by ozziepost 13 Replies latest jw friends
Howdy nytelecom,
Aw, hell, I was a fence sitter for about the first six months I was on the web - and proud of it too. I felt I'd been told what to do for sooooooo many years, I just wanted - and demanded - time to think.
And I did think, read, talk here and with my husband, and just sit. It was well worth the effort.
Watch for splinters, don't wanna rub ya wrong!
waiting
Reminds me of the back of an Awake! a few years back (g95 4/22). They were trumpeting the fact that the Dept of Education in Suriname was using Awake for educational purposes. Article follows:
*** g95 4/22 32 Awake!-the Basis for a Test ***
Awake!—the Basis for a Test
WHEN students in the South American country of Suriname opened their high school entrance examination booklet in July 1993, they discovered that regular Awake! magazine readers had an advantage. This was because nearly half of the questions in the 36-page booklet, which had been prepared by the Ministry of Education’s Examination Bureau, were based on two articles from Awake!
Pages 1 through 9 featured the article “Shantytowns—Hard Times in the Urban Jungle,” which appeared in Awake! of October 8, 1992. There were 21 questions that tested comprehension on that material. Pages 10 to 16 of the examination booklet contained 14 questions on the article “The Capybara—Mistake or Marvel of Creation?,” which appeared in Awake! of September 22, 1992.
“By using these articles to examine the textual comprehension of students throughout the country,” remarked one headmaster in the western part of Suriname, “school authorities show that they view Awake! as a model of correct grammar and crisp writing.”
If you would like a copy of Awake! or would like to have someone call at your home to discuss this matter, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY, 11201-2483, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.
Here's another quote from that year:
*** g95 1/8 23 Magazines That Give Practical Comfort ***
This kind of initiative can lead to an ever-widening circle of positive contacts. From letters received we know that professional people are often impressed by the research and the excellent writing style that go into our magazines. So true is this that in some countries, such as Suriname, in South America, the Awake! is used as a principal educational magazine by students and teachers. The Witnesses there have a high level of magazine placements, and the interested ones eagerly await each issue.
Perhaps it is on this basis that the COs, etc. make comments to the effect that reading Watchtower and Awake! is the equivalent of a university education!
Hello Stephanus,
thanks for your comments and the
excellent quotes.
This part:
"....So true is this that in some countries, such as Suriname, in South America, the Awake! is used as a principal educational magazine by students and teachers. "
goes without comment!
Greetings, J.C.MacHislopp
I've often wondered about the Suriname Education Department thing. I imagine Awake! is pretty widely available in a country which wouldn't have huge resources for printing educational materials, it is written in half-decent Dutch (the official language) and is written at a grade school level, perfect for school children. Note that the articles mentioned are specifically about South America or problems in Third World countries. I think the Suriname govt has been incredibly pragmatic by doing this, but of course the WBTS would put their own spin on this. Now, if a FIRST WORLD country adopted Awake! as its educational resourcebook, that would be news. The fact of the matter is that the third world is desperate for whatever bits of the developed world it can get to come its way, in whatever form.
The way the 'Tower shamelessly seeks these less than powerful accolades reminds me of a popular conspiracy theorist we have down here in the Antipodes: http:/www.barrysmith.org.nz/ He often talks about all the bigwigs he is in contact with, like various government ministers in South Pacific Islands and the President of Zambia, but hasn't got the ear of one reputable govt minister in his own New Zealand, let alone any in arguably more significant places like Oz, Canada, the UK or the US.
