They Say It's Your Birthday

With my birthday coming up it brings up a point I'd like to share.  One of the most awful things forbidden by JW's are birthdays.  Why do they think birthdays are bad?  There are two birthdays listed in the Bible.  Two of them both involved kings executing people.  What does that have to do with us celebrating birthdays?  I have no clue.

Another issue they have is that they say it brings undue honor to one person.  Yeah, because it's terribly wrong to make someone feel special for a day.  You just never mind that they have no issue with celebrating wedding anniversaries. 

There are just so many absolutely ridiculous teachings JW's have that do nothing but suck the joy out of life.  Would you believe I've never celebrated anyone's birthday in my life (including my own) until I celebrated my friend's 21st birthday a couple weeks ago?  Pretty pathetic, huh? 

Here's another classic JW rule.  When somebody sneezes, it's common courtesy to say "God bless you."  This is forbidden by JW's because they say the term has pagan roots.  There were various groups that thought that when you sneezed it was your soul trying to leave your body.  So when you say "God bless you" it keeps your soul from escaping.  That's a pretty ridiculous belief in itself but hey at least they were courteous! Who needs to be courteous anyway?

Raising a glass to toast to someone is also forbidden because it has pagan roots as well.  It's viewed as raising a glass to the gods and offering them your drink.

Did you know that wedding rings have pagan roots?  As you are probably aware, the circle means "unending" or "everlasting".  It's meant to symbolize eternity.  The ring originated in ancient Babylon and had various pagan uses.  I don't find anything wrong with wedding rings.  Apparently JW's don't because there is no rule against them.  I don't find anything wrong with saying "God bless you" or raising a glass in a toast to someone.  It's this picking and choosing that really bugs me.  Maybe I'm just bitter but I think I have a right to be at this point.