It’s not every day you read a story where the reporter describes the same person as a Jehovah’s Witness, a fundamentalist and an evangelical.
Read through these first few paragraphs the short Lexington Herald-Leader story and see if you can help me sort this out.
When Monica Marks was growing up a Jehovah’s Witness in Eastern Kentucky, she dreamed one day of getting an education.
Now that dream will take her from the University of Louisville to the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar.
“Where I grew up, it was never which college are you going to, it was if college was possible,” Marks said Saturday, just hours after learning in Indianapolis that she had been awarded the prestigious scholarship. “For me, it was just so rebellious to even consider that.”
Marks, 23, grew up in Rush, Ky., in a fundamentalist evangelical family, but her parents respected her hunger for education.
I’m so confused. Was she a Jehovah’s Witness but her parents were evangelicals or fundamentalist?
First, take a look at GetReligion’s previous exegeses of the Associated Press’ style on the word fundamentalist.
fundamentalist The word gained usage in an early 20th century fundamentalist-modernist controversy within Protestantism. In recent years, however, fundamentalist has to a large extent taken on pejorative connotations except when applied to groups that stress strict, literal interpretations of Scripture and separation from other Christians. In general, do not use fundamentalist unless a group applies the word to itself.
What’s unclear in the story is whether Monica Marks describes her upbringing as fundamentalist or whether the reporter Janet Patton assumed that it was fundamentalist. Also, does she call herself an evangelical? In my experience, most people do not consider themselves both an evangelical and a fundamentalist. Here’s what the 2007 AP guide says about evangelicals:
evangelical Historically, evangelical was used as an adjective describing dedication to conveying the message of Christ. Today it also is used as a noun, referring to a category of doctrinally conservative Christians. They emphasize the need for a definite, adult commitment or conversion to faith in Christ and the duty of call believers to persuade others to accept Christ.
Also, how could she be an evangelical and Jehovah’s Witness when their core beliefs about Jesus and the Trinity are completely different?
Let’s look at one of the reporter’s descriptions above once more:
When Monica Marks was growing up a Jehovah’s Witness in Eastern Kentucky, she dreamed one day of getting an education.
The reporter assumes that it’s inconceivable that a Jehovah’s Witness would get an education. Would she have used the same phrase if she were describing a Catholic or Jew? Her religious background may have been a roadblock from getting an education, but the reporter doesn’t explain how. It comes up again here:
Marks, 23, grew up in Rush, Ky., in a fundamentalist evangelical family, but her parents respected her hunger for education.
Why the but? Are her religion and education mutually exclusive for some reason? How did her parents respect her hunger for education? What did they do to make that happen? Was she homeschooled? Did she attend a religious private school? The student then compares her upbringing to Islam.
Her background shaped her choice of what to study as well: Marks is presently researching Islamic law in Turkey as a Fulbright Scholar and plans to continue those studies at Oxford, where she will research comparative human rights and Sharia law.
Winning the Rhodes scholarship, “really resonates with me on a deep personal level,” Marks said. “It’s a vote of confidence in your future.”
She said she is often struck by the patriarchal similarities between Islam and her fundamentalist Christian upbringing.
This reporter assumes that we know what Monica Marks is talking about. What are the patriarchal similarities that she’s referring to?
There are several questions left unanswered in this story. Writing a short, localized article doesn’t mean that you should spend less time checking your facts. Monica Marks may very well feel that her religious background shapes her study of Islamic law, but I want to know how.
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Comments (28) |
November 24, 2009, at 8:29 pm
I’m just as confused….weird story.
November 24, 2009, at 8:34 pm
I thought it was ambiguous whether it was her religion that made an education unlikely or being from eastern Kentucky. Appalachian people are almost as stereotyped as fundamentalists.
Also, don’t the JWs discourage higher education pretty strongly? This might be a case where the stereotype has a basis in reality.
