Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Hmm, I find it bizarre that you view education and expanding one's knowledge as materialistic things.Oh dear, again you base your assessment on half a story. One of the main reasons why JW parents discourage some forms of higher education is because we do not see money and earning capacity as a measure of success in life, especially in this 'dog eat dog' world. We see materialism as a source of misery, never satiated, always demanding more in the mistaken notion that "things" make you happy. If you aren't happy, it's because you don't have enough 'things'....or we need the latest 'thing'....buy more. The more materialistic humans become, the more dissatisfaction and unhappiness they experience. Open your eyes.
We have entirely different ideas about what makes a person successful in life. We do not discourage the kind of education that will help us earn a living...we just do not see the point of morally endangering our young ones in the lifestyle that college or university students engage in. It is a culture of drinking, drugs and immorality. We would not put our children in a literal snake pit, nor would we encourage our children to go into a moral snake pit.
There are other ways to gain an education and skills for a job without doing that.
In Australia, a university education does not guarantee anyone a job. When they complete their degree but can't find employment in their chosen field, if they apply for other jobs, they get rejected as "overqualified".....higher education is over emphasized and unnecessary in our opinion. We live quite well without it. There are many in our ranks who have qualifications in many fields, (doctors, scientists, engineers etc.) which were gained before they became JW's. They confirm what we already know.
We have very successful families because parents are not always slaves to their work, leaving their kids unattended at home exposed to all the dangers of the internet with no safeguards. Moral danger is every bit as important as physical danger.
Families are disintegrating because communication is totally stifled due to the way people talk to each other now. Social media is a substitute for real conversation. Who are "friends" these days?
We live in a 'throwaway' society and families are no longer the safe haven they once were because marriage is also 'throwaway'. How many kids today are raised by the people who created them?
What happened to discipline? What happens to kids without it?
Once communication has broken down, it is so difficult to break through that barrier. We try not to let that barrier form in the first place. Kids don't need more things....they need parents as guides and people who love them enough to want to protect them in an open and loving family environment.
What is wrong with that?
With apologies to the OP for the derailment. 
You missed @Deeje ’s entire point. Isn’t “higher” education designed to give most people better reasoning skills? And then, to inflate it into a straw man...wow.
"Wow" indeed. Enlighten me, then.
So, there we have it, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is "ignorant", apparently, to say that discouraging learning is a despicable thing to do. There seems to be a certain delicious irony in the choice of "ignorant" in such a context.I don't know why this thread became a beat-up on JW's, but I will direct this post to all the whiners here who think they know more about us than than they actually do....
I came to ponder the word "ideology" and its meaning.....
"IDEOLOGY....."Very often ideology refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture. ... Our English noun is from French idéologie. The suffix –logy, used with many English words describing theories or doctrines, is from Greek logos "word, reason, speech, account."
ideology - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com
ideology Synonyms
credo, creed, doctrine, dogma, gospel, philosophy, testament
This is interesting to the discussion of this thread because it has become a witch hunt on Jehovah's Witnesses by those who hold a completely different "ideology". By your statements here it is clear that you want to push your ideology onto us more than we want to push ours on you.
If you believe that the majority of kids go to university to "expand their minds", you are dreaming. Higher education, despite your attempt to make it sound more noble, is to attain "success in life" with a well paid career. It is assumed that becoming part of this 'dog eat dog' world will satiate the human desire for wealth, position and the ability to engage in rampant materialism...in the mistaken notion that this results in happiness. I think it is clear that it achieves the exact opposite.
What makes you people think that young ones immersing themselves in the cesspit of immorality in this world is equivalent to getting 'more out of life'? We get a lot more out of life, with way less stress and unwanted consequences than those who constantly have to worry about climbing the corporate ladder whilst watching their kids self-destruct on drugs and alcohol or destructive relationships. I'm sorry, but we don't want our kids to have to experience that kind of life. As I mentioned before...we don't have to eat garbage to know it makes you sick.
Oh please....nothing I say will be coherent to any of you. Your mind set will not permit any kind of restraint on any line of reasoning or activity. There is no moral restraint in your belief system if you subscribe to atheism. (I am not sure what you subscribe to)
Morality was originally set by the Bible. The laws of the land were originally built on the laws of the Bible.
We prefer to keep those laws, even though the world is gradually discarding them. How is it preferable to subscribe to no restraint? Do you like being on the receiving end of people who have no thought about how their conduct impacts on themselves or others? Do you enjoy watching kids high on drugs or drunk out of their brains carrying on like 5 year olds? A college campus is no place for people with principles. We prefer to gain our 'education' in other ways.
Good grief! Deep fear? What is there to fear from those who understand what self control means? How is living with the knowledge of how our actions affect others, a bad thing? When was the last time you saw Jehovah's Witnesses in jails for committing murder, rape, or terrorism? If everyone was like us, there would be no need for a police force. No one would be high on drugs or under the influence of alcohol. Ponder that expression...."under the influence", because we are all 'under the influence' of others in some way. Kids in college have a great many pressures to conform in negative ways.
Making mistakes and learning from them can be a good teacher....but in the words of a song from the 90's..."some mistakes are built to last". What is the point of all that freedom if it results in the loss of your life or the loss of physical and mental abilities? For those with no hope of any future life, that's it....there are no second chances. We can't go back and undo those mistakes. Isn't it better to avoid them if we can?
