When logic doesn't make any sense

Jehovahs Witnesses are well known for not celebrating birthdays and their reasoning behind it is interesting.  Firstly they believe birthdays are associated with witchcraft and spells.  Using Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend as their reference they point to ancient myths that evil spirits would attack a person on their birthday and friends good wishes would ward these spirits away.  They also point to the fact that birthdays are necessary for horoscopes and candles were thought to contain magic to grant wishes.

Let's start with the myths and legends first.  Even the reference they use is a book about folklore, myth and legend - it has no place in reality! This is an organisation that believes winged angels are directing their work.  They teach that demons roam the earth, manipulating men to carry out evil. Let's get a little perspective here, ancient men used to believe that spirits lived inside trees - would that then lead us to the conclusion that we should not have a wooden table in our house because ancient man believed it was possessed?

It is believed that the origin of the handshake was to demonstrate that the man did not hold a weapon. That isn't mythology, it isn't ghosts and banshees but do Witnesses refuse to shake hands simply because at one time it may have been associated with violence?  Of course not - today the act is simply meant as friendship - the original meaning has no bearing on todays use of this simple protocol.

Horoscopes are indeed based on birthdays but they are used everyday by the gullible that believe in them.  The fact is everyone was born on a specific day - everyone has a birthday so you cannot use horoscopes to argue that celebrating them is in some way tied to believing in the portent of the stars.

Next they claim that the early Christians considered birthdays to be a pagan celebration and they did not celebrate them.  The question here is what went on at 'pagan' birthday celebrations?  If they included ancient pagan rites that were incompatible with Christian beliefs then it is clear why they didn't engage in them.  However, today a birthday is a celebration of the individual and doesn't include witchcraft or spells.  People today have no interest in what birthday parties included thousands of years ago, today its all about friends and family.  Just as shaking hands has no real link to its original use birthdays now have no connection with the connotations of the past.

But, argue the Witnesses, in the two mentions of birthday celebrations in the bible, both ended with the murder of someone and therefore the direct reference with something evil must mean that God does not approve of birthday celebrations.

By that logic we would conclude that if the bible mentioned horses on two occasions and in both instances the riders murdered someone the inference would be that God does not approve of man riding horses!  God supposedly inspired the bible - if he did it would seem logical that he would be clear about what he does and does not approve.  He would say; Thou shalt not celebrate your birthday for I disapproveth.  

Next Witnesses point to Ecc 7:1 which basically says the day of ones death is better than the day of ones birth.  The inference here is that by the time you die you have made a name for yourself in the eyes of God.  I think they miss the point by a wide mark on this one.  How many funerals have you attended where everyone is happy and celebrating?  How many births have you seen where all the friends and families are upset at receiving a new baby into their midst?  The bible writer was referring to death from Gods viewpoint, not mans!  To a human death is a cause for sorrow while a birth is a time to celebrate.  If you disagree ask yourself this question; would you be happy to know that you were going to die today - no matter how good you are?

JW's belief that celebrating birthdays is just another example of them wanting to 'distance' themselves from the rest of civilisation on the pretext that it makes them different and therefore Gods chosen ones.  Being different doesn't make you acceptable to God, in fact in some cases, like this, it demonstrates a complete lack of logic.  Even Witnesses celebrate the birth of a child - THAT IS A BIRTHDAY!  They celebrate the anniversary of Christ's death, they celebrate the anniversary of their own marriage so why make such a huge fuss over celebrating the anniversary of their birthday?