# What groups don't toast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058 "2009-05-11T17:16:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/21 "2009-05-12T15:51:37Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I think that’s probably grossly inaccurate. I’ve never heard of a fundamentalist Christian who refused to toast. The generalization was more about the attempt to remove pagan references. Have you heard of one who didn’t let their kids dress up on Halloween? Tell their kids about the Easter Bunny? Santa Claus? If not, you haven’t known many FCs! ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/22 "2009-05-12T16:08:19Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > The generalization was more about the attempt to remove pagan references. Have you heard of one who didn’t let their kids dress up on Halloween? Tell their kids about the Easter Bunny? Santa Claus? > > If not, you haven’t known many FCs! If anyone could actually convince me that toasting is as obviously pagan in origin as Halloween, I might agree that you have a point. Even so, fundies like the ones you mention are still relatively rare. I don’t know if I’ve run into one over the past 10 or 20 years, and I live in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/23 "2009-05-12T16:23:39Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > If anyone could actually convince me that toasting is as obviously pagan in origin as Halloween, I might agree that you have a point. If you scroll up, you’ll see that \*\*Myglaren \*\*posted an example of Jehovah’s Witnesses using a clearly wrong justification for not toasting. Faith and logic don’t often do not go hand-in-hand. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/24 "2009-05-12T16:36:18Z")
I’ll be having breakfast Sunday with a former JW. I will try to remember this question. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/25 "2009-05-12T16:43:59Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > She’s probably a Jehovah’s Witness. It’s the type of thing, like celebrating birthdays, they don’t do (at least in my experience). That was my first thought when I saw this thread title. I’ll ask my two JW coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/26 "2009-05-12T16:55:48Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > If you scroll up, you’ll see that \*\*Myglaren \*\*posted an example of Jehovah’s Witnesses using a clearly wrong justification for not toasting. Faith and logic don’t often do not go hand-in-hand. I agree. From my perspective, most people in this world (fundies included) don’t have any clue that toasting might be even remotely associated with paganism. Hence, they probably don’t give it a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/27 "2009-05-12T17:08:29Z")
**LD** , Most people in the world wouldn’t think of Santa Claus as being pagan, either, especially given the big Saint Nicholas foundation of his mythology, but there are plenty of fundamentalist Christians who exclude him from Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/28 "2009-05-12T17:40:42Z")
I don’t know about you, but for me, [things just taste better out of a skull](http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/things_just_taste_better_out_of). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/29 "2009-05-12T17:53:36Z")
Look, _try_ to cop on, please. I am simply saying that\* if \*a Fundamentalist Christian \*did \*get the idea that toasting was connected to paganism (as I was taught) then they would be likely to stop doing it. Stop trying to twist my words, I’m getting pretty sick of that around here lately. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/30 "2009-05-12T18:09:58Z")
\*\*What groups don’t toast? \*\* The Cold Bread Lovers Society and the Friends of Plain Bread don’t toast. A radical sect of the Friends calls itself Raw Grains, and they don’t even bake the bread - they eat the dough raw. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/31 "2009-05-12T18:18:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Look, _try_ to cop on, please. I am simply saying that\* if \*a Fundamentalist Christian \*did \*get the idea that toasting was connected to paganism (as I was taught) then they would be likely to stop doing it. > > Stop trying to twist my words, I’m getting pretty sick of that around here lately. Oh please. Nobody twisted your words. You said: “I can see how many a fundamentalist Christian would have a problem with it.” That was not clearly an if/then statement. It read as though you were projecting that attitude onto fundies. Besides that, my entire point was that “many” sure as heck wouldn’t. “Many” don’t forbid Santa. A tiny minority might, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/32 "2009-05-12T18:20:17Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > **LD** , Most people in the world wouldn’t think of Santa Claus as being pagan, either, especially given the big Saint Nicholas foundation of his mythology, but there are plenty of fundamentalist Christians who exclude him from Christmas. Primarily b/c it distracts from the “true meaning of Christmas”, not because of paganism. I can’t see what aspect of Christianity toasting would distract from. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/33 "2009-05-12T18:53:22Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I can’t see what aspect of Christianity toasting would distract from. That’s apparently because you’re not a Jehovah’s Witness. You can’t approach this logically and expect to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/34 "2009-05-12T19:03:13Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > That’s apparently because you’re not a Jehovah’s Witness. You can’t approach this logically and expect to get it. Wait, wait. You’re right. JWs are a whole other ballgame. I’m just talking about your rn of the mill fundies here. There’s a big difference. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/35 "2009-05-12T19:06:06Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Primarily b/c it distracts from the “true meaning of Christmas”, not because of paganism. I can’t see what aspect of Christianity toasting would distract from. It’s not a matter of distracting from anything. JW have a very strict understanding of what is Christian behavior and what is not. They will not do _anything_ that they attribute to paganism. That includes celebrating birthdays, Christmas, and Easter, and often going to weddings or funerals. They believe that if it is not found in the Bible, it’s better not to do it because the origins of non-Biblically based traditions are likely to have been pagan. They prefer to err on the side of not participating rather than on the side of participating in an unchristian ritual. They do also ask whether there is a practical reason for the action, such that it is not mere “custom.” But if there isn’t – if there’s no good reason to do it, and the Bible doesn’t say you should do it – they likely are not going to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/36 "2009-05-12T19:18:38Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Wait, wait. You’re right. JWs are a whole other ballgame. I’m just talking about your rn of the mill fundies here. There’s a big difference. Definitely. I assumed we were talking more or less specifically about Jehovah’s Witnesses, since they were the group that people kept coming back to as the one that doesn’t participate in toasting. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/37 "2009-05-12T19:52:02Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > It’s not a matter of distracting from anything. JW have a very strict understanding of what is Christian behavior and what is not. They will not do _anything_ that they attribute to paganism. That includes celebrating birthdays, Christmas, and Easter, and often going to weddings or funerals. > > They believe that if it is not found in the Bible, it’s better not to do it because the origins of non-Biblically based traditions are likely to have been pagan. They prefer to err on the side of not participating rather than on the side of participating in an unchristian ritual. They do also ask whether there is a practical reason for the action, such that it is not mere “custom.” But if there isn’t – if there’s no good reason to do it, and the Bible doesn’t say you should do it – they likely are not going to do it. Again, my initial & continued responses to this thread were specifically about fundamentalist christians, not JWs. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/38 "2009-05-12T19:55:26Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Again, my initial & continued responses to this thread were specifically about fundamentalist christians, not JWs. Well, in my defense, I was typing as you were posting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/39 "2009-05-12T20:08:26Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Well, in my defense, I was typing as you were posting. 🙂 I should have made myself more clear anyway. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-groups-dont-toast/496058/40 "2009-05-12T23:54:52Z")
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