My grandma became JW, formerly Bible student of America, in the 1930’s. They knocked on her door after she returned home from university overseas unable to finish her degree because of the Great Depression. She left her education and the love of her life behind. The JW’s capitalized on her grief and loss. My grandma never completed her formal education to be a pianist but she instilled in me and my 3 sisters the importance of education and that it was something that could never be taken away. Sadly, she died a devout JW at 98 years old fighting with every single breath to “walk into the new system”. Me and my sisters all graduated from college and none of us are Jehovah Witnesses even though our parents still are. Thank you Wally for always being kind ,funny, knowledgeable and articulate with the content you make. You are making a difference!.
This is absolutely insane! I started studying and got baptized while I was in undergrad. Less than a year later, I was ready to quit because they were encouraging me to quit school and enter the full-time ministry. They also discouraged independent thinking. Being a lifelong scholar, I was appalled. ETA: I was ready to quit WT, not school! I faded from the Kingdom Hall and graduated college.
Yup. My parents outright REFUSED to help me pay for college. I went to a 2yr school for a degree bcz that's all I could afford to do. They wouldn't even help me get student loans! And it's all bcz they said I was being WORLDLY by wanting an education. Lol 😂
I went to Trade School and also Community College for Trades' Training and never got a Job. My first mistake even before that was being Talked in to getting my GED. It was a big mistake.
@@Fouroclocklover38 Same here. Got told by everyone at my HS that my trade school was legit only for them to be sued a year after I graduated from there for exaggerating thier placement numbers. They also again, 20 years later, recently got sued again for financial aid fraud. I remember back in 07 just giving up on finding anything after getting laughed at by a recruiter when I told them what school I went to. Somehow, the US govt is still giving that school federal money
Have u noticed that the direction this all goes in is for humans to be less than they were created to be. So the God given gifts and talents of induviduals are to be set aside...for a mess of porridge.... The creation is worshipping God. Pick up a fallen leaf. A seeming nothing. The fact that it even exists praises God. Those whose lives cause others to lift hands to God in praise through their gifts and characterare to be stopped...but by who..not God? This World and its values and deposing ruler are brought pain by those whose lives and talents point to Him. The Kingdom will be consumated. God will dwell on this earth and his people will see his face Rev 21- 22
I've never been JW but I've worked as a therapist with clients harmed by cults and high control groups. Your videos are so helpful - I recommend them to people who are struggling with the idea of deconstruction from religious cults. Thank you for all of your time and effort - you do more good than you can know. ❤
Wally, you freaking rock! I've learned so much about this org that I've been a part of for several decades, and I feel ashamed of myself for not fully investigating it prior to joining, as well as staying around a PIMO. So tired of not living my authentic life, but fear of losing my adult kids keeps me. For now! If I had of seen any pictures of the founding men, and especially had I heard their ranting and yelling in the mic talks, I would have passed on becoming one of them fo sho! I get terrible vibes from them, and with good reason as we now know! Thank you for all your hard work, I hope you're doing well!
@itsjustme6315 Oh! Oh please don't feel shame! Look at your intentions. You had the best of intentions. You were moved by powerful persuasion, by the desire to do the right thing, by wanting to do the best for your family. We all go through this life doing the best we know to do at the time, making good decisions, making mistakes, and hoping to learn from it all. Please show yourself grace and understanding. As for your children, maybe you can start by offering gentle questions that enlist their logic. Give it time. 💗
Watchtower demands you put your intellectual ability on permanent hold. Asking questions is strictly limited by your acceptance of regurgitated answers from Watchtower literature only. Once you surrender your will to that dreck most will just accept it.
Just before the new year, I went with my wife to visit the Bethel here in South Africa. I saw in the video presentation that the person asked the circuit overseer what she should study, and the circuit overseer said instead of studying, she should go into full-time ministry (this in a country where there is 40% unemployment). Now, it's glossed over and made to look like she is fulfilled and happy to have done that. What I gather from WT stuff is that a lot of it is patting themselves on the back and trying (and succeeding) to show members that supporting them is right. I'm thankful for these videos that make these things stick out like a sore thumb. I know what to look out for.
You just recited the exact argument made to me in 1968 after my high school performance earned me a government scholarship to go to university (in Australia). I was also told there was no need for financial planning as the ‘system’ was about to end. I am so relieved I left and lived my true life.
Smart move! When I left that dreck behind I enrolled in college courses to prepare myself for the nursing program. Have had a good living, travelled and working experience in a foreign country. Schooling was like the answer to a prayer! After listening to that morbid non stop regurgitation of Watchtower drivel learning in-depth concepts, biology and medical science was wonderful.
When I was studying with the JWs and thinking about joining (never did) they told me I would need to quit my job as a court stenographer because I worked in conjunction with the government (State courts.) That would have been two years of post-high-school education down the drain. Now, it seems the organization is okay with it because we have a JW working in our office, also a court stenographer. Somebody, make it make sense.
Plus, different elders and elder bodies may have different 'rules'. Watchtower provides the written law and then power hungry JWs amplify it with their own oral tradition, just like Pharisees.😂
I had a truly rare mom & dad- both JW's who met at a convention in 1947 and were married over 70 years, but who chose to have 3 kids (when not "waiting for Armageddon" to do so was a MAJOR taboo), resolutely stood up to congregation disapproval, and enabled my earning a university education with honors. Why? So that I'd have the means to support a family, which I do now, and which they considered to be every bit as godly a pursuit as knocking on doors. I thank them in my thoughts every day for their having given me the freedom to choose, and to learn.
Your parents were incredibly clear headed! I knew JWs who were not allowed to accept scholarships even though they were exceptionally bright, even gifted! They were doomed to work at minimum wage jobs and have mediocre lives. My JW brother risked censure and congregational disapproval because he insisted all four of his kids be university educated. He himself should have been a doctor, he settled for being a brilliant paramedic instead. Just sickening how Watchtower perverts the normal human instincts for education and personal betterment by demonizing the whole idea of higher education as a Satanic plot to ensnare JWs!
@@joanferguson4194 Thanks for sharing Joan! Watchtower praises unquestioning obedience and truly fears critical thinking. They admit it themselves. Believe them!
As I watch this I am nothing but smiles. I lost contact with my then 4-year-old when I left. He's now 18 and going to college to be a sportscaster. He was 'raised' as a jw. But now that I am in communication with him again it has been wonderful and I fully support his schooling.
