Elder school notes, Part 2: hysterical screed against education continues

by sir82 51 Replies latest jw friends

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  DannyHaszard

  MSN news wire today

  Remarkable Transitions: Conversations with General Studies Students

  ... Apltauer, who is an ordained minister in the Jehovah's Witness faith and who worked for 20 years for the Watch Tower ...

  • Columbia University
  • 11/22/2005

  Meet, for instance, Kathleen Apltauer, who did much of what she wanted with her life -- volunteering and community service -- without a formal education. "I am terribly self-motivated," she says, "and volunteering for a nonprofit meant I got put into jobs that in for-profits would generally have required a college degree, but I learned the tasks and was given quite a lot of responsibility." After 25 years, however, she decided it was time for a change. "I felt my lack of formal education was preventing me from being able to make an even more powerful and effective contribution to my community," she explains. Her decision to follow a more conventional educational and career path ultimately led her to the doors of GS. "I came to Columbia to pursue an undergraduate degree in political science, with the intention of continuing on to law school one day so that I could become more of an advocate for women's causes," she says. Apltauer, who is an ordained minister in the Jehovah's Witness faith and who worked for 20 years for the Watch Tower Organization in Brooklyn, continues to dedicate her personal time to mentoring young women who have little adult guidance, educating them about women's issues, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS prevention. "Some in my congregation do not come from homes with skilled, loving parents, so I try to make up for the lack by serving as their friend, surrogate mother, sister, bossy cousin, and sometimes a combination of all of these," Apltauer says. Her new career direction recently received a fillip when she won a 2005 Women's Forum Educational Award for her efforts to improve her life and contributions to her community. She is the third GS student to be recognized by the Women's Forum.
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  undercover

  "In Bethel, the brothers are given considerable training. Many end up in cleaning, housekeeping, and food preparation. But they are well trained. When they leave Bethel, they can do these jobs well. Such jobs are in great demand, and they are paid a good wage to do them."

  Is that really true? Someone posted awhile ago here at JWD that employers in the New York area are NOT eager to hire former Bethel workers, something about how Bethel workers today are NOT well trained (or NOT completely trained to do all aspects) in the jobs they were doing at Bethel.

  I've worked with a couple of ex-Bethelites in a trade that they learned at Bethel. While one was competant enough(I wouldn't hire him though...since I worked with him, I know what to look for), another one was just terribly slow. He was okay at the job, but he took entirely too much time, and we all know that time is money in the real world.

  The first ex-Bethelite explained to me that in Bethel, that the highest quality was expected in every job. Since the labor was basically free, time wasn't an issue. If it took you longer to get it right, then you took the time to do it. The problem came when Bethelites moved into the real world and weren't used to the stress and pressure of doing a good job quickly.

  I believe that to be partially true anyway. The one ex-Bethelite just never could get it into gear and do the job quickly enough. The first one got quicker, but his quality suffered. He did learn how to make a living at it while the slow one eventually quit and went to work for another brother doing janitorial work.
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  minimus

  Mary and Danny----your posts are appreciated. How come this woman can go on to higher education and worldly goals but others can't??? And The Donld would just LOVE to have a 20 year Bethelite worker get the position because obviously, he had 20 years in an "institution" that is unlike any in college.
• 

  willyloman

  When the WTS says people leave Bethel and get good paying jobs because of their training there, they are spinning the story to make it sound good. Here's what typically happens (I'll use two actual examples):

  Two brothers we knew from an early age went to Bethel at 19, not having ever worked at an actual job. While they were there, one worked the night shift sitting on a stool watching the front door and answering phones. The other went to the Farm at Walkill and did a variety of manual labor farming chores. They both left after a couple of years to get married to dub gals they'd met in their travels. One moved to a southern state where his wife's father and uncle were self-employed electricians (and dubs, of course). They put him to work and taught him a trade. In a few years, he took the test and became a licensed electrician. He makes pretty good money.

  His Bethel "training" in no way prepared him for this circumstance. But of course he was hired and trained in part because he had been at Bethel (and was a prime 'catch' for their little girl). So, in the WTS's view, he went to Bethel, then he became a licensed electrician, therefore "Bethel training has value."

  The other young man's wife's family was in construction, so they brought him aboard and taught him a variety of jobs. After about two years of various kinds of construction grunt work, he and his wife moved two thousand miles away to California to a community where the construction business was booming. When he walked onto a job site and said he was a "finish carpenter," they couldn't put him to work fast enough. In California, unlike the midwestern state he'd been living in, the wages for finish carpenters was something like $30 an hour, and they paid full benefits and overtime. The kid made more money his first year than his own father in law made in three, and the man was a general contractor with years of experience.

  In the WTS's view, this guy was at Bethel, then he was a skilled craftsman, therefore "Bethel training leads to high paying jobs."

  What you learn at Bethel doesn't necessarily equip you for work on the outside (there are exceptions, of course), but being at Bethel puts you on the path to receive a lot of help from those members of the organization who have jobs to dispense.

  But of course the speaker didn't say that.
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  blondie

  I still remember the faces of a young brother and his wife who had just left Bethel to get married to his roommate's sister. He had been out about ten months and desperately looking for work. He had been a painter. She was just starting to show. They were living with her family (mother, father, 2 teenage brothers) in a 1 bedroom apartment. (they slept on a bed in the kitchen). No savings, no car, no skills, no job. They were in tears. I was only a lowly single sister working part-time myself, but I dug into my purse and pulled out $30 cash.

  I still wonder what happened to them, if they are still living with her parents.

  People who leave Bethel with skills had them before they went in. Putting "Bethel" on your resume means nothing to a non-JW employer.

  I can tell you stories about professional JWs from the field pulled into Bethel to do the work of the so-called skilled Bethelites that were already there. One architect told me that he found that too many Bethelites were better at looking like they were working than actually working and that he would never hire any of them.

  Blondie (you get what you pay for)(apologies to the few Bethelites I knew that worked hard)
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  TopHat

  Why doesn't The Watchtower take their own advice and stop asking for "charitable contributions" from the witnesses? Why don't THEY "wait on Jehovah"?

  --VM44

  The JWs who are sick of being fleeced by the WTS should write a note and put it in the donation box: "Wait on Jehovah" I think they will get the Idea!
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  The Chuckler

  What's the difference between Bethel Service and a prison sentence?
  
  You can leave prison with qualifications.
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  Crumpet

  Its weird but when I read your notes Sir82 I actually start to feel my mind empty and start to feel really weird like I can't think - its words like loving and proper, peace and unity - all the little catch phrases of their mind washing. Its horrible horrible horrible. I'd forgotten what it was like!

  "Truth or Dare" resulting in "Girls kissing open-mouthed with other girls"

  so whats their point - would close mouthed kissing have been okay or was the added detail for titillatory purposes and to maintain the audience interest...
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  diamondblue1974

  Its weird but when I read your notes Sir82 I actually start to feel my mind empty and start to feel really weird like I can't think - its words like loving and proper, peace and unity - all the little catch phrases of their mind washing. Its horrible horrible horrible. I'd forgotten what it was like!

  Blink and swallow baby!!
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  Crumpet

  hmm - thats strangely very similar to what my boyfriend always says...oops sorry I'm lowering the tone again!