wisdomfrombelow

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Posts by wisdomfrombelow

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  25

  College and the Watchtower: Remember One Thing

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if any of you lurkers listen to a rant by the society against college, remember one thing:.

  the brother giving the talk is probably an utter hypocrite.. there are a few exceptions but consider that many elders are financially secure - which allows them to be elders.

  while they talk about not planning for the future because armageddon 'is so close', they have pensions, ira's, roth accounts and investments.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  I wonder how the congregations in university towns handle all this anti-college negativity?
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  35

  Regular pioneering ... not going to college or university is a wise decision that will make you happy. Watchtower June 15, 2012

  by wannabefree in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  from - the watchtower (simplified) june 15, 2012 pg.

  25 par.

  15. what goal should a young christian have while he is in school?.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  I know of many who have gone to college and then after graduation decided to to pioneer. Those often got higher paying jobs with benefits so they could remain pioneering if they wanted to. That scenario will never be mentioned in the Watchtower.
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  39

  thoughts

  by isaacaustin in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  throwing this out to the board for input.

  my father will be giving his first public talk shortly.

  i was shocked by the audacity to be asked to come to his public talk, being told i don't have to believe or come back but can simply come to show my support for him.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  After reading all the thoughts that others have, I guess my opinion is different. It wouldn't bother me the least if I went and I'd be there if someone in my family gave their first public talk even though no one will talk to me. All this rigidity when it is not needed is a JW stance but it has never been mine. Compromise and compassion are mine. If a co-worker or a friend were a Rabbi or a Priest or any other religion and asked you to come to something special they were doing, would you go? For me it depends on how I feel about the person, since visiting once won't convert me. It's different since you were raised a JW but my thoughts are do what makes you feel good and removes the guilt from you. I know lots of peopel that wouldn't go to my funeral but that doesn't mean I wouldn't go to theirs. After all, funerals are for the living who are left behind, not the one who died as they don't benefit at all. I would go not because I wanted to be converted, but because it was my dad.
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  34

  Will higher gas prices cause a policy change (New Light) re. field service?

  by doinmypart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  will higher gas prices bring about some new light regarding field service?.

  in the part of the u.s. where i live most of the territories require driving long distances.

  some congregation members are unemployed and many are retired/living on limited income.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  It might be used as a reason to lower the pioneer hours (or auxiliary pioneer hours) in conjunction with trying to get more into the full-time service.
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  29

  What is REALLY wrong with EDUCATION?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as a child we do what our parents tell us to do.

  or, we are disciplined.

  we learn to see the world a "certain" way.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  I am not sure, but did they speak disparangingly about education in the Russell and Rutherford eras? I always thought that Franz/Knorr didn't want anyone more educated then they were so they wouldn't have any power struggles. Maybe that is just my mind running free. I grew up thinking that learning Hebrew or Greek in college would be an asset to a JW who wanted to go to Bethel. Little did I realize how false that is. If Rutherford is a lawyer with an advanced degree and his first choice for vice president after him, Covington, was a lawyer then I wonder how the anti-college movement grew and who was behind it.
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  76

  Those who still show up at the meetings, How do you manage?.

  by Mr Facts in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for those who still show up at the meetings, how do you manage?.

  do you still offer comments and how do you actually muster up the boldness to gave talks and still do all of those craps?..

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  wisdomfrombelow

  I sit quietly as a disfellowshipped person and smile. I listen to what is said, how it is said and wonder what it would be like for a stranger to come in and sit there. I wonder what it would be like if I brought a friend there so they could experience what the Jehovah's Witness church is like. It can be very entertaining...especially knowing that I don't have to worry about fake people pretending to be my friends talking to me.
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  20

  Wish I didnt know....Part 2 My Story

  by Wishididntknow in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  after a terrible break up and being away from the congregation for about 10yrs i started to think about coming back.

  i couldnt even watch the news anymore because of the termendous anxiety it would cause.

  i felt that there was a target on my back and the big a would surely come before i could get my act together.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  wishididntknow,
  
  When I think of your username I think of your relationship with your ex and how life would have been different if you hadn't known what she did. I don't know her or you, but it seems like she at least admitted her fault and tried to make things right. She valued you and even was willing to study to understand your point of view.
  
  The religion you are part of NEVER apologizes for anything it does wrong. It makes you feel like you are at fault no matter the circumstances. It will not bed or try to understand your point of view where there are disagreements. If you try to promote your point of view, where it differs from theirs, you can be ostracized like you were before.
  
  It gives conditional friends and requires that all your friendships be conditional. Try to spend time with a disfellowshipped person and see how soon you will be back out. I doubt you'd want a relationship with a woman who behaves like that, why do you want a religion who will behave like that?
  
  You have no idea what changes they could make in the future. For now, watching sexually explicit movies is a disfellowshipping offense. Next it could be violent movies or violent video games or debased music or whatever they want. The rules to remain a member are fluid. They can change them at any time and you are expected to comply.
  
  Since you are a JW now, ask your JW associates if their friendship is based on being the same religion or if you were to get disfellowshipped would they stop being your friend. Tell them what you would do if they got disfellowshipped. If you would automatically stop being their friend then you are not a good friend to have.
  
  When the announcement "so-and-so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" is made, you don't know the reason. Maybe you would not agree with it if you did know. Still, your response is always the same. Is that being a true friend, rejecting someone without even knowing why?
  
  The thing is, now you know. The question is, what will you do. That answer is unique to each person and I hope whatever decision you make, you realize it is yours to make just as the consequences are yours to bear.
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  24

  Was Your Experience As A Jehovah's Witness Good In Any Way?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was raised as a witness.

  i could've been raised as a catholic but my mother's side of the family came into "the truth" when i was an infant.

  i do believe that because of my upbringing, i was a more honest person.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  Being raised a witness I learned to not be afraid of being different and to stand up for what I believe in. I learned to reason on the bible and had exposure to older, wiser adults as a youngster.
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  51

  WT Compares Higher Education to Drugs and Alcohol

  by Bangalore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  bangalore.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  The majority of the JWs that I know who went to college while being JWs became elders, bethelites, pioneers and serving in foreign language congregations. They stuck together and helped one another and that was puzzling to the local brothers. This is the side of university education that they will never speak about.
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  27

  My 18-yr old college freshman nephew has just been cut off for leaving the JWs...

  by Alfred in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i spoke about him in a previous thread... he's the nicest kid you'll ever meet... smart, humble, shows respect and is very kind to everyone around him... except for one minor thing... you guessed it... he no longer believes in the jw religion.

  also, he feels it is simply a place for hopeless people to gather and give each other moral support without actually doing anything productive to better their lives... i won't get into the details on how he arrived at this conclusion... suffice to say, he did not want to be a part of this crowd any longer.. incredibly, when he was a lot younger, he was able to convince his jw father (a po) and his jw mother (my sister) that they should let him go to college when he turns 18 (and help him pay for it!!!).

  so they started putting some money away and my nephew has been in college since september!.

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  wisdomfrombelow

  I congratulate him on going to college but it appears he didn't think through his decisions as regards his financial dependence on his parents. He decided to quit attending meetings and move out without thinking about how that would affect his parental "scholarship". My dad would have been very upset if I had decided to pay someone "rent" instead of using that money for my tuition or saving it.
  
  If he had looked at attending meetings, even if going through the motions, as a sort of "work study" that got him the money to go to school then he might have approached everything differently. Many parents don't consider it their obligation to pay for college. His did, and put stipulations on that "scholarship". That is just my opinion on the big picture, being pragmatic.