Fourth Generation born in (former) JW and first generation college grad here 🙋🏽♂️ I still love my family but it’s so hard to communicate with them when they have the reading comprehension of a 9th grader 🤦🏾♂️ anything can turn into an argument (and soft shunning) at any moment due to something simple being misunderstood.
This information is mind boggling. I was raised as a witness and chose to disassociate myself. So many years later I am educating myself with the truth of this religious cult. Thank you for sharing this information with everyone who needs to learn it. Happy New Year 🎉 May you be blessed in 2025!
My mom was an older teen hyped to meet David, etc. They made better than normal outfits to meet the worthless. When Joe said they were invisible, she figured out the scam.
Spot on Wally! Third generation born in JW here but I decided that generational servitude ends with me. Excellent video. I admire your hard work and consistency.
It’s hard not to be bitter when as a new father my parents insist I bring my child to meetings. I was homeschooled and generally neglected when it came to academics. Thankfully I was taught to read at the age of 3 so I could study the Orgs publications, I leveraged that gift into running from this cult 30 years later. Never taking my child to those meetings and absolutely encouraging her to seek higher education.
Okay so now that I have fully watched this and had more time to process, I again want to thank you Wally. This is an excellent breakdown of Watchtower's history and their perspective on education. I left this crazy religion/cult in 2011. I was raised in it. Since leaving, I beat breast cancer and at age 50, I went back to college and I now have my Bachelor of Science in International Relations (Magna Cum Laude) and I am now pursuing a Masters degree in Public Health because I want to HELP others who do not have resources to SURVIVE and improve healthcare for ALL. I have gone to Capitol Hill in the U.S. twice now to advocate for cancer patients and survivors. I am deeply thankful for these opportunities. 🙏🏽 One of my deeper pain points with this horrible cult (I have many) is their position on education and what it took from me and how it has hurt my family. These FACTS need to be consistently AMPLIFIED. Watchtower needs to be exposed for exactly what they are and what they are not.
As a teacher: Thank you SO MUCH for this excellent video! I will surely share this with some colleagues. Best wishes for the New Year from the Netherlands.❤😊🇳🇱 Beth Sarim ='Early Airbnb'....LOL🤣
The part where the brothers are "bow beating" the father because he was allowing his daughters to go college. Broke my heart and also made my head spin. How do people let the JW have so much control over their lives?
It’s unbelievable the amount of peer pressure and threat of public humiliation they put on you, especially as a father and “brother” in the organization.
Great q. Neuroscience gives a lot of answers But I found it cruel. I adored school and reading. It made me a target.fot rude idiots. I respected my teachers and classmates.
I wish it was more widely known how big and longlasting the impact of "not pursuing higher education" actually is for JW kids. It is the thing I regret the most - the fact that I did listen to those elders, and drop out of university. Which prevented me from getting the education that would allow me to get a job that I actually like.
I’m learning so much. I previously thought JWs were nice, Christian and perfectly legit. I had NO idea about the shunning or the education issues. Thank you
I’ve been out a long, long time but just finished my manuscript on them. I follow these podcasts still, because I want to keep up-to-date on them. My brother who is in his 80’s, is still “in”. I can’t have a family relationship with him as I was dumped and dubbed “Apostate” in the 70’s. I miss him, so these podcasts are how I gage what he may be going through, etc. ❤
I remember them saying that if you read all the magazines and other books you would have the equivalent of a university education after so many years.(🙄) Nowadays with the dumbed down pubs you probably end up at a Grade 3 education.😂
I remember that outrageous crap too!! The literature became so dumbed down, so simple minded it was blatantly obvious Watchtower was doing it on purpose. Most witnesses I know however, are completely content to be spoonfed the regurgitated pap the GB throws out at them. Once in a while one JW friend I’ve known for decades laments she never got the chance for higher education. She mourns the fact that she could have been something more than what she settled for!!
Imagine being a window washer in the early 1900s. You know the end is coming, so you encourage your kids into the business, and now, 6 generations later ... 😢 The sneering of the study of bugs or micro-biology was strange 😮 If old JC Penny suit finds himself in a hospital, perhaps he might find himself appreciating someone who completed higher education? 🎉
WOW, you speak well for home schooled, and seem very bright! College opened doors to some very basic corporate work, retired now, glad I went to school.
The schools now , comm ty colleges do remedial work. Most campuses entail youth who can t speak properly and worse at writing. Even IV leagues r spiraling into dumb-dumb land.
Truly appreciate you! I went against the grain and just went to college, never an option in mind since I was young, even indoctrinated I saw the writing on the wall. I didn’t want to struggle like my uneducated parents.
Hey Wally love the video , I would do anything to get my parents away from this , they are in their 70’s and been a JW since they were late teens , I often find myself reflecting on my childhood that was robbed of me, it feels like a forever road to recovery from this cult I left in my early 20’s and now I’m in my early 40’s still angered by their non sense teachings
There was once a time whence I was yet a child. During my season of young childhood, this was what the very first spark that ignited the flame that burnt this cult to a crisp that I could never recover from. These people teach that humans are 6000 years old. That’s it, mic drop, I’m out.
At some point (I agree it will be soon) watchtower will realize if they are discouraging higher education constantly, they will have fewer and fewer educated members in this upcoming generation. And with fewer and fewer newcomers, this means they won’t have many if at all, educated members to serve for free for them in departments like their legal department, medical, Ect. If they ever do make a change it will be to ultimately benefit them by encouraging their members to get an education so they can use them for free labor.
Walley, I appreciate the work you put into this video . I also admire your great articulation and humor. I had been raised into the organization and was a witness up until my 30's. I left and became educated in my 40's. I am now a clinical microbiologist and do not regret that. And Yes, you are correct...they will be glad that people in the medical field study bacteria and viruses for a living when they get old and infected or have to fight serious diseases. They would have a brother or sister in the faith working to help them in the hospitals and medical laboratories (like blood bank) if the governing body allowed their congregants to get those skills/education.
Im so glad that me and my sister and I graduated high school in the late 90s and early 2000s when, just for a couple of years, the borg eased up on their stance on higher education. I can't imagine my life if i wasn't able to get a degree and the hell away from that organization.
