maksutov wrote:
I wouldn't say I'm anywhere near to 'getting through' to my wife yet, but I am chipping away bit by bit. Yesterday we had a conversation about why birthday celebrations are prohibited. She brought up the old 'birthdays are portrayed in a bad light in the Bible' chestnut and also said that early Christians did not celebrate birthdays (I'm not sure if that's true or not). She also sent me a link to a web page talking about the origin of birthday cakes being pagan. I pointed out that it is implied that Job's kids were probably celebrating a birthday and she said that they were not worshippers of Jehovah anyway. So I found some web pages that talk about the origins of wedding rings, wedding cake, and bridesmaids (all 3 of which we had at our JW wedding). The one on wedding rings actually says that early Christians refused to wear them because of their pagan origins, which I thought was classic! She then admitted that she could not explain that and she 'might ask about it' - presumably she means ask an elder.

P.S. The 3 pages I used were these:

Very good argument! I remember hearing about the pagan origins of the wedding ring in high school. I took the information straight to the woman who was studying with me. Being young and naive, I thought for sure this would be big news for the JW's, since they seemed to have a desperate need to steer clear of anything that might be considered pagan. I was simply told that it wasn't up to us to bring this type of information to light. She said that we should never be bold enough to assume that we had more "light" than the GB. If the GB later decided that it was pagan for us to wear wedding rings, then, and only then, would be stop wearing them! It struck me then how strange it was for us to not celebrate birthdays, because of the possibility that it might not be acceptable; yet we were freely allowed to do many other things that were known to be pagan.

I came across the same issue again, after I was married. I was taking birth control pills and was told by an OBGYN that they were good for both preventing pregnancy and CAUSING an early ABORTION by not allowing the fertilized egg to implant. This was earth-shattering news!!! I just KNEW that all the Witnesses didn't have this information! Otherwise, no one would be taking birth control pills. Once again, I was told that it was up to the GB to tell us if it was wrong to take them!!!

Why is it that the GB really R E A C H to find a reason to ban some things, yet completely ignore other things that are more obviously in contrast to their principles??????? I think it goes back to the origins of the JW religion. They're still adhering to rules that Russell and Rutherford put into place, without using their common sense to see how hypocritical it is to pick and choose!




"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief"

~ Gerry Spence ~
Last Edited By: peggy Jun 17 10 10:01 AM. Edited 1 times.