"What about the middle aged elder who didn't go to college because the end was coming, and now has a crappy job and struggles to survive? Do you think he might see past "the end" and insist that his children at least be equipped to support a family?"
Exactly. Education is a big thing for most families - we all know how we struggled financially because of not enough education. Here is an area where a lot of JWs will and are rebelling. That's why I think this hardline approach is important. As issacaustin has argued, they already had a strong anti-ed policy. But to make that even stiffer, and to make it such a much bigger issue where it is likely to be something every body of elders will have to deal with, well, I only see this as counter-productive as far as the WTS is concerned.
S4
Fallout From GB Anti-College Letter This Will Cause Problems!
by Seeker4 179 Replies latest members private
-
Seeker4
-
changeling
I'll back S4 on this one. The elder I spoke to is 100% reliable (http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/159963/1.ashx). While he did not see the letter, that's propbably the case of most elders. This letter was for the CO to discuss with the BOE's. If you have a liberal CO he may show it to the elders, if your CO is uptight, then probably not. But the message stands: the WT is turning against higher education in a bold and calculated way. They have drawn the line in the sand.
S4, I'm with you in the angry dept. This is outrageous! If I were still in, this would have pushed me over the edge. I have no doubt that this will have a huge impact on many witnesess. Your idea of telling everyone we know about how the WT condemns higher education is a sound one. Rational people will not take this lightly. It may very well prevent people who may be interested in JW's from commiting to them. That's a good thing.
changeling :)
-
SPAZnik
Ah, yes, the great power of groupthink.
-
Layla33
believe that the organizational leadership only wants educated people at their headquarters to serve organizational interests (i.e. lawyers, accountants, engineers, etc.) They simply have no use for educated rank and file members. They need to have a membership that is easy to manipulate with its sophistry, rhetoric, and demagoguery.
Very well put! That is exactly what they are doing, it's cult indoctrination and control. It has been used through out the world, deny people basic education and dumb them down, thereby exerting control.
-
Awakened at Gilead
I just graduated from college yesterday.. so I definitely feel that college changes your thinking and helps question the authority of the big bad WTS.
Trouble is most JWs will accept blindly what the WTS says like the gospel truth. I don't see where the Bible says that 2 years is OK and 4 years is wrong.
I now have a BA. And I see the WTS for what it is.
A@G
-
Layla33
I just graduated from college yesterday.. so I definitely feel that college changes your thinking and helps question the authority of the big bad WTS.
Trouble is most JWs will accept blindly what the WTS says like the gospel truth. I don't see where the Bible says that 2 years is OK and 4 years is wrong.
I now have a BA. And I see the WTS for what it is.
A@G
Congratulations, Awakened. The world is yours!
-
TJ - iAmCleared2Land
OTWO said: I doubt we will get a letter scan unless a C.O. provides it. It is read to the elders and not given to them.
Unless a daring soul snags his briefcase and walks out of the hall with it. ;-) Or plants a VOX MP3 recorder in the hall the night before the elder's meeting with the CO. I bet an MP3 of this, with the accompanying discussion and tone of voice, would be more damaging than just the outline itself.
-
BreakingAway
One of the most effective ways to defeat the enemy is via attrition and the dumbass Society is doing it to themselves ! Woohoo and Good Riddance !
-
Honesty
Some JW's think this is the Greatest because it confirms in their minds that the end is soooo close now:
http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20305
-
still_in74
I suspect even more outrageous stuff, directed at both the congregations and the BOE, is coming down the pike. I think they would prefer to have 4 or 5 million totally devoted followers, and cast off the several million who are in it for social or family reasons. This would reduce their expenses even more, but they would still have the glory and the power.
apostates, drifters, those in for family, "spiritual weak" - they/we dont donate any money anyway.
2 million less non-donators means 5000+ less Kingdom Halls. Since a dissolved congregation means the KH becomes the property of the WTS they could sell thousands of KH's.
Hundreds of CO's not needed, dozens of DO's, maybe a bethel branch or 2. Millions of mags not printed (we just throw our service copies out anyway)It might be a stretch to assume this but "sifting" out a couple million reprobates would certainly improve the WTS coffers. It would also be a complete reversal in the seemingly obvious stance of the WTS to continually "cook the books" - make the numbers look better than they are. ie: 15 minutes for oldies, 3 paragraphs = bible study, more family studies, etc.