by hamsterbait 23 Replies latest jw friends
The whole point of the article is that prayers will be viewed as an offensive odor to Jehovah from those not practicing works in harmony with his laws (like CONTRIBUTING 10%)
So basically they will condition JWs to think they will offend Jehover if they do not give money to the Watchtower Soceity.
If they do ask for a specific donation, like a tithe, they will no doubt try to convince the dubs what a great privilege it is to make such a sacrifice to jehovah, and most of them will believe it and cough up.
iv'e been reading a lot of wt's from the last 10 years and the crqaptower. has been pushing the 10% for4 some time. this is nothing new. I'LL MAKE A PROPHECY TODAY remember i 'm saying it in the name of JOE-HOVER . THE NOV 2006 WT WILL BE. A BEGATHON. GIVE YOUR REAL ESTATE, PENSION, BANK ACCOUNTS, STOCKS, CASH, JEWERLY, ETC. TO THE WT . GET A TAX CREDIT. 10% WILL BE TALKED ABOUT AGAIN. JUST READ LAST YEAR NOV WT. AND THIS YEARS WILL BE THE SAME. A BEGATHON. JOHN
OK then, so if we are going to get all Old Testament and stuff that would mean that the WT will open the farms to gleaners right?
Anyone who doesn't know what gleaning is must take a free "bible-study"
I seem to recall reading on this DB that some countries (GB ??) now had a process where you could use your credit card to donate specific amounts at specific times to the WTBTS. It sounded like "tithing" to me in all but the name. Can anyone verify this and will it become more wide spread?? The pressure might be on to use this "new and simplified" donation arrangement everywhere. LOL
If the WT society wants to start tithing they should first encourage their members to get a good education and so get well paying jobs. tith on $10,000 is only $1,000 per year whereas tith on $100,000 is $10,000 a year also the person on $10,000 a year really cant afford to tith anyway. As they say you cant get blood out of a stone.
The SDAs tith and they also encourage higher education that seems to be a balanced approach.
The problem of course is enforcement. Contributions are still anonymous." From Sir82's post.
When I was in I always contributed by check, so it sure wasn't anonymous for me. I did so in order to have proof of my charitable deduction on my income taxes each year for the IRS, just in case I ever got audited. I never made (or make) any contributions to charitable institutions in cash unless I am able to get a receipt.
Speaking in generalities, if the "average" Witness is making minimum wage or less, then it probably wouldn't benefit them to itemize their deductions on U.S. Federal Form 1040 Schedule A - they wouldn't have enough itemizable deductions to exceed the "standard deduction." But in the USA I think there are a lot of witnesses like me (when I was still in) -- owns a home, pays high property taxes and state income taxes-- all of which are deductible on Schedule A, so that my total deductions on Schedule A were much higher than the "standard deduction." I believe the mean wages in the USA today is around $45,000 (may be off by a few thousand). Ten percent of that figure would be a whopping $4,500 and if Average Witness earns the mean wage and was "guilted" into contributing the full 10%, that would reduce his or her net taxable income on Form 1040 by a large amount if that amount, combined with other items deductible on Schedule A, would push them over the amount of the "standard deduction."
That raises all sorts of interesting scenarios. When I was a Catholic the church used the "envelope" method of keeping track of who donated how much cash (with your name and member number pre-printed on it), if a parishoner did not contribute by check. It would be easy enough for the FDS slave to claim new light and have every congregation start handing out a year's supply of pre-printed envelopes to each family. Then the elders and NY would know EXACTLY how much each family/member was contributing.
You might be on to something. For years they have called attention to the fact that they don't pass a collection plate. However during that same speech about not passing the plate they make sure to point out the donation boxes located everywhere. For instance one collection box by each of the two literature counters, one by the entrance for local donations, another not far from it for kingdom hall building fund and another they pull out for the CO visit. They seem to point to each of those collection boxes monthly, so what would be the difference if they just passed the plate?
Regarding tithing, why not? If the voluntary donation system isn't keeping up with the bills, it would not surprise me. Frankly I am would not be surprised if donations have taken a nose dive since gas prices shot up. Disposable income has got to be tight on the uneducated masses.
I believe that the quotation in the picture is from Genesis 28:22, so that the person is Jacob praying with the stone he used for a pillow - naming the location Bethel.
I wonder if this has anything to do with them asking your employer at their latest book study conductor information list update.
