Posts by Simon Morley

16

Higher Education - is it that risky?

by Simon Morley in

Higher Education - is it that risky?

by Simon Morley in

College vs. University is very differnet in many parts of the world. Here in Canada some pursue a two year diploma at a technical college. However, many of the colleges here are moving to three and four year degree courses and dropping diplomas. that will create yet another cnundrum for WTB$.

16

Higher Education - is it that risky?

by Simon Morley in

Simon Morley

(Let's try again)

It’s that time of the year when the electro-shock therapy called the District Convention is foisted upon the unwary and brain-dead. This year we are seeing the same old standard themes that work to numb the brains of the attendees rolled out by the WTB$ glitterati.

The topic – Higher Education, so here is my counter argument based on facts and not supposed scripture.

It is of interest that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports on the overall unemployment rate from a number of perspectives. I would hold that the rates they post are no different here in Canada or perhaps other parts of the developed world. The BLS reports unemployment rates for the following four groups classified by education attained, all groups consist of individuals 25 years old or higher:

1. Less than a high school diploma

2. A high school diploma but no college

3. Some college or an Associate degree

4. Bachelor's degree or higher

The rates for May 2012 were Group 1 @ 13%, Group 2 @ 8.1%, Group 3 @ 7.9% and Group 4 @ 3.9%. In May 2012 the only group that saw decline was Group 4, all other groups increased over April 2012. This means that if you have less than a high school diploma you are four times as likely to be facing unemployment that a counterpart with a Bachelor’s degree or higher and twice if you graduated from high school and/or took some college. Of interest is the Group 4 has seen the most rapid decline in unemployment over the last year at a rate of two -three times faster than the other groups. The BLS also reports that age does not seem to impact the numbers so clearly education choices do.

We all know why higher education is frowned upon as it is seen as a drain on the door-knocking ranks and valuable money that would otherwise go to the coffer$ of the WTB$. So it would appear counterintuitive that in preventing higher education they are in fact contributing to their own downfall. The US Department of Education shows that 60% of all new jobs in the 21st century will require skills that are possessed by only 20% of the current workforce. A staggering statistic indeed!

My argument then is that if higher education is bad then why we not see would the benefits of such a decision in the statistics? We can see the benefits of not smoking, keeping our weight down, not abusing alcohol/drugs and sticking to the speed limit….things that are tacitly addressed in scripture. So why would a loving, caring God put his children at such a risk of not being able to provide for their family as encouraged at 1 st Timothy 5:8?

The discouragement of higher education by the WTB$ is glaringly evident. How many do you know that are facing employment challenges? How many JW’s are saturating the window cleaning and janitorial market, often undercutting one another to just get by? They face a future with large numbers of unskilled workers looking for jobs that require skills they simply do not possess. Add to this that very soon Boomer JW’s (many of whom decided not to pursue higher education in the mid 70’s)will start to peak with no source of retirement income and the expectation that their family will pick up their care costs – assuming their family is still in the so called truth and there is a kingdom hall for them to bunk out at….

16

Higher Education - is it that risky?

by Simon Morley in

Simon Morley

5

New Light...Letter to BOE...Curtsey protocal

by Momma-Tossed-Me in

jw
friends

the governing body has now deemed it appropriate for sisters to curtsey when any member of the gb is present!

they are in fact princes pro tem so it is only good form.

fun on a monday..

Simon Morley

11

Which 'THIS' generation will by no means pass away?

by ThomasCovenant in

i know this has been said a thousand times already but oodads posting reminded me of when i got to thinking about the generation teaching at a family get together we had a couple of months ago with some witness relatives and so much wanted to ask this question at the table.

imagine it is the year 1914, and jesus walks into the room and sees these four generations of males.

he says ''this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur''.. which of the four generations is he talking about?.

Simon Morley

"This" is a demonstrative pronoun used in the present tense in the scripture in question.

Jesus provides us with ample evidence of where he used present tense demonstrative pronouns. An example is found at Mat 26:39: "....if it be possible let this cup pass...." Jesus uses the same demonstrative pronoun in the present tense - he was not speaking about any future cup or a cup that overlaps he was speaking of his present condition.

