Not celebrating birthdays or Christmas?

[Doglover321]

I was working an agency shift yesterday when one of my colleagues confessed that she doesn’t celebrate her children’s birthdays or Christmas. They are only 8 and 4, and will be hearing from school friends all about Christmas and how many presents they’re going to get, etc. She said it’s because she’s a Jehovah’s Witness and wants to raise her girls as Witnesses also, but I can’t help but feel sad for them.

They are a cult.
They control their members and if you leave you are ostracised by it's members and shunned. Even by family regardless of whether you are a child that has decided to leave.
They destroy families

Lots of people raise their children within a faith, pretty much all of which contain aspects I don’t agree with. But it is what it is - they think they are doing their best for their children because it is what their version of god wants. To their mind that is what is best for their children. It’s better to stay out of it, unless it’s actively abusive, because people can believe what they want.

I once asked my long-standing JW friend what alternative gift-giving practices she had. She told me there's much more opportunity to be spontaneous when you're not tied to celebrating two particular days - if she saw something that she thought her DH or her mum would like and enjoy, she could buy it and give it to them straight away "just because", rather than stashing it away for months to hand over on a birthday or at Christmas.

No more cultish than any other religion

It is the birthday thing that gets me the most for the children and the recruitment drive that sees them door knocking.

@Georgyporky you want a no cold caller sign which includes religious groups. I got mine off ebay £2.49 for a 2 pack so you can share with a friend

Sorry about the stupidly long link

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186252740352?_skw=no+cold+caller+sign+religion&itmmeta=01JDPFG0BYF0GG1Q467KC1386W&hash=item2b5d874700:g:fz0AAOSwAsZlpANU&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmPH47y%2FTC6JUHbvk7LkD%2FTvslZgncOAD2mZdn3AgVUamYsi2E5xfmiile%2FprqoyUbAgPdjZF%2Bcakyp0tIUDoMnsoLR7ZMo9eSwFevA5DlualleKX6bEk3DezlTjYQ3UPW0U0Y57Jo0kb1XzP12vNJqUJ7H3O1ADoIUvKHLC38KHoa2%2Bv4fRZdLjhvVdmGC0a%2FqB06ZteVhPFVCER6i16Vwhhj1mLHNrT2ikLnktWcE9OmGuuAJAVrKnVryJjthZVxqgETYyyb2q8YYoo473B8DQQPO%2BDl2%2FaKDqeVvvi7WGQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMiIbAz-1k

Having to knock on the general public's door to ram your religion down the throat of people in their own home is a cult. So entitled to think JW can walk into my property and try and get me to 'sign up' to the ridiculous beliefs.

I'll let my DC enjoy their lovely Christmas, and I'll also be forever grateful for the blood transfusion I got as a child which saved my life, thanks.

Parents choice. Jewish people do not celebrate the birth of Jesus in December, lots of people have different faiths.

@NineDaysQueen I do slightly disagree. I've never had a Muslim or a Jew knock on my door to ask me to sign up. My Muslim friends and colleagues have never pressured me to 'sign up' to their religion.

Only had that from annoying JW's.

The blood transfusion thing is odd too. Would they refuse one even if it meant dying?!

@Horrace

Completely false and actually this is slander

Theres something like 9 million JW’s worldwide, all living peacefully and being guided by the bibles in their daily lives like going from door to door like Jesus and his disciples

I’ve looked into many religions btw and find it funny how people that would never dare point out the parts of other religions they don’t like

They don’t tear up families, families are respected and loved, if a person is married to a non JW for example, they’re encouraged to love and respect their spouse regardless

Sins like adultery aren’t tolerated so if a JW keeps commuting adulrery/taking drugs etc they’d be removed as one of JW ‘shunned’ as you say so that’s fair enough in my opinion but is really twisted by others like yourself

No more cultish than any other religion

The 'shunning' is a marker of a cult.

It's got others too. I'm no fan of any religion and there's probably no clear dividing line between 'cult' and 'other religion' but if you've read anything about cults then it's pretty clear the JWs have more cultish traits than some of the others.

@FlaskOfRevenge - if you just copy the eBay link up to and including the long number that comes after the "/itm/" bit (but leaving off the "?" at the end of it), it'll work fine.

@M340

Of course you’re entitled to your own opinion but saying that because people follow Jesus command to preach the word of God in the Bible means they’re a cult is extremely bigoted and ignorant

I believe Horrace was raised a JW, that’s what I think she put in her post, she was just sharing her personal experience when she said it was awful.

I think it’s a shame from my perspective too, but you also don’t know what sources of joy and celebration people from other religions and cultures are experiencing because they aren’t things one experiences oneself. Children who celebrate Eid or Hanukkah probably find it sad that kids from other cultures don’t get to share those celebrations. Kids raised in the JW tradition perhaps find great joy and contentment in their religious affiliation and feel no loss of birthdays and Christmas.

I do really struggle with JWs not accepting certain medical care for their children on the basis of religion, for me that is a very grave and distressing concern.

@AreThereSomewhereIslands you are fabulous, thank you for sharing that.

@ErrolTheDragon

Im not sure if you have knowledge of the Bible, but what they do is follow it on preaching, abstaining from blood is a command, removing unrepentant sinners like adulterers from the congregation. All of those things are from the Bible and they endeavour to follow it

Jeaus was hated for following Gods word and said his follower would be hated for it too

Your opinions aren’t fact they’re based on your dislike and misunderstanding

Er, as if anybody can't do that in addition to birthdays and Xmas.

Lots of faiths don't celebrate Christmas tbh. Don't see the difference in that regard. Shame about birthdays, maybe they mark the occasion in other ways?

There are a lot of what I consider extreme in faiths, but it's not up to me to decide I'm right over someone else. As long as the children are safe and loved.

Well shunning people who opt out, and forcing children to abide until they're 18 is being a cult.

Denying a child a life saving blood transfusion is down and out child abuse and neglect.

Cult definition; a group of people having beliefs or practices that are regarded by others as strange or sinister or as imposing excessive control over other members.

How is the above NOT that?

I worked in education for over 30 years and have had may JW children in the schools I have worked in. The last child was allowed to have a ‘good boy’ present, wrapped in plain paper, on the day we visited a farm for our Christmas trip. He could do all the activities except see Father Christmas, and had a great day.

There’s no obligation to celebrate birthdays or Christmas but I feel sorry for any kids indoctrinated into an awful cult like JW

She said that there is no alternative celebration like Eid or Hanukkah, it’s literally just weekly meetings which he attends on her own and door-knocking. Apparently the 8-year-old has recently accepted their fate, but the 4-year-old still gets upset. I’d imagine they both do, being surrounded by school mates chattering about Christmas and presents, etc.

Yes, I've acquired quite a lot of knowledge of the Bible over 6 decades. Sheer arrogance of you to assume I haven't!

Families work in lots of different ways, it is not down to you to judge.

Lots of cultures don’t celebrate Christmas and Birthdays it doesn’t mean that the children are loosing out.