Are they banning college again?

by thedepressedsoul 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  thedepressedsoul

  I wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college. Some of you may remember that from that time.

  Over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself. You could go to college but it was not recommended that you live on campus. It became a "conscience" matter. The elders got way more relaxed on it. Quite a few at mall hall and surrounding ones I know went to community college without any harassment.

  It seems to me that in the last year they are going back to their 80's mentality and basically banning college. It is becoming so looked down upon that you will be judged to death if you go. Not to mention you will most likely not qualify for privileges. The relaxed standard that they changed to is going back to their old thinking.

  They are mentioning it every chance they get now. I think the only thing that's keeping them from banning it completely is purely a PR reason. In their writing they are a lot more relaxed but in their talks they are very harsh about it. They now have an outside view that they allow it while basically shunning it inside.

  My thoughts:

  They have a numbers issue. A lot of JW are old timers dying off and the "fresh" new blood isn't getting baptized, going to college and never becoming a JW. There is probably a huge gap and it's getting worse as the older ones are dying.

  How do they try to fix it? Encourage young JW to get baptized so they are more "locked in", it boosts their numbers and makes it 10x harder to leave. Secondly, discourage higher education where it takes the young JW out of the tight inner circle to experience life and to think for themselves. As a result, the young JW is never "exposed" to other idea's or outside the inner circle.

  This religion loves numbers and cannot have it's numbers start to fall. No young blood to go to other lands, help at bethel or pioneer and the numbers fall even faster as they can't "replenish" as fast. The numbers fall, it doesn't look like Jehovah's backing, the ministry becomes less important in the mind of it's members and donations are hurt.
• 

  done4good

  I think it started back that way with respect to higher ed around 2001. I left in late 2005, but things appear to have gone bat sh*t crazy since then.

  Could not imagine being JW today.
  

  d4g
  
• 

  sir82

  Not sure where you have been, they have been forcefully and emphatically denouncing college for at least the past 10 years, following the mid-90's semi-detente.

  They are doing it with a vigor not seen since the early 80's, when multiple assembly & convention parts were dedicating exclusively to the condemnation of "higher education".

  Their TV broadcasts merely give them one more platform to expound their hysterical screeds.
  
• 

  hoser

  Tomo said something negative about college just recently
• 

  Oubliette

  In the late '80s - mid 2000s it was "a conscience matter." But we all know what that means: anyone that went to college was viewed with suspicion.

  I was actually serving as an elder when the WTBTS sent a letter out changing the policy. I'm pretty sure this was the summer of 2006 or early fall of that year, I'm not sure what month. But the letter stated that anyone that pursued higher education (HE) would not qualify for "privileges." If an "appointed man's" children pursed HE, his "qualifications" would be called into question.

  I distinctly remember the letter because I had been attending university at the time on the downlow and felt very upset because of this policy change with no justification and explanation. I also felt upset because now something that had been "a conscience matter" was now to be viewed as being disloyal to Jehovah. I had just finished my degree a month or so before the letter was received by and read among the elder body.

  I remember thinking: If this letter had come just a couple of months earlier, I would have been faced with the decision of abandoning my degree weeks before graduating or resigning as an elder.
  
• 

  John Aquila

  Not to mention you will most likely not qualify for privileges.

  You mean like giving 30 minutes outline talks? And you better stick to the outline or you'll be removed?

  
• 

  XBEHERE

  Despite what many Witnesses may say yes they are banning higher education. Even if it does not specifically say it in the literature its heavily implied and then heavily reinforced with the Circuit Overseer comes around.

  Social pressure from other members is the true cornerstone of this religion. If something is frowned upon but not necessarily scripturally banned then fear of being out of the social group and being outcast causes people to go along with the crowd. Higher education falls sort of into that category.

  "Sure go ahead and let your kid go but don't expect any praise from prominent elders, CO, etc. and don't expect to be in the popular group"

  Really stupid!
• 

  thedepressedsoul

  You mean like giving 30 minutes outline talks? And you better stick to the outline or you'll be removed?

  I wish it was stick to the 30 minutes or you'd be removed! Stop having to hear people rambling 15 minutes past when they should be for all assemblies and conventions!
• 

  OneEyedJoe

  Yeah, as others have said, this has been back in full swing for about a decade now. I managed to get through my degree just before the ban was re-instituted. Sitting in meetings and conventions and hearing them rail on higher education was intensely uncomfortable for me - especially when they'd resort to outright lies like saying that it's of no monetary benefit (in my case it paid for itself within a year after graduation) or is only pursued out of greed (bit of kettle logic there - I thought it was of no monetary benefit?) or pride. The horror stories of debauchery were also false - it's not hard to avoid if you want to, for the most part you'll only get in trouble if you're looking for it.
• 

  thedepressedsoul

  Wow, it's really been 10 years? I must have been in a bubble or our elders must have been more relaxed because about all younger ones I know are currently doing at least community college. Even ones that have 2-3 years to go are still planning on it.

  I'd be very nervous to have a kid right now. You have to worry about all the stuff going on in school and now you have to worry about them dealing w JW rules too.

  My favorite is when some elders start to bash higher education in their comments or from the stage and they themselves have gone to college or sent their kids to college. I know a lot of JW that get very annoyed by that.