Jehovah's Witnesses and Holidays?

Question

Since the holidays are coming up, I thought I would make a topic regarding Jehovah's Witnesses and holidays. Why don't we celebrate holidays? Why do you think we don't celebrate holidays?

Well, here are some of the reasons why we don't, but I'd also like to get your responses to the previous questions.

Christmas. The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The date of Christ’s birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month . . . According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener . . . and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.”—(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.

Birthdays. Among heathens, according to Horst Fuhrmann, professor of medieval history at the University of Regensburg, “the birthday celebration was in honor of one’s guardian angel or god, whose altar was decorated with flowers and wreaths; sacrifices were offered to the god of festival, friends offered congratulations and brought gifts.” Professor Fuhrmann continues in the German newspaper Süddeutschen Zeitung: “Great prominence was given the birthday parties held for the emperor, replete with parades, public banquets, circus plays, and the hunting of animals: spectacles disgusting to the Christians.” Thus, says Fuhrmann, Christians “refused to celebrate the birthday.”

Easter. “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament,” states The Encyclopædia Britannica. How did Easter get started? It is rooted in pagan worship. While this holiday is supposed to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, the customs associated with the Easter season are not Christian. For instance, concerning the popular “Easter bunny,” The Catholic Encyclopedia says: “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
New Year’s Celebrations. The date and customs associated with New Year’s celebrations vary from one country to another. Regarding the origin of this celebration, The World Book Encyclopedia states: “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.” So New Year’s celebrations are founded on pagan traditions.
Halloween. The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Elements of the customs connected with Halloween can be traced to a Druid [ancient Celtic priesthood] ceremony in pre-Christian times. The Celts had festivals for two major gods—a sun god and a god of the dead . . . , whose festival was held on November 1, the beginning of the Celtic New Year. The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian ritual.”

Other Holidays. It is not possible to discuss all the observances held throughout the world. However, holidays that exalt humans or human organizations are not acceptable to Jehovah. (Jeremiah 17:5-7; Acts 10:25, 26) Keep in mind, too, that the origin of religious celebrations has a bearing on whether they please God or not. (Isaiah 52:11; Revelation 18:4) The Bible principles mentioned in Chapter 16 of this book will help you to determine how God views participation in holidays of a secular nature.

DRAAGON: It's not about what is or isn't permitted, but what is offensive to Jehovah God and what these holidays really mean.

As for your question regarding if we are "allowed" to have fun or not:

Of course we have fun! We do plenty of things that are enjoyable; listen to music, play games, engage in different sports, etc.

So, don't think that Jehovah's Witnesses don't have any fun, but we're not going to compromise our beliefs to do something that's "fun" to the world's standards. There are more than enough ways to enjoy yourself without doing something offensive to God.

Answer 1

You go girl! Great witness.
Another sting by the scorpians tail :)

We have a lot of healthy clean fun as witnesses.
We have family get togethers and a blast at weddings.

Our family has "I Love You" days. We decorate the house with love, in the past the kids have baked cakes and made personal crafts and a banner to hang up. We have a HUGE pink gorrilla that says I love you on his chest. When I hang that off our stairs the kids know the "party" is coming and get all excited. We all exchange gifts, no one person is singled out like a birthday. We play games and just have a whole day of fun!
We keep our worship of Jehovah seperated to do our best to keep it pure.

Answer 2

as always edge knows nothing about us. he rather tell lies about us. like unsilence lamb. don't miss the holidays. we don't have boring lives. we give gifts during the year and don't have to pay our master or visa cards off all year long. Jesus was not born dec 25. he told us to celebrate his death on Nisan 14 the last supper. learn what witnesses are all about at www.watchtower.org. I agree with you sister. but people rather lie about us instead

Answer 3

Why is it so hard for people to face these truths and then laugh at others for following the truth? The ignorance of the many outwiegh the guts of the few. Good stuff, keep it up.

Celebrating Jesus' birthday is found where in the Bible? I guess I missed that chapter. If you want to celebrate Jesus' gift to us, then do it everyday...

Answer 4

Right on Hannah.
Hey DRAAGON, WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! I can't imagine not having fun with my brothers and sisters. When I associated with the world, I didn't have the same kind of fun that I do now. I HAVE MUCH BETTER FUN!

Answer 5

Wonderful, wonderful information sister, you outdid yourself.
Hopefully somebody out there learned something tonight.
Agape

YODA........you are so right! It's always the ignorant and the gutless who feel like they can laugh about what they don't want to understand. They fail to realize that the truth is free to all who earnestly seek it.

Answer 6

As a Christian I would have to say that even though I'm not celebrating the exact birthday of Jesus. By celebrating any day as HIS birthday I'm celebrating His life and what it means to me.
The same for Easter and any other holiday with the exception of Halloween ( I've never really felt comfortable with that holiday). I'm asking this for information not as a criticism why do people but so much reliance on the Old testament when they Say that they are Christians??? I believe that Jesus died for us but I don't follow the old testement. As for celebrating the Birth of people I think that it's a way of celebrating the person and the impact that they have in your life.

Answer 7

You got it all sister..
DRRAGON: We have so much fun! Turst me...a JW's life is NOT boring.
Yes..we can celebrate things as long as they don't have pegan orgins or displease or offend Jehovah.

Answer 8

Well, I'm Catholic, so I don't really know about your religion, but yea...
My friend who is a Jehovah's Witness told me that it's becase it's not in your scriptures?

So that's why I think you guys don't celebrate holidays

Answer 9

Edge...as usual, you don't know what JW's believe. You, like most others, hear things and assume that is true, when it really isn't.

Answer 10

I was about to link to:
http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/beliefsfaq.htm
but you made a fine point, and it seams your not asking but answering. =P