<p>Knew a brilliant JW student once who was shunned, not sure if it was for seeking an education or questioning the faith, but the two went hand in hand. As a female, she was expected to NOT get an education (hs was tolerated) and to get married. She’s gone to get a Ph.D. and has done it all on her own.</p>
<p>Oh wait, I did know a teacher who was a JW. Another teacher came into a classroom to do all the parties.</p>
<p>Oh that’s interesting missypie, I remember in elementary school this boy would be out very frequently for the different parties.</p>
<p>It seems that the pattern is that those who do have educations are former Witnesses.</p>
<p>And I don’t agree with the bigot comment. Education has always been something that religions seeking to keep their members in line have prohibited. If we recall the Holy Roman Empire and the amount of illiterate people vs. the few literate nobles and priesthood.</p>
<p>JohnMan:
</p>
<p>SunDiegoMom:
</p>
<p>From: [Liberal</a> Arts Colleges - History of Liberal Arts Colleges, Characteristics of Liberal Arts Colleges](<a href=“Liberal Arts Colleges - History of Liberal Arts Colleges, Characteristics of Liberal Arts Colleges - Education, Students, United, and Universities - StateUniversity.com”>Liberal Arts Colleges - History of Liberal Arts Colleges, Characteristics of Liberal Arts Colleges - Education, Students, United, and Universities - StateUniversity.com)
</p>
<p>From: [Amazon.com:</a> God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America: Naomi Schaefer Riley: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/God-Quad-Religious-Missionary-Generation/dp/0312330456]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/God-Quad-Religious-Missionary-Generation/dp/0312330456)
Review of: God on the Quad: How Religious Colleges and the Missionary Generation Are Changing America
</p>
<p>I thought Wikipedia had a good concise explanation of the JW philosophy on higher education. The footnotes reference JW publications. I am not a JW, but this does not sound ridiculous or closed-minded to me. I like how they suggest that the prospective college student ask himself those questions when deciding whether or not to attend college. They don’t say, “Do what the church says,” but rather, “Follow your conscience.”</p>
<p>From: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah’s_Witnesses#Education">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah’s_Witnesses#Education</a>
</p>
<p>I know some JW families and they dont send their kids to college for religious purposes. Anyways, I really HATE the close mindedness of this religion and all of their STUPID reasons for shunning and ex-communicating their members. I can undersatand the reasonong behind most major religions, but this one is so off the wall that I just dont get it.</p>
<p>Timely, I think you missed a rather important part in my post.</p>
<p>“Education has always been something that religions seeking to keep their members in line have prohibited.”</p>
<p>And in regards to the Wikipedia quote, I must say that she said it was very discouraged because, and I shall quote, “philosophies which promote atheism and evolution are emphasized [at universities] and could lead to apostasy” according to this acquaintance.</p>
<p>Read this webpage & then click the link near the end:</p>
<p>[What</a> Kind of Education Can Make Your Life a Success?- Jehovah’s Witnesses Official Web Site](<a href=“http://www.watchtower.org/e/20051015/article_01.htm]What”>http://www.watchtower.org/e/20051015/article_01.htm)</p>
<p>This seems to support the idea that college is not encouraged. However, it does not seem to explicitly prohibit it. Not sure what to make of it.</p>
<p>Yes, I understand that you said “religions seeking to keep their members in line have prohibited.” But we were talking about JW’s as being one of those religions, and it looks like their own literature says they discourage it, but they do not prohibit it. </p>
<p>I do understand that in some JW congregations, the discouragement is likely strong enough to be considered a prohibition. Nevertheless, when we are talking about a whole group of people like this, I think it’s important to see what their official policy is.</p>
<p>I think non-religious people often similarly discourage their children from attending colleges who are “evangelical” in their views. By “evangelical”, I don’t mean just conservative Protestants who are sometimes called Evangelicals. I mean universities like Brigham Young, for instance, which is an LDS university. The LDS faith is known for their missionary work. These non-religious people have concerns that their children might adopt the prevailing belief system at that university, and they don’t want to take a chance on it. I understand that.</p>
<p>I don’t see how it is different from a religious person discouraging their child from attending a university where “philosophies which promote atheism and evolution are emphasized [at universities] and could lead to apostasy”. Yet, a religious person is considered closed-minded for making that choice.</p>
<p>Higher education should be promoted </p>
<p>Anyone who has been a JW for decades like myself knows that college education was a defiant act which surely would get you sanctioned by the congregation.
We had a popular slogan called the “13 year plan” which was 12 years of public school which could include the vocational ‘trade’ schools,then one year of regular pioneering THEN you could get married. </p>
<p>The Watchtower religion is in dire straits for cheating millions of followers out of higher education with the “deliverance is at hand” slogan (still the 2006 district convention theme) the Watchtower is using apologist to discredit old timers who have been there.
Statistics show the UU Unitarian universalism church as the most educated at 55% of members with a college degree and the Jehovah’s Witnesses at 5%.