Hi Wally, congratulations on your channel's content and the relaxed, reasonable tone with which you address sensitive topics! I've been following you for a while and I'm thinking of creating a blog to help other ex-Witnesses share their experiences here in Italy: in my Country there is still a lot of shame around this. I would like to ask You where I can find the 2015 Broadcasting that contained the talk about education that was removed. Thank you! 🙏🙂👋
I was home educated, came with positives and negatives. Both outweigh each other. Wasn’t too many JWs in my local town who were home educated, but 90% of the ones who were home educated were incredibly strange with ZERO social skills. Worry for how life must be for them now many years later
Every episode you make is so informative and spot on. I really appreciate your insight and work, it also helps me maintain the reasons why I left as you feel so guilty and judged even though they are only standing by what they are taught to believe. A big thank you and a happy new year 🥳
Absolutely adore your channel. I found you last year after deciding to do research on JWs since my future wife is an ex witness. Thank you for educating me to better understand my partner and helping so many PIMOs and ex JWS. Keep up the good work Wally!!! ❤
Hey Wally, never was a JW but still really enjoy your videos. I just love your personality and the way you make your videos, I’d still watch your videos no matter what you choose to talk about lol. Please never stop posting!
Remember my father in law was up for promotion at his job asking my wife how long itd take to get a 2-year degree back in 2012. She said '2 years..' as she was working on her BS. He huffed, oh the new system will be here by then. Abandoned all aspirations continuing to work another 10 years with no new system of things.
In 1994 convention dramas i was the college dude who quit because he was convinced by Elijah killing all the prophets of Baal that I needed to quit school and join the JWs. I had all my lines memorized in two weeks of practice and i gave an Oscar worthy performance every time. And it was SO STUPID.
Where in the Bible does it say not to seek higher education? I remember that they said that reading the awake magazine was likened to a college degree! I was going to go to a prestigious art school, but the org dissuaded the opportunity cause the world was going to end. I'm so glad you are doing this video on education. Rolf Furulli was a Prof, while being an elder and it didn't affect his faith. And they didn't bother him until he wrote the book about his beloved religion, instead of praising him for his love - they kicked him to the curb! Just like the shooter in Germany, he warned them that something bad would happen if they dfd him after his book was released. So those deaths are on the orgs head, along with all the other people who were affected by their rules. RIP to all those needless deaths!
Wally, this is so good!! I wish that I could show this to the faithful few JW members of my family. So glad I left at at 17. I've been trying to tell this to them since I was a teenager.
Hey Wally. Rutherford took parts of Russell's teaching that fit with his agenda & his successors held fast to the same ideology .The 'Awake' magazine, were the alternative reading material not scripted to indoctrinate directly in my opinion. Your vidoes are getting better !! 🎉🎉🎉. Wishing you a great New year !❤❤❤
Great job. So glad I am out and have my degree. Worldly son now has a masters and worldly daughter getting phd. So glad they were not raised as I was. I was so criticized because I went to school
Hello dear Wally! Thank you for all your hard work ..videos and insightful thoughts! Wish you a really good new year 2025 in freedom and much happynes ! Thank you for all you have done ! ❤❤🎉🎉
Do the JW think about how no education affects people of color? In the 1970s we fought to be admitted to college. We wanted.better jobs and not have to be kept at menial jobs. I left the organization years ago, and my life got so much better. And yes, I went to college. Thanks Wally for doing what you do and exposing the JWs and their lies. Love to ZeZe.
Third generation. Father got an 8th grade education. Fortunately he became a farmer. I started uni in 1975. The circuit overseer had a sh!! fit because Armageddon came that year as we all remember. Told my elder father & mother I had to stop or we wold all be removed. This religion was everything to my parents. The truly scary part was he told me he would spy on me for the rest of my life. I posted this before & some JW had the nerve to say I was lying. As Jack Nicolson said in in a Few Good Men "They can't handle the truth about the Truth."
On the contrary, the more a slave was educated, the more he was worth. Most physicians and elementary school teachers who taught children how to read, write, count were slaves. People who ran administrative branches of the empire were the emperor's slaves, there was even a school for them, the Schola Palatina at the Palatine Hill.
Charles Taze Russell had a limited education. "Russell said that he had attended public school for seven years, having left when he was about fourteen years of age, after which he received instruction through private tutors."
This is outstanding research, bro. Had no idea, & I’ve been digging deep, that since the very inception of this religion they’ve frowned upon education. My goodness. U know what’s interesting in this white board clip, the narrator made to sure to highlight the benefits of achieving “basic education”, not higher education. IMHO, w/ them now lowering the age of young men & women being able to attend Bethel right after HS, this highlights the organization’s stance of sending kids to Universities. In fact, a friend of mine has just been removed as a M.S b/c his daughter is going off to college. He’s one of the few that said he didn’t care if I disassociated or not. He’s devastated. I believe they removed all of Tony’s content b/c: 1. Norway 2. He’s no longer a GB 3. Public image or rebranding
Great video Wally!!! for 2025 I wil no longer be watching Ex JW sites, I need a long break. Please keep up the good work, there are many who need you!!! Best to you my friend.
Thanks for a very well researched video Wally. I’ve been out for over 3 decades but still like to check on what Watchtower is up to. Bet they’re glad Jody Jedele got a good education so that he can help with their multi billion dollar real estate business 😳. Surely a lot of red flags would have been raised with the rank and file when his appointment to the GB was announced - hopefully it will cause more JW’s to walk away and start thinking for themselves.
I used to attend, on and off, JW bible studies, meetings, conventions, and Sunday Watchtower studies for probably 20 years. Never got baptized. When I was nearing completion of High School, the "brothers" and "sisters" tried to talk me out of going to University. I was very interested in what they taught, but never completely hooked nor indoctrinated. While listening to this, I suddenly realised that, for me, the JW organisation seems like a huge Ponzi scheme. The primary purpose for its existence is to continuously recruit new members (door to door canvassing), who, after they are baptized, sell magazines, go door to door to recruit more members, and the baptized members have to pay monthly contributions to the organisation (just like the churches). And the quarterly, bi-annual and annual conventions are huge money generating events. Most of the foods sold are donated by the members, and sold for profit, which again goes into the big pot. Interesting thought. I loved sitting on the fringe looking in, never fully committed.
I've never gotten any higher education other than High School graduation due to being a JW. I could take college classes now since I've been out but much prefer free-form studies of my choosing. With my health issues, I must minimize stress at all costs.
