GB 2025 Update #4

[Sofia]

On 7/4/2025 at 12:01 PM, Dages said:

Ho, it is

 

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/StudioNewsReports/docid-1112024035_1_VIDEO

 

More more revealing 😁😂

[Sofia]

8 hours ago, Badger said:

I have a feeling there might be some more clarification in the next governing body update

Like…. We can all make tattoos as long as we keep neutral and out of BTG 

[Friend of Peace]

5 minutes ago, LeolaRootStew said:

I think even if we got permission to celebrate birthdays I wouldn't even consider doing it in this system

One of the questions highlighted in regards to Bible principles in the Enjoy Life Forever! book in Lesson 44 asks: ”Does a celebration give undue honour to a person?” 
 

So even if a person decided that a false religious background to a celebration is a thing of the past, we have to consider whether celebrations lift up humans in a glorified way so to speak. (Rom. 12:3; Php. 2:3) Would we be giving undue honour to someone simply because they were born on a particular day of the year? 

[Sofia]

3 hours ago, Bluebell said:

 

But is this not what we're already doing when celebrating someones wedding anniversary ?

Celebrating anniversaries can be harmless as long as you don’t use pagan rituals like the candles the song and the wish

what’s wrong about it anyway 

if we celebrate wedding anniversaries 

or baptism anniversaries… 

we can be together laugh sing play dance and eat whatever we like.

this is what I think 

[Bluebell]

The question is not if we are going to celebrate Birthdays.

It is about how we view them.

I think it's more about  acknowledging it, as we do with our wedding anniversary.

We as in our family will never celebrate it but just acknowledge it would be ok.

But anyway....we wait on the GB.

When I said after the beard issue that soon sisters can wear trousers everybody said No way!

So who knows.....

[LeolaRootStew]

2 minutes ago, Friend of Peace said:

One of the questions highlighted in regards to Bible principles in the Enjoy Life Forever! book in Lesson 44 asks: ”Does a celebration give undue honour to a person?” 
 

So even if a person decided that a false religious background to a celebration is a thing of the past, we have to consider whether celebrations lift up humans in a glorified way so to speak. (Rom. 12:3; Php. 2:3) Would we be giving undue honour to someone simply because they were born on a particular day of the year? 

 

I agree, I just don't even want to debate the merits on this side of Armageddon for the reasons I stated. I've been perfectly content not celebrating and don't want that to change.

[Sofia]

15 hours ago, Sebastian said:

I agree that this may be a prelude to a revision of our understanding on birthdays. For the most part, there are no longer and false religious connotations or any memory of them. Perhaps some counsel will be given about certain aspects of birthday celebrations. We’ll see how Jehovah continues to refine our understanding. 🥂🍻

My aunt was regularl pioneer yet she always celebrated bday anniversaries

without the pagan stuff ( song candles wish gifts)

she understood that it was a nice way to show appreciation towards her husband and employers family

[truce]

15 minutes ago, Sofia said:

My aunt was regularl pioneer yet she always celebrated bday anniversaries

without the pagan stuff ( song candles wish gifts)

she understood that it was a nice way to show appreciation towards her husband and employers family

What??????!!!!!!!

[ChrisC]

10 hours ago, LeolaRootStew said:

 

 

Those are still superstitious, based on the belief that the person was facing some sort of danger by sneezing and you needed to quickly bless them or something bad would happen. We don't give blessings when someone coughs or burps, so why would we do it with sneezes? It only makes sense if you understand the origins.

I meant: “Are you okay?” as a genuine inquiry and/or as a way to start a conversation.

[Leslie.m]

5 hours ago, Sepie93 said:

Something that has always been very interesting to me is the fact that many new ones in the truth have no idea of the many things we should or shouldn't do and which are considered "basic truths" for people who grew up in the truth or are around for decades.
For example: toasting isn't considered in the Bible study. I can imagine an exemplary brother, just baptized a few years ago, having no idea at all about this point and just participating in it.

Somehow, it already wasn't important enough to make a "dogma" out of it: so important to teach new ones.



Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S911B met Tapatalk
 

Toasting is considered in the Bible Study:

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102021243?q=toasting&p=par

[Dolce vita]

1 hour ago, Sofia said:

My aunt was regularl pioneer yet she always celebrated bday anniversaries

without the pagan stuff ( song candles wish gifts)

she understood that it was a nice way to show appreciation towards her husband and employers family

 

Without judging your beloved aunt, Sonia, I wonder: when she was teaching the Bible and the issue of birthdays came up, how did she do it? Did she give her opinion or support the FDS's point of view? Did she help the student understand what we believe to be, up to now, Jehovah's point of view on the matter?

 

If I understand her position correctly: no cake, no candles, no song, no gift... well, then it wasn't a birthday she was celebrating, was it?

 

We are currently experiencing major internal changes, which can be very disturbing for some of us who have been in the truth for decades, and for whom all these points were major in building not our faith but our loyalty to Jehovah's standards as set forth by the FDS. 

 

Jehovah appreciates our faithfulness in the little things, and the FDS is setting the example. It must not be easy for our dear brothers to revisit these issues, to which they themselves were subjected, and to change them by appealing to biblical principles, reason, and wisdom.

 

I have the impression that Jehovah is frothing at the mouth right now because he wants us to travel to the New World relieved of all unnecessary burdens. So even if it's complicated for us, perhaps we need to make it a matter of details and faith, to move forward along with the chariot. Anyway, the cup is served; we must drink it to the dregs.

[Dolce vita]

' frothing at the mouth'... I don't mean Jehovah is very angry. I mean he's cleaning up, sort of. Google Translate is a high-intensity Judah.

[Michał]

Sneezing - last thing. 
 

in Poland it’s basically the same as in Germany: Gesindheit/Na zdrowie

 

I did some research and came across two details:

- (non-surprisingly) in Slavic cultures it goes directly to pagan roots and the saying is supposed to rescue the person from losing one of their souls (🫣)

- (surprisingly) it’s bad manners! A lot of people do say that when someone sneezed but according to secular Etiquette saying anything about other people bodily functions is 1) disturbing the conversation or social interaction 2) may embarrass the person. The best way is to say nothing. Of course, if someone say “Na zdrowie” or equivalent it’s polite to say Thank you. 
 

My take is I can say thank you just as I say after someone wishing me Merry Christmas. And if the other person asks why I don’t say “Bless you” after someone sneezes I’ll ask them “Why don’t you say “Bless you” after someone farts?” 😁

[Dustparticle]

 

 Caution are involved here because of timing and its locations too.

 

 1. In certain areas wind chimes are use to keep the spirits away  In certain areas is wind chimes are just for the wind making music.

 

 2. Many years ago, the confederate flag was the flag for the southern states. Now it has become a racist symbol.

 

 3. Years ago, swastikas was use as a religious symbol and perhaps a good charm.  Now it is know known as a antisemitic symbol. 

[Violin]

5 hours ago, Bluebell said:

 

But is this not what we're already doing when celebrating someones wedding anniversary ?

And baby/wedding showers.  I've seen some witness parties that totally focus on and glorify the bride/mother to be.

[Buckeye]

I just made a thing of this in front of my worldly family this week at a family reunion and now they change it 🤦‍♂️

[Tortuga]

41 minutes ago, Dustparticle said:

In certain areas wind chimes are use to keep the spirits away  In certain areas is wind chimes are just for the wind making music.

True. 

I want a wind chime of bearded men toasting...

[Hope]

3 hours ago, Jothob said:

Going back to the sneezing subject, I was brought up thinking that when a person sneezed it was tied back to the Spanish influenza! Once a person sneezed it meant they’d caught it and that person would die so people would say ‘God Bless you!’ 
but maybe that was just something in my childhood that was taught in my area! Lol! 
I have a very loud sneeze so whoever is around me at the time will say ‘oh dear are you okay?!’ 😂😂😂😂
 

 

The custom really got started when the bubonic plague was happening. I can understand hoping for God's blessings to prevent that sneeze from meaning a death-dealing illness.  It's just considered polite, now.