November 24, 2009, at 9:34 pm
As I former 20-yr JW, I feel qualified to comment on this story, providing some insight, as follows:
1. Yes, JW’s strongly discourage education beyond high school. I was such a victim in the late 60’s, succumbing to the religion’s aversion to higher education. This official position continues to this day.
2. With some encouragement from her parents (evidently), Monica Marks smartly “broke” rank, disregarding the religion’s insistance that the “end of world” was “around the corner” and decided to further her studies, attending various universities. Obviously, her intelligence and desire for higher learning drove her to these decisions. She needs to be praised and not vilified.
3. All the other points in the reporter’s articles, whether assumed or factual, pale into insignificance. The driving point of the article concerns someone who overcame organizational (JW) pressure to conform to their insular views of life and their myopic view of the future, all tainted by humanistic, legalistic interpretations of the Bible.
I only regret, as a young man, to not having her inner strength and “bucking” the system as she was able to do. Kudos to Monica Marks and her supportive parents!
November 24, 2009, at 10:18 pm
The story is a train wreck. Period.
November 24, 2009, at 11:11 pm
Brice, thanks for the background. I have friends who are Witnesses, and although none of them has ever said so explicitly, they’ve strongly implied that higher education is not for them. Certainly I’ve never heard of a Jehovah’s Witness with a college degree.
Applaud the young lady as you like; I do too. However, journalistically, Chris nailed it. It’s a train wreck. Evangelical, Fundamentalist and Jehovah’s Witness are all three separate strains of Christianity. (Never mind the debates over JW theology; they consider themselves Christian and that’s all the writer needs to worry about.)
Consider, if you have the stomach, this sentence:
Marks was raised with three things “very much off limits”: politics, women’s rights, and philosophy.
Politics is off limits for Witnesses, at least direct participation in it. Certainly not for Fundamentalists or Evangelicals. Women’s rights aren’t a strong taboo for JWs, as far as I know. And how is philosophy as a whole off-limits to anyone?
A Google search indicates that this reporter isn’t some fresh-out-of-school cub. Yet in any area other than religion, these would be amateur mistakes. She oughta be embarrassed.
November 25, 2009, at 1:24 am
A small comment: I like the drawing of the trinity that accompanies this post.
November 25, 2009, at 2:09 am
Wow, that’s just ignorant reporting.
November 25, 2009, at 2:47 am
Christians are being persecuted by Islamist Malaysia. Read more about it here http://margeemar.blogspot.com/2009/11/allah-is-also-my-god.html#links and here http://margeemar.blogspot.com/2009/11/evil-bnumno-persecutes-christians-in.html
November 25, 2009, at 8:09 am
Marks said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses, have unfortunately, pursued a rather antagonistic stance towards higher education of their youth.” She added that they tend also to denigrate women in general.”
Higher education should be promoted
Anyone who has been a Jehovah’s Witness for decades like myself knows that college education was a defiant act which surely would get you sanctioned by the JW church.
Fact today this year 2009-2010 the Watchtower rulers of Jehovah’s Witnesses have backed off from their NO COLLEGE mandate but for 100 years they said no college I grew up a JW for 50 years and nobody was allowed college.Many many JW suffer with low paying janitorial jobs.
Fact!
November 25, 2009, at 10:01 am
“Low Paying Janitorial jobs” you must know what janitors get payed. I dropped out of school and started to work. I later worked in my old school as the Janitor, i cleared over 7500.00 a month and only worked 4 hours a day! not bad. How long do you have to work to make that much. Maybe they have it right. what most people think of as “low pay jobs” like the guy cleaning the toilet or replacing the toilet are not low at all. someone has to do it and they get payed good. Plumbers around here get around 60 to 80 an hour thats just for labour not to bad if you ask me. also the jw spend time doing what they want to do and love, can you say the same. ps i have a friend thats a jw. he said they say higher education is not recommend but not off limits. i know jw that are doctors, lawyers and that all are good jw my friend said.
