Yes, we could have been born in an alley in Calcutta or with the physical deformities associated with thalidomide. Instead, we were born into or introduced to a repressive, American, religious cult, that shielded us from the warmongering game of chess, the militaristic boy scouts, fornication-inducing sock hops, the Twist, as well as the Hokey Pokey. We heeded the warnings, avoiding the greedy self-worship associated with masturbation, decadent rock 'n roll and anything preceded by the word "extra-curricular."
Without exaggeration, we, the 50's, 60's, boomer and pre-boomer, non-flag saluting Witness kids grew up with limited social skills, awkward even when politely asked about our strange beliefs. Teachers and school counselors, were, for the most part, puzzled, but respectful, concerned about why we were so obviously, willingly, sabotaging our future, eschewing anything associated with "higher education," little know-it-alls that smugly knew the future so precisely we spoke about it in months, not years.
When, I tried to use my religion as an excuse for not being normal, my sixth grade non-JW friend, Dennis Kuder, said: "We all have our own little holies."
Six years later, an exasperated school counselor asked: "Why doesn't a minister or even a missionary need an education?"
Ironically, many of us, still teenagers, uneducated, but "ministers" with a Selective Service 4D classification to prove it, found ourselves "teaching" in the congregation, especially as pioneers "where the need, not greed, was great." My first big job was that of Theocratic Ministry School Servant. Betwixt and between the "Qualified to Be Ministers" book and the non-yet-released TMS guidebook, we relied on a series of Kingdom Ministry inserts with the new "counseling" points for TMS gurus. Like many young men and women from that era, I actually studied and restudied that shit, memorizing all of it, assimilating all of it, and, admittedly, use the skills to this very day. All of us acquired an undeniable skill set we need not unlearn. I list below just a few.
CONDENSATION: Write out a six minute talk. Now, condense it to a single paragraph, retaining ALL of the main points. Now, try putting all of that into a single sentence. It can be done. A useful skill? Yes, if you're suddenly forced to share your belief or viewpoint or idea in a greatly reduced amount of time.
ESTABLISHING COMMON GROUND: You have SOMETHING in common with everyone else on planet earth, whether a Satanist, nudist, KKK Grand Dragon, pope or ax murderer. Can you figure out what that is?
AUDIENCE CONTACT, USE OF NOTES: We learned that it wasn't a rhythmic scanning of the audience, but speaking to one person for a moment or two, then moving on to another and another. Bill Clinton eventually mastered this "fireside chat" technique. It is the most effective(in my view) form of public speaking. I recently spoke to the University of Texas Board of Regents in this manner, shaming them, reasoning with them about this ultra-rich university system taking control of a much-needed public park in the poorest city in the United States.
This is a small sample of the tiny bit of, yes, "education," we did receive from the WTBS. No, reading the Watchtower and Awake! was no replacement for an actual education. That's total foolishness.