BROTHERS & SISTERS - READ THE BROCHURE!

by The Searcher 63 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  AndDontCallMeShirley

  Marvin- thanks for sharing your experience. I worked on one home in Slidell. Most of the neighborhood was abandoned but we worked on a JWs home there.

  I found this comment interesting: She said, “Well, I wasn’t given an invoice. But I was informed that a commensurate donation expected for JWs who wanted to remain in good standing with 'the church'."

  While I never personally heard that particular statement made to anyone we did work for, I wonder if this was an official tactic that WT told these group captains to use? I'm not doubting your statement, as I saw enough to know it's within the realm of possibility. It's bad enough to suggest inflated commercial rates for work that cost WT nothing to have done, but it would be unforgiveable if they were blackmailing JW homeowners with a threat to their standing in the cong. being affected if they didn't donate the full amount WT expected to get for the work.

  Problemaddict: One thing however, if the homeowner was a good person, and they put it all togehter, would they ever REALLY donate to anything other than the WWW? I mean, do you know JW's who have given money to charities run by secular organizations or (gulp), religious institutions?

  ADCMS: no, I'm sure JWs would never donate to anything except the WWW. I don't know of any JWs who donate to "worldly" charities. WT has convinced JWs that all charities are corrupt and would only waste the money.

  It's better to send your $$ to WT- that way you'll never have to worry about seeing it again, unless you go visit the new WT Country Club in Warwick. That's the extent of what donating to WT accomplishes.
• 

  designs

  $21,000.00 for a weekend! That's not even trying to be subtle. The inflated $5000.00-7000.00 figure was bad enough ( and our HVAC never worked right so the money wasn't spent on that).

  I wrote a letter to the CA about this guilt tripping fraud and wrapped it around my check and put it in the donation box, that caught the eyes of two attendants. A month later I started getting the looks at the KH, then a letter from the City Overseer. After that it was total blackball time.
• 

  braincleaned

  I agree with *Lost*... there needs to be media attention on this scam...
• 

  braincleaned

  Could Cedars write an article on this? Please?
• 

  exwhyzee

  My impression when donating for Katrina relief was that the money would go to those who had little or no insurance coverage for the damage they sustained and that volunteers were helping those who were unable to pay for the labor needed to do the repairs. If someone had insurance coverage, other than a lack of laborers, why did the jw volunteers need to be involved? If one had insurance monies coming to them but there was a shortage of laborers, why couldn't they pay the volunteers for the work they did and let them donate it to the society if they chose to ? It seems like the society used this as a money making opportunity and a way to garner good P.R. For themselves.

  I know a former JW who is used to be high level part of the International Building Committee who said he left the Org. because of all the corruption he saw while working in that capacity. For example, he said allegedly there were JW contractors/ suppliers secretly marking up the cost of labor and materials to make a profit off the funds donated by other JW's and other fraudulent goings on having to do with shuffling of funds and breaking of local building and zoning codes etc. Although this doesn't surprise me....I'm nevertheless very disappointed.
• 

  david_10

  My impression when donating for Katrina relief was that the money would go to those who had little or no insurance coverage for the damage they sustained and that volunteers were helping those who were unable to pay for the labor needed to do the repairs. If someone had insurance coverage, other than a lack of laborers, why did the jw volunteers need to be involved?
  
  
  exwhyzee, that's exactly what I said