I am invited by a magnificent friend of mine to come and share the Christmas cheer. That is most kind and gracious of her. The fact that she resides in France while I am in New Zealand and any such sharing is largely vicarious in no way diminishes my appreciation of her offer. Appreciation, kindness, grace are all part and parcel of Christmas of course. Not so, apparently, for Jehovah Witnesses. I wished one Merry Christmas the other day only to suffer the retort that “I am a Jehovah Witness. I don’t believe in Christmas. You’ll forgive me if I don’t wish you Merry Christmas in return.” Now, I can accept most religions (well, in truth I can’t but that is another story) but it seems somewhat churlish of this one, Jehovah Witnesses, that an exponent is not allowed to exhibit the simple grace of accepting another’s belief and set aside one’s own to offer a common courtesy. Besides, I thought Jehovah’s Witness was a Christian church. Did you know they don’t believe in Christmas? Well, I do. I believe in Christmas and in that belief, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Unless you are a Jehovah Witness of course. In which case all I can offer you is commiseration and a request that if Santa somehow mistakenly stumbles down your chimney you don’t shoot him as a home invader—others do need him.
6 comments:
I can see how that comment could have offended you, given that you were just being polite and cheerful. I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and I usually just give a simple 'thanks' with a smile when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas.
The reason we don't celebrate Christmas is because we don't view it as a truly Christian holiday. Back when the Roman Catholic Church set out to convert pagans, rather than getting them to give up their religious traditions and holy days, the Church simply 'converted' or 'sanctified' these things as Christian by giving them Christian names.
Christmas was originally a festival held at the winter solstice, and was associated with the religiously-charged symbols such as the yule log, the evergreen tree and mistletoe. Any good encyclopedia will explain these things. Jesus himself couldn't have been born in the winter, because the Bible notes that on the night he was born there were shepherds nearby living outdoors, which they wouldn't be doing in the winter season. (Luke 2:8)
Further, the only event that Jesus charged Christians to observe wasn't his birthday, but rather the memorial of his death, the event which paid the ransom to buy back life for all those putting faith in him.
So hopefully that gives you an idea of why we have chosen to give up the Christmas celebration. We don't mean to rain on your parade; it's just that some of us are less tactful about it than others. :)
TJ
I agree with Anonymous. We are people first, imperfect people. Maybe that person was having a bad day and was caught off guard. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I will tell you that the response you received was the exception rather than the rule.
We fully understand the mood of most people in Christian lands this time of the year.
And I say that, Jesus was not born in Iceland by the sounds of it - and in the Middle East and Northern Africa and those sunny parts of the world... you can find shepherds, their goats and all sorts of other things out side in December because of the lovely weather. Of course, I personally have no idea when Jesus was born... It could have been in March for all I know.
However, the glass is still waiting for you here, in France!! Of course - February is once again looking like an option for me to pick up a glass of NZ wine (hint hint!!)
Love - the French implant!
You think Ange? I just checked the weather for Jerusalem for this week and next. Low in the 40's(F) every night. Considering that the grass has stopped growing for the winter, shepherding seems uncomfortable and fruitless. I met a former shepherd from this area of the world and he assured me that camping out at this time of the year is a bad idea.
Regarding the weather, the Bible itself says this regarding the "ninth month" (Chislev) on the Jewish calendar, which corresponds to parts of November and December on our calendar:
"It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him." (Jeremiah 36:22)
"Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. . . . The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: 'You are right! We must do as you say. But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside.'" (Ezra 10:9, 12-13)
TJ
I acknowledge the perception of paganism--though I have no such problem with the Pagan ethos as such. So, thank you for the explantion. I was obviously dealing with a pedant when offering my Christmas wish.
Post a Comment