My oldest sister is deaf. She has been from birth, and that is why she is a jw. She wants to hear someday. That may have been one of the reasons that my mother became one in the first place. It is really sad, because they are wasting their lives on something that will never happen. There are whole cong. of deaf people now. Deaf cong are the new fad, and they have had totally deaf assemblies for years. My neice (deaf sister's daughter) is going to move to KC to help start a deaf cong there. It is really sad the way the wt plays up to people with disabilities.
How Sad
by Ariell 67 Replies latest jw friends
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northern girl
pamkw:
How could it be considered sad to be helpful to anybody ... let alone someone with a dissability?
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pamkw
Northern Girl:
I do not know what you are talking about. Being helpful? Being a jw is not helpful to my sister. Because we were raised a jw, she quit high school. So she is a deaf jw with no high school education. We were both teenagers in 1975 and everyone said the end was coming. Her husband is hard of hearing, and what does he do? He cleans offices and floors for a living, he works for other 'brothers'. Because he just can't work for worldly people, they don't understand his problem. What a crock.They are so short on money that their daughter used to support them. They had to go to CA for the district assembly. That is where the deaf one is. My mother had to give them the money to do it. Why because her husband will not get a real job.My sister is one of the smartest people in world, if she would have been allowed to get an education, no telling where she would have been today. I blame the jws for her not getting one.
I personnally feel being a jw is one of the worst things anyone can do. You can disagree all you want, but it hasn't made you a very nice person. I also am not having anymore discussions with you.
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northern girl
If I were incined to believe everything I read here, there would be nothing but totally iliterate JWs walking this earth, having all quit school after elementary school.
Compared to non-JWs I don't see a great difference in education levels. By choice most of my relatives are educated and earning decent livings while being faithful JWs. No one ever said we couldn't further our educations. Some have chosen to work at labour-intensive jobs too and are doing very well financialy.
But then cream rises to the top ...
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wasasister
Northern Girl writes:
By choice most of my relatives are educated and earning decent livings while being faithful JWs. No one ever said we couldn't further our educations.
The last sentence is plain false. NG, how long have you been a Witness? Obvsiously, you know little about JW's attitude towards higher education throughout their history.
Do you want links to publications?
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coffee_black
northern girl,
I was raised a jw, and I went to college for a year. My father, a very prominent elder, believed in education. He was asked to step down because I was attending college. He refused, and because he knew how to stand up for himself, he remained an elder. I was virtually shunned by nearly all in the congregation, including my so called friends. There was terrible pressure to quit, which my dad tried to counter-act. I quit after a year to marry a jw. Our first major argument was one in which he was determined that I would admit that my attending college had been a sin. I stood my ground but my fledgeling education was a rift between us that widened over the years. Many years later, after our divorce, he wanted our son to attend college. In the interum, he had gone back to get a degree himself. I told him that I thought it was ironic that he would want our son to attend college....given his earlier stance on education. He said "the society never said that you couldn't go to college". I reminded him of our early history on the subject. He had nothing more to say. He is hardly ever speechless, but he was that day.
In my experience, jws have selective amnesia when it comes to issues like education, organ transplant, 1975 etc. I think I experienced selective amnesia myself, many times over the years. It's what blurrs the facts, and makes it difficult to leave the org., and makes jws view every criticism as an attack.
Coffee
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northern girl
wasasister:
Sure, you can send links. But as we speak, I have relatives who are getting higher education and are still in good standing. I'm talking university, community college and trade schools. None of my rellies ever got in any hot soup for getting educated to be able to properly support themselves. Pioneering was always the top option but no one ever stopped any from schooling either.
northern girl.
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wasasister
OK, NG. give me a few hours to pull up quotes from the CD-rom. (Anyone else want to pitch in is welcome.)
Did you read coffee's post above? Recently, the Society softened their stance on higher education - mostly due to the fact that they had no skilled labor pool to draw from and many high-school educated JW's are barely able to earn a living.
While the publications may not have been absolute about not pursuing a college education, a person who chose to go against the prevailing thought could lose privileges, be restricted from pioneering, and viewed as "weak" by the congregation.
It appears to me that you have not been associated with JW's for very long, because your ignorance in this matter is profound.
Wasa
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coffee_black
Northern girl,
It is true that they have eased their position somewhat on education. Part of the reason is because it is an issue that is brought up in custody cases. They have to make it appear as though they support education, and the futures of member children. It doesn't look good to a court to discourage education.
No one I know, and I know jws across the country went to college in the 60s, 70s or 80s. Imagine the wasted potential and the regret. I wish I had finished. I know of lots of jws who wish they had gone to college instead of listening to the org.
Coffee
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northern girl
wasasister:
Thanks.