The Watchtower NOW has lessened up the restrictions as the ‘new system’ is on hold and the younger JW generation won’t tolerate the janitorial jobs of their parents. </p>
<p>Although they have recently changed their policy so that at least a technical education is now seen as appropriate, the vast majority of Witnesses still have a high school education or less, and any change in their education level will take years before it has any effect on the Society </p>
<p>– </p>
<p>Danny Haszard born 1957 as a 3rd generation Jehovah’s Witness [Jehovah</a> Witness’ blog - Vox](<a href=“http://jehovahwitness.vox.com/]Jehovah”>http://jehovahwitness.vox.com/)
I was in the cult and now I’m out</p>
<p>Yes, it’s definitely not universal. My D3 has a friend at her university who is a Witness and all of her siblings are either in college or have graduated.</p>
<p>When in HS in the day, our possible val was a JH. She didn’t come back senior year. Not only did she not go to college, she dropped out of HS, married a man 30 yrs older than her (picked by her Kingdom Hall), had a hysterectomy so she wouldn’t have children when Armageddon came, and she and her husband became “missionaries” for the church, not working, but devoting their time to converting others and spreading the word. I have always wondered what she could have cured. Her parents were converts and had educations before their conversions.</p>
<p>While I’m absolutely not supporting the religion, I don’t recall the last time I’ve read such a bigoted thread. I work with some JW, and their kids do go to college, and funnily enough, not one of their children was forced to marry somebody 30 years their senior.</p>
<p>I don’t claim, not would I even want, to be an expert in the religion, but it is NOT the FLDS sect where they’re marrying off 13 year olds.</p>
<p>My girlfriend’s mom converted around 10-15 years ago, I believe, and she’s been very supportive of my GF and her two other daughters going to college. I know one of her biggest regrets was not being able to get schooling in the country she grew up in. None of the daughters are still active in the religion, and from what I know, they were thoroughly miserable whenever they had to attend.</p>
<p>This thread made me remember a friend I had in HS who was a JW. She was a sweet and a smart girl. She was not allowed to associate with me out of school and not allowed to attend any school functions. I remember asking her one day when her birthday was–thinking I might get her a little gift–she seemed sad and I thought I might cheer her up. However, I also remember being shocked when she told me that she had never celebrated her birthday and never received any presents–that it just wasn’t proper in her religion. Senior year, I learned that she would not be going to college, but was, in fact, engaged to a man 15 years older and was destined for an arranged marriage. She seemed resigned to the fact but not happy about it. (She sighed a lot.) I think she yearned for something more but could not go against her family or her church. I felt sad for her. This made me wonder what became of her–wherever she is I hope she has found some happiness.</p>
<p>Of course that was a long time ago, but it seemed that females, in particular, (big surprise) were forced to forego higher education in favor of marriage. Maybe, I hope, things have changed somewhat since then.</p>
<p>I was raised in a strict Catholic home, and as a result, my options were limited by that. I was only allowed to apply to Catholic colleges because I was in need of spiritual guidance, according to my parents. But at least I had a few options and I managed to get out of my house. And as for the spiritual guidance part at my Catholic college—well, not much of that in evidence–luckily.</p>
<p>My D has a close friend (in a different Christian sect) who is now also being “forced” to make certain “choices” (not beneficial ones) because of her family’s beliefs. This really galls me, because from my experience, one of the most important gifts you can give your children is the freedom to choose what path they will take. Allowing them to be who they are, supporting them and loving them unconditionally, and knowing that you did your best to prepare them for the rigors of the real world is ultimately the best a parent has to offer.</p>
<p>From Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet:</p>
<p>"Your children are not your children.</p>
<p>They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.</p>
<p>They come through you but not from you,</p>
<p>And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.</p>
<p>You may give them your love but not your thoughts.</p>
<p>For they have their own thoughts.</p>
<p>You may house their bodies but not their souls,</p>
<p>For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams."</p>
<p>I used to be a JW. My husband and I divorced, and he still is a JW. We have two teenage children who will be going to college. He very much disapproves and in fact is disappointed in them since they will not be full time door knockers…or door knockers at all really.
He is one of the more fanatical ones, and that’s what it pretty much comes down to. Some families encourage it, while other’s do not and will even “turn their backs” on their children for doing so, especially if their children are baptized. It’s like that with almost everything with them. Some families will let their children participate in sports, while other’s do not. My son wants to play football so bad, and really should. Anyone who sees this kid knows this is what he should be doing. His father is so against it, he is not allowed to.<br>
My children will be going to college though. They are both academically bright, and I have encouraged education since they were little.
It’s unbeleiveable to me how much mind control the JW’s really do have over their people.</p>
<p>If your friend was a JW, her marriage was not arranged. I am a former JW, and that is not their practice. They actually try talking people out of getting married and having children but to take up full time door knocking…or field ministry is what they really call it…but whatever. If she got married the choice was hers, and the sighs were probably because she really wanted to do something else in life, but just felt she couldn’t. Alot of people are afraid of loosing their families if they choose to take a different path, or to even beleive something else. It’s sad…</p>
<p>What about JW lawyers? doctors? architects? teachers? There are JW professional people, and by law some of these folks must have degrees in order to legally practice in this country, in other cases, it is required by the job being sought. How do they get their educations? JWs are not just drones, although the majority of them might very well be.</p>
<p>The Doctors and Lawyers probably converted after they were educated. The JWs definately discourage College. When they say it is a matter of conscience, that just means they won’t shun you for going to college. However, they clearly tell you what your “conscience” should tell you. Those that go to college usually have one parent that is not a “beliver.” I was a JW, but quit after I heard a sermon likening letting your child go to college to letting them play in the street. Way too many rules and regulations and no grace, IMO. When they give you guidelines or matters of conscience, it is steeped in supporting scripture, etc. which make the “decision” clear. There are not that many “disfellowshipping” (shunning) offenses, but everyone is kept in line by guilt. In othr words, the “matter of conscience” is clearly taught as to what the outcome should be. (However, there are no arranged marriages.)</p>