I got straight As.. a AP student and so many people wanted me to excel but not my parents..it was literally they hated me being smart I was called rebellious, they called me Cain, they called me Esau, told me I was giving up my 'birthright'... It was horrible I can't watch 'Everyone Else Burns' with the chuckles and amusement that everyone else does because the mental and emotional abuse the oldest daughter experiences is almost identical but add violent physical abuse
I got kicked out of the Org as an apostate in the 70’s, with two little children. I was so scared. No job experience except homemaking; no Education after high school. It was so frightening to learn anything. I was shy, introverted, but teeny tiny bit by bit over YEARS did pursue the Higher Education that created the confidence that created the better paying jobs. Good for you and your future! I wish you all things bright and beautiful and peace and joy that comes from freedom, which comes from education and thinking skills! ❤
Freedom? Joy? School years were the most miserable years of my life, in fact school haunted me in the nightmares for 20 years after graduation 🤪 5:10 that old goat didn't even have any children! The word is he was in "the celibacy marriage" 😂😅
Heyhey! I love your content and kooky sketches. The background music of the piano bashing out weirdarse chords is rather off putting in this one though... :/
I want to say so much... wow. But for now I'll say, more and more, the history of the JWs look like scientology. I am so shocked I was following along with all this as a kid and young adult!
The "problems" for the ORG back in the early '80s came from some in the writing dept learning more about history doing research for the "Insight" book. Groups get stuck in "narrow" viewpoints and put a "lid" on their ability to learn. The "end" is always coming: humans die.
To boost the video: I’m starting a new job this year and turns out it’s just down the street from our local Kingdom Hall! lol this year is sure going to be interesting
Wally thanks for all you do. You and a few of the others are good enough at it that i almost never engage with EXJW content anymore. I just don't feel the need and have moved on. Every now and again something interesting enough will catch my attention and this one did not disappoint. It was a pretty well done mini documentary on them. Good work
Here in the UK I know a Jdub who is a primary school teacher that went to university, an engineer that went to college, and so on. It may be different in the US.
I think now that the GB is making some changes maybe. They need Business Administrators, Engineers, Attorneys, for their Real Estate interests. Doctors, Psychologists, probably still not so much as they believe they won’t need them after Armageddon into Paradise, and Doctors would surely not go along with the No Blood Doctrine. They simply use Elders for mental challenges and don’t believe in Psychology, but anything that is Business or Labor intensive that will benefit the Org, I think they will start allowing Education for. They’ve got to change! 😮
Charlie - there will always be exceptions but this does not detract from the *FACT* that this cult discourages higher education in all the countries where it's not been banned. I'd suggest that most JWs with degrees have been suckered into this cult after they completed their education.
My mum's neighbor's daughter and son were not well educated, and encouraged the daughter to marry a man old enough man (divorced with two adult children, of course, the wife was at fault for the divorce for leaving JW) - married this divorced man, treated the second wife terribly, ruined her life divorced him eventually, still in her 50's going through counseling. fortunately, the son refused to be a JW, married a highly educated young lady, and persuaded him to have further education, now he is highly educated, JW religion is now allowed to be discussed in his house, yet he is mum's favorite. Go figure.
A child who pursues Higher Education is going to learn all about communication skills, self-respect, people skills, Ethics, Dignity, Human Development, as well as their Specializing in their Major studies. No Elder or GB wants THAT in their monotone, opinionated, flat Org! No one can be more intellectual and hold more “vibrant” conversations than the Elders and 11 well-fed men!!!!😂
I assume your question is rhetorical, unless you want to do the following: 1. Lead a joyless life and follow the twisted doctrines of 11 old men in New York. 2. Regard women as subservient to men (bad luck if you're female). 3. Study the New World Translation, a fake Bible that was supposedly translated by a group of men, none of whom were Greek or Hebrew scholars. 4. Stand around on street corners with a cart full of cult propaganda, staring into your phone and looking somewhat awkward. 5. Stop celebrating birthdays. 6. Stop celebrating Christmas. 7. Stop masturbating. 8. Be prepared to disown your own children if, later in life, they decide the leave this cult. 9. Give up any higher education you're undertaking or planning to complete. 10. Lose most of your 'earthly' friends.
My grandma became JW, formerly Bible student of America, in the 1930’s. They knocked on her door after she returned home from university overseas unable to finish her degree because of the Great Depression. She left her education and the love of her life behind.
The JW’s capitalized on her grief and loss. My grandma never completed her formal education to be a pianist but she instilled in me and my 3 sisters the importance of education and that it was something that could never be taken away.
Sadly, she died a devout JW at 98 years old fighting with every single breath to “walk into the new system”.
Me and my sisters all graduated from college and none of us are Jehovah Witnesses even though our parents still are.
Thank you Wally for always being kind ,funny, knowledgeable and articulate with the content you make. You are making a difference!.
This is absolutely insane! I started studying and got baptized while I was in undergrad. Less than a year later, I was ready to quit because they were encouraging me to quit school and enter the full-time ministry. They also discouraged independent thinking. Being a lifelong scholar, I was appalled. ETA: I was ready to quit WT, not school! I faded from the Kingdom Hall and graduated college.
Yup. My parents outright REFUSED to help me pay for college. I went to a 2yr school for a degree bcz that's all I could afford to do. They wouldn't even help me get student loans! And it's all bcz they said I was being WORLDLY by wanting an education. Lol 😂
Yep, they tricked you just like they did with all of us.
I went to Trade School and also Community College for Trades' Training and never got a Job. My first mistake even before that was being Talked in to getting my GED. It was a big mistake.
@@Fouroclocklover38
Same here. Got told by everyone at my HS that my trade school was legit only for them to be sued a year after I graduated from there for exaggerating thier placement numbers. They also again, 20 years later, recently got sued again for financial aid fraud. I remember back in 07 just giving up on finding anything after getting laughed at by a recruiter when I told them what school I went to. Somehow, the US govt is still giving that school federal money
Have u noticed that the direction this all goes in is for humans to be less than they were created to be. So the God given gifts and talents of induviduals are to be set aside...for a mess of porridge....
The creation is worshipping God. Pick up a fallen leaf. A seeming nothing. The fact that it even exists praises God. Those whose lives cause others to lift hands to God in praise through their gifts and characterare to be stopped...but by who..not God? This World and its values and deposing ruler are brought pain by those whose lives and talents point to Him. The Kingdom will be consumated. God will dwell on this earth and his people will see his face Rev 21- 22
I've never been JW but I've worked as a therapist with clients harmed by cults and high control groups. Your videos are so helpful - I recommend them to people who are struggling with the idea of deconstruction from religious cults. Thank you for all of your time and effort - you do more good than you can know. ❤
He truly has some of the most helpful content.
