding in my mom’s home so they could attend.

One of the defining traits of JW’s is their refusal to celebrate holidays, birthdays, and other special days like Thanksgiving. Therefore, when someone becomes a newly baptized JW they are immediately taught about the “pagan origins” of modern day celebrations. The WT points to each “day's pagan origins” as the reason to not celebrate those special days. In the case of Thanksgiving, JW’s point to a number of reasons: (1) JW’s are not going to allow a government to tell them when to give thanks to God—they give thanks all year long; (2) the holiday has nothing to do with serving Jehovah; (3) celebrating would be taking part in a holiday with worldly people.

I usually do not talk to JW’s about holidays. As long as they view the WT as God’s mouthpiece, they will reject the holidays, regardless of how effective my arguments may be. Why? If a JW does take part in a Thanksgiving celebration, that person can be disfellowshipped and according to JW teachings, a disfellowshipped one will not be saved at Armageddon and until that great battle they will be shunned by all other JW’s.

The official website of the WT explains their position on birthdays.

“Jesus never commanded Christians to celebrate his birth. Rather, he told his disciples to memorialize, or remember, his death. Christmas and its customs come from ancient false religions. The same is true of Easter customs, such as the use of eggs and rabbits. The early Christians did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, nor do true Christians today.”

“The only two birthday celebrations spoken of in the Bible were held by persons who did not worship Jehovah. The early Christians did not celebrate birthdays. The custom of celebrating birthdays comes from ancient false religions. True Christians give gifts and have good times together at other times during the year.”

The main reason why the WT’s ban on all holidays is wrong is that it is not Biblical. It is in direct contradiction with Romans 14:4-6;

“Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.”

So Paul told the Romans that a Christian should be free to celebrate the Jewish holy days or holidays if he or she chose to do so. But a JW who celebrates those days today is disfellowshipped, in complete disregard for what Romans 14 says. A JW who holds a special meal on Christmas or Easter to honor Christ can be expelled from the organization.

However, it needs to be pointed out that it is the Governing Body that has determined that celebrating holidays is wrong. Individual JW’s are not allowed to read the Bible and come up with this conclusion on their own.

JW’s are told to “meekly go along with the Lord's theocratic organization and wait for further clarification, rather than balk at the first mention of a thought unpalatable to them and proceed to quibble and mouth their criticisms and opinions as though they were worth more than the slave's provision of spiritual food. Theocratic ones will appreciate the Lord's visible organization and not be so foolish as to put against Jehovah's channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and personal feelings." WT, February 1, 1952, pgs. 79-80.

One last point concerning Mother and Father’s day. To honor your parents is the Fifth commandment—“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12.

Now read Matthew 15:3-9 . . .

Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.' But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is 'devoted to God,'' they are not to 'honor their father or mother' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'"

Does the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) say “honor your father and mother”—no exclusions—or does it say to honor mom and dad except on Mother’s and Father’s Day? Do the WT rules honor ones Father and Mother? The WT commands its followers that on Mother’s Day and on Father’s Day you CANNOT honor your parents with a card or gift or in any manner. Is this teaching merely human rules that nullify the commandment of God—or are they following God’s commandments?

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