 

Like toasting.. ☺️

[trottigy]

1 hour ago, Buckeye said:

I just made a thing of this in front of my worldly family this week at a family reunion and now they change it 🤦‍♂️

 

Think of it as you being loyal right up until the end (at least the end of the prohibition). That said, it still might not have been appropriate. Just because the GB is giving us principles instead of a rule doesn't mean we don't have to consider the principles. There still might be times we'd avoid participating in a toast.

 

So, well done good and faithful servant. 

[exactor]

23 hours ago, Michał said:

When someone sneezes

When I hear someone sneeze, with a straight face, I ask, "Get any on ya?" Then I walk away laughing in my head.🤣

[Sofia]

1 hour ago, Buckeye said:

I just made a thing of this in front of my worldly family this week at a family reunion and now they change it 🤦‍♂️

I understand you so well 😳

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Buckeye said:

I just made a thing of this in front of my worldly family this week at a family reunion and now they change it 🤦‍♂️

That's rough 

[Brazilian2024]

8 hours ago, Sepie93 said:

Algo que sempre me interessou muito é o fato de muitos novatos na verdade não terem ideia das muitas coisas que devemos ou não fazer e que são consideradas "verdades básicas" para pessoas que cresceram na verdade ou que estão por aí há décadas.
Por exemplo: brindar não é considerado no estudo bíblico. Posso imaginar um irmão exemplar, recém-batizado há alguns anos, sem ter a mínima ideia sobre esse ponto e apenas participando.

De alguma forma, já não era importante o suficiente para fazer disso um "dogma": tão importante ensinar os novatos.



Participação de meu SM -S911B no Tapatalk
 

 

https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/enjoy-life-forever/section-3/lesson-43/

 

See "Explore" 

[ladiife]

8 hours ago, Bluebell said:

 

But is this not what we're already doing when celebrating someones wedding anniversary ?

The Bible says honor men of all sorts at 1-Peter 2:17. Honor is to hold someone in high regard. A husband and wife hold each other in high regard and their friends would do the same if they’re applying this counsel. Genesis 21:8 says Abraham had a party to celebrate his son being weaned. That was special to him. He chose to celebrate his son. We choose to celebrate our anniversaries sometimes. Some friends never celebrate their anniversary. Historical evidence shows, Birthday celebrations weren’t celebrated by Jews or Christians. They’re full of pagan rituals, from making wishes when one blows out a candle to the horoscopes people go by for their birthdays. Those pagan practices have not died out. Those are unclean things. There’s no pagan ritual surrounding celebrating anniversaries of couples remaining married that would be in our celebrations. Now as I write this, I reason that someone could choose to celebrate their birthday without the pagan customs. From what the update says, it’s about how things are viewed customarily - now. So are people still looked at by others as god for a day? When you ask the average person- No. I can see some of the brothers and sisters choosing to celebrate their birthdays because of this. I’ve already seen posts for example of friends on social media thanking God for being alive another year or thanking him for their kids being alive another year. Some friends have been okay with recognizing their birthday and receiving gifts. Others took the counsel and stayed far away from even hinting that they celebrated their birthdays. Could it be said it’s a conscious decision? Possibly. Because again, the update mentioned, things that were looked at as pagan or superstitious then may not be looked at that way now. Peter gave clear counsel to avoid the works of the flesh. In order for us not to offend Jehovah and Jesus or not stumble others, we’re going to have to ask, is any of this a work of the flesh? I personally won’t be celebrating my birthday. But I’m not going to judge anyone if they do. I’m not married. So I don’t have an anniversary to celebrate, but would I show honor to a couple who are celebrating their anniversary- yes. And no one should judge them for it. Jesus does the judging.

Edited July 5 by ladiife

[Jwanon]

Pardon me if I misunderstand, but why was it said that our acceptance of symbols depends on its local meaning from the population? I thought we avoided certain practice because it made demons rejoice, not because of how it appears from a human standpoint?