this week's wt study

by thedog1 73 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Rattigan350

  I work 4 out of 5 Sundays, not yesterday. I went with my wife. The meeting was hard to stomach. The speaker talked about disfellowshipped family members and not associating with them. Making a good name with God because someone who lived over 4000 years ago, Nimrod, and is perceived as bad, said they were going to make a name for themselves.

  Then the Watchtower was the same propaganda as always. That is all that it is propaganda.

  The New World (coincidentally) Encyclopedia defines propaganda as:

  Appeal to authority

  Argumentum ad nauseam: Uses tireless repetition. An idea once repeated enough times, is taken as the truth. Works best when media sources are limited and controlled by the propagator.

  Appeal to fear: Appeals to fear seek to build support by instilling fear in the general population

  Demonizing the “enemy”: Projecting a person or idea as the "enemy" through suggestion or false accusations.

  And many others. That could a whole thread on this subject.

  My wife has the movie Swing Kids and has seen it many times. I try to use that as reasoning.

  When Christian Bale's character is lured by the Nazi's giving him a motorcycle, and his accepting their propaganda, shows how JWs like to think that

  their getting stuff and going to assemblies is the same way.
• 

  mindnumbed

  Frazzled UBM - "I thought they had gone quiet on Higher Education being bad."

  They had a letter to the elders that defined Higher Education, I believe, as a four year university degree or greater. Community College, where the good JW youth can get some sort of education, perhaps certification or a two year associates degree, while continuing to live at home and keep up with a good spiritual routine, and as long as the motive for getting such education was to support oneself in the ministry, was okay.
• 

  mindnumbed

  "Higher education, with its emphasis on academic study, often produces graduates who have few or no practical skills, leaving them unprepared to deal with the realities of life."

  Playing with words.

  "emphasis on academic study" prepares one to enter a field where they will receive employment and have the means to support themselves and provide a service to others .... "dealing with the realities of life" will be easier to do with a better job and education, realities of life are a fact for everyone, its not the field of study for a degree, they are two completely different things.
• 

  Frazzled UBM

  Thanks mindnumbed - oh and your average Witness can deal with the realities of life so well - my missus would be lost without me to navigate through bureaucracy etc. So apparently the ability to analyse questions rationally, solve problems and communicate clearly are not practical skills - this anti-intellectaul mumbo jumbo is akin to Nazi book burnings and Pol Pot incarcerating teachers and people who wore glasses - the well-educated are dangerous, very dangerous
• 

  Splash

  For anyone wanting to get higher education, just refer to the 1992 WT article for justification and say you didn't know they had changed their minds.
  Or if you have a degree say you got it when the WT left the decision up to us.
  Or say you are hoping to become a lawyer for the WT, since the WT has degree qualified lawyers in its' ranks.
  Ditto for Fund managers, Architects, Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Draughtsmen, Project Managers, Pilots...

  w92 11/1 p. 20 pars. 17-19 Education With a Purpose
  "If Christian parents responsibly decide to provide their children with further education after high school, that is their prerogative."

  Splash
• 

  life is to short

  marked
• 

  KateWild

  thedog1,

  Woweee!!! Lots of responses. How are you doing today? I have read you answer to my question. Excellent answer. Proverbs says we need to be shrewd. You need to decide how to help you student without being hypocritical, wise choice. I agree stopping a study just like that is not simple and will not prevent harm.

  Many on here have good advice how to wind down a study, and what to study form now on. How to teach critical thinking skills without giving the game away. So as Prov also says don't act in haste. Research, think deeply and come up with a good strategy.

  The emeded youtube might help you with your decisions. It's an interview with Ray Franz and others about the generation doctrine and 1914/607 amongst other things. Its a hour you might have to come back and watch it another day. Love Sam xx

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k0g7jL7Ums
• 

  Oubliette

  Kate, did you use disappearing ink?
• 

  JW GoneBad

  Par 14 is another example of how WT s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s the scriptures to suit their purposes. The word education and educated are mentioned 4 times in this paragraph. The paragraph reads as follows:

  ‘Consider the case of the apostle Paul. He was educated at the feet of the Jewish Law teacher Gamaliel. The education Paul received can be compared with that of a university education today. But how did Paul view this when compared with his privilege of slaving for God and Christ? He wrote: “I . . . consider all things to be loss on account of the excelling value of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Then he added: “On account of him I have taken the loss of all things and I consider them as a lot of refuse, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8) That assessment helps young Christians and their God-fearing parents to make a wise choice when it comes to education.’

  When he mentions the words ‘loss’ and ‘refuse’ did the apostle Paul mean he regretted his ‘higher education’? No! Does he mention his education at all in these verses in Phil 3:4-8? No! Does Paul in any way discourage higher learning in these verses? No!

  Does he lament over any of his other accomplishments in life in these verses? No, only that they all take a back seat to his love of Jesus Christ.

  No doubt, if he had his life to live over again the only thing Paul would change would be the ugly side to his personality that caused him to persecute innocent people.

  So as with too many other doctrinal teachings, WT inflates the intent of these verses in Philippians to cause the rank and file to believe that pursuing higher education is scripturally unwise.
• 

  baldeagle

  This Watchtower study was indeed a more heavy-handed, strict & clear attack on higher education.

  It would appear the constant onslaught & demonizing of higher education at assemblies, weekly congregation book study, CO’s visits is not getting through to the rank-and-file. Everywhere reports are heard of young adults in the organization that are not buying into this crap anymore.

  There appears to be a critical shortage of future pioneers and men reaching out in the congregation. In my area we have exhausted the list of qualified CO’s available and are left with using some bottom of the barrel substitutes out of desperation.

  This WT study without any doubt clearly linked the pursuing of higher education as slaving not for God but for the Devil.

  Par. 11: “Satan promotes the idea that a career in his world will satisfy a person, but Christians should take into account the importance of satisfying their spiritual need…Dedicated Christians live for God’s will, not Satan’s… However, many of today’s educational courses allow little time for a servant of Jehovah to meditate and to satisfy his spiritual need.

  Par. 12: “Today, in many lands, schooling is mandatory up to a certain age. Then students are offered a choice. Continuing one’s education to promote a career in this world could curtail one’s freedom to pursue full-time service.”

  Par. 17 We have the usual WTS poster boy experience. (Real or not??)

  Consider the example of Michael. He did so well in school that his teachers invited him to a meeting to discuss his prospects of going to a university. To their surprise, Michael opted instead to take a short vocational course that soon enabled him to support himself as a regular pioneer. Does he feel that he has somehow missed out? “The theocratic education I have received as a pioneer—and now as an elder in the congregation—has been invaluable,” he relates. “The blessings and privileges I enjoy far outweigh any money I might have earned. I am really glad that I chose not to pursue higher education.” [Of course you are Michael]

  Another snippet in this study going back to Par. 7: “The desire to be materially prosperous pervades the world. Satan encourages the belief that money equals happiness. Superstores abound. Advertising promotes a lifestyle focused on possessions and leisure. Travel agencies offer trips to exotic destinations, often in the company of people with a worldly outlook. Yes, all around us the appeal is to “better” ourselves—but always according to the world’s standards.

  Am I missing something about the comment regarding, “trips to exotic destinations, often in the company of people with a worldly outlook.”

  All the vacations I took around the world to exotic destinations was always in the company of “worldly people.” From the time I took a taxi to the airport till my exotic trip ended I was surrounded by non-JW’s. During this time I was an elder for all these very expensive holidays & my wife was a regular pioneer. But eventually I too learned TTATT. Thank God I was a public servant with a lucrative pension plan with benefits for life. You see I never put all my eggs in the WT basket!!