Amazing/Jim:
Yes that was a typo, I meant to say North Africa, I just didn't have an atlas in front of me. Thank you for pointing that out! And as for that 7,000 year old thing, yes my mom believes that, even though it is not watchtower teaching. Let me explain. You see, because of her handicapp, my mom never received a proper education. So she never had the reason or mental ability to question the biblical timeline, which made her the perfect bait for the watchtower. I know what you explained was correct, but my mom could never keep all that in her head. The elders and the cong tried to teach her that at one point, but they gave up because she has the attention span of a two year old. The way they look at it is, "as long as she obeys the rules and tows the line, and spends as much time in field service as possible, who cares if she understands the rules?" Yes I know it's confusing and sick. But out in field service, my mom lets the others do the talking, she's just there to gain sympathy from the householder. After all, would you be more hesitant to slam the door in the face of a single, kind, elderly woman in a wheelchair? It's just one more way to exploit the householder. But don't get me wrong, SHE IS NO LESS OF A FANAITC. As far as the elders are concerned, since she's a fat dumb and happy JW, who cares if she can't understand the WTS rules, SNE NEVER QUESTIONS THEM ANYWAY! I hope that makes sense, sorry for all the confusion.
Mike:
That elder sounded tragically ignorant. It amazes me how people have a "college phobia" and not just JWs, but they have it the worst. Apart from the watchtower rules, it's an unspoken resentment of college. but if you dare ask why, they never really have a reason, except for the automatic braindead response "it's worldy wisdom and therefore worthless." And yes I do believe thay are jealous. I know this is going to sound very arrogant, and I'm sorry, but I don't care how much hours you spend poineering or being a faithfull witness, in the end, when you know you're about to die, you get this unmistakeable gut feeling that you have done absolutely nothing with your life, and you will leave your kids nothing.
I'll give you an example. Four years ago, I started teaching my mom's friend Mike how to play violin. Even though he is five years older than me, and he should have started many years earlier, I agreed because I had been playing for 12 years and he offered me 20 bucks a week. He was also a JW, about 25 years old, but we never talked about religion, just music. His mother, who he lives with, told me that he is mentally slow. So, despite the differences, we became friends as he learned music. However, four years later, all he can play is "Mary Had A Little Lamb"
Now let me be clear, I will never judge someone because they are mentally challenged. But after getting to know him, I began to suspect he was not challenged at all. He could memorize basic chords and notes but he couldn't string the musical sentences together to make a song. I suddenly realized that being a JW his whole life, his cognitive thought processes have been somehow stunted. I asked him if he went to college, and he said he said no, he had been working as a janitor and living with his mother since high school graduation. Now I know, I'm neither a JW, nor his mother, nor a psychologist for that matter. But I realized something that scared and angered me more than anything else:
He will never be anything more than what he is right now. I could see it in his eyes. He may marry and have kids, but he will forever be chained to the Watchtower prison. A prison that he cannot see, or smell, or touch. I think that was what you were refering to.
Take care,
Anitar
