Question About Tithing

Confuzzled

Some of you may have read my post about my lasped JW boyfriend, and his pressure on me to consider to convert eventually (I'm not going too!) but I still would like to better understand the church and Watch Tower Society better so I can understand this mindset he has. He makes much to do about the lack of an offering plate, and "The 2 boxes, one for the church, the other for the needy, nobody is put on the spot to donate". But I drive past Kingdom Hall and it's neatly manicured and landscaped property, and I know they give away lots of material that needs to be paid for somehow, and the pictures I have seen of Bethel facilites, I'll even admit they look like a resorts. I know due to my research , that JW are in a lot of impoverished areas, but somebody is paying for all this.

Psychotic Parrot

None of those things mean that J-dubs have the truth though. Whichever way you look at it, it's still a racket. The members are all victims, most do donate & are therefore being conned out of their money, & even if there are some who don't donate, they are still being conned out of their free time & being made to feel guilty all the time for not being good enough.

And then there are the dangerous & life threatening aspects, such as the way they deal with paedophiles & the ban on blood transfusions. Not to mention the shunning of those who leave or are kicked out, which has in the often resulted in suicides.

Albert Einstein

Confuzzed - I absolutely agree, JW are great decorators and their top managers are very efficient with money. What troubles me more, they are false prophets, lie to people, protect pedophile abusers, let innocent kids die because of blood issue... and treat their member like garbage ...

In my country (eastern Europe) they let go big number of brothers unnecessarily suffer in prison and being arrested an prosecuted by police because WTBS did not allow them to serve in the alternative service - the threat by WTBS was disfellowshipping (means breaking your family, loosing all your friends an being condemned by an allmighty god to death...). THEY KNEW ITS A NONSENSE POLICY FOR 20 YEARS!!! They only lifted this up in 1996, never apologized and never reinstated those whe were disfellowshiped becouse of serving alternative service...

People are garbage for WTBS (above mentioned is my personal story - thist took several years of my life)! But I must admit Kingdom halls are neatly decorated as you have posted...

Albert

WTWizard

It's all a scam. Make the outside look pretty, while the inside is full of houndings, wasted lives, and mishandled (and often created within the organization) problems. The prettiest flower bed in the world does not make up for the pedophiles they protect, the ruined lives, and the broken promises that are widespread through the whole cancer. (To boot, the flower beds in the congregation I used to attend weren't even all that well kept--begonias that look as tired as the pio-sneers).

They don't specifically ask for tithes. That's because they would really like to get their hands on all your money, not just 10%.

Confuzzled

I kinda figured that. I don't understand how they can be so tolerant of perverts when it says in the Bible that if you hurt a child let it be like a millstone around your neck, but every religion has issues with people who take advantage of children, some just seem more tolerant of others...But that's besides the point of my question. I hate the fact that it seems like people who don't have 2 cents to rub together, and they expect ppl to not work on there careers and make more money for their families, and then expect them to tithe anyway.

poppers

But I drive past Kingdom Hall and it's neatly manicured and landscaped property,

This reminds me of the old Soviet Union's military branches. Whenever there was an inspection coming up they'd spray paint the brown and whithered grass green, and spray paint the rusting equipment to look like new. Underneath the appearance, however, it was dead and corroding. The first line of deception is physical appearance. Don't be fooled by that.

OUTLAW

He makes much to do about the lack of an offering plate, and "The 2 boxes, one for the church,

the other for the needy, nobody is put on the spot to donate".

All the Kingdom Hall`s I went to,had 2 huge Contribution Box`s ..

Collection Plates are too small..

They were placed in a spot you had to pass,to get in or out of the Kingdom Hall..

One Contribution Box was for the WBT$..

The 2nd Contribution Box was also for the WBT$..

F*ck the Needy!..

LOL!!..

If more money is needed..

It`s asked for from the Stage,of Kingdom Hall`s and Assemblys..

More money is Always Needed..

The WBT$ is`nt shy,about asking for More Money..

.................... ...OUTLAW

booby

Outlaw says it as it is don't he? But he is on the "money" pun intended. They don't have a collection plate, true, and love to make "fun" of those. For example they have chuckled about the churchs that supposedly have a "fishing net" type so that coins are not given, to small an amount you see. However as stated they have donation boxes. Boxes for the world wide work, boxes for building Kingdom halls, and they have them in more than one spot in the Halls. They even had a box at each home that had a book study held at it. At assemblies thy have dozens of boxes and a special group of "brothers and sisters" for the collection and tabulation of such funds. And since cheques are often used to take advantage of the tax writeoff, those tallying up the results can see who the big tippers and cheap asses are.

Confuzzled

He makes a decent living, and I often wonder if he got baptized if he would be asked for more "donations" if the church got wind of his paycheck, properties, and vehicles.

Satanus

Jws are discouraged from giving money, food or clothes to poor people. Rather, they are supposed to preach to them, and give money to the wt society prints the books and magazines.

From a watchtower magazine:

*** w50 1/1 p. 9 par. 2 A Sound Investment ***

2 It is really a sound investment to make your money work on behalf of the poor and by so doing to store up treasures in heaven. Christ Jesus preached the Word, and you can make your riches help you preach the Word. His admonition to all of his followers was to go forth and preach this gospel of the Kingdom in all the world for a witness. This takes time, energy and money, and Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the world are giving time, energy and funds, building Kingdom Halls, renting places and fixing them up so that they will be attractive assembly places. Jehovah’s witnesses invest their money in Bibles, books and magazines and take these to the people so that they, too, may study the Word of God. They invest their money in traveling from place to place and give of their strength in going to the ends of the earth if need be with this good news. Jehovah’s witnesses are great travelers, glad to spend their money so as to get to circuit and district assemblies or national conventions, for they know they will thus become better equipped so as to “be rich in good works”. What a grand and glorious work a Christian today has in going forth to the nations of the world with this good news which brings comfort to the poor and in being privileged to spend that which he possesses in the interests of those who are captive to this old world. Using your time, energy and money in doing this work is actually storing up treasures in heaven. It is something that no nation, no organization, no neighbor or thief could come in and steal from you. You have already given the good news to the poor, and they have its blessings. You spent your money in helping them, but the blessing to the giver is even greater than to the receiver.

S

Question About Tithing

Share this