A Pennsylvania judge has denied unemployment benefits to a Jehovah’s Witness who quit her job in a jewelery store.
Trista Reichman claimed that her responsibilities at Calhoun Jewelers in Royersford, Pa, northeast of Philadelphia, conflicted with her religious beliefs against celebrating birthdays.
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court’s ruling reversed a decision by the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review to grant benefits to Reichman.
The court determined that Reichman’s decision to quit after being asked to print messages on promotional birthday cards – although she had been willing to sell and wrap jewelery for birthday presents -did not merit compensation.
In addition to birthdays, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas or most other holidays.
LaToya Jackson ceased being a Jehovah's Witness, and celebrates her birthdays with gusto
According to the court memorandum, during her two years at the store, Reichman had refused to sing or eat cake when co-workers celebrated birthdays, though she did eat other food brought in for the parties. She also typed up a list of employee birthdays, including her own, at her employer’s request.
Three years ago, a Jehovah’s Witness who had refused to sing “Happy Birthday” to customers at a Texas restaurant, where she worked as a waitress, won a $38,750 settlement.
Based on that case, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its guidelines on religious discrimination, advising employers to make “appropriate accommodations” to allow Jehovah’s Witnesses to avoid celebrations that conflict with their beliefs.
So why on earth do these witlesses fools oppose birthday celebrations?
According to this explanation, birthday celebrations are forbidden because two pagan rulers in the Bible killed people on their birthdays. The Pharaoh of Egypt killed his baker (Gen 40:20) and King Herod killed John the Baptist (Matt 14:6).
LaToya Jackson, who had been raised a JW, apparently loves extravagant birthday celebrations as the photo show – but she had the good sense to ditch the barmy faith. She was particularly appalled by her devout parents’ anti-Semitism.
In her biography – you can see an excerpt here - LaToya claimed:
Both my parents harbor racist attitudes, particularly against Jews, … ‘Wherever you go, whatever you do in this business, you find a Jew,’ Mother used to complain bitterly all the time, ‘I can’t stand it.’ … She’d go on and on. ‘They’re always on top. Jews are so nosy. They like controlling you. I hate ‘em all’.
To their faces, however, my mother was as sweet as could be … Hearing talk like this turned my stomach, especially when it came from my mother’s mouth. How could a religious woman be so hateful? … The depth of Mother’s loathing was expressed in one of her oft-repeated opinions: ‘There’s one mistake Hitler made in his life – he didn’t kill all those Jews. He left too many damned Jews on this earth, and they multiplied.
Hat Tip: Alan
Will it surprise you to learn that many of the the Plymouth Brethren, though not banning birthday celebrations outright, do frown on them? (Some Exclusives may ban them, but I can’t speak from experience there.) Christmas is similarly only celebrated grudgingly, and in muted fashion, and then mainly “for the sake of the children”, or to keep “unsaved” relatives happy!
This is an interesting article, with sensible conclusions, but the fact that the question is posed in the first place speaks volumes:
http://www.ffpc.com/new-world/birthdays.htm
Typical. My kids had a ‘friend’ who was a JW and he would run a mile if anyone started singing happy birthday! Strange thing was his indoctrination never stopped him being a complete little bastard when it came to throwing stones at peoples windows, deliberately scratching cars and generally causing damage with a paint-ball gun. Ironically I just had two JW’s on the doorstep telling me that if I didn’t follow their little fetish I would be damned for ever. Said I wasn’t interested and they were gobsmacked that I wasn’t interested in ‘eternal life in paradise with our lord’. I told ‘em I stopped believing in fairies when I was eight and they launched into a long diatribe about the evil Dawkins and Hitchins. They got so inflamed I thought they might just pop off to meet their maker on as they stood there. Sadly they went off to terrorise a neighbour who is politer than me. Hey ho! 21st century hey? Funny old world.
More on the Plymouth Brethren:
“The Indian Brethren avoid all holidays, including even birthdays. However, in more recent years they have become lax in all these areas. They believe that virtually all holidays have been adopted from Catholicism and paganism. They usually do not decorate and set up Christmas trees in their homes. They also abstain from many of the popular rituals of Easter; its debasing of the Christian event with colored eggs, costumed rabbits, etc.”
http://pages.prodigy.net/sathi/ourhistory.html
Funny enough I knew a JW bloke who was denied employment benefit. The Job Centre turned down his benefit application because as a Publisher, he could not in all good conscience state that he was always available for work, as he had an obligation to fulfill a certain amount of hours door-knocking every week.
Also, as he described himself as a part time “minister†the job centre refused to believe that he was not in receipt of a stipend of some sort.
@ Kev
They must be on a big membership drive at the moment, as I’ve just had a visit too, within the last hour. Mine was nicer though, which is a shame, as it meant I felt obligated to be nice back.
He produced the Watch Tower, I said “I’m not interested thanks”, and he said “OK, well thanks for opening the door anyway”, and went on his way.
My sign telling them not to call must have fallen off or something.
I always hope I’ll get an obnoxious, pushy one so I can give him an ear-bashing, but I never do.
