digderidoo - I tend to agree that a direct appeal to the CHarity commission about our concerns might be more productive. It might be best to see whether the Bretheren decision is upheld.
VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!
by Blablaman 82 Replies latest jw friends
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GromitSK
Phizzy and didgeridoo have the right approach to this IMHO for those interested.
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digderidoo
Further, who exactly do you want charity status revoking?
The fact of the matter is 'Jehovahs Witnesses' do not have charitable status as per the petition question. I'm assuming you're refering to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, who according to the Charity Commission, its aims and objectives are to advance the Jehovahs Witness religion. They print, publish and organise the religion itself, so it would be difficult to prove the public benefit (or lack of) argument, due to the fact that they can distance themselves.
Further, every single congregation in the UK is a separate charity registered in the Charity Commissions register. So when refering to the term Jehovahs Witnesses to have their charitable status removed, you have to make clear who exactly you're talking about with this petition question.
The whole petition question is flawed, from the wrong legislation applied, to the wrong wording of who you want removing, as 'Jehovahs Witnesses' do not have charitable status in the UK. It would be thrown out in a Parliamentary debate on this basis alone, before any real discussion took place.
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Blablaman
Cedars.
I'm a little slow on the up-take with your contributions on the web with anti-JW & WT matters. I want to say thanks and well done. How can we get this ball rolling - it's a crime that JW’s/WT get Gift Aid and the WT Corp are investing money into Hedge Funds, some of which is probably UK tax payers money.
What good do you think the Plymouth Brethren case will make?
I've been looking into the accounts (not all) of the 1400 or so JW charities, including the Bible and Tract Society, who last year turned over £40 million. What do they do for the public benefit? They are very creative with their accounting and most appear to not have to submit annual account statements to the Charities Commission...Self Regulated? Why can't I do that? No, I have to pay tax, but despite being a corporation the WT does not...Congregation money is largely cash and could be moved from congregation to congregation to keep accounts lower (below the £10K limit) than would be normally.
What is going on with the charities commission and the Plymouth Brethren case? I fear it’s a token effort to show the Commission are being pro-active, yet to further challenge the WT and JW charities would appear to be threatening the very fabric of the Christian and Anglican Church, of which the JW/WT Corp are strangely members...
I suspect the only route to ending this once and for all is to challenge the JW religion; is it a religion, or is it a sect/cult. Based on the WT being their all ruling entity, how can it be a religion? It’s fundamentally flawed. If they say the word of God and Bible are, well, they re-write that according to their needs!
For the Public Benefit? Well, there are approx 140,000 JW’s in the UK with a total UK population of around 62 Million. How can their cult be for the public benefit?
Something has to change!
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Blablaman
Thanks for your post.
If you go to the charities commission website and try to complain about the 1400 or so JW charities, their system will not allow multiple complaints one type of charity...strange that. In order to complain, one would have to write to them, which I'm doing.
You could, as you rightly say, complain about the Bible and Tract Society of GB, yet as you again rightly said, they distance themselves by being an associate charity with all monies being filtered by complex and clouded accounting system. Most of the accounts of the smaller 1400 JW charities fall under the £10k limit and do not have to submit accounts. It would very easy for the JW's to legally manipulate this system to their benefit.
If you search on the Charity Commission web site for "The Bible and Tract Society of Great Britain" it draws a blank. Why?
Even if you look at the “Summary Info” available;
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/SIR/ENDS61%5C0001077961_SIR_09_E.PDF
It does not say what money came from where and is spent on what exactly. What I want to know is; a. How much UK Tax Relief/Gift Aid is directed via the Bible and Tract Society and further via to the Watchtower Corp, which then invested into Hedge Funds?
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digderidoo
Is this what you're looking for?
www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends61/0001077961_AC_20100831_E_C.PDF
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brinjen
Can't sign the petition so I shared the link on Facebook instead.
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Blablaman
Re: "The fact of the matter is 'Jehovah’s Witnesses' do not have charitable status as per the petition question."
I don't understand what you mean. There are 1400 or so JW charities, all in receipt of Gift Aid. Here's a list;