The wt has never told jw not to go to college, instead the wt creates a culture within its organization where it is frowned or looked down upon,
over the years the culture has moved back and forth, there was a time when i was a kid where a man would not be appointed or lose his title if his kids went to college
the wt has never encouraged it brightest youth to pursue their dreams and ambiitions, the most the wt will concede is a trade job, working with ones hands,
when you combine the wt articles along with the manner in which the co and elders will develople the material, it is clear that only immature youth chose college over pioneering
as a black man it is most sad, i asked a group of black jw who knocke on my door about 3 weeks ago about college and they danced around it like we see some here
so i asked the 2 guys , how long have you been a jw, 21 and 28 yrs, they said
so i told him one thing i do know about jw kids is that due to all the studying they are expected to do, they typically do well in school and often graduate at the top of the class with even scholarship offers, they both smiled and grinned,
then i asked being that is the case that so many jw young folks are excellent students,
"Have you as a Black Man, every encouraged one of these talented youth that you appear to be so proud of to go on a become a dentist, lawyer, doctor, etc.
i asked him in all the years how many Young black men and women have you personally encouraged to used their god given talent in this fashion?
and they both admited that they have not ever encouraged a young person to go to college
then i asked them how many jw do you persnally know have encouraged young folks to go to college
and then they went into,well that is a personal matter, for the family, and i said o for sure, but you mean to tell me that somehow you would be looked at badly for telling a straight A jw youth to take the 4 yr schoarshipped offered -
you could see the expression on their faces as they realized just how foolish they acutally sounded
the point is not whether one goes to college or not trade school or not
it is like everything else in wt, it is always in the context of "Mature christians do so andso"
the wt has use classical conditioning to their advantage where like Pavols dogs, bell = food
the wt has created a culture where it is either you love god and you will do this or your love is kinda weak for god and you will do this
when you combine just the wt articles, talks, drama, exp, skits, etc all dealing with education, the picture is clear the wt as a religion doesn't think much of any thing beyond a 2 yr school
medical, law , scientist, etc no way baby- it has only been in the last few years that we have seen more jw kids going to school without being hasled to death, unlike many of us back in the 70' 80s
i recall the co telling us in an elder meeting that the wt made the mistake of telling jw that it was a personal matter for a family to decide and they should not be judged and as he put it the flood gates opened and jw kids were flocking to college,
then the wt came back and added ONLY if you plan on pioneering can you go to college, but just to go to collegefor the love of education and knowledge please you must be kidding
and now with the summer drama the lastest wt article the harder stand is coming back
it is amazing to see the struggle at bethel of the old guard and the younger members of the editioral staff as they all fight to get stuff approved for print
it is like a blininking light as the wt stated once that sums it up nicely about their views:
"Pioneering versus going to college-which is the better course? 'Before leaving high school,' this young man in
So by guiding their children away from the so-called 'higher' education of today, these parents spare their children exposure to an increasingly demoralizing atmosphere, and at the same time prepare them for life in a new system as well." {AWAKE Jun 8 1967 38}
***Look atthe date, should not college be worst today than in 67, so if it was so demoralizing in 67 what about 2005--smile
and my all time favorite:
"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
{AWAK May 22 1969 15}}