Show me the money

onacruse

Many accusations are made, freely and (imho) frivolously tossed about, regarding the monetary motivations for various and sundry WTS policy/publication decisions. I have myself made many such statements.

However, if I was pressed to provide evidence for any of these accusations, I would be embarrassingly empty-handed.

Interpolations, insinuations, circumstantial evidence, et. al., aside: What irrefutable evidence is there that the WTS has ever made a change simply and solely because of financial considerations?

JWdaughter

The tax one with the televangelist that resulted in them not having to pay taxes because JWs no longer had a price on the publications. . .or is that still an insinuation?

onacruse

Just an insinuation (circumstantially compelling as it may be!), and one example of things I have said on this board.

Confession

I'm with you, onacruse. Although I do believe most of it is true, I think it's funny when some speak of it as if they know for certain. That said, I believe the decision to go with the "Voluntary Donation" arrangement (as JWDaughter references) because of tax considerations was quite well supported by Bethelites & COs.

Confession

Don't know if this is "proof," but thought you might like to see this...

jayhawk1

It's tough to aquire proof of their financial decisions when their books aren't open for all to see. So we're left to ask, why would Watchtower do what it does? For most of us, leads us to speculate the answer must be power or money. If there is any real proof that could hold up in court, that would be great.

Here is what we're left with since about 1988...

The reduction of District Convention days from 4 to 3

A special day assembly replaces on of the 2 day assemblies each year

Congregations that share the same Kingdom Hall building

The donation arrangement replaces the mandatory contribution for all literature (to avoid the complication of sales tax?)

The end of food service at all assemblies / conventions (avoid sales tax?)

Paperback books and Bibles replace hard cover books and leather bound Bibles

Bethel Layoffs

Awake printing goes from 24 issues per year to 12 issues

Fewer new books in recent years (I can remember years there was 2 new books for the JW home library)

Revelation Book studied again (Is it too soon to study the Creation book, Greatest Man, or Daniel book? Is there nothing else on the shelf to study?)

And now the new Watchtower Magazine arrangement (which again is an obvious cost savings measure)

So what are we to believe all these things have in common? Could it be money? Maybe? But who really knows for sure... One thing is certain, this isn't exactly how I imagined Jehovah speeding up the work when I was a JW.

Skimmer

Another big change from the days of my brief association in the early 1970s is the push for more donations. In the old days, there was just one donation box in a hall. Now there are three (according to some reports). In the old days, it was quite rare to see any appeal for donations in the literature; now they have glossy planned giving programs. Not even the dead are allowed peace; the WTBTS is doing its best to screw legitimate heirs by encouraging rewrites of wills.

The WTBTS wants POWER. And their definition of POWER is CONTROL and MONEY. And while they lust more for control than for money, they'll gladly take the latter whenever possible.

RAF

We should not have to ask about how much money it makes ... 'cause they should provide all informations (what about the legacies for instance ?) All about What they got and what they did with it like most of organisations who knows that people can and have the right to wonder and to know about it (whith : annual financial reports)

Outaservice

In my day, the KM always said the Organization would always provide the right 'spiritual food' at the proper time.

When they would sometimes make the month's book offer some old publication that they had in stock and was out of date even by their standards, that told me something. They wanted the money!

Also, in working in accounting at assemblies, the manipulation as to where the assembly was money wise, to get more contributions was also reprehensible in my opinion.

Outaservice (showing you the money)

Stealth453

Two words......

Real Estate. Lots and lots of it.

Ok, more than two words, but you get the idea.

Show me the money

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