If it was future then why not use a pronoun to compliment the subject and put it in context such as "there" - "There will be a generation, and this generation will be no means...."

The Writing Department evidently threw away all the great grammar books they had.

9

What is the rationale given for not listing partakers?

by Simon Morley in

if i was still in this would a huge deal for me.

before leaving i was bothered that the wt was saying the number of partakers was dwindling while the facts (worldwide reports) showed otherwise.

could not get an asnwer out of my fellow elders or co as it was coming up in conversations.

Simon Morley

If I was still in this would a huge deal for me.

Before leaving I was bothered that the WT was saying the number of partakers was dwindling while the facts (worldwide reports) showed otherwise. Could not get an asnwer out of my fellow elders or CO as it was coming up in conversations.

Now the WTBS website does not show partakers for 2011 Worldwide report what is the latest spin? Any still in heard what the Kool Aid is on this topic? I would like to know as we plan to bring this up with family still in.

Apologies if this was a topic already - but it just galls me that they have the audacity to gloss over a fundemental part of the whole End Times/1914/Annointed teaching. Smacks of Romans 10:2,3 as far as I am concerned.

19

Time for another Leonard Cohen thread

by finallysomepride in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrlk4vdy28q&feature=artist.

Simon Morley

In my teens (ah yes, the 70's) if you had a party at your home and wanted everyone to leave you put on "Suzzanne" ands kranked up the Harmon Kardons..... Worked every time - "JEEZ Simon, way to put a damper on things man...now I need to go jump of a bridge..."

9

No Governing Body in Paul's day

by The Searcher in

the given understanding of the bible account at acts 15 regarding the circumcision issue is that a "governing body" resolved the issue.

is this assertion based on scriptural evidence?

while jesus walked the earth, some of his apostles were contentious with each other regarding who would be superior to the others.

Simon Morley

Isaacaustin:

Precisely! everything Paul did would be grounds for disfellowshiping today.

It was not until 49 AD that Matthew started to write his Gospel account - so Paul singlehandedly sets up christian congregations and sets them up without a governing body as can be seen with how congreagtions in Antioch do not seem to worry about Jerusalem until there are problems with a bit of Judaism creeping into the congregations.

That is wholly understandable as Jerusalem is still the centre of Jewish faith and it would be hard not to want to simply get along with non christian Jewish family members.

Interesting that Paul used letters (which were likely copied) as this was a quick and effective means of communication - what would he used today - likely email, blogs and this website!

80

The "invisible" Elephant in the room: ELDERLY JW's nobody provides for

by Terry in

question: how does the leadership of jehovah's witnesses instruct its members to prepare for the eventual elder care of its members?.

answer: it pretends it will never happen!.

is this responsible leadership or some kind of cognitive dissonant malfeasance?.

Simon Morley

What I was going to mention is that the topic came to mind on Friday when I was meeting a colleague in a neighboring city at Starbucks. In walk three JW couples – not one under the age of 75 in my opinion. In fact two of the couples I recalled from an assembly part as to how they took early retirement to pioneer and that was at least a decade ago.

The real problem is that the average age is increasing (especially in developed countries like the US, Canada and UK) and there is no community safety net that will look after them. Add to that the Boomers and the congregations have one hell of a social problem on their hands in the next decade. Many of these elderly JW’s were victims to false prophesy about the end times and now many simply do not have any savings tucked away to assist them. Many have (in Canada at least) will have a few hundred dollars with OAS, but because the had jobs like window washing, floor cleaning contracts at Walmart and the like their pension plan amounts are going to be very low.

Many unbelieving families will be taking them in and that will trigger a whole round of WT articles about “Living with unbelieving families in these times of distress” and bring emotional pressure to bear. Many of these elderly will simply give up. On the flip side the remaining young ones will be guilted into helping them with such stupid symposia as:

“Are you like Ruth”

· In taking care of your spiritual family

· In providing for the elderly amongst us

· In going out your way to pick up the elderly

In all this is going to be a bigger problem as promises are left unfulfilled.