Learning Other Languages

by Disassociated Lady 2 8 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Disassociated Lady 2

  The JW org keeps its servants busier than ever these days so that their minds are occupied 24/7. They ensure that there is no time for anything "worldly" to distract them.

  In last week's Watchtower article on Spiritual Health they are putting pressure on the congregation to learn other languages on top of everything else they do. They allude to the fact that their spiritual health will suffer if they cannot understand the talks and publications in other languages. There was also emphasis on teaching children languages as their interest may fade otherwise???

  In the UK we are seeing more people from other lands moving here, so there are more congregations for different languages now, so that would be one reason for it. Its the pressure put on members and they way these things are worded ...so manipulative! :-/ xxx

  https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-october-2016/maintain-spiritual-health-while-serving-foreign-field/
  
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  Village Idiot

  Could their cutback on literature have anything to do with this? Supposedly, they have literature in other languages but maybe they don't want to be bothered with the work of translation.
  
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  LevelThePlayingField

  I sat in the KH during this WT. I kept thinking, if a person where to move to "where the need was greater", all they would have to do is see if their children were up to it in the first place BEFORE moving and then feed themselves spiritually from the language of their birth and there would be no spiritual danger at all. The GB makes an issue of something and therefore it is an issue with people. Same with beards. If the dumb GB would never make an issue of something, like stumbling others because you have a beard, then there would be no issue. DUH!
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  sparrowdown

  Witnesses are taught another "language" the "pure language" or is that the language of pure BS.

  I remember every so often they would push the "be useful to Jehovah and learn a language" message.

  I think the GB know witnesses in western countries are bored out of their brains from the lack of anything "to do" and bored witnesses start doing things like dating worldly people and parousing the internet.

  IOW bored witnesses are more likely to do something that wakes them up.
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  prologos

  Kids will learn another language almost by osmosis, if in immersion outside the family, but even if you are a polyglot , your own kids might resist learning from you, a language other than the one the family uses day to day. Wt asked the Special pioneers, at one time to speak the language of their assignment at home, what a disaster, how do you let your hair down in another tongue?

  taking your kids, wife to a foreign language congregation is a good idea, Chinese preferred, they will not get a thing out of the meetings for a long time, and that is a good thing.
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  scratchme1010

  The JW org keeps its servants busier than ever these days so that their minds are occupied 24/7. They ensure that there is no time for anything "worldly" to distract them.
  

  I'm not sure what you base this on. Growing up a JW in the 70s, I remember back then they used to call them "temporary" pioneers. The commitment was 100 in one month, and it was all house to house, no online, no carts, no websites, no tablets, no apps. It was 100 hours of hardcore house-to-house preaching. Additionally, they used to control more things that today they allow. Today JWs can get away with going to college. Today JWs are allowed other events such as putting choreographies together and participate in other events.

  Not to mention than the isolation of people questioning, disfellowshipped or disassociated was far larger than it is today, as we enjoy things like this forum, for example.
  

  It may feel that they are pressuring more, but the reality is that they enjoy a lot more freedoms than previous JW generations.

  The core of what they do is all about telling people what to do with every single aspect of their lives. I agree that learning a different language for the sole purpose of pleasing their purposes is controlling, but that has always been the case. It's no different today than it has always been.
  
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  Disassociated Lady 2

  I can se your point "Scratch Me" but going back to a congregation for 5 months I saw a huge change in the way things are done. I think that congregations can vary too, the one I attended seemed stricter than the one my parents attend. Depends upon the elders you get whether they are "old school" or not. :-) x
  
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  TD

  --Actually one of the instances I agree with the JW's, although probably not for the same reasons.

  Learning new languages enriches your life.
  
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  JWdaughter

  Yeah, but I've had folks at door more than once who were so intent on using their second language that they passed up the opportunity to speak with a person who spoke the same language as they did from birth..