November 25, 2009, at 10:34 am
This is largely off-topic, but I offer this observation to note how difficult it is becoming for those largely ignorant of religious matters to be able to work with this topic, as people continue to do increasingly manipulative things with language.
One trend in Protestant churches this past decade has been for denominational congregations to hide their denominational affiliation. Usually this is done to signify that a congregation has gone “church growth” and embraced the ID of what I call “the non-denominational denomination”, i.e. consumerist American evangelicalism. (Praise Band, screens, coffee shop, informal attire, preaching centered on “life skills”, seperate religious entertainment for the kids, etc.). A recent example of this is the local Ev. Free church here in Naperville rebranding itself as “The Compass” Church.
But now it appears that Jehovah’s Witnesses are getting into that game - at least as far as “rebranding” goes. I doubt they have the kickin’ praise band, and they probably don’t allow coffee, but I noticed on a recent trip to Texas that the local JH church in my home town had a new name - and it didn’t say “Jehovah’s Witnesses” or “Kingdom Hall” on it. I can’t recall the actual name now, but it was just something like “New Horizons Church” or “Turning Point Church”.
Now maybe they’ve closed shop or moved out. Some other outfit may have bought their building and moved into it, deciding that the price was worth the suspicion the JH building shape would create with the already-churched townfolk. Someone would need to do more reporting to nail this story down. But nonetheless we have yet another church with “no idnetifying lables”.
All this rebranding and reimagining is just making things more confusing for everyone. This doesn’t excuse this sloppy story - but I think this observation highlights how difficult it is getting for the casual observer to know anything about what is going on in churches today.
November 25, 2009, at 10:43 am
Oops. Hit submit. Let me finish:
Even “evangelical” has gained definitions, and many reporters have no clue of its original and continued use in Lutheran & Reformed circles. Sure, the dictionary has always grown and language has always been a tool well-used by those who influence others, but marketing and postmodernism has taken this to a whole new level.
So, I suspect we’ll be getting more stories like this.
November 25, 2009, at 11:04 am
I’m a former JW who also bucked the system and got an education (two Bachelors and one Masters), I would like to add my thoughts.
I’m not a journalist but I think I might know why the reporter used the three different adjectives to describe the JWs.
Fundamentalist: the JWs are very, very strict and controling to the point of Orwellian magnitude.
The JWs also teach their members that they are the only true Christians so therefore all other sects of Christianity are apostate and they must not mix with them.
The JWs do however cherry-pick which scriptures they take as literal and which scriptures to take symbolically.
All of these things can be considered as indicative of fundamentalism.
Evangelical: JWs are indoctrinated to believe that salvation depends not only on faith alone, but works. A person who only has faith, but does nothing to “spread the good news of God’s Kingdom” will not gain life everlasting (with the JWs it’s eternal life on Earth). This is why the JWs go knocking on doors and accosting you in public places. They THINK they are doing as Christ commanded, but in reality, they are simply drones of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, programmed to convert others to come into the “truth” (aka the cult).
But since they “preach,” it technically qualifies them as evangelical.
The other former JWs who have posted are correct. The JWs used to discourage seeking education past the legally required amount because “the old system of things is right around the corner” and instead of seeking “useless worldly knowledge” a “true Christian” (meaning them) should therefore preach fulltime. They have since eased up on the stance, but still stress fulltime ministry work instead of “useless worldly persuits.” You aren’t exactly popular or considered “good association” if you decide to go onto University.
The woman who is the subject of the article can be considered as an exception to the rule. She was very fortunate that her JW parents were not so rabidly brainwashed that they forbid her to persue an education. Many JW parents are however and bright, promising, intelligent young people are sacrificed to the Watchtower cult and never are given to opportunity to live up to their potential.
As a woman, I can assure you, the JWs are very patriarchal and repressive of women. Oddly though, the JW women do the majority door-to-door recruitment. In other words, they’re a fine source of slave labor.
