George Benson taking big $$ from tobacco company!

by rebel8 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  rebel8

  Public health professionals are now conducting an international campaign against George Benson for his promotion of tobacco in Indonesia. (Facts about tobacco in Indonesia & worldwide if you're interested: http://www1.worldbank.org/tobacco/presentation.asp, Tobacco and Poverty: A Vicious Circle, World Health Organization, World Bank, Center for Disease Control )

  Benson has agreed to accept big $ from a tobacco cartel in exchange for allowing them to do lots of advertising & probably free sampling at his concerts. This activity is a very successful marketing technique tobacco companies utilize worldwide to recruit new smokers. Many organizations have taken a pledge not to accept tobacco $ for this reason, even charities who are struggling. Apparently Georgie doesn't care. Here is an email I received this a.m. from a reputable public health source:

  *** please forward widely ***

  *****************************************************************************

  TAKE ACTION: Tell George Benson Not to Spread Tobacco Addiction in Indonesia!

  *****************************************************************************

  Dear Friends,

  On Monday, December 4, 2006, George Benson, a popular American jazz singer, is scheduled to perform a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia that is being sponsored by Djarum Super Mezzo, an Indonesian clove cigarette brand. Indonesian advocates and the GYAT Network invite tobacco control advocates around the world to join them in urging George Benson to take the following measures to mitigate the damage of his good name and music being used to spread tobacco addiction in Indonesia:

  1) Request that the tobacco company sponsorship of the Indonesian concert be dropped. If it is not, pull out of the concert.

  2) Pledge not to be sponsored by the tobacco industry in the future.

  3) Take the necessary measures to ensure that his name is not associated with a tobacco company or brand in the future.

  TAKE ACTION: Send an email to George Benson (via his international agents)! Just click on the link below and fill in your name* [deleted because you cannot do this if you do not belong to this profession--see below for info about how you can contact him]

  * Please take a few minutes to also add some personalized comments at the beginning of the email. Types of things you might mention:

  - Any ties to Indonesia, or knowledge about tobacco use there

  - Info re: the ulterior motives behind tobacco industry sponsorship of popular singers

  - If you are a fan of jazz and George Benson, in particular

  - If American, your concern about American musical icons promoting tobacco abroad

  - If a youth advocate, your age and concerns about your generation being targeted by the tobacco industry worldwide

  You are also encouraged to modify the subject line, to make it more likely that your email is read and not automatically deleted.

  Petition sponsored by: GYAT Network (www.gyatnetwork.org), a global network of youth advocates who collaborate across borders to counter the tobacco industry's targeting of their generation

  For more information:

  http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/georgebenson/

  ---------------------------------------

  Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control

  Essential Action

  P.O. Box 19405

  Washington, DC 20036

  Tel: +1 202-387-8030

  Fax: +1 202-234-5176

  Email: [email protected]

  _______________________________________________

  Tobacco-activist mailing list

  [email protected]

  http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/tobacco-activist

  Essential Action's Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control project http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco

  It appears you can contact George to tell him how you feel about this obvious hypocrisy (conflict btwn his supposed jw beliefs and his actions) by visiting his myspace page: http://myspace.com/georgebensonmusic. There is a contact button on that page, but you need to create a myspace account first to do so.
• 

  DannyHaszard

  Famous Jehovah's Witnesses

  George Benson - singer, guitarist ... Charles Taze Russell - founder and first president of Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Society; died in 1916 ... www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_jw.html - 51k - Cached - Similar pages
• 

  Scully

  After the next meeting at George Benson's congregation:

  "Brother Benson, a couple of the other brothers and I would like to speak to you privately in the Second School™..."
• 

  looking_glass

  Based on the guy's history, he has had his moments as an "active" JW.

  However, I would like to point out that the WTBTS holds shares in Philip Morris and several other tobacco companies. Granted, they say it is because they received the stocks and bonds based on a probate estate transfer. The fact remains that it is there and they have never sold nor sought to get ride of those stocks. Considering they have in-house counsel, they could work on doing this at little cost to themselves. However, based on the profits, why would they do it? But heaven forbid a JW own stocks or bonds in a tobacco company.
• 

  rebel8

  Here is an interview just last year where he is quoted as claiming to be a jw: http://www.smoothjazznow.com/interview_george_benson_2_2005.htm

  (gag alert)

  John - When did you become a Jehovah's Witness 1979?

  George - Yeah, I got baptized then but I had been studying the bible many years before that with them.

  John - What was it that helped you find that faith?

  George - Oh yeah, years ago one of my cousins was killed in a gang fight, he was just a kid he was sixteen years old and that was the biggest tragedy for me at that point in my life because I grew up with him. Our mothers were sisters, we lived in the same household and we were raised together and he was a protector for me when I grew up because he was such a tough kid you know. His mother would tell him that it would get him in trouble one day because he loved to fight and finally somebody couldn't stand to get beat up and they killed him and that was a tremendous tragedy and it was then that we started looking for answers and the only satisfying answers to where life was going was found in the bible. My mother was always a bible person anyway she had been taking me to many different kinds of churches since I was a little boy and she found God's name and that was the thing that made me become a Jehovah's Witness. They knew God's name. They showed that to us in the bible. That was the great difference that made the difference for me.

  John - I love talking to people about their faith and where they came from, how they found it and why it works for them and you had checked out many different churches via your mother.

  George - Yeah, for me it answered a lot of my questions about life and another thing about going to different churches was I got a chance to see how other people think so none of that was wasted. I had a chance to see what motivated other people so the value was still there. My mother took me to all these different places to learn about religion in general and for me the thing that I was looking for was found with the Jehovah's Witnesses. They are very demanding in that they stick to bible principles and they do not waiver from it. I like that about them more than anything else.

  John - We have an Autistic daughter and one of our former therapists was a J.W. and she told me once that one of the things that really works for her is how structured and clear the religion is.

  George - That's right and it has a goal and it sets out the goal very clearly. There is that goal in the bible and what the bibles all about, it's not just about some nice words written down, it has a purpose and it's clear and we head towards that goal, all six million of us around the world. You know, I know what a Jehovah's Witness is thinking around the world in Africa or in Russia. We all have the same outlook and we study the same thing every week.

  John - Do you enjoy that kinship?

  George - Yes, it's a big family.

  Hypocrisy at its finest.
• 

  blondie

  Could you post a like to where the WTS is shown to hold stock in Philip Morris?
• 

  Scully

  Could you post a link to where the WTS is shown to hold stock in Philip Morris?

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/54708/1.ashx (The Watchtower & the Cigarette Company, by expatbrit)

  I think it needs to be made clear that the Watchtower Society does not own the stock in Philip Morris. The Philip Morris stock was a small portion of the holdings in the HM Riley Trust. It is also not known whether the holdings of the trust have changed since this information was uncovered over three years ago.

  Here is a link within the thread where scans of the documents can be viewed:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/54708/1373629/post.ashx#1373629
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  Nosferatu

  I'm sure that as long as Brother Benson is putting hundred dollar bills into the contribution box, this tobacco thing isn't going to affect his JW status.
• 

  Gopher

  I hope this picture shows up. It's a "Benson and Hedges" pack of cigarettes.
• 

  juni

  Nos has made a good point about the $. Consider other celebrity JWs. A lot continue on in their "worldly ways" - think about the average JW and what they are drug into the "war room" for.

  All JWs are not treated equally. Depends who you are and your connections and what you have to offer to the right people.

  Juni