Anyone know why Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate holidays?

Question

Please explain what the religion is all about & why...I've always wondered.

Answer 1

To answer your question: 'why Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate holidays?'
First of all, The worldwide Christian society of people who actively bear witness regarding Jehovah God and his purposes affecting mankind. They base their beliefs solely on the Bible. Fpr this reasons the Bible instructs true Christians regarding such "holidays" of the world and that it is influence by, it's ruler: Satan the devil.
"Holidays", like: Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s day, Birthdays, Mothers days, Halloween, New years day, and other local and national holidays, are ALL rooted from PAGAN origins.

Example: "CHRISTMAS": M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”—(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276.
"EASTER": The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us: “A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. . . . The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”—(1913), Vol. V, p. 227.

"NEW YEARS DAY":-According to The World Book Encyclopedia, “The Roman ruler Julius Caesar established January 1 as New Year’s Day in 46 B.C. The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces—one looking forward and the other looking backward.”—(1984), Vol. 14, p. 237.
VALENTINE’S Day:- The World Book Encyclopedia informs us: “Valentine’s Day comes on the feast day of two different Christian martyrs named Valentine. But the customs connected with the day . . . probably come from an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia which took place every February 15. The festival honored Juno, the Roman goddess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature.”—(1973), Vol. 20, p. 204.

MOTHER'S DAY:- The Encyclopædia Britannica says: “A festival derived from the custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Formal mother worship, with ceremonies to Cybele, or Rhea, the Great Mother of the Gods, were performed on the Ides of March throughout Asia Minor.”—(1959), Vol. 15, p. 849.

What beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses set them apart as different from other religions?

(1) Bible: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible as the standard for all their beliefs.

(2) God: They worship Jehovah as the only true God and freely speak to others about him and his loving purposes toward mankind. Anyone who publicly witnesses about Jehovah is usually identified as belonging to the one group—“Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

(3) Jesus Christ: They believe, not that Jesus Christ is part of a Trinity, but that, as the Bible says, he is the Son of God, the first of God’s creations; that he had a prehuman existence and that his life was transferred from heaven to the womb of a virgin, Mary; that his perfect human life laid down in sacrifice makes possible salvation to eternal life for those who exercise faith; that Christ is actively ruling as King, with God-given authority over all the earth since 1914.

(4) God’s Kingdom: They believe that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for mankind; that it is a real government; that it will soon destroy the present wicked system of things, including all human governments, and that it will produce a new system in which righteousness will prevail.

(5) Heavenly life: They believe that 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians will share with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom, ruling as kings with him. They do not believe that heaven is the reward for everyone who is “good.”

(6) The earth: They believe that God’s original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled; that the earth will be completely populated by worshipers of Jehovah and that these will be able to enjoy eternal life in human perfection; that even the dead will be raised to an opportunity to share in these blessings.

(7) Death: They believe that the dead are conscious of absolutely nothing; that they are experiencing neither pain nor pleasure in some spirit realm; that they do not exist except in God’s memory, so hope for their future life lies in a resurrection from the dead.

(8) Last days: They believe that we are living now, since 1914, in the last days of this wicked system of things; that some who saw the events of 1914 will also see the complete destruction of the present wicked world; that lovers of righteousness will survive into a cleansed earth.

(9) Separate from the world: They earnestly endeavor to be no part of the world, as Jesus said would be true of his followers. They show genuine Christian love for their neighbors, but they do not share in the politics or the wars of any nation. They provide for the material needs of their families but shun the world’s avid pursuit of material things and personal fame and its excessive indulgence in pleasure.

(10) Apply Bible counsel: They believe that it is important to apply the counsel of God’s Word in everyday life now—at home, in school, in business, in their congregation. Regardless of a person’s past way of life, he may become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses if he abandons practices condemned by God’s Word and applies its godly counsel. But if anyone thereafter makes a practice of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drug abuse, drunkenness, lying, or stealing, he will be disfellowshipped from the organization.

(The above list briefly states some outstanding beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses but by no means all the points on which their beliefs are different from those of other groups.)

Answer 2

They don't celebrate holidays because most have pagan origins. When Constantine the pagan Emperor of Rome became a Christian he tried to also remain a pagan and he blended pagan and christian holidays to bring about "unity." Then the Roman Catholic Church went along and even added many other blends. I like to say that Constantine christianized the pagans and paganized the the Christians. What a mess!!! A lot of the holidays , holy days and even sacraments are not in the Bible.
Jehovah's Witnesses started in New York in the early 1900's , in Brooklyn I think. My grandmother was one. We never saw her. She was either ostracized or just left on her own. I met her one time when she was a very old lady. I think it was very sad.
Anyway you can look it up on the net. They put Christians to shame because they live such good wholesome lives. But many of their actual teachings are false.
Hope that helps.
Cathy out.

Answer 3

They believe them to be evil. They wont salute the flag because they feel it is worshipping an idol (even though it isnt worship, its respect), most holidays I believe are thought to be evil (ie Christmas, In December there was a roman holiday where people were killed and raped for fun. The church counter-acted that with a holiday of love which is where Christmas comes from I believe.). They just want to be differant and make everyone else feel like they are evil. Not sure about Thanksgiving. Halloween has no good meaning in my opinion, but if you just go get free candy and dont celebrate evil spirits I dont see a major problem.

The religion is based much on Christianity (ie Prtastant, Catholic) using the bible as its book. However the JW bible has differant words in some spots to disagree with mainstream Christianity. (ie John 1:1 JW: "In the beginning was the word and the word was a God." Bible: "In the beginning was the word and the word was God". ) They do this to show they dont feel Jesus was God. Also they dont accept blood transfusions because the bible says dont consume blood, although if you dont eat it is isnt being consumed. But they must be different, and many die because they wont accept blood.

Answer 4

Many Christian celebratory dates are based from Pagan religious dates -- which is hard not to do since Pagan's celebrate almost every day. On this basis, the Jehovah's Witness believe that anything in association with Paganism, or polythiesm, is a blasphemy.

Answer 5

I am going to include a link to the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses. I will also include a link to an article that explains exactly what we believe so you can take your time to look up the scriptural reasons why we believe the way we do, if you would like
http://www.watchtower.org/
http://www.watchtower.org/library/jt/index.htm?article=article_03.htm

Answer 6

It was told to me that many of the holidays are considered Pagan rituals which are not considered Christian. For example, Christmas is apparently based on the winter solstice celebration that was performed by paganists. That's about all I know.

Answer 7

after reading some of the responses;-invitne-is right on!
now -rejoiceinthe-does have some things right,but went into alot of
questionable speculation,but I admire her(his)dedication to research....the
problem is of course that most people dont bother to do any research at all,
and therefore being completly ignorant of the truth,choose to believe lies
and half truths.

Answer 8

Killjoys

Answer 9

I believe it's because said holidays are not bible teaching, but I'm not that well informed about it

Answer 10

You can read the Bible and it will tell you why.