Do some Jehovahs Witnesses ever feel left out during celebrations, or holidays, or miss participating in them?
Yes, young children can certainly feel left out when they belong to a minority group that does not observe the celebrations that the majority in their community observe. This can be difficult in schools, where such festivities may observed with communal activities by teachers and the student body or where they are embedded in the curriculum. This isolation affects the children of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but it also affects innumerable others, both religious and non-religious. Some individuals refuse to take part in any of the Christian celebrations, because they do not follow the Christian faith or they are repelled by the crass commercialism attending some celebrations. Some Orthodox sects observe celebrations using their own calendar, with festivals falling on different days than are commonly followed in western society. Conservative and Orthodox Judaism have their own traditions and celebrations, while followers of Reform Judaism sometimes observe a gift exchange at Christmas so th
I believe that this is up to the individual. I never celebrated birthdays, holidays and such and personally, it never bothered me. I march to the beat of a totally different drummer than most people and knowing that these celebrations that I avoided are either dishonoring to Jehovah or from pagan origins, it made me feel better to know that I was doing the right thing. It’s never easy to be different but all the ridicule, teasing and such only served to make me a stronger individual and mold my character. Most of what was perpetuated against me was done out of fear and ignorance. I don’t hold any malice toward those that taunted me. To this day, I have no desire to mingle with people at these so called celebrations of Christ’s birth that are nothing excuses to indulge in excess and be materialistic. The one thing that we do celebrate or observe is the sacrificial death of Jesus. We are commanded in the scriptures to remember it. Most people do it on a daily basis but it should be an an
