AcademicRegret: How Can My Son Find a Job After Bethel?

The following was not so much a question, but was a response to the blog post "Do Jehovah's Witnesses 'Prohibit' College Education?" over at Opposers Dismythed, which required counsel.

AcademicRegret wrote [July 16, 2016 at 11:37 am]:

I grew up in Vancouver, Washington. Our congregation elders felt in 1980's-1990's like congregations where they were attending college and especially would have a party for graduation, lacked spirituality. Those who attended college did not take the end of the system seriously.

More recently an elder in Maine frowned on me taking a three month course to help me provide for my three children. When I came back and said I was not able to attend, he said he was relieved and I made the right choice.

Additionally, when it came to my sons the circuit overseer said, why would we consider an education beyond high school when each of my children could receive the equivalent of a four year degree at Bethel? Bethel laid off. My son has no education and works 15 hours a week for a brother and lives in another brothers attic apartment. He cannot afford an apartment, wife, kids...

JW Advisor: Sister, I would like you to examine your statements. This is counsel I am giving you with all sincerity of heart.

You repeatedly stated, "elders . . ." or "circuit overseer . . .". You have the power to let them know that you have considered the issue and reviewed the November 1, 1992 Watchtower article, pp. 15-21, "Education With a Purpose" as well as the March 8th, 1998 Awake! article, p. 21, "The Bible’s Viewpoint — Does the Bible Discourage Education?".

Please, do not have a complaining spirit about the organization based upon the interpretations of overseers. Only our literature should be the last word on the subject. I simply want to bring to your attention that a complaining spirit leads to apostasy. (Jude 16) The elders represent the organization, but they are not perfect and therefore do not perfectly represent the organization. (Romans 7:14; 2 Corinthians 4:7) The publications give the final word on matters from the governing body, wrong or right. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

I would also like to remind you that the overseers cannot restrict you from any service to the organization, nor discipline you or your son, based upon going to college. Words are words, but your own words and opinions can spread like wildfire, and like gangrene. (2 Timothy 2:14-18; James 3:5-10) Please, sister, let it go before it deprives you of your relationship with Jehovah.

But most importantly, these men are simply looking out for your spiritual welfare. They too realize that such decisions are yours to make. Please treat them with respect as those who are looking out for our souls. (Hebrews 13:17) [July 16, 2016 at 12:15 pm]

Bethel does not "lay off" as it never "hired" them to begin with. What they do is ask for volunteers who are prepared and know that when they leave Bethel, they are not going to have anything more than what they came in with. (Proverbs 22:3) It's a sacrifice. You cannot blame the organization for yours or your son's own shortsightedness. They are trained in many skills, and it is advisable for your son to seek a job using those skills.

Your son does not need a college education to get a job. What he needs is to demonstrate that he has the skills necessary to do the job. He can also put his work at Bethel on his resume. They are indeed qualified skills.

I advise you to help your son be marketable with the skills he learned at Bethel. Read up on them, go on the internet and find out how to market your son's particular skillset without a college education.

Your son does not need to earn $100,000 a year. What he needs to do is learn how to live simply and maximize his potential. (Philippians 4:12, 13) That is not the organization's responsibility. It is your responsibility as a parent to help him (Proverbs 22:6) and his responsibility as someone with job skills seeking to find employment to do everything in his power to make that happen, continually. (Proverbs 14:23)

Jobs are not really that hard to find. (Proverbs 21:5) The problem often lies with the fact that some people set the bar too high for themselves to fulfill or don't put in the time necessary to achieve their goals. (Romans 12:16)

I understand you feel powerless, sister, but accountability is the beginning of success. (Galatians 6:7) A person that does not hold themselves accountable for their own decisions will go nowhere or will be of no use to anyone. What your son needs is to learn to be self-sufficient. (1 Timothy 6:8)

You can't let other people do the thinking for you. (Proverbs 14:15) You have to put in the effort. (Proverbs 31:17) [July 16, 2016 at 5:03 pm]

Then there's the fact that they never promise that the volunteers would be able to "retire" with the organization paying their way. The organization makes no promises about what will happen to them after they leave Bethel, and definitely give no promises about long-term attendance at Bethel. In fact, they make it clear that most spend only a few years at Bethel. . . . [July 16, 2016 at 6:32 pm]

Look at longshoremen. They work for a few months out of the year. What do you think they do the rest of the year? They go look for jobs with their other skills. [July 16, 2016 at 6:37 pm]

I hope you will give this counsel proper consideration and take it to heart. [July 16, 2016 at 7:12 pm]

JW Advisor: AcademicRegret, thank you for sharing. As mentioned, our publications do not prohibit you from taking classes, or going to college. As was pointed out, there are and have never been congregational sanctions for taking classes or going to college. I can agree that there were elders and COs who said the things you mentioned, but before accepting those sayings as true, always look up what's printed on the matter from our publications and make your choices based on that information...ALWAYS. No one can tell you to do something or to not do something that contradicts what's in our publications. [July 16, 2016 at 5:09 pm]

Our opposers just like to caricature it, basically. The facts are that serving at Bethel is voluntary, and Jws are not anywhere near obligated to go there.

I was thinking also, along the lines of Bethelites not just sitting in their rooms and not doing anything that would make them employable, that they are busy people. One could ask: "what do you think they do there all day?"

They gain experience, with no financial cost to themselves, working on the IT department, construction, data entry, receptionist, telecommunications, and a whole host of fields that would make them skilled workers. [July 16, 2016 at 10:19 pm]