JW/Bethel -- sending brothers to be educated?

by Mysterious 1 Replies latest jw friends

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  Mysterious

  Does anyone remember an emphasis being given that smart brothers that were sent to Bethel were being educated at the society's expense to become lawyers and such? Does anyone know if they were required to agree to a certain number of years of legal service for them in exchange for this?

  I'm also curious as to whether they used only brothers. I would imagine so based on the nature of the organization but my mother always tried to encourage me to go to Bethel and perhaps they would use me for such a task since I had ambitions to that nature. Certainly women are commonplace enough in law these days, but JWs would see defending the organization as a theocratic privilege Im sure. After all we can't even carry microphones though the only biblical prohibition was against women teaching in the congregation.
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  VM44

  I don't know if lawyers whose education was paid for by The Watchtower have to commit to remain for a certain number of years after they pass the bar, but it would seem to be a reasonable request.

  Here is a couple who worked at Bethel and wrote about their experience,

  Testimony of Nils and Sherry Jansma

  http://www.exjws.net/pioneers/jansma.htm

  Here is something they said that is very interesting

  As Nils was expected to do more and more engineering work on the new factory building, the Society allowed him to enroll in night school at the Brooklyn Polytechnical University to get the education he needed. One thing we learned very quickly at Bethel was to “never demonstrate your deficiency,” as one wise family member put it. Consequently, we never admitted that we couldn’t do a particular job. Rather, we volunteered with self-assured enthusiasm for any interesting assignment and then acquired the needed skills along the way. Obviously, getting an education was not unscriptural—getting an education without the approval of the organization was the problem.

  --VM44