One way to stop JW’s calling…. tell them you’re a (lapsed) Catholic cock sucker….. the combination seem to get your house black listed and they never call again
And I’ll admit I lied about the first bit…I’m not a catholic or a lapsed one ..but I heard from a friend who was that it worked and ‘borrowed” it
Pete.
Mine were almost old enough to be knocking on the pearly gates but they were like a couple of skinhead bovver boys in attitude and one was female! Odd thing was they were talking about having spoken to my wife and left a Watchtower a few weeks ago. Turns out it was my 16 year old daughter. Maybe they think I’m a Muslim.
Kev,
I’m disabled, and I’ve had them offer to cure me if I come to their church. (Not sure if that was a JW or some other sect)
Here’s a nice sign I saw the other day:
http://i41.tinypic.com/29tmqu.jpg
Nice Sign, Pete H. I had one in another house we lived in stating clearly, though not as clearly as the one you show, that such people would be fed to the dog. They complained! Might try Petursey’s suggestion next time though!! Ha well, off to work for some sanity.
@Pete H. Loved that sign, Pete. I wonder what happens if they don’t cure you? Probably means it is your fault. You didn’t believe or pray hard enough or whatever. I notice at Lourdes, probably the greatest source of nasty infections allied to serious profits from selling tat souvenirs, in Europe, they never “cure” amputations. That should be a piece of cake for an omnipetent god.
@ Broga
Hah, I’m sure they’d find some convuluted bullshit logic to explain away their failure to have me bounding around like a gazelle.
I’m sure everyone has seen this wonderful site:
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
Great spot, Pete H. Love the sign. And you’re right, whywontgodhealamputees is a great site, too.
I knew a JW – tried to cure her by explaining Earth age, accretion discs, evolution, origins of myth and religion etc. She eventually left the faith and celebrated birthdays – and got a life. But somehow still thought evolution was a leap of faith. sad.
As for the JW getting sacked. GOOD! If someone doesn’t do their job – they deserve it. If they want to act like an asshole all day – then that’s their choice – but if they get paid to do a perfectly reasonable service then they should do it, and act like an asshole on their own time.
As for the one who got a huge amount of compensation – thats just encouraging them to be assholes.
I have tried the explaining the age of the earth and my amazement that the couple who arrived at my door, in the rain, with a little girl believed it was created around 6,000 years ago. The response, “If only I could show you these verses in the bible” and this is the word of god. A singularly thankless effort on my part and I was left with the impression that they thought I was confused by the devil.
I think there is some disquiet in the JW ranks at present. Sex may have been part of it.
The Bible explains everything, Broga. Don’t you have a copy of your own?
http://www.christiananswers.net/catalog/bk-bibleanswers.html
I’m afraid that’s their stock response, Broga. If you don’t agree with them or accept their point of view, then it’s because the devil is blinding you. Which means you can never win.
It’s as frustrating as hell because it’s like arguing with a child who just sticks their fingers in their ears and goes “la-la-la-la-la” until you’ve stopped talking. Personally, I can’t understand how people can be so dumb. But lots of them are.
Once you’ve committed yourself, it’s very difficult to recant, as I said on a previous thread regarding all those people who “went forward” at the Billy Graham Crusades. If you’ve lived your whole life as a member of a cult like this it is even worse, as in the first place you are saying that everything you’ve built your life on was a lie, and in the second place you will lose all your social contacts, and maybe your entire family as well. (You may well be aware, too, of the fact that, like me, you will be relentlessly “stalked” thereafter, in an earnest effort to get you to “return to the Lord”!)
If God’s on their side, maybe being blinded by Lucifer is not a bad thing. When you read the bible, God is a psycho, demanding obedience while smiting you at the same time, while the Devil seems more straight-forward. And in the bible God kills a lot of people, the Devil seems a nice guy in comparison.
I was brought up as a JW, and I assure you it’s not about being ‘dumb’ as much as being indoctrinated and isolated. You don’t get to see an alternate viewpoint as all information streams are controlled by the watchtower, and any kind of higher education or independent thought is stomped on hard.
Also you stand to lose everything if you begin to question, all your friends and your family will be forced to disown you if you ask the wrong questions and get yourself disfellowshipped. I think sending them out knocking doors serves two purposes, firstly it does recruit vulnerable and/or gullible people, second it reinforces the belief that people who are not JWs are nasty mean spirited followers of satan.
As I have said before when this topic arises, the majority of them are pretty decent if misguided people, of course there are the nasty ones too like with any group. The watchtower governing body are a nasty bunch of evil control freaks, and have done some awful things to the rank and file JW’s over the years with their dogmatic proclamations, not least being the no blood transfusions. There is more much more, child abuse cover ups etc, I could go on all day but I won’t…
If your beliefs are so extreme you can’t go anywhere or do anything with sane people then it’s time either to ditch your religion or withdraw from society.
I think this woman was just trying it on.
Loved the sign Pete. We’re fortunate here in South Wales. The “Jacky Jumpers” aren’t pushy and will go away when politely asked to. I’m still waiting for the opportunity to open my door to them bare-chested and stinking of booze but alas, no luck yet.