Thank YOU for being an informed therapist & for caring! ❤
Wally deserves a warm loving hug every day.
Wally, you freaking rock! I've learned so much about this org that I've been a part of for several decades, and I feel ashamed of myself for not fully investigating it prior to joining, as well as staying around a PIMO. So tired of not living my authentic life, but fear of losing my adult kids keeps me. For now! If I had of seen any pictures of the founding men, and especially had I heard their ranting and yelling in the mic talks, I would have passed on becoming one of them fo sho! I get terrible vibes from them, and with good reason as we now know! Thank you for all your hard work, I hope you're doing well!
@itsjustme6315 Oh! Oh please don't feel shame! Look at your intentions. You had the best of intentions. You were moved by powerful persuasion, by the desire to do the right thing, by wanting to do the best for your family. We all go through this life doing the best we know to do at the time, making good decisions, making mistakes, and hoping to learn from it all.
Please show yourself grace and understanding. As for your children, maybe you can start by offering gentle questions that enlist their logic. Give it time. 💗
Another point is that educated people are much more likely to recognize the contradictions and deceptions of the organization.
That’s why they berate critical thinking as ‘fault finding’.
@@rickwilkerson3865 ... and you're not allowed to question or disagree with the GB or you will be disfellowshipped right now!
One thing that all these JWs videos taught me is that it's very easy to control someone's mind.
Watchtower demands you put your intellectual ability on permanent hold. Asking questions is strictly limited by your acceptance of regurgitated answers from Watchtower literature only. Once you surrender your will to that dreck most will just accept it.
Just before the new year, I went with my wife to visit the Bethel here in South Africa. I saw in the video presentation that the person asked the circuit overseer what she should study, and the circuit overseer said instead of studying, she should go into full-time ministry (this in a country where there is 40% unemployment). Now, it's glossed over and made to look like she is fulfilled and happy to have done that. What I gather from WT stuff is that a lot of it is patting themselves on the back and trying (and succeeding) to show members that supporting them is right.
I'm thankful for these videos that make these things stick out like a sore thumb. I know what to look out for.
You just recited the exact argument made to me in 1968 after my high school performance earned me a government scholarship to go to university (in Australia). I was also told there was no need for financial planning as the ‘system’ was about to end. I am so relieved I left and lived my true life.
Smart move! When I left that dreck behind I enrolled in college courses to prepare myself for the nursing program. Have had a good living, travelled and working experience in a foreign country. Schooling was like the answer to a prayer! After listening to that morbid non stop regurgitation of Watchtower drivel learning in-depth concepts, biology and medical science was wonderful.
When I was studying with the JWs and thinking about joining (never did) they told me I would need to quit my job as a court stenographer because I worked in conjunction with the government (State courts.)
That would have been two years of post-high-school education down the drain.
Now, it seems the organization is okay with it because we have a JW working in our office, also a court stenographer.
Somebody, make it make sense.
yeah that sounds about right! they are so willing to ruin peoples lives over something they can quickly change
how Ironic as their law department have all gone to Columbia U on WT funds. Glad you kept your good job.
@@exjehovahswitness So glad and happy I didn't go the JW route. And yes, it is a good job.
Plus, different elders and elder bodies may have different 'rules'. Watchtower provides the written law and then power hungry JWs amplify it with their own oral tradition, just like Pharisees.😂
Lunacy, especially religious fanaticism has no sense.
I had a truly rare mom & dad- both JW's who met at a convention in 1947 and were married over 70 years, but who chose to have 3 kids (when not "waiting for Armageddon" to do so was a MAJOR taboo), resolutely stood up to congregation disapproval, and enabled my earning a university education with honors. Why? So that I'd have the means to support a family, which I do now, and which they considered to be every bit as godly a pursuit as knocking on doors. I thank them in my thoughts every day for their having given me the freedom to choose, and to learn.
Are you a JW now?
@@michaellinden-p4d Are you asking if I'm a JW now so you'll be allowed to talk to me? They wouldn't accept me as I am: Completely unacceptable. 🤣😂
Your parents were incredibly clear headed! I knew JWs who were not allowed to accept scholarships even though they were exceptionally bright, even gifted! They were doomed to work at minimum wage jobs and have mediocre lives. My JW brother risked censure and congregational disapproval because he insisted all four of his kids be university educated. He himself should have been a doctor, he settled for being a brilliant paramedic instead. Just sickening how Watchtower perverts the normal human instincts for education and personal betterment by demonizing the whole idea of higher education as a Satanic plot to ensnare JWs!
@@joanferguson4194 Thanks for sharing Joan! Watchtower praises unquestioning obedience and truly fears critical thinking. They admit it themselves. Believe them!
As I watch this I am nothing but smiles. I lost contact with my then 4-year-old when I left. He's now 18 and going to college to be a sportscaster. He was 'raised' as a jw. But now that I am in communication with him again it has been wonderful and I fully support his schooling.
Fourth Generation born in (former) JW and first generation college grad here 🙋🏽♂️ I still love my family but it’s so hard to communicate with them when they have the reading comprehension of a 9th grader 🤦🏾♂️ anything can turn into an argument (and soft shunning) at any moment due to something simple being misunderstood.
This information is mind boggling. I was raised as a witness and chose to disassociate myself. So many years later I am educating myself with the truth of this religious cult. Thank you for sharing this information with everyone who needs to learn it.
Happy New Year 🎉
May you be blessed in 2025!
My mom was an older teen hyped to meet David, etc. They made better than normal outfits to meet the worthless. When Joe said they were invisible, she figured out the scam.
Spot on Wally! Third generation born in JW here but I decided that generational servitude ends with me. Excellent video. I admire your hard work and consistency.
It’s hard not to be bitter when as a new father my parents insist I bring my child to meetings. I was homeschooled and generally neglected when it came to academics. Thankfully I was taught to read at the age of 3 so I could study the Orgs publications, I leveraged that gift into running from this cult 30 years later. Never taking my child to those meetings and absolutely encouraging her to seek higher education.
Okay so now that I have fully watched this and had more time to process, I again want to thank you Wally. This is an excellent breakdown of Watchtower's history and their perspective on education.