I strongly disagree with the premise you present here. Any parent who loves their children will do all in their power to protect them. That involves teaching them right from wrong and the consequences of their actions. We do not discourage our children from exploring their potential or from expanding their minds. We encourage them to have what we consider to be better goals. That is not success in this world, but in living this life in a way that results in no regrets and no harm to others. Why are we such a threat you you people?
What an ignorant thing to say. What is "despicable" to us is the abandonment of children who are sacrificed on the alter of materialism. Kids don't need more toys...they need parents. They need moral guidance and discipline in a world where the Internet supplies the kind of knowledge and imagery that no child should be able to access. I don't know what bubble you live in, but IMO you have bigger blinkers on than you think we do.
So, there we have it, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is "ignorant", apparently, to say that discouraging learning is a despicable thing to do. There seems to be a certain delicious irony in the choice of "ignorant" in such a context.
Tell you what: I shall be a lot less polite and understanding towards the next Jehovah's Witnesses that ring my front door bell. This conversation has been a real eye-opener.
Good grief!
It was ignorant to suggest that this is what we do.....
No. It is perfectly plain, from your depiction of university life as a hotbed of vice and your other remarks casting doubt on the value of higher eduction, that this is exactly what JWs do.Good grief!
Hmm, I find it bizarre that you view education and expanding one's knowledge as materialistic things.
Probably because there's a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses here trying to beat up on science.
This whole post is just so bizarre ... Have you ever even been on a college campus?I don't know why this thread became a beat-up on JW's, but I will direct this post to all the whiners here who think they know more about us than than they actually do....
I came to ponder the word "ideology" and its meaning.....
"IDEOLOGY....."Very often ideology refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture. ... Our English noun is from French idéologie. The suffix –logy, used with many English words describing theories or doctrines, is from Greek logos "word, reason, speech, account."
ideology - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com
ideology Synonyms
credo, creed, doctrine, dogma, gospel, philosophy, testament
This is interesting to the discussion of this thread because it has become a witch hunt on Jehovah's Witnesses by those who hold a completely different "ideology". By your statements here it is clear that you want to push your ideology onto us more than we want to push ours on you.
If you believe that the majority of kids go to university to "expand their minds", you are dreaming. Higher education, despite your attempt to make it sound more noble, is to attain "success in life" with a well paid career. It is assumed that becoming part of this 'dog eat dog' world will satiate the human desire for wealth, position and the ability to engage in rampant materialism...in the mistaken notion that this results in happiness. I think it is clear that it achieves the exact opposite.
What makes you people think that young ones immersing themselves in the cesspit of immorality in this world is equivalent to getting 'more out of life'? We get a lot more out of life, with way less stress and unwanted consequences than those who constantly have to worry about climbing the corporate ladder whilst watching their kids self-destruct on drugs and alcohol or destructive relationships. I'm sorry, but we don't want our kids to have to experience that kind of life. As I mentioned before...we don't have to eat garbage to know it makes you sick.
Oh please....nothing I say will be coherent to any of you. Your mind set will not permit any kind of restraint on any line of reasoning or activity. There is no moral restraint in your belief system if you subscribe to atheism. (I am not sure what you subscribe to)
Morality was originally set by the Bible. The laws of the land were originally built on the laws of the Bible.
We prefer to keep those laws, even though the world is gradually discarding them. How is it preferable to subscribe to no restraint? Do you like being on the receiving end of people who have no thought about how their conduct impacts on themselves or others? Do you enjoy watching kids high on drugs or drunk out of their brains carrying on like 5 year olds? A college campus is no place for people with principles. We prefer to gain our 'education' in other ways.
Good grief! Deep fear? What is there to fear from those who understand what self control means? How is living with the knowledge of how our actions affect others, a bad thing? When was the last time you saw Jehovah's Witnesses in jails for committing murder, rape, or terrorism? If everyone was like us, there would be no need for a police force. No one would be high on drugs or under the influence of alcohol. Ponder that expression...."under the influence", because we are all 'under the influence' of others in some way. Kids in college have a great many pressures to conform in negative ways.
Making mistakes and learning from them can be a good teacher....but in the words of a song from the 90's..."some mistakes are built to last". What is the point of all that freedom if it results in the loss of your life or the loss of physical and mental abilities? For those with no hope of any future life, that's it....there are no second chances. We can't go back and undo those mistakes. Isn't it better to avoid them if we can?
I strongly disagree with the premise you present here. Any parent who loves their children will do all in their power to protect them. That involves teaching them right from wrong and the consequences of their actions. We do not discourage our children from exploring their potential or from expanding their minds. We encourage them to have what we consider to be better goals. That is not success in this world, but in living this life in a way that results in no regrets and no harm to others. Why are we such a threat you you people?
What an ignorant thing to say. What is "despicable" to us is the abandonment of children who are sacrificed on the alter of materialism. Kids don't need more toys...they need parents. They need moral guidance and discipline in a world where the Internet supplies the kind of knowledge and imagery that no child should be able to access. I don't know what bubble you live in, but IMO you have bigger blinkers on than you think we do.
What if one of you wants to be a lawyer or a doctor, or something else that requires a post-secondary education??OMGoodness....this is a response to what I said???? When did I say that we discourage learning? You are beating up a straw man again! What in this conversation has been an eye opener? Your complete misinterpretation of what I said? That we actually do encourage our children to do well at school and that we teach them good morals? We don't need a higher education at university to serve God. We can be educated by other means that are just as effective in gaining employment. SMH.
You can serve whomever you wish.....wherever you wish. We will serve our ideology...you can serve yours. Let's see whose turns out to be the best choice....?