November 25, 2009, at 1:57 pm
I’m not the moderator of this site, so I will simply ask…
Will somebody please put the axe to Dana’s intolerant ad hominum screed?
PLEASE?
Sheesh!!!
November 25, 2009, at 2:02 pm
I agree with Ellen - without commenting further on the quality of the reporting, but having had numerous, generally friendly, encounters with JW’s, I would be quite happy to define the group, in general as:
‘fundamentalist’ (despite a somewhat unusual take on the meaning of what ‘the Bible says’, JW’s definitely have a very literal set of lenses on when looking at ‘what the Bible says’)
and as
‘evangelical’ (what else are they doing, walking around the neighborhood, knocking on doors, but ‘evangelizing’?)
As for ‘against education’ - I’d have to say, JW’s generally see an education past high school as useful for gainful employment, but not necessarily desirable in and of itself - for ‘the head of the house’, the husband. For women, higher education is not particularly encouraged, and in some families, is actively discouraged, as leading to discontent and an undesirable level of independence.
November 25, 2009, at 4:41 pm
Although a few JWs do it the Watchtower has always discouraged Jehovah’s Witnesses from pursuing a higher education.
November 25, 2009, at 5:16 pm
Ellen, the big issue with using “fundamentalist” to describe the JWs is that the people who actually are, no questions about it, fundamentalists hold to the Nicene doctrine of the trinity as one of those fundamentals, to the point where THE Fundamentals explicitly addresses the Bible Students, the progenitor of the JWs.
The sad thing is that the sentence could have easily been reworded to eliminate the offending phrase without losing any important and accurate information.
November 25, 2009, at 8:05 pm
I did go to college. back in 1976. It was discourged but not something that was forbidden. It isn’t the education aspect of it that is the problem, but the associations with those who do not have a spiritual outlook or goals. Also there is considered to be an over empasis on putting the aquisition of material possesions at the most important thing in life, or as the key to happiness in and of itself by those who usually persue a college education. However people are more important than things, and spiritual persuits should be central to one’s life. Today most young people are going to need at least some college or vocational training to make a living. In my congregation today there are always some who either attend or teach at one of the universities in Denton, Texas. I thought the article was bizzare.
November 25, 2009, at 8:08 pm
I live in a university town and there are always some in my congregation who either attend, or who teach at one of the local universities. I thouht the article was bizarre.It was several train wrecks.
November 25, 2009, at 8:32 pm
Joel, thank you for your comments. Please understand that the purpose of my post was not to critique the author’s article in form, content, sentence structure etc…., which, in my view, was irrelevant. In other words, I wasn’t “grading the paper”, if you will.
I was, however, particularly impressed with the wisdom and determined “I can” attitude of Ms. Marks to “buck the JW system” in seeking her educational goals. And excelled she did, you will agree as others have too!
The other point that I wanted to confirm is the traditional stand the JW hierarchy has taken against higher education. If they have relaxed their rules, that would be surprising as even as late as last year, at their annual district conventions, the program specifically dealt with discouraging discourses dealing with getting a university or college education. This is where they overstep their obligation, as religious leaders, meddling in young people’s lives with issues that have nothing to do with one’s personal faith.
One other post indicated that some JW’s have wisely disregarded this counsel and that is correct. The JW headquarters in Brooklyn NY are filled with volunteers who have gotten an college education and who were selected, in part, for that very reason. Other JW’s remain in good standing and have received a college degree. Kudos to them!
So, if the referenced article was a “train wreck”, so be it. I wasn’t concerned with that aspect…. Thanks!
November 25, 2009, at 8:57 pm
A comment for Charles R:
You are correct in stating that attending college, even in 1976, was “not forbidden”. No one was DF’ed for pursuing a higher education. At the same time, however, such a person was viewed as having “worldly” tendencies, as not being “spiritually minded” etc…. In others words, such a person was not going to be (if a male) appointed as a MS or even be assigned to work the mike’s at the weekly WT study. The judgmental labels were “large, pronounced and quite sticky”.