I left this crazy religion/cult in 2011. I was raised in it. Since leaving,
I beat breast cancer and at age 50, I went back to college and I now have my Bachelor of Science in International Relations (Magna Cum Laude) and I am now pursuing a Masters degree in Public Health because I want to HELP others who do not have resources to SURVIVE and improve healthcare for ALL. I have gone to Capitol Hill in the U.S. twice now to advocate for cancer patients and survivors. I am deeply thankful for these opportunities. 🙏🏽
One of my deeper pain points with this horrible cult (I have many) is their position on education and what it took from me and how it has hurt my family. These FACTS need to be consistently AMPLIFIED. Watchtower needs to be exposed for exactly what they are and what they are not.
So happy for you.
As a teacher: Thank you SO MUCH for this excellent video! I will surely share this with some colleagues.
Best wishes for the New Year from the Netherlands.❤😊🇳🇱
Beth Sarim ='Early Airbnb'....LOL🤣
23:33 Wally!!! This video needs to win awards!!! You are breaking it all down! All I can say is thank you!
The part where the brothers are "bow beating" the father because he was allowing his daughters to go college. Broke my heart and also made my head spin. How do people let the JW have so much control over their lives?
It’s unbelievable the amount of peer pressure and threat of public humiliation they put on you, especially as a father and “brother” in the organization.
Great q. Neuroscience gives a lot of answers
But I found it cruel. I adored school and reading. It made me a target.fot rude idiots. I respected my teachers and classmates.
I have huge resentment to JW for the time I lost not going to uni. But when I was 30 !! I woke up headed to uni got BSC never looked back 😊
Hello Wally 😊! Thank you for ALL you do & ALL you are!❤
I wish it was more widely known how big and longlasting the impact of "not pursuing higher education" actually is for JW kids. It is the thing I regret the most - the fact that I did listen to those elders, and drop out of university. Which prevented me from getting the education that would allow me to get a job that I actually like.
Thanks!
I’m learning so much. I previously thought JWs were nice, Christian and perfectly legit. I had NO idea about the shunning or the education issues. Thank you
I’ve been out a long, long time but just finished my manuscript on them. I follow these podcasts still, because I want to keep up-to-date on them. My brother who is in his 80’s, is still “in”. I can’t have a family relationship with him as I was dumped and dubbed “Apostate” in the 70’s. I miss him, so these podcasts are how I gage what he may be going through, etc. ❤
I liked the 1 hour long video and would happily watch another video of this length if you think of making one in the future❤
Thank you so much for your research. I basically knew all of this but I liked how you laid everything out!!!!
I remember them saying that if you read all the magazines and other books you would have the equivalent of a university education after so many years.(🙄) Nowadays with the dumbed down pubs you probably end up at a Grade 3 education.😂
I remember that outrageous crap too!! The literature became so dumbed down, so simple minded it was blatantly obvious Watchtower was doing it on purpose. Most witnesses I know however, are completely content to be spoonfed the regurgitated pap the GB throws out at them. Once in a while one JW friend I’ve known for decades laments she never got the chance for higher education. She mourns the fact that she could have been something more than what she settled for!!
Imagine being a window washer in the early 1900s. You know the end is coming, so you encourage your kids into the business, and now, 6 generations later ... 😢
The sneering of the study of bugs or micro-biology was strange 😮 If old JC Penny suit finds himself in a hospital, perhaps he might find himself appreciating someone who completed higher education? 🎉
Great Job Thanks Wally Happy Holidays Happy New Year 🎉
Same to you!
WOW, you speak well for home schooled, and seem very bright! College opened doors to some very basic corporate work, retired now, glad I went to school.
The schools now , comm ty colleges do remedial work. Most campuses entail youth who can t speak properly and worse at writing. Even IV leagues r spiraling into dumb-dumb land.
Truly appreciate you! I went against the grain and just went to college, never an option in mind since I was young, even indoctrinated I saw the writing on the wall. I didn’t want to struggle like my uneducated parents.
Hey Wally love the video , I would do anything to get my parents away from this , they are in their 70’s and been a JW since they were late teens , I often find myself reflecting on my childhood that was robbed of me, it feels like a forever road to recovery from this cult I left in my early 20’s and now I’m in my early 40’s still angered by their non sense teachings
I've never gotten "home-school vibes" from you at all! That's shocking!
There was once a time whence I was yet a child. During my season of young childhood, this was what the very first spark that ignited the flame that burnt this cult to a crisp that I could never recover from. These people teach that humans are 6000 years old. That’s it, mic drop, I’m out.
At some point (I agree it will be soon) watchtower will realize if they are discouraging higher education constantly, they will have fewer and fewer educated members in this upcoming generation. And with fewer and fewer newcomers, this means they won’t have many if at all, educated members to serve for free for them in departments like their legal department, medical, Ect.
If they ever do make a change it will be to ultimately benefit them by encouraging their members to get an education so they can use them for free labor.
Walley, I appreciate the work you put into this video . I also admire your great articulation and humor. I had been raised into the organization and was a witness up until my 30's. I left and became educated in my 40's. I am now a clinical microbiologist and do not regret that. And Yes, you are correct...they will be glad that people in the medical field study bacteria and viruses for a living when they get old and infected or have to fight serious diseases. They would have a brother or sister in the faith working to help them in the hospitals and medical laboratories (like blood bank) if the governing body allowed their congregants to get those skills/education.
Im so glad that me and my sister and I graduated high school in the late 90s and early 2000s when, just for a couple of years, the borg eased up on their stance on higher education. I can't imagine my life if i wasn't able to get a degree and the hell away from that organization.
Hi Wally, congratulations on your channel's content and the relaxed, reasonable tone with which you address sensitive topics! I've been following you for a while and I'm thinking of creating a blog to help other ex-Witnesses share their experiences here in Italy: in my Country there is still a lot of shame around this. I would like to ask You where I can find the 2015 Broadcasting that contained the talk about education that was removed. Thank you! 🙏🙂👋
I was home educated, came with positives and negatives. Both outweigh each other.
Wasn’t too many JWs in my local town who were home educated, but 90% of the ones who were home educated were incredibly strange with ZERO social skills. Worry for how life must be for them now many years later
Happy New Year Wally! Looking forward for more videos.
