As a teenager, when I smugly told my high school guidance counsellor that I was not going to college because I was a JW, he just shook his head sadly and said, "What a waste." Belief in the WTS held me back from getting a college education right out of high school, when it would have been more convenient and less expensive for me. I made up for it later, but with a young child by then, my college education was a lot more difficult to obtain than it needed to be.
Whatever stray bits of actual knowledge I might have picked up during interminable, boring meetings presided over by undereducated, braindead elders were not worth the time it took to learn them.
What did the Watchtower do for you as far as education goes?
by The wanderer 18 Replies latest jw friends
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parakeet
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OUTLAW
Your joking Right?????..I am educated in spite of the WBTS..Not because of them....Why do you insist on swallowing a bucket of shit for a few kernels of corn..All your posts seem to be the same..How many kernels of corn did you find in that bucket of shit?..Mmmmmmmm wasn`t it good?..What is your point Wanderer?..Do you know what crap with a cherry on it is?..Crap with a cherry on it!..LOL!!...OUTLAW
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SirNose586
1)Those who seldom reason at all, but think and act as those around them do; parents, neighbors, the clergy, or anyone else they admire and respect. Such people want to avoid the difficulty that accompanies thinking for themselves.
2)Those who are determined to let passion rather than reason govern their lives. Those people are influenced only by reasoning that supports their prejudices.
3)Those who sincerely follow reason, but lack sound, overall good sense, and so do not look at all sides of an issue. They tend to talk with one type of person, read one type of book, and so are exposed to only one viewpoint.
It would seem that the WTS keeps their R&F in all three of these areas. Head down, back in line, no questions and no talking.
Well, it looks like I have a kink to work out in area #2.
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Alligator Wisdom
Fortunately not all JW's buy the teachings of the WTS.
Regarding education in my congregation that I grew up in, the elders never said anything to anyone who attended college. Myself and my siblings included. I suppose that it didn't interfere with our meeting attendance and such, so that's why we didn't get any flack. My peers in the congregation went on to obtain all sorts of degrees and it wasn't frowned upon. CO never said anything. No Local Needs parts on it.
Sometimes it has to do with the local body of elders in some congregations. Perhaps some are "discreet" in the eyes of Christ. Like I said, not all (including elders) believe what the WTS teaches and they don't push it. Perhaps it may be different in your Kingdom Hall.
Consider me not being effected by what the WTS teaches regarding education.
And for those contemplating higher education, if it isn't unscriptural then why refrain?
Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously by WTS standards)
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JimWood
"Sometimes it has to do with the local body of elders in some congregations. Perhaps some are "discreet" in the eyes of Christ. Like I said, not all (including elders) believe what the WTS teaches and they don't push it. Perhaps it may be different in your Kingdom Hall.
Ahhhh, my education continues. Is this an example of the world wide unity jw have?
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Dansk
Wanderer, I'm beginning to think you and Badboy are writing a book with all these questions!
What really pigged me off is that while the congregation was regularly told about the futility of going for further education one of the elders was a senior lecturer at the local university and the P.O.'s son went to college after finishing his general education. Then, in a conversation with the P.O,'s son's (yes, the same son) wife she said that Jehovah's spirit leaves you if you pursue an education! Talk about double standards!!
Ian
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truthseeker
The Theocratic Ministry School teaches good reading, writing and speaking ability.
They really go all out on everything to do with this, primarily because it involves recuiting. If only they would put as much effort into other education!
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Jankyn
To be fair, it helped more than hindered until I was about 10 years old. That's when critical thinking usually starts to develop.
Before then, my JW upbringing led me to read early and often. It also created familiarity with Bible stories--and yes, that's huge cultural knowledge (the critic Northrup Frye called the Bible "the great code of western literature"--so it helped in that area a lot).
In terms of literary studies, I was familiar with the concepts of metaphor, imagery and archetypes.
However, after about 5th grade, it was useless.
Jankyn (Ph.D. in English)
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diamondblue1974
I was 13 or so and I was a regular bookworm; if there was a book I would devour it and I am still the same way now.
In the kingdom hall library there was allsorts of books, some even antiques or at least very very old. One of those books was a bound volume of a law report and I read it with complete amazement; the facts were gory and dark and to my 13 year old self this seemed interesting and my interest in a legal career began. I naturally preferred to read it after the meeting instead of socialising with other dub kids.
I got caught reading it by a particularly militant elder and he asked what I was reading (and even then I knew this would be turned around to something that I was doing wrong.); so I showed him and he asked me why I was reading that particular book, I told him I was interested in the law and that it was interesting. I told him also that I was going to speak to a careers officer at school about studying law.
Through the usual circular reasoning I was led to believe that I was better seeking out a less time consuming form of study; perhaps carpentry or another trade which wouldnt take too much time. The book miraculously disappeared at the next meeting.
Foolishly I did what he suggested and it took me until I was 20 to realise my potential and find my original forte again.
It makes me mad today to think that I wasted 4 years of my life not studying law and being forced to train to be a carpenter (which is was shite at to be honest).
How today things are different; and I would love to meet that elder again...I would have a few choice words.
DB74