12/15/12 Watchower Study Edition - Higher Eduction = Thinking in a "complicated" manner

by yourmomma 71 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  NewChapter

  So now Jehovah can undo the damage of higher education?

  I think the story is made up. A well-educated person can certainly communicate on different levels and consider their audience. In fact, that's kind of English 101 stuff, considering your audience. So the vocabulary they will use while writing for their peers will differ from what they will use with the public at large, or what they will use while teaching a class. And if they can't make such adjustments, then one could make a good argument over just how educated they really are.

  That 'abstract' comment is a give away IMO. It sounds less like someone describing themselves, and a great deal more like someone describing someone else because they don't understand them---it's just abstract intellectual speech--- and because they aren't educated enough to follow, I'm sure it sounds that way.

  Anyway, they've also done well in painting a stereotype---the scholar who is so out of touch, they forget their shoes and can't communicate. It's stupid. But then, they are stupid people. Intentionally ignorant. They know that college teaches critical thinking, and they call it independent thinking. They know they are not strong enough to overcome that-----unless they had a way to hold your family as ransom. Hmmmm m

  When I recorded that conversation with JW's sitting at a table at my college, the man actually told me that not believing was not a good enough reason not to go back to the hall. It was astounding.
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  Quendi

  I found the contributions of our friend 00DAD to this thread to be intriguing, to say the least. I wonder what direction public education will take in the United States for at present it is going the wrong way. Critical thinking has long been suppressed among our young people and those teachers who insisted on it were often maligned. Many simply gave up fighting the educrats and left public education.

  One of the biggest problems in the field has been the maddening habit of its leaders to follow fads. One after another has been hailed as “the answer” only to be discarded for another method which was thought to be the better choice. All that has resulted from this has been the steady downward spiral in the quality of education in this country.

  This has been especially true in mathematics, the subject I taught in high school. I demanded rigor and discipline from my students because nothing can be accomplished in the study of mathematics without them. They are also the roots of good critical thinking. I wasn’t a popular teacher in my school, but I quickly developed the reputation of being the teacher who certainly knew what I was talking about and who actually showed a love for the subject. Many of my students told me I was the first competent math teacher they had ever had, something that made me quite unhappy to hear.

  What I learned was that one reason critical thinking isn’t taught is that many teachers and administrators don’t possess this trait themselves. It is no wonder they don’t impart it to their students. Critical thinkers are as unwelcome in public education as they are in fundamentalist religion and for the same reasons. I will be following the developments 00DAD has cited with interest. I am frankly skeptical that the needed reforms in the education of youth and the training of their teachers will occur, if the past is any reliable guide, but I can hope that I’m wrong.

  Quendi
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  MC RubberMallet

  VM44 - Sorry for the confusion. I made up the highlighted portions in red.

  I do not believe the story is completely made up (although I never thought the GB would lie to us also). Because to "spiritual people", nothing else matters but spiritual experiences. One could run like Usain Bolt, be rich like Trump, as intelligent as Rain Man, and have a body like Tyler Perry (record stops). Ok, maybe not like Tyler Perry. But NONE of these matter to "spiritual" dubs. So when people enter the org, they feel the need to make up, or embellish experiences to fit in. So possibly some sister did write this, but of course it was modified by Writing to make it say what they want it to say.

  And no name = no liability. So it could be anyone. Even the sister that did write this may not know they fixed her quote. And even if she did know, it would be ok to be used to serve Jehovah's purpose, even through deception.
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  King Solomon

  MC Mallet said:

  And no name = no liability. So it could be anyone. Even the sister that did write this may not know they fixed her quote. And even if she did know, it would be ok to be used to serve Jehovah's purpose, even through deception.

  Just like people who confuse Fox News for "news" vs. opinion (hmmm, where would they get THAT idea, with "news" being in the name? ), JWs confuse the writers of WT/Awake with those who strive for ethical standards of journalism. Lying in the name of God is the oldest excuse in the book....

  BTW, there was a Questions From Readers a few years ago where the WTBTS issued a mea culpa without apology that the letters are made-up scenarios, or "based" on the types of letters they MIGHT'VE received. They admitted they weren't real, and no doubt self-excused in the name of providing "spiritual food at the right time".
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  Finkelstein

  Just another ploy to demean higher education as a useless endeavor.

  See be simple and intellectually weak, this is much better for us to infuse control over you as we manipulate your thinking

  and speaking for are own perceived benefit.

  Why because Universities have an abundance of knowledge that makes the WTS. knowledge ineptly redundant and ignorant.

  Religions like the JWs are set to control knowledge and subdue critical thinking for there's always the chance that an individual

  may eventually conclude that their expressed knowledge is just simple ignorance, which could potentially invalidate their power

  and control over people.

  Mental manipulation if part of the game of religion, it cultivates power and most religious organizations have no practical use for higher education.

  Well at least if your want to be a lawyer for the WTS. then proceed at will.
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  Finkelstein
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  Finkelstein

  “The simplified Watchtower has proved to be a great help in grasping the language of this country I moved to a month before the issue came out. I never had any exposure to English before this, so I like the simple edition.

  What I think the WTS is trying to pull here is that the WTS. magazines are easy to read and comprehend for someone who doesn't

  have a thorough understanding of English, as well they are boasting that this individual has obtained a higher education.

  What this person is also saying unintentionally is that the information provided doesn't contain articulate in depth knowledge that needs

  higher education to understand it, which is kind of demeaning in itself when you think about it.
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  MC RubberMallet

  That post was a poor attempt at satire. I meant no confusion...
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  skeeter1

  Enter Kingdumb Hall, loose brain.

  Skeeter
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  00DAD

  KingSol: there was a Questions From Readers a few years ago where the WTBTS issued a mea culpa without apology that the letters are made-up scenarios, or "based" on the types of letters they MIGHT'VE received. They admitted they weren't real, and no doubt self-excused in the name of providing "spiritual food at the right time".

  Do you have the reference for that? I'd love to see it.

  I'm surprised that they would actually admit such a thing.