Every episode you make is so informative and spot on. I really appreciate your insight and work, it also helps me maintain the reasons why I left as you feel so guilty and judged even though they are only standing by what they are taught to believe. A big thank you and a happy new year 🥳
Absolutely adore your channel. I found you last year after deciding to do research on JWs since my future wife is an ex witness.
Thank you for educating me to better understand my partner and helping so many PIMOs and ex JWS.
Keep up the good work Wally!!! ❤
Always happy to comment and like for the algo gods
Hey Wally, never was a JW but still really enjoy your videos. I just love your personality and the way you make your videos, I’d still watch your videos no matter what you choose to talk about lol. Please never stop posting!
I appreciate that!
Remember my father in law was up for promotion at his job asking my wife how long itd take to get a 2-year degree back in 2012. She said '2 years..' as she was working on her BS. He huffed, oh the new system will be here by then. Abandoned all aspirations continuing to work another 10 years with no new system of things.
In 1994 convention dramas i was the college dude who quit because he was convinced by Elijah killing all the prophets of Baal that I needed to quit school and join the JWs. I had all my lines memorized in two weeks of practice and i gave an Oscar worthy performance every time. And it was SO STUPID.
exasperating and funny though...a waste of existence😏
Cygnus, but you made so much $$$ cleaning chimneys!
Where in the Bible does it say not to seek higher education? I remember that they said that reading the awake magazine was likened to a college degree!
I was going to go to a prestigious art school, but the org dissuaded the opportunity cause the world was going to end. I'm so glad you are doing this video on education. Rolf Furulli was a Prof, while being an elder and it didn't affect his faith. And they didn't bother him until he wrote the book about his beloved religion, instead of praising him for his love - they kicked him to the curb!
Just like the shooter in Germany, he warned them that something bad would happen if they dfd him after his book was released. So those deaths are on the orgs head, along with all the other people who were affected by their rules. RIP to all those needless deaths!
Wally, this is so good!! I wish that I could show this to the faithful few JW members of my family. So glad I left at at 17. I've been trying to tell this to them since I was a teenager.
Hey Wally. Rutherford took parts of Russell's teaching that fit with his agenda & his successors held fast to the same ideology .The 'Awake' magazine, were the alternative reading material not scripted to indoctrinate directly in my opinion. Your vidoes are getting better !! 🎉🎉🎉. Wishing you a great New year !❤❤❤
Great job. So glad I am out and have my degree. Worldly son now has a masters and worldly daughter getting phd. So glad they were not raised as I was. I was so criticized because I went to school
Hello dear Wally! Thank you for all your hard work ..videos and insightful thoughts!
Wish you a really good new year 2025 in freedom and much happynes !
Thank you for all you have done ! ❤❤🎉🎉
Love the cat. Mine does similar, she also walks across the keyboard.
Do the JW think about how no education affects people of color? In the 1970s we fought to be admitted to college. We wanted.better jobs and not have to be kept at menial jobs. I left the organization years ago, and my life got so much better. And yes, I went to college. Thanks Wally for doing what you do and exposing the JWs and their lies. Love to ZeZe.
Thanks for the in depth video man!
Great work as always
Good Stuff Sir! School em to facts. It’s sad. Been trying to tell all of this to my family for 20 years…I’m over it…lolol💪🏽🤷🏽♂️🤙🏽
You do an amazing job each time, thank you for all your hard work and time to help others, hope you have an even better 2025, from Oz
Thank you so much!
Third generation. Father got an 8th grade education. Fortunately he became a farmer.
I started uni in 1975. The circuit overseer had a sh!! fit because Armageddon came that year as we all remember. Told my elder father & mother I had to stop or we wold all be removed. This religion was everything to my parents. The truly scary part was he told me he would spy on me for the rest of my life. I posted this before & some JW had the nerve to say I was lying. As Jack Nicolson said in in a Few Good Men "They can't handle the truth about the Truth."
Oh yes. I remember Armageddon in 1975. 😢😂😮❤
Wally, Have a Happy New Year!!! 🌟
👋Thanks, Wally!👍
Thanks Wally, interesting to see the latest shift in the ‘GB G’s’ thinking around education…😊
Great video!
This reminds me of a scene in a Twilight Zone episode!😮🤔🧐🤐😵💫🙈🙉🙊👀🤫😎🇺🇸 41:10
On the contrary, the more a slave was educated, the more he was worth. Most physicians and elementary school teachers who taught children how to read, write, count were slaves. People who ran administrative branches of the empire were the emperor's slaves, there was even a school for them, the Schola Palatina at the Palatine Hill.
Really great vid!
The study of insects is absolutely vital, and interesting. Yet, you, Mark Sanderson have someone studying real estate for the org!
Thank you for your videos Wally! I am always so excited when I see a new one out 🫶🏻
Charles Taze Russell had a limited education.
"Russell said that he had attended public school for seven years, having left when he was about fourteen years of age, after which he received instruction through private tutors."
Good job bro
Liked and commented 😎 hope this pushes the algorithm
Since they don't accept further education, they shouldn't be entitled to any help from such organisations!!!!!!!
Have some of that GB and JWs
This is outstanding research, bro. Had no idea, & I’ve been digging deep, that since the very inception of this religion they’ve frowned upon education. My goodness.
U know what’s interesting in this white board clip, the narrator made to sure to highlight the benefits of achieving “basic education”, not higher education.
IMHO, w/ them now lowering the age of young men & women being able to attend Bethel right after HS, this highlights the organization’s stance of sending kids to Universities. In fact, a friend of mine has just been removed as a M.S b/c his daughter is going off to college. He’s one of the few that said he didn’t care if I disassociated or not. He’s devastated.
I believe they removed all of Tony’s content b/c:
1. Norway
2. He’s no longer a GB
3. Public image or rebranding
Great video Wally!!! for 2025 I wil no longer be watching Ex JW sites, I need a long break. Please keep up the good work, there are many who need you!!! Best to you my friend.
Thanks for a very well researched video Wally. I’ve been out for over 3 decades but still like to check on what Watchtower is up to. Bet they’re glad Jody Jedele got a good education so that he can help with their multi billion dollar real estate business 😳. Surely a lot of red flags would have been raised with the rank and file when his appointment to the GB was announced - hopefully it will cause more JW’s to walk away and start thinking for themselves.
I used to attend, on and off, JW bible studies, meetings, conventions, and Sunday Watchtower studies for probably 20 years. Never got baptized. When I was nearing completion of High School, the "brothers" and "sisters" tried to talk me out of going to University.
