1983_School and Jehovah's Witnesses (Świadkowie Jehowy a szkoła).pdf

CONTENTS

Subject

Page

The Reason for This Brochure

Our Purpose in Life

Our View of the Future

The Moral Principles We Follow

Flag Salute, Anthems and Voting

Holidays and Celebrations

Extracurricular Activities

Class Instruction

Cooperation With the School System

01983

WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

OF PENNSILVANIA.

Publishers

WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

OF NEW YORK, INC.

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS

ASSOCIATION

Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

School and Jehovah's Witnesses

English (sj-E)

Printed in Britain

Scripture quotations in this brochure are from the

modern-language New World Translation of the Holy

Scriptures, 1981 Edition.

THE REASON FOR

THIS BROCHURE

This brochure is published to promote understand-

ing and cooperation between Jehovah's Witnesses

and school authorities. It is our desire to cooperate

with all who are working for the success of basic

educational programs offered in school.

Parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses want to con-

tribute to a favorable environment for the learning

process. They want their young ones to receive the

greatest benefit possible from their schooling. And

they want teachers and other school authorities to

know that they will do all that they reasonably can

to help achieve this.

Jehovah's Witnesses generally have a reputation

for excellent moral conduct wherever they live. They

are noted for their obedience to governmental au-

thorities. Yet, some teachers may feel that Witness

youths are uncooperative because they do not share

in every school program or function. However, this

refusal to share is not because the youths are re-

bellious or antisocial. Their actions are based on

religious and moral convictions.

In this brochure we would like to acquaint school

authorities with the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses

that affect participation in school activities. Addi-

tionally, we want to explain why, as a result of such

beliefs, Witness youths do not share in certain school

functions and programs that are common in many

places throughout the world. At the same time we

want to make it clear that it is not our intention to

impose our views on others.

OUR PURPOSE

IN LIFE

At the outset, a brief description of Jehovah's Wit-

nesses and our purpose in life will be helpful. We are

an international body of Christians who can be found

in more than 200 lands throughout the world. Our

way of worshiping God involves our entire outlook and

manner of life.

Since we are convinced that God is a real being, we

consider it vital to maintain a close, personal relation-

ship with him as our Father. (Matthew 6:9) Among

other things, this involves knowing him by his name.

At Psalm 83:18 the Bible says: "That people may know

that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the

Most High over all the earth."

As Christians, we also try to fashion our lives around

the example of God's Son, Jesus Christ. That he was an

outstandingly well-educated man is evident from the

wisdom of his teachings. But Jesus used his knowledge

for the benefit of others and not to gain a secure finan-

cial position or great prominence. The biggest thing in

his life was his service to God. "My food," Jesus said,

"is for me to do the will of him that sent me and to

finish his work."—John 4:34.

We feel the same way. To this end, Witnesses world-

wide value a good education. We encourage our youths

to expand their horizons—to get knowledge and un-

derstanding of their environment and what life is all

about. To this end they read, and often use in their

schoolwork, our journal Awake! that covers practical-

ly all fields of human knowledge. Some educators also

use this magazine in preparing their school courses.

The educational training our children receive has

helped many of them to develop their creative poten-

tial. The Journal of Personality observed this in its

report on an Australian study about the "creativity"

of 12-year-olds. The researchers said: "In particular,

Witnesses

worldwide value a

good

education

a disproportionately large number of highly creative

children were Jehovah's Witnesses." This can be at-

tributed to the fact that the religion of the Witnesses

encourages them to use their thinking ability.

Even though Witness youths are interested in a

good education, they do not pursue schooling with the

intention of obtaining prestige or prominence. Their

main goal in life is to serve effectively as ministers

of God, and they appreciate schooling as an aid to

that end. So they generally choose courses that are

useful for supporting themselves in the modern world.

Thus, many may take vocational courses or attend a

vocational school. When they leave school they desire

to obtain work that will allow them to concentrate on

their principal vocation, the Christian ministry.

View of the Bible

As you can appreciate from the foregoing, Jeho-

vah's Witnesses take the Bible as a daily guide more

seriously than many do. They really believe that "all

Scripture is inspired of God."—2 Timothy 3:16.

In keeping with those words, we believe that ev-

erything recorded in the Bible is accurate and should

guide a Christian in life. As a result, a Witness youth's

view of certain school activities may be quite different

from that of a student who may not take Bible teach-

ings so seriously. This brochure will consider school

activities that are involved and endeavor to help you

understand why Jehovah's Witnesses take the position

they do regarding such activities.

Since, as you may know, the Bible is outstandingly

a book of prophecy, we would like you to consider the

effect that faith in its prophecies has upon the Wit-

nesses' attitude toward school.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: