Higher Education

Watchtower classifies higher education as a temptation akin to smoking, using drugs, and watching violent and immoral movies. For instance, see the insert from the Watchtower2008 Sep 1, entitled “What Will be The “End Afterward”?

The Kingdom Ministry warns:

“Your children will no doubt experience new challenges and pressures. … Are they prepared for the pressure they will receive to pursue higher education, date, and use alcohol or drugs?” Kingdom Ministry 2011 Jul p.2

Watchtower explains pursuing an advanced education is dangerous because it:

• Wastes precious time in these last days
• Promotes prestige and materialism
• Shows a lack of faith
• Involves bad association
• Promotes higher learning

Growing up as a Jehovah's Witness I heard on a weekly basis that the world was going to be ending soon and there would be an Armageddon and all of our things that were "worldly" would be no more. We were taught to go knocking on doors every free moment we had and I was certain that I would see this Armageddon and I would live forever in paradise on earth. When someone is asked about what they know about Jehovah's Witnesses people will usually say something about the 144,000 that are going to heaven. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that there will be an Armageddon between Jesus and Satan and Jesus will win and the earth will be restored to a paradise. The only ones that go to heaven are the 144,000 that are appointed by god himself. My Grandfather on my adoptive Mom's side felt he was one of the "anointed" (what the 144,000 are called) and he would be serving God in heaven. It's amazing how I really believed this but again, this is something that I was fed every single day of the first 30 days of my life. Writing what I used to believe kind of makes me laugh now. 

Considering I was raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith, I was one of the lucky ones because my Dad was not a Jehovah's Witness and he tried his hardest to expose me to everything the Jehovah's Witnesses felt was "worldly". My parents had such an odd relationship because even though my adoptive Mom was responsible for our (my brother and I) spiritual upbringing, my Dad was allowed to do what he wanted for the holidays. Once I was a teenager and my Grandma Murphy lived in Kansas City we always had family dinners on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, my Grandma Murphy's bday and Easter. As hard as my adoptive Mom tired to protect me from the world, I was exposed to it a lot more than most Jehovah's Witnesses kids. My love of holidays started then and even though I never expressed excitement with my adoptive Mom (or anyone else really) my little heart was so excited with each holiday that came around. I never received a lot of gifts on Christmas or my birthday, but my Dad tried hard to make sure that I did have a couple gifts for Christmas. I think he started to resent me not getting him gifts (I was not allowed to buy gifts, but I could accept them) and started buying me things that he would like so he would eventually get my gift. I remember times when I was angry with him like, why didn't he get me something I liked, but now that I look back on the situation I am sad for how I felt towards my Dad and wished I had tried to sneak him a few gifts. One year when I was going to camp (that was another worldly thing that I was blessed to be able to attend) I was leaving on Father's Day and I secretly bought my Dad a Father's Day card and gave it to him before I left. My Dad bragged to my Mom about me getting him a card so of course my Mom was furious at me and it was a rough departure for my Mom and I when I was leaving for 8 weeks. This experience probably had something to do with me not buying my Dad gifts after that....he liked to use it to stab my Mom in the heart because I was going against what she was teaching me. 

I think where my life would be if I had not had the exposure to higher education like I did. In 1995 I was just a few semesters away from graduating with my bachelors in Social Work when I dropped out. My adoptive Mom was supportive of me  not going to school and even hid the fact from my Dad for months that I was not in school. After I dropped out I got married to my ex husband and about a year and a half later I was so unhappy. I was in a loveless marriage, I was in a church that kept telling me not to worry about anything because Armageddon was just around the corner and I was in a dead end job. I really felt like I didn't have anything.  One day I was so upset where my life was that I called my parents and said, I am going back to school!! Of course my Dad was happy and thinking back I can't remember what my adoptive Mom's response was. Two years later I graduated with my bachelors degree and getting that degree was just the beginning of me breaking out of the cocoon I had been forced to live in my entire life.