The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses likes to pride itself by claiming to be the sole channel for dispensing spiritual food at the proper time to some six million of their faithful members. The Watchtower journal of /1967/Oct/1st/page-590/ states: "Jehovah's Witnesses (must) recognize and accept this appointment of the "faithful and discreet slave" and be submissive to it." This quote is (not) a request, it is a command, and this command has a habit of faithfully and discreetly reaching down into the financial pockets of these six million submissive members.
Properties owned by the Watchtower Society are massive, yet more and more contributions are expected from Jehovah's Witnesses, no matter what kind of financial strains they may be experiencing themselves as working parents, teens, or adults.
The Watchtower has admitted itself that it does (not) view it's thousands of Kingdom Halls, as well as skyscraping facilities in the same way as the ancient Israelites viewed the temple of Jehovah. Strangely enough, neither did those cave of robbers of Jesus' day that He drove away from the temple!
The Israelites viewed Jehovah's temple with some sacredness and respect, while the Watchtower buys, sells, and rakes in the profits with no conscience necessary. The Watchtower Society's Kingdom Ministry of /1985/April/page-3/ states: "Although we do not view Kingdom Halls in the same way that the tabernacle and the temple of Jehovah were viewed in ancient Israel, it is appropriate to give thought to the historical accounts that highlight the (spirit of giving) manifested by Jehovah?s worshipers during the time of those building projects long ago."
One may ask, however, just how far does the Watchtower apply those words above which describe this spirit of giving? Perhaps what the Watchtower leaders mean by those words is that this "discreet slave" will supply all the (spirit), and their members are to supply all the financial giving! Painfully though, the members may be required to give until it hurts. Did the ancient worshipers of Jehovah (require) the lavish settings and surroundings as shown in some of these pictures?
1. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV007.htm Watchtower Canada
2. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV015.htm Sitting area for Watchtower Bethel staff
3. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV018.htm Garden setting at Watchtower Bethel
4. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV133.htm Lobby at Watchtower Bethel
5. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV204.htm Residential building for Watchtower staff
6. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV243.htm Front entrance at Watchtower Canada
7. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV239.htm Expensive equipment at Watchtower
8. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV212.htm Packing equipment at Watchtower
9. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV029.htm Main literature area Watchtower
10. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV268.htm Small presses at Watchtower
Many Jehovah's Witnesses are not aware that even their (wedding rings) hold no sacredness with the Watchtower. Many of their journals encourage selling even their wedding bands to further the Watchtower's ministry.
In 1989 an elderly couple accepted a ministry assignment from the Watchtower, and did not even receive enough compensation to accomplish the work assigned to them, so they had to sell their wedding rings to fulfill their ministerial responsibilities to the Watchtower.
The 1998 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pages 129-130 states: "In 1989 an elderly couple in Hamamatsu accepted an assignment to witness on the small island of Aguni Jima, some 40 miles [60 km] off the coast of Okinawa. They sold their wedding rings to scrape up the funds needed for traveling to this remote island.
Yet, while this poor couple sacrificed their precious and heartfelt wedding rings to accomplish their assignment for the Watchtower Society, we can see that this "faithful slave" isn't really slaving much at all, considering that the Watchtower leaders themselves live in the lap of luxury with no worries of financial problems as some of these pictures will show!
1. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV134.htm Office at Watchtower Bethel Canada
2. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV137.htm Reception room at Watchtower Bethel
3. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV138.htm Another reception room at Watchtower
4. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV139.htm Sitting Garden at residential area Bethel
5. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV173.htm Property owned by Watchtower
6. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV213.htm Millions of dollars on printing equipment
7. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV042.htm Dining Room at Watchtower Bethel
8. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV135.htm Cafe at Watchtower Bethel Canada
9. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV292.htm Residents Building at Watchtower
10. http://members.shaw.ca/tt3/g/SJV301.htm Another view of Watchtower property
Just one Kingdom Hall rang up a price of $350,000, and this was done at (half) the price which would have been much more expensive, if Jehovah's Witness members had not donated and volunteered to do the labor work themselves. Where were the Governing Body volunteers, a person might ask, while all of this hard labor work was taking place? When I asked that question, for some odd reason, I got no answer! This website states in paragraph 4 the following: http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/5054.html"Edwards said the volunteer labor cuts project costs by more than half. The project is estimated to cost $350,000 in building materials and permits. The land cost $200,000 for the double lots bought six months ago off Cerrillos Road. The majority of funds comes from the local congregations."
The above article states that the majority of the funds come from the local congregations. So while the local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses are very submissive, sacrificing, bill paying, and working two jobs to feed their families, the leaders of the Watchtower have amassed together for themselves massive assets in real estate and bank accounts.
To see a massive amount of information on Corporations owned by the Watchtower Society, then please go here to this site. http://www.freeminds.org/history/wtinnewyork.htmNews sources tell us this is certainly not all of the Watchtower's treasure stored within its financial heaven, in fact, this is only the start of some of the massive financial projects of the Watchtower Society. Still, there are gigantic sky-scraping projects ahead of the Watchtower in the Dumbo area of New York.
The Brooklyn Papers gives us a little overview of this Dumbo project here at this link below, and there were discussions that this building plan might be required to scale (down) by several stories just to meet city approval! http://www.watchtowernews.org/images/dumboplans.jpgOne of the main questions people around the globe are asking is, why would an organization who have reminded us several times that Armageddon is just around the corner, be building such massive building projects if these buildings will only meet their fate here in the near future?
Certainly, the actions of the Watchtower Society do (not) display a relationship, with the claims they have published in their own literature about the closeness of time of the end. In 2005 while all of these building plans were taking place on schematics in the hands of this "faithful and discreet slave," the same year's 2005 "Awake!" read on page 4 the following: "Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure (new world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things.)
I had no other choice but to conclude, that either the information contained in the "Awake!" published by Jehovah's Witnesses reeked with an odor, or that the Watchtower's "faithful slave" thought that these massive and expensive buildings, would serve as protecting Arks as in Noah's day to help save the lives of all the believers. I guess this "faithful slave" forgot that even Noah's Ark acquired a (smell) after awhile!
One fact remains clear any way you consider it, and that fact is, the Watchtower is getting rich off the gold wedding rings, valuables, cash donations, gifts, wills, insurance claims, untaxed interest, as well as so-called disaster relief contributions for Worldwide work that rarely fulfills the victims needs. Perhaps the members "gold teeth" will be "faithfully and discreetly" required next!
In searching for an applicable scripture to conclude my findings, I managed to find one of the Jehovah's Witnesses Bibles at the local library which read at Matthew 21: 13 "And he said to them: "It is written, "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a Cave Of Robbers." Yes, when I applied that scripture to the Watchtower Society, as surprising as it may seem, it occurred to me that I actually found an unaltered true statement in the New World Translation!
submitted by Towerwatcher
