This board is the first exposure I have ever recieved to the magazines Watchtower and Awake. A few years ago a couple of jws visited my townhouse and handed me a copy of Awake (I think, I doubt it was the watchtower) and I politely said thanks, proceeding to close the door, and it was all but pulled out of my hand looking for a donation, so I handed it back to them and let them go on their way. Right now there is a wt on the kitchen table at home that I have opened and the first thing I noted was the incorrect date listed for the destruction of Jerusalem......
Reading the commentary being made on the new wt study I am absolutely stunned. I know I have been told by people here and on other sites that the wts discourages education and would eventually be telling my wife to put aside her college work to better serve jehovah, but this just amazes me. I feel that we are all put on this planet and given this life for a purpose, and this purpose is not to be placing magazines in peoples hands and telling them that the end of the world is near. Yes there are a lot of things that the present (and past) residents of the planet have done that have been wrong, but only through education and working with the WHOLE world, not just a made up organization, can we actually make a difference, and education puts one in a better place to be able to make a difference.
I would have thought with the shift on the definition of the 1914 generation, there would be a bit of a change on the thoughts towards education, maybe try to get the per member income up a bit, which should increase the cashflow, but it seems that the organization would rather focus on collecting a lot of change rather fewer numbers of bills. Maybe they are hoping that Prince and the Williams sisters can help with the cash issues, or that the sale of the Brooklyn properties will be a short term solution, I just don't know.
Does anyone know what the education level of the governing body is? I know that their lawyers have to be well educated, but one knows it is not the University of Awake or Watchtower Technical Institute.
These tactics may fly in the areas of the world that we think of as third world countries, but unless one wants to eventually be depending on handouts from Babylon for survival, whether it be food or shelter (have never seen a kh hand out meals or provide cold weather shelter), if you live in the west you better get an education.
These are just thoughts, I have no scripture to back it up, but I feel the best service I can do for my creator is to use my mind and serve my brothers and sisters on this planet, regardless of creed.