Why do Jehovahs Witnesses celebrate weddings but not birthdays?

Angelyn Ducas: Give em 10 years maybe there will be some "new light" and that will be outlawed too. It does cut into the door to door service time.....

Christiane Cattano: Please read my whole question before you answer, i want to know not about general weddings but the pagan rituals associated with weddings that are followed by jehovahs witnesses

Ron Keliipio: Jesus went to weddings, and I've enjoyed many including mine. Good question, As for Birthdays the customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebratingâ€"complete with lighted candlesâ€"in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. Jesus inaugurated a binding Memorial, not of his birth, but of his death, saying: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Lu 22:19) If early Christians did not celebrate or memorialize the birthday of their Savior, much less would they celebrate their own day of birth. Histori! an Augustus Neander writes: “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries, translated by H. J. Rose, 1848, p. 190) “Origen [a writer of the third century C.E.] . . . insists that ‘of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world below.’”â€"The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, Vol. X, p. 709. The celebration of birthdays does not find its origin in either the Hebrew or the Greek Scriptures. M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia (1882, Vol. I, p. 817) says the Jews “regarded birthday celebrations as parts of idolatrous worship. No, we don't celebrate birthdays....Show more

Madlyn Fallis: Exactly what Maci says, they take the Bible l! iterally word for word. The Bible has psychics (called prophet! s), healing magic, and even human sacrifice (Jesus on the cross). But try telling that to a devout Christian believer even if it is true. They pretty much have everything they condemn, its just worded differently to make them feel special. ...Show more

Daren Ventrice: CHUCK answered it perfectly! they just dodge the specifics & look at the question as a whole then copy and paste from thier articals. do they ever wonder why SOME pegan things celebrations they are allowed to do is OK while others are NOT? and dont tell me that it is a conscious decision because they would be out on thier butts in a flash if they were caugh observing a pegan celebration that was NOT approved by the watchtower! PEOPLE....dont you see they are slaves!? pray for them!...Show more

Nicolas Cooley: Well since the JW's say they go according to the bible to the last dot; then they need to show proof that birthdays are not to be celebrated. I mean absolute proof where Jesus said *NO* c! elebrating birthdays. Then I will believe. When it comes to Jesus now should we go on absolute proof? But if there's no absolute proof of any law that man makes pertaining to Jesus, then its only fair that every individual will go according to their own conscious. For we alone will stand and answer to God Almighty....Show more

Angel Klym: Wholesome gatherings of family and friends at other times to eat, drink, and rejoice are not objectionableEccl. 3:12, 13: “There is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good during one’s life; and also that every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.”See also 1 Corinthians 10:31.The Law covenant required that a woman, after giving birth, present a sin offering to God. (Leviticus 12:1-8) A poignant reminder that humans pass sin on to their children, this legal requirement helped the Israelites to have a balanced view of the birth of a child and may have disc! ouraged them from adopting pagan birthday customs.â€"Psalm 51:5.Eostre ! (or Eastre) was also a fertility goddess. According to The Dictionary of Mythology, “she owned a hare in the moon which loved eggs and she was sometimes depicted as having the head of a hareIt is of interest to note that the most important day in the religion called Satanism is one’s birthday. Why? Because Satanists hold that each individual is a god if he chooses to view himself as one. Thus, to celebrate one’s own birthday is to celebrate the birth of a god. Of course, most people do not take such an extreme, egotistical view. Nevertheless, the book The Lore of Birthdays states: “Other holidays lift the heart, but birthdays warm the ego.”i hope this helps.”...Show more

Lou Rought: The few JW answerers so far are avoiding the question details. The question specifically addresses the "RITUALS" and "PRACTICES" conducted during weddings such as rings, bridesmaids, groomsmen veils, etc..., not the wedding itself. Interestingly, Jesus' presence at a wedding ev! idently makes these things OK. I wonder if Jesus was ever someone's guest on the anniversary of their birth. That would make birthday cakes and wrapped presents OK as well, right?BTW, I like one JW answerer's obvious dodge of the question with, "There is no denying, though..." That's the same as saying, "Yeah, but...", both of which are admissions of guilt! Making birthday rituals "more" pagan than wedding rituals doesn't make wedding rituals any "more" Christian than birthday rituals. Bottom line- they do as they please because they are "no part of the world" in their own eyes and therefore think that anything they do has God's direction and blessing. ...Show more

Wilmer Skidmore: having the bridesmaids dress the same was not the original tradition, they dressed the bridesmaids the same as the bride to confuse the spirits but nowadays that is not the reason for the bridesmaids and the bridesmaids rarely ever dress like the bride. And the tradition of the veil is not ! seen really as a tradition but more as a fashion choice because they do! not cover their faces with the veil since the origin of doing that was to keep the spirits away so Jehovah witness brides do not cover their faces with veils if they choose to wear one but its very common for one to not even wear one. In a typical wedding there are many traditions but Jehovah witnesses do not do most of them because they have superstitious origins to them. Like putting cans on the back of the car, having the bride wear something blue, borrowed, and new, throwing the bouquet, etc....Show more

Mack Ukich: Since the Christian bible presents Jesus attending a wedding, they consider weddings okay.

Jonathon Labonne: The ritual of the cake, candles, wish, and presents serve to give thanks to sky luminaries for allowing the birthday celebrant to reach the annual cycle of their birth. The cake was baked for the Queen of Heaven. (Hot cross buns) It was decorated, and monogrammed with the celebrant’s name. The candles symbolized the sacred fire, carefu! lly numbered for each annual cycle completed. The prayer chant and all the ritual procedures are carefully preserved, and it is a religious occasion. Witches regard the day of one’s birth the most significant event in a person’s life. Astrologers base everything on it. If the celebrant can blow-out all the candles, then a secret wish made to a GENIE (or JUNO if the person is female) will be granted. The birthday itself was a time of great superstition to a Pagan, so they were surrounded by their friends and relatives for protection. "In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his [Christ's] birthday. It is only sinners [like Pharaoh or Herod] who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were born into this world." Catholic Encyclopedia, 11th ed., art: "Natal Day." Weddings are not associated with paganism. Jehovah performed the first wedding when he brought Adam and his wife together.You say JWs avoid answering your qu! estion. That is not true. Whether you accept what we say is up to you. ! Anti- and ex-witnesses love to take jabs at us whenever they can, even when questions are specifically directed to us.Why are ex-witnesses so concerned about us. Is it because they don't have a life unless they can talk bad about us?...Show more

Travis Colomb: Chuck Russell i think you've hit the nail on the head. I would like to see a jehovahs witness be able to answer this question properly without skirting around the issue. Preferably jehovahs witnesses Vox who is always so sure about everything.