When we first entered the
WCG,
we became friends with a couple who had only
been attending just a few months before we started. We became fast
friends,
and soon began spending time together having lively discussions about
"The Church" and all the new doctrines we were learning. Our friends had been
Catholic and we had been Protestant. One night, we had a discussion
about
being superstitious. Our friend told us that her mother wouldn't let her
pick up a comb off of the floor unless she stepped on it first. It was
bad luck. Her mother had a statue of St. Joseph buried in the front yard so
that the home would sell faster. That was "good luck." If the salt shaker had been
spilled, one had to toss the salt over their shoulder or suffer "bad
luck." Friday the 13th and black cats had to be avoided. We chuckled about how
ludicrous all these fears were. We were happy to be free in God's
Church, knowing all Truth, and no longer having any silly fears. So we thought..
After a few years in the WCG,
it wasn't long before we became informed that
discerning what was considered pagan, and what wasn't, was the focus of
any
dedicated member. It seemed that Sabbath discussions revolved around the
latest pagan thing we had managed to successfully avoid that week. We
were
taught to despise anything pagan. Why? Because everything around us
is pagan.
How could we possibly avoid it? This was just another ploy to keep us busy shooting at the wrong
target. It got our focus off of our fellowship with Christ and kept us
busy plowing in the wrong direction. It also
cuts us off from society (isolation
is a key element that destructive cults use to control members). It doesn't take long for one to find out that avoiding paganism is pretty
hard work!
I traded the superstitious fear
of Friday the 13th, for the superstitious fear of Friday sundown. How many of us felt unnecessary guilt over not
making it home before sundown because you got caught in a traffic snarl? How
many of us set our watches, and painstakingly checked them during work
to make sure we wouldn't work one minute over the Sabbath? How many of us
subscribed to newspapers so we could make sure we had accurate sundown times? How many of us had to tell our employer that we had to stop
working, even though we weren't finished with the job we were doing?
I no longer feared black cats. Now I feared unclean animals. Eating
out seemed to be an exercise in testing our interrogation abilities. If
we didn't thoroughly interrogate the waitress about the ingredients in
our food, our integrity would come into question. Even though we were
told that there was no pork in the meal, we still had to closely
scrutinize our dinner just to make sure the waitress wasn't lying. Some
members became so neurotic that they wouldn't believe the waitress and
insisted that they be let into the kitchen to examine the ingredients
themselves!
I traded the joy of celebrating
national holidays for the superstitious fear
of not keeping Jewish holydays. How many of us felt the fear and guilt
of
missing a Holyday or the Feast? We were afraid of being "left
behind." We
were afraid of being attacked by spiritual death if we didn't get our
spiritual heroine fix at the Feast of Tabernacles to get us past the
Christmas holiday.
Speaking of Christmas, how many
of us, before we came into the
WCG, while we were "unenlightened, worldly heathens," actually
bowed down and worshipped our Christmas trees???? None of us, I'm sure. Yet, we were
told that the verse in Jeremiah was about cutting a tree down, and making it into an idol,
and asking favors of it as if it were God. But what does God say about this?
(Jeremiah 10:5) "Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil,
nor can they do any good." So if we are worshipping our Christmas tree, God
says don't bother. It won't do anything for you one way or another. But since
we are not worshipping our trees, then we aren't sinning either. Now
let's look at who this message was delivered to. (Verse 1) "Hear the word
which the Lord speak to you, O house of Israel." Since most of us
understand that we are not the descendants of ancient Israel, then we can easily
see that God is not speaking to us (modern Gentiles) concerning this matter.
HWA didn't want us to have
anything to do with family occasions (one can only see what a happy family he
had/has). By making us hate Christmas, he
not only controlled our time with family contact, but our finances as well.
If we couldn't spend our money on gifts, there was more for him. HWA wanted
to change our focus from family time and love of Jesus, to one of fear
and isolation. Yes, there is drunkenness and overspending during the
Christmas holidays, but drunkenness and overspending are sins any day of the year.
HWA wasn't honest with his portrayal of Christmas by Christians either. Christians spend it by doing good deeds, feeding the hungry and giving
gifts to the poor. They go to special worship services and read the Scriptures
of Christ's birth. They focus on the joy that God Himself would come in the
flesh to redeem us from our sins, and give us eternal life. They spend
family time together eating a special dinner, and enjoying their
children's delightful responses while opening their gifts. How could this dishonor
God? HWA used to say,
"There is no Christ in Christmas!" and in his case, I'm sure
that is true! When Jesus isn't in your life, then he won't be in your Christmas
either.
What about birthdays? How many
of us actually bowed down and worshipped our loved ones? Yet, HWA wanted to make us think that honoring a loved one
was some form of narcissistic evil. What a silly fear it was to think that
celebrating a child's birthday would be so upsetting to God, that He
would take away our protection and allow Satan to cause our house to fall in
and
kill us, or some strange evil to befall our children. The opening
chapter in the book of Job was not about his children sinning by
celebrating birthdays. Satan wanted to strike Job where it hurt the
most--through his family and his wealth--so Job would curse God. If God
did not want us to celebrate birthdays, wouldn't He have written it
clearly in His Word that it was forbidden? HWA said that "sinners, not saints, celebrate their birthdays." Yet there is
absolutely no proof of this in the Bible. Here is a clear case of our believing a
man instead of our Bibles. Remember how he would say, "Don't believe
me, believe your Bible!"? But when we couldn't find it in our Bible,
then we were told to believe him!
I traded the fear of Dracula
for fear of the cross. I used to watch those black and white, late Saturday night chiller-thriller shows when I was a
kid. Watching Dracula contort his face at a cross and cringe, closely resembled my reactions to crosses on church buildings. It doesn't take
one long to be a superstitious, cross-hating true Christian in the WCG (that
should have been a big red flag right there). We would say indignantly
"The cross is pagan!" Well, of course the cross is pagan. Jesus
wouldn't be crucified by Christians, would he? HWA made us focus on the
cross being
an instrument of death, yet completely ignored that Christians do not
worship the cross. In the Bible the cross of Jesus is a reminder of His sacrifice. Paul warned in Philippians 3:18 "For, as I have often told you
before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the
cross of Christ." If HWA was "God's Apostle," then why did he teach
us just the opposite of what Paul said?
Once a person realizes their
freedom in Christ, they no longer have to spend
their time nervously avoiding pagan practices. We are to "fear the
Lord and
Him only." The time spent "avoiding" can now be spent
"pursuing" productive, God-filled lives. We are free to bring the life-giving
gospel to others who are spiritually dead. We are free to pursue
whatever ministry the Lord may open for us, instead of getting behind a
self-appointed prophet and fulfilling his vision. The Bible doesn't say
that the world will get better, but we can do whatever we can while we
are able. We
are free from the life of "exclusiveness." Now we can reach out in
love to those who are in need. Superstition can no longer stop me. What about you?
By Lindsey
Exit & Support Network™
October 4,
2003
If
what HWA taught was false, should we go back to observing
"pagan" holidays?
(from our Q&A's)
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