Originally posted by Proper Knob
Can you prove that those people in involved in the JW literacy program's you earlier cited are not 'rice Christians'?

Gotta run.

prove? we do not offer material benefits, we offer free one on one Bible education.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
prove? we do not offer material benefits, we offer free one on one Bible education.

Are there JW literacy programmes?

Originally posted by FMF
Are there JW literacy programmes?

yes we help thousands of people read and write in order to understand the Bible

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
yes we help thousands of people read and write in order to understand the Bible

Literacy programmes provide "material benefits".

Originally posted by FMF
Literacy programmes provide "material benefits".

what material benefits? the ability to read is a material benefit? can you touch it like you can a hospital? I dont think so.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
They can do what they like except make 'rice Christians'. This I cannot approve of, it almost as bad as trying to buy a stairway to heaven.

Don't you guys have Christian Television there in Scotland where the Gospel message is preached every day?

Originally posted by RJHinds
Don't you guys have Christian Television there in Scotland where the Gospel message is preached every day?

no we provide one on one education, we do not simply dumb material on people like your TV evangelists.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
what material benefits? the ability to read is a material benefit? can you touch it like you can a hospital? I dont think so.

If you'd ever set foot in a developing country, robbie, and if you'd taken in anything about what was going on around you, you'd know full well that literacy programmes offer "material benefits".

Originally posted by FMF
If you'd ever set foot in a developing country, robbie, and if you'd taken in anything about what was going on around you, you'd know full well that literacy programmes offer "material benefits".

you can construe that its a charitable benefit, maybe, but its not a material benefit.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
you can construe that its a charitable benefit, maybe, but its not a material benefit.

It's the difference between employment and unemployment for millions and millions of people in developing countries. I thought you said you'd been to Pakistan.

Originally posted by FMF
It's the difference between employment and unemployment for millions and millions of people in developing countries. I thought you said you'd been to Pakistan.

you think all people work in offices effhim? How does learning to read provide employment opportunities for a farmer whose family has farmed land in the Punjab for generations? Such a BBC Radio4 perspective that all can attain to university regardless of their circumstances simply ignores all kinds of cultural constraints.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
you think all people work in offices effhim?

Shop assistants, people running their own small businesses, employees of businesses, people making deliveries, people doing anything that involves interaction with government offices, farmers looking for grants or entering into contracts etc. etc. The list would go on and on.

So in Pakistan was there no difference between illiterate people and people who'd benefited from literacy programmes when it came to employability and getting better wages?

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Such a BBC Radio4 perspective that all can attain to university regardless of their circumstances simply ignores all kinds of cultural constraints.

I am talking about the material benefits of literacy programmes. I said nothing about university education. You have mentioned university education. I have been talking about literacy programmes.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
no we provide one on one education, we do not simply dumb material on people like your TV evangelists.

If you provided your gospel message on Television or even the radio, then you would be able to get the message out without having to bother those that do not want to receive company into their home.

Originally posted by FMF
Shop assistants, people running their own small businesses, employees of businesses, people making deliveries, people doing anything that involves interaction with government offices, farmers looking for grants or entering into contracts etc. etc. The list would go on and on.

So in Pakistan was there no difference between illiterate people and people who'd benefited from literacy programmes when it came to employability and getting better wages?

In Pakistan its who you know that counts.