@barriejohn. My Barrie, you do know how to lay your hands on the real stuff and that bible resource was special. I do actually have a number of bibles around the place, all King James, and many passed down from forebears of myself and my wife. Some were given as prizes.
Modest as I am on these matters, I will risk saying that I actually won a prize on a bible essay. This was an analysis of the Synoptic Gospels, and at the time I wrote it – 6th Form and a long time ago – I was already an atheist. The irony is that those who contribute here, and on similar sites, usually know far more about the bible – to its disadvantage – than most fundies who understand what they choose to understand.
One thing I do recall is that there were some racy bits in the Song of Solomon.
Did you also see this, Broga?
http://www.christiananswers.net/catalog/bk-genesisrecord.html
Dr Morris is a “creation scientist” with qualifications in…hydraulic engineering!
Dr. Morris writes from the conviction that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are as truly historical as the remaining thiry-nine. This conviction is not based simply on faith, but on many years of study of the scientific aspects of the Genesis record as well as the interchange of ideas with many other scientists and theologians (both creationists and evolutionists). Dr. Morris’s logic is compelling in its affirmation of a young earth and universe; he advocates a tight chronology in his exposition. His commentary on the worldwide Noahic Flood reflects his expertise in hydrology and geology.
I used to have a veritable library of books like his, as you have to have some sort of answers to the questions that inquisitive teenagers raise, even if the older generation think that the more impossible the things that they are asked to believe the more Brownie points they will be awarded by their Heavenly Father!!
On the original topic, is there a good reason why the various religions always seem to come with a side order of pointless self denial? It seems that given good ethical grounds for refraining from a certain type of behaviour, the non-believers are going to agree with us and do it as well. If that happens then how will we prove that we are special? I know, we will refrain from something that does no harm at all and actually promotes happiness, that way no one else will do it and, as a bonus, we can get ourselves persecuted and enjoy the added thrill of a martyr complex.
I think that I just answered my own question.
I am sure that if I was an employer, I would find some way of smoking out these people at the interview stage and thus avoid employing them in the first place.
@Stonyground
“I am sure that if I was an employer, I would find some way of smoking out these people at the interview stage and thus avoid employing them in the first place.”
That is my first line of defence. I also give them a one month trial just to be sure.
I had some JWs around a while ago. I explained right from the start that I was a fully committed life long paid up card-carrying atheist.
They were quite polite about this major error on my part and urged me to read their magazine. I accepted saying I need a good laugh. I haven’t seen, nor heard from them since. And the magazine did provide me with a jolly evening!
As regards the Noahic Flood, one of the best (and lengthy) critiques can be found in talkorigins.org.
That’s a very good article, Rubber Baron, but you forget one important thing: God can do ANYTHING!
LaToya Jackson has denounced her parents as Jew-hating bigots. But she is not devoid of bigotry herself. She is on record as calling her brother Michael a “dirty little faggot.”
I don’t have time for JWs, but, to her credit, the woman quit the job. She didn’t take her employer to court to try and make the job fit round her or sue for damages like that hideous Bushfire Noah girl!
Oh shit, Bjohn is better with this crap,
Everything that JW’s use to outlaw birthdays is based upon one scripture, and basically it reads, “One’s death is more important than one’s birth.” Even evangelical verse finders leave me lame. I guess I’ve lost my edge.
But, just guessing, no one taught anyone to show their tits at the superbowl, or butt ream little boys. So I guess the Jackson JW family is sufficiently chastized. I would have eternally cursed them to poverty, but Satan over ruled me, perhaps he still has plans.
NeoWolfe
Noahic – LOL!
They’re writing their own jokes here without noahing (knowing) it.
I’ll get me coat.
We, too, had JW’s visit us a few days ago. It must be recruiting season for them.
Buffy said:
“We, too, had JW’s visit us a few days ago. It must be recruiting season for them.”
There is no “off season” for them. They consider it their duty as the “enlightened of god” to spread the message to the world. Their hook is a series of verses (which were, of course, inspired by god) that indicate that you can live forever in a paradise, which is just like Eden, god’s original purpose.
I like to derail them with the question of who created Satan, and how a perfect angel could go wrong. I also like to point at god’s fit of anger when he murdered the entire planet. Then there’s Joshua’s genocide across the land of Caanon. They are often impressed with my knowledge of the bible, and make return visits, until they realize I’m fucking with their heads.
Cheap entertainment in hard times.
NeoWolfe
The bible talks about 2 birthdays in which a person died as part of the celebration. Jhon the Baptist was beheaded because the king like the way a young girl danced and granted her what she asked for, John th baptist’s head. (Lucas 3:19, 20)(Mark 6:17-29)Look it uo yourself:)Obvisoly the bible puts birthdys in a a bad light hinting towards that this pagan celebration dosent make Jehova God happy. All the false religons in th world dont even open the bible and really study it and read more than one text. JWs actually aren’t lazy to meditate and search for the truth in god’s word the bible which is agua de vida. Some religons edit their bible and take out JEHOVA’s name which should apear exactly 7,210 times.
but yeah go head and celebrate our birthdays and make god your creator sad:(