I was very interested in what they taught, but never completely hooked nor indoctrinated.
While listening to this, I suddenly realised that, for me, the JW organisation seems like a huge Ponzi scheme.
The primary purpose for its existence is to continuously recruit new members (door to door canvassing), who, after they are baptized, sell magazines, go door to door to recruit more members, and the baptized members have to pay monthly contributions to the organisation (just like the churches).
And the quarterly, bi-annual and annual conventions are huge money generating events. Most of the foods sold are donated by the members, and sold for profit, which again goes into the big pot.
Interesting thought.
I loved sitting on the fringe looking in, never fully committed.
Amazing research dude. Commenting to give you clout
I've never gotten any higher education other than High School graduation due to being a JW.
I could take college classes now since I've been out but much prefer free-form studies of my choosing. With my health issues, I must minimize stress at all costs.
I got straight As.. a AP student and so many people wanted me to excel but not my parents..it was literally they hated me being smart
I was called rebellious, they called me Cain, they called me Esau, told me I was giving up my 'birthright'... It was horrible
I can't watch 'Everyone Else Burns' with the chuckles and amusement that everyone else does because the mental and emotional abuse the oldest daughter experiences is almost identical but add violent physical abuse
I hear you, bright one. Hope you can get your dreams, I bet you have time to do most of it!
That's bananas! Smh, I'm sorry. JWs are really unbelievable sometimes.
I got kicked out of the Org as an apostate in the 70’s, with two little children. I was so scared. No job experience except homemaking; no Education after high school. It was so frightening to learn anything. I was shy, introverted, but teeny tiny bit by bit over YEARS did pursue the Higher Education that created the confidence that created the better paying jobs. Good for you and your future! I wish you all things bright and beautiful and peace and joy that comes from freedom, which comes from education and thinking skills! ❤
The ex-JW community should do a letter writing campaign too!
Freedom? Joy? School years were the most miserable years of my life, in fact school haunted me in the nightmares for 20 years after graduation 🤪
5:10 that old goat didn't even have any children! The word is he was in "the celibacy marriage" 😂😅
Life changes when you understand how the Great Attractor holds together the Laniakea Supercluster.
The more I learn about JW the more I am reminded of medieval Catholicism.
Heyhey! I love your content and kooky sketches. The background music of the piano bashing out weirdarse chords is rather off putting in this one though... :/
Could you do a video on JWs and fears of Nuclear War? I was thinking that doom preaching in the 50s-90s was fairly smart, given the cold war.
I want to say so much... wow. But for now I'll say, more and more, the history of the JWs look like scientology. I am so shocked I was following along with all this as a kid and young adult!
yeah the history never ceases to shock me the further down the well I go
The "problems" for the ORG back in the early '80s came from some in the writing dept learning more about history doing research for the "Insight" book. Groups get stuck in "narrow" viewpoints and put a "lid" on their ability to learn.
The "end" is always coming: humans die.
To boost the video:
I’m starting a new job this year and turns out it’s just down the street from our local Kingdom Hall! lol this year is sure going to be interesting
*Wally the greatest of all time!* 💪🏼
Fr
Happy new year wally
Why would a young girl be subject to a judicial
committee for seeking higher education? Please someone enlighten me? 🙏
Wally the elder part made me wanna puke. Being an ex jw i know that isnt sincere the father should decide what is good for HIS children. Makes me sick
Wally thanks for all you do. You and a few of the others are good enough at it that i almost never engage with EXJW content anymore. I just don't feel the need and have moved on. Every now and again something interesting enough will catch my attention and this one did not disappoint. It was a pretty well done mini documentary on them. Good work
I pray that you will be able to see ........THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Here in the UK I know a Jdub who is a primary school teacher that went to university, an engineer that went to college, and so on. It may be different in the US.
I think now that the GB is making some changes maybe. They need Business Administrators, Engineers, Attorneys, for their Real Estate interests. Doctors, Psychologists, probably still not so much as they believe they won’t need them after Armageddon into Paradise, and Doctors would surely not go along with the No Blood Doctrine. They simply use Elders for mental challenges and don’t believe in Psychology, but anything that is Business or Labor intensive that will benefit the Org, I think they will start allowing Education for. They’ve got to change! 😮
@christinesotelo7655 Yes, I agree. And the changes may not be gradual but suddenly. 😊
Charlie - there will always be exceptions but this does not detract from the *FACT* that this cult discourages higher education in all the countries where it's not been banned. I'd suggest that most JWs with degrees have been suckered into this cult after they completed their education.
If you are operating a business that requires a high level of strength and stamina, there will be no time for higher education for young people
My father was a JW and lived in shame
Love seeing the Boss
My mum's neighbor's daughter and son were not well educated, and encouraged the daughter to marry a man old enough man (divorced with two adult children, of course, the wife was at fault for the divorce for leaving JW) - married this divorced man, treated the second wife terribly, ruined her life divorced him eventually, still in her 50's going through counseling. fortunately, the son refused to be a JW, married a highly educated young lady, and persuaded him to have further education, now he is highly educated, JW religion is now allowed to be discussed in his house, yet he is mum's favorite. Go figure.
That whiteboard animation video was based on the Young People Ask book. There is a chapter in the Young People Ask book with the same title.
A child who pursues Higher Education is going to learn all about communication skills, self-respect, people skills, Ethics, Dignity, Human Development, as well as their Specializing in their Major studies. No Elder or GB wants THAT in their monotone, opinionated, flat Org! No one can be more intellectual and hold more “vibrant” conversations than the Elders and 11 well-fed men!!!!😂
I'm thinking of getting baptized should I think twice why
I assume your question is rhetorical, unless you want to do the following:
1. Lead a joyless life and follow the twisted doctrines of 11 old men in New York.
2. Regard women as subservient to men (bad luck if you're female).
3. Study the New World Translation, a fake Bible that was supposedly translated by a group of men, none of whom were Greek or Hebrew scholars.
4. Stand around on street corners with a cart full of cult propaganda, staring into your phone and looking somewhat awkward.
5. Stop celebrating birthdays.
6. Stop celebrating Christmas.
7. Stop masturbating.
8. Be prepared to disown your own children if, later in life, they decide the leave this cult.
9. Give up any higher education you're undertaking or planning to complete.
10. Lose most of your 'earthly' friends.