by jetery 23 Replies latest jw friends
I graduated in 1987 and didn't go to college either after high school. yes they do look down on it, but who cares go back to school. There maybe programs availabel to you as a single mom. and there are always Pell Grants. Which you don't have to pay back.
I am 38 and I will be going to college this year. The jw's can take their little 'ol opinion and shove it.
My high school teachers were probably very frustrated with me. I always did really well, but never planned on going to college, so I never really applied myself. I never took the SATs (of course!), which I think surprised both my teachers and my classmates. I got out of school early, and one of my teachers (a witness) tried to discourage me. Actually, he said if I were a boy, he would really, really discourage it implying that I would need a "real" high school diploma to support a family. Anyway, fast forward a couple short years, and I realized I needed to get some higher education just to be open up some doors. Long story short, it took about eight years, but I ended up with a Master's degree. I think getting an education was the best thing I ever did for myself.
I have to think that the WT does discourage higher education for the obvious reason (bad association), but also because of the training to use your brain. They say that reading the magazines and other literature is the same as getting a college education, but it is not! You are discouraged from critical thinking in the organization, and college ENCOURAGES it.
They say that reading the magazines and other literature is the same as getting a college education,
Yeah, and I used to believe that BS too.
I figures I gon ta collage fa meny yeers from all them there Brain-WashTowers and Awhack magazines I red and I wuz reely edjucated.
Now I know better.... On the day I turn 38 I will be on my last day of college (2 more weeks).
So Jetery, its not too late. You can get financial aid that will pay fo much of it. And you can do much of it online. I'm studying at www.cuny.edu/online.
Take care, and hit the books. You can do it.
From the horse's mouth:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7R4f9ygxDbk
The question is asked: why not follow the example of some witness pioneers who have gone through college?
The analogy used to explain was: There was a person who had a speach impediment. He was very depressed and decided he would commit suicide. So he shot himself in the head, but he lived. The bullet grazed the part of his brain that was responsible for his speach impediment and when he recovered from the injury he was fully recovered and he no longer had the speach impediment. BUT would you recommend the same course of action to someone else? Certainly not. The speaker then says: Likewise just because one brother was able to get through college and then be a pioneer, would you recommend the same course of action to someone else? No.
Anyway, I watched this video with my mouth hanging open. If I hadn't been a JW at one time I wouldn't have been able to believe this type of reasoning.
"Moxie"
I know EXACTLY how you feel. I struggled for years when I first got out of high school- and I was an honor student. Thank God I went back to school anyway. What I do isn't my dream job but I've damn sure had worse jobs that paid way less. I just wish I could have gone to school for what I really like- and by God I may go back and do it too!
I have a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering. I recently have been talking to my dad, who disassociated himself a few years after I left for colege, that his supporting my going to college was one thing he was criticized/counciled about.
I'm astonished, because I never heard a peep of it. My dad is truly a great man that I admire immensly. I'm sure his torment by this organization far exceeded my own. I was never pressured by my dad. He was a real believer, but I believe he knows in his heart that any such choice can only be my own.
I don't have a fricken clue why they discourage college, but they have and will continue to do so. I was set to go to college in 1977 enrolled and quit. What a sucky life choice that was! I got babtized in 1978. I was a moron. I did'nt give up though. When I was 37 I went to college a recieved a degree. No help or encouragement from the congregation. After I got the degree I had to give up janitorial work.....and take a real job. I don't waste any money or time now for the publishing company called the Watchtower. I actually have a few missing teeth I could'nt afford to fix on janitors wages. Those spaces in my mouth remind me of a piss poor life of being a Witness and salesperson for a publishing company. Go to college. It's not too late.
Additionally, they want you to remain permanently dependent on the witlesses to survive. If you go to college and get a decent job, and later leave, you are not likely to have your whole life in disarray following leaving the Tower of Terror. However, if you are working for witlesses and leave, your job will probably be gone as well.
I can't understand why the JW's don't send their young pioneers to preach at the university campuses. They could just set up stands or hand out free mags or brochures or something. A lot of those impressionable young spiritually starved students would just gobble it up!
