"MARKED" as undesireable association because of college

by LexWatson 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  compound complex

  Greetings and welcome Lex,

  I am in agreement with you and Lady Lee regarding the pursuit of education REGARDLESS of others' reaction. I stated in a post this morning that I was off to a housecleaning job. Did it for 30 years as elder/pioneer and everything else in between. The catch is, five years ago I gave it up "for good." Right.
  I'll say it again - and again - as necessary. I quit college [paid through scholarships and federal grants] to get baptized, pioneer and go to Bethel. All that was an experience - many good times. But no thought of what lay ahead: my stark reality - no degree. I do whatever I can to get by, mostly teach piano, but only privately. It pays the rent - barely. I tell all my students and their parents, INCLUDING JWs, develop your talents and pursue your education. An assembly speaker once said that those who are concerned about their work and retirement show a "lamentable lack of faith." Would you, brother, like to now assist all of us living on the edge of poverty, still awaiting that new system? Mary has made comments on this matter re: her own family.
  The example of Ed Dunlap and Ray Franz, having to start over after expulsion from Bethel, spurs me on. Some young JWs have followed my advice and are getting further education, planning careers, etc. Oh, sometimes we talk about "spiritual matters."

  Coco
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  Crumpet

  What field of work have you gone into Lex - or are you still studying? Success is the best revenge!
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  KAYTEE

  The organisation have always frowned on higher education, as you say the majority end up as window cleaners (not that I have any thing against window cleaners), but didn’t Jesus himself learn carpentry?

  Where would the society themselves be now if everyone was window cleaners, are there not highly educated people in the org, how could they achieve what they have if they did not have a broad range of skills.

  Wasn’t ONLY skilled men used to manufacture the Ark of the covenant !!

  Wasn’t the apostle Paul a skilled craftsman!!

  There has been too many witnesses failed to meet their marriage responsibilities later in life because of not pursuing a career.

  KT
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  Dansk

  Hypocrites!! Watchtower frowns on its members pursuing higher education yet surrounds itself with a legal team of educated JWs! Where do they think they got their law degrees?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hypocrites!!

  Ian
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  SirNose586

  In an earlier thread, I detailed how I gave a Bible Highlights that said that Paul and Daniel were well benefited from their higher education. You could've heard, as the cliché goes, a pin drop in the hall. Before I gave that talk, I had never gotten such rapt attention from the audience.

  After the meeting, no one congratulated me on a job well done, like they normally do after every little part I give from the stage. No one criticized me either.

  It was great. Mission accomplished.
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  MidwichCuckoo

  There's an increasing number of Dubs taking advantage of Professional services though - especially (I've noticed) Psychologists, lol.
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  FairMind

  This thing about higher education seems (at least to me) to have been a bigger issue in the past than it is now. I know that back in the late 80's I was blasted from the platform (again no name used) for espousing the demonic propaganda of higher education. However, nowadays many JW young people in my locality openly go to college and are not ostracized in anyway.
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  blondie

  Fairmind, that is true, in some areas this is not applied as severely as others. I have noticed in congregations where there are quite a number of people who have degrees (perhaps came in when adults) or live in a university town where many people have degrees, JW children can live at home with their parents and go to college, and where they have first hand knowledge of the university environment, JW children can go to college, especially if they arrange their schedule to aux pio as well.

  But in more rural areas and where the educational level of the congregation and the community is not university level, education beyond HS is strongly discouraged.

  So it is hard to judge another person's experience or area without having lived there.

  Blondie
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  SirNose586

  Fairmind, that is true, in some areas this is not applied as severely as others. I have noticed in congregations where there are quite a number of people who have degrees (perhaps came in when adults) or live in a university town where many people have degrees, JW children can live at home with their parents and go to college, and where they have first hand knowledge of the university environment, JW children can go to college, especially if they arrange their schedule to aux pio as well.

  But in more rural areas and where the educational level of the congregation and the community is not university level, education beyond HS is strongly discouraged.

  So it is hard to judge another person's experience or area without having lived there.

  Blondie

  This is true. A couple young people in the hall (one married and left) went to the local traditional university (when you step out of the hall, you can see part of the campus, which rests on the edge of a canyon). To my knowledge, they were never criticized for their actions. However, talking about said higher education is a strict no-no. If a young person said they wanted to get ouf of HS and then go to a university, they'd probably be lectured... But yeah, some areas are definitely friendlier about kids going to university.
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  LeslieV

  I hate to say good that you are marked, but in some way they will let you go on with your life without being DF'd. Marked is a good way out..keep up your education it is important for you.

  Leslie