You were fortunate in attending college. Did you feel a little ostracized by your local congregation at the time? I suspect that one or more elders tried to discourage you from your chosen course, and, instead, encouraged you to seek full-time service as a pioneer or Bethel volunteer. In 1966, I chose full-time service even though my father offered me an education in Europe. Dumb move? You bet it was!
The past is the past, however, and it cannot be changed. I have managed, with a simple high school education, to live comfortably. I do remain resentful that a college education was denied, even if by my own gullibility and false sense of hope in a religious system that claimed to have all the answers and wisdom for the future but, in reality, did not. Very sad indeed.
November 25, 2009, at 10:43 pm
I found this in a local paper after reading the article here. Interestingly, the article was changed — nowhere is her upbringing referred to as “fundamental, evangelical.” It’s described as “fundamentalist Jehovah’s Witness.” She graduated from one of the local high schools, so I guess the paper figured they’d better make sure they got the story right, though I don’t see any attribution outside of the Associated Press tag at the top.
http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_326224115.html
November 26, 2009, at 1:33 pm
A very good read from Barbara Anderson on Education entitled, “Jehovah’s Witnesses, Higher Education and Misrepresentation” Barb worked along with her husband in the Bethel Writing Department.
Partial quote:
The Old Becomes New Again
In today’s world, as prices climb, it is a challenge for everyone, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, to provide adequate necessities, much less luxuries, for themselves and their families, so the value of higher education has become more of a necessity than ever before. Yet, in 2005, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses decided that parents should not be overly concerned about the ability of their children to support themselves in the future. In the October 1, 2005 Watchtower an article appeared, “Parents—What Future Do You Want for Your Children?” which would alter the outlook of the Witnesses towards higher education once again. Why was another adjustment necessary?
Basically, since the November 1, 1992 Watchtower article appeared, more than fourteen years of academic freedom of choice caused many young Witnesses throughout the world to include more education after completing high school, and, upon graduation, they were not working part-time and pursuing full-time service goals anymore. Not only were Witness youths attending colleges and universities, but many adult Witnesses went back to school, enrolling in college and universities where they took courses to equip themselves for better paying jobs. From evaluating the reports of their traveling representatives, the consensus at Witness headquarters was that parents were being swept along by the spirit of competition for material advancement and success for their children and for themselves. This sentiment was expressed at a number of Kingdom Ministry Schools (seminars for Witness overseers) where Witnesses were said to be “taking advantage” of the new stance on college, going beyond getting education that would make it easier to pioneer or provide for their families. These were said to be “trying to make a name for themselves” in this world. Accordingly, this trend had to be reined in. Therefore, it was the October 1, 2005 Watchtower article’s purpose to redefine higher education in the minds of the ‘flock.’ It focused them back on technical and vocational schools which offered short-term courses for their children, which always had a certain amount of subdued approval within the group.
The October 1, 2005 Watchtower made clear that university or college for four or more years, leading to a bachelor’s degree or to postgraduate studies for careers in medicine, law, engineering, and so forth, was out. Thereafter, criticism began of any Witness attending college or university for instruction in high-paying specialized fields. But how to convince the flock that attending college was not in their best interests, and that they should be satisfied with short-term supplementary education? Part of the Governing Body’s strategy was to attempt to prove—by using secular arguments, current research and studies—that earning a university degree was not a guarantee of successful job placement, and that the cost for a Witness youth could be higher than what it was worth.
Another Flip-flop?
