I think that was one of the main "mistakes" my mother made in raising me (she has often asked me where she went wrong)--she had such complete faith in her "faith" that she was not afraid of knowledge.
She taught me how to read before I went to school, taught me the use of dictionaries and encyclopedias and concordances from an early age, and gave me free access to all the older publications (and my family had lots of them--everything from the 1920s on).
These were some interesting tidbits I came across while researching yesterday, if applied to the WTS itself:
Who
Molds Your Thinking?"NO ONE tells me what to think! And no one tells me what to do!" Saying that so emphatically usually means that you have great confidence in yourself and in your own judgment. Is that how you feel? Understandably, no one else should make up your mind for you. But is it wise to reject so quickly what might turn out to be good advice? Can no one at all ever help you to make wise decisions? Anyway, can you really be sure that someone is not, in fact, molding your thinking, without your even being aware of it?
Prior to the second world war, for example, Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, took control of Germany’s film industry. Why? Because he realized that this would give him an extremely powerful weapon with which he could "influence people’s beliefs and hence their behaviour." (Propaganda and the German Cinema 1933-1945) You are probably aware of the chilling effectiveness with which he used this and other means to manipulate ordinary people—normal, rational people—to follow Nazi philosophy blindly.
The fact is that how you think, and hence how you act, is always influenced in some way by the feelings and views of those to whom you listen. This need not be a bad thing, of course. If these are people who have your interests at heart—like teachers, friends, or parents—then you will get great benefit from their counsel and advice. But if they are people who have only their own interests at heart and who are themselves misled or corrupted in their thinking, "deceivers of the mind," as the apostle Paul described them, then beware!—Titus 1:10; Deuteronomy 13:6-8.
Thus, do not become complacent and think that no one could ever influence you. (Compare 1 Corinthians 10:12.) Most likely it is already happening—more frequently than you might care to admit—without your even noticing. Take the simple example of what product you decide to buy when you go shopping. Is that always a purely personal, rational decision? Or do other people, often unseen, subtly but powerfully affect your choice? Investigative journalist Eric Clark thinks they do. "The more we are bombarded by advertising," he says, "the less we notice, and yet, almost certainly, the more we are affected." He also reports that when people are asked how effective they feel advertising is, "most agree that it works, but not on them." People tend to feel that everyone else is vulnerable, but they are not. "Alone, it seems, they are immune."—The Want Makers.
Squeezed
Into Satan’s Mold?Whether you are influenced by everyday advertising may not have serious consequences. There is another influence, however, that is much more dangerous. The Bible clearly shows that Satan is the master manipulator. (Revelation 12:9) His philosophy is basically the same as the thinking of one advertising agent who said that there are two ways to influence customers—"by seducing them or by conditioning them." If propagandists and advertisers can use such subtle techniques to mold your thinking, how much more skilled Satan must be at using similar tactics!—John 8:44....
Know
What Is Going OnIn the main, such insidious forces will influence your thinking only if you let them. In his book The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard made this point: "We still have a strong defence available against such [hidden] persuaders: we can choose not to be persuaded. In virtually all situations we still have the choice, and we cannot be too seriously manipulated if we know what is going on." That is also true of propaganda and deceit.
Of course, to "know what is going on," you must keep your mind open and receptive to good influences. A healthy mind, just as a healthy body, needs to be well nourished if it is going to function properly. (Proverbs 5:1, 2) Lack of information can be just as lethal as misinformation. So while it is true that you need to protect your mind from misleading ideas and philosophies, try not to develop a jaundiced and cynical view of all advice or information offered to you.—1 John 4:1.
Honest persuasion is not the same thing as hidden propaganda. The apostle Paul certainly did warn the young man Timothy to be on the lookout for "wicked men and impostors [who] will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled." But Paul added: "You, however, continue in the things that you learned and were persuaded to believe, knowing from what persons you learned them." (2 Timothy 3:13, 14) Since everything you take into your mind will influence you to some degree, the key is ‘knowing from what persons you learn things,’ to be sure that they are people who have your best interests at heart, not their own....
