Fallout From GB Anti-College Letter – This Will Cause Problems!

by Seeker4 179 Replies latest members private

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  Farkel

  :Already I'm hearing about brothers who are stepping down

  Actually, one can put a positive spin on this whole thing. When I was a young up-and-comer it was expected that guys would do their 4 years in BethHELL. Although I was a pioneer, MS, and the rest, giving 4 years of my life pushing a broom at Headquarters was the last thing on my mind. Part of the reason I got married at 19 (#1 was the sex, of course) was that if I did, I wouldn't have to serve at BethHELL and wouldn't be criticized for not doing so.

  For those doubting elders with children who are nearing college age, this could be a golden parachute. They could step down and have as the reason their conscience just won't allow them to short circuit their children's future by discouraging college. They are then free of that obligation, and could make plans for the slow fade, and their children would be given a much better opportunity in life.

  Finally, if the WTS is so down on College, why do they take their brightest youths in Bethel and PAY for them to go to college and then law school? Now, we know the real reason, but how can they justify that sort of hypocrisy?

  Farkel
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  isaacaustin

  Sir82....

  Per seeker4:

  Elders can lose their freedom of speech by allowing their children to go to college. If an elder allows their son or daughter to go to college without first trying to talk them out of it, and actually encourages them, the elder could lose privileges of service.
  
  If however the kid goes to a two year college and the elder doesn't make a big deal of it then it's ok.

  What does the elders have to try to talk his child out of? Going to a 4 yr school? Or going to college to get ahead? Members were always discouraged from going to school to get ahead. S4 verified going to a 2 yr school is fine as long as not flaunted. I really don't see much different here. It seems to me that, like everything else, the GB has left this a bit muddy so they can say "We never said don't go to college...we simply said to keep the kingdom first..." but they have intentionally put it to the COs and hope for the hardliners to apply this more stringently. The GB would always say that they advocate balance but some particular elders went beyond.
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  frankiespeakin

  I have the feeling that the shit will hit the fan when they actually start removing brother from position over the college issue. The letter will definately cause a stir,, but implimentation of this policy will have the more serious outcome.

  Lets hope the GB is old, cranky, and senile enough to keep this policy in force so that a good number of brothers lose thier priviledges,, because thier is where the sleeping giant is IMO.

  I'm sure that the GB discussed the possible side effects of such a letter,, and are willing to take the loss of an estimated number of ms & elders and have come to the conclusion that the gains for the organization would out way the losses. If this plays out long enough and with enough rigidity and severity the damage or repercusions will be severe. Let's hope these old farts are stupid enough to go the distance,,much to the organizations great loss.
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  BizzyBee

  Reading this letter to the congos will be like a cookie crumb dropped into an ant colony - for awhile the drones will be bumping into each other in a frenzy: "Is the sky falling? What is this? How does it taste? How far can we carry it? What do we do with it?"

  As long as it remains this vague (read verbal), somehow it will be absorbed into the existing congo culture and basically ignored insofar as taking any action. They will have to get a lot heavier-handed to really shake things up. The GB will have go to the next level - serious ENFORCEMENT - with clear directives, rules and consequences, put in writing using words a 4th grader could understand. Okay, 2nd grader. That means empowering nice elder Brother Get-Along to act as a a gestapo (even moreso than usual) against his fellow elders.

  Undoubtedly, a very interesting development.
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  Seeker4

  I wouldn't have started this thread if I didn't have a verification that I absolutely trust.
  
  Isaacaustin: I understand what you're saying, but I have to agree with Sir82 that this is considerably more hardline than the previous approach. I mean, just look at how it's being done - a letter from the GB that is being read to the BOE. If this was the same old policy, why not just review the available literature? I also know that with some COs at least, they are not allowing any discussion of this. It is being presented as GB policy and not to be questioned. Whether that is just certain COs, or the general approach, I think we'll find out as more BOEs hear the letter and some elders report back to us here.
  
  No, this is something different, for sure. The WTS is taking a definite anti-higher education stance. The Timothy drama, this year's John drama, the talks and the articles - the WTS is running scared.
  
  LadyZ had a good point at how subjective this info is. There will be a huge difference in how this is applied between liberal elders and hardliners. I can remember sitting in with a CO and a few elders from the district in helping to set up recommendations for DC speakers. One elder was really opposed to using one elder cause his son was going to college. The CO, to his credit, stomped on that one hard, but there was an obvious difference among the elders gathered there as to how this was to be viewed.
  
  One elder at that meeting said it well, "Hey, not all kids are cut out to sweep floors or drive nails."
  
  I also agree that this will probably continue to be pushed during the CO visits, and not just be read and filed. When you start seeing elders removed, or brothers moving from a hardline to a more liberal congregation over this, you'll be seeing this fallout spreading.
  
  S4
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  james_woods

  There is a distinct possibility that the old time honored rule of "selective enforcement" will apply to this: I illustrate -

  Brother XJoeBlow (amost a good elder, but you do still have that bass boat) - well, your out.

  Judah Ben Schroeder - we are so glad that the almighty Jehoverah has blessed you with your trophy wife, car company, law degree, and now you are the new Freddy Franz (practically our new Rhodes Scholar). Your education will set God's people forward in the next retranslation of the Hebrew and Greek fragments of the scriptures....blah blah blah...
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  TheListener

  I could see many elders or servants doing a step-aside for 4 years and then getting re-appointed.

  I don't think the elders and ministerial servants will leave the organization over this, they'll just step aside and wait out their kids college years before being reappointed.

  Much like elders and servants who step aside when their child gets disfellowshipped (while living at home) and get reappointed at a later date. They don't stop believing the just stop serving - temporarily.
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  Seeker4

  Can anyone tell us if this is being read by all the COs, or is it just in the US? What are you Brits and Aussies hearing?
  
  I know the chances of getting a copy are slim, but a copy in any language would help, and the broader our pool of potentially POed COs who might leak the letter the better.
  
  I've got some connections at AP, and would love to have the world know that JWs threaten their congregational leaders with removal if they don't discourage their kids from going to college.
  
  There is a very obvious reason this letter is only in the hands of COs. The WTS KNOWS how damaging this would be to their image if it was made public.
  
  S4
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  isaacaustin

  I agree this is a bit harsher but....I take from it that one holding a position will not be deleted if he or his children go to college to support themselves for full-time ministry. The threat of deletion is a new thing.
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  OUTLAW

  Will the GB strictly enforce this,no matter what the out come?..Dam straight they will!.....These guys don`t give a rats ass about your average JW..They want blind obedience.....If they loose a high percentage of the JW`s,so what..When have they ever cared about that..Many left after 1975,more after the Generation Change,then more after the U.N.scandal............Think of how many JW`s were murdered in Mallowi because of a stupid GB decision..GB didn`t care,it was good advertising..JW`s are being persecuted,we must be Gods only organization!.............When JW`s leave over this newest GB Idiocy..It will be a cleansing of Gods organization..They were never real JW`s anyway................And..The insanity of the WBT$ goes on,like nothing happened.....As it always does...........................OUTLAW