As a side note, Independent Lens, which is a weekly program featured on National Public Television (NPT) in the United States, “introduces new documentaries and dramas made by independent” filmmakers. KNOCKING is just such a new documentary that Independent Lens is airing across America on many Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) during 2007. As advertised on PBS, the program, KNOCKING, “opens the door on Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
On their NPT/PBS Internet website a distinctive web-page is dedicated to exploring the “myths and realities of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” [6] The following is one of the so-called “Myths’ listed along with a “Reality”:
Jehovah’s Witnesses made many erroneous predictions that the world was ending by a certain time, which financially ruined the lives of members who never sought college education or careers.
Over the course of the Witnesses’ 130-year history, there have been periods of Armageddon predictions. Witnesses felt their belief in the imminent end of this world and the start of God’s Kingdom was not compatible with the need for a higher education leading to a lucrative career in a doomed, manmade system. Also, the preaching work of Witnesses did not require a college degree, therefore the pursuit of higher education was discouraged. But in 1995, the Witnesses officially ended their belief that tied the coming of Armageddon to the lifespan of anyone alive today, saying instead it is coming “soon.” Witnesses whose circumstances allow are encouraged to do full-time ministry; about 10 percent do so. Now, many young Witnesses attend college.
If the above quoted “Reality” statement is true, then it would appear Witnesses can attend college without criticism from their leaders. However, this essay is not arguing the pros and cons of whether a university education is in the best interests of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but is a criticism of the Watchtower for misrepresenting secular quotations by taking them out of context to reinforce Witness ideology for that particular point in time.
November 26, 2009, at 8:33 pm
To Charles Jones (not Charles R, sorry):
After I wrote my note dated yesterday, I realized that 1976 was a pivotal year for many JW’s, both young and old. How so?
The previous year (1975) was long designated by Frederick Franz, Pres of the WTBTS (long considered to be the primary scholarly authority in Scriptural interpretations), to be the end of 6,000 years of human history, specifically, in the Fall of that year.
According to Franz’s teachings, the Jubilee period of Christ’s 1000 year reign was to follow only “months later” which, in sequence, would have ushered: 1) the fall of Babylon the Great (false religion), 2) the destruction of all political governments thus bringing, in general terms, the end of this “system of things” as well as 3) the heavenly abyssing of Satan the Devil by Christ Jesus for the same period of 1000 years.
Could the failure of that prediction have influenced you and, perhaps, many others, in the years immediately following 1975, to seek a college education since the “end of this systems of things” never materialized as taught & expected? It would appear to be a plausible conclusion in view of the failure of humanistic interpretations of Scripture, one that affected, in the years previous to ‘75, so many brothers and sisters in draconian ways, causing untold hardship, financial ruin etc…….
Your honest and candid answer will be appreciated. This question is not meant to critize but only to understand the mindset of JW’s in the years immediately following 1975. Thank you in advance for your reply.
PS- If a reply is not forthcoming, I will understand the reasons why.
November 27, 2009, at 12:31 am
Please stay on topic - about the article, not about Jehovah’s Witnesses and education. Thanks.
November 27, 2009, at 12:48 pm
Dear Sarah,
Sorry, but these subjects and topics have a way of evolving, especially when it concerns the JW organization. Perhaps you might re-introduce the original subject, the admirable Ms. Monica Marks. I would be happy to consider your viewpoint, which is……?
November 27, 2009, at 3:11 pm
Brice,
Your conversation has certainly evolved far past the discussion of the article. Don’t you recognize Sarah as the author of the original post? She has no need to *re*-introduce anything.
Back to the article: Maybe it’s because I grew up in Kentucky with Jehovah’s Witnesses as good friends, but I remember their attitudes towards higher education being commonly known. Perhaps the reporter was assuming that everyone knew the traditional JW attitude towards higher education, but it doesn’t take much space to make it explicit. (And, as an added benefit, to give local JW spokespersons a clear statement that they can confirm or correct.)
November 30, 2009, at 11:04 pm
Yes, please stay on the topic. Responsible journalism is the issue here. Should you have a problem with someone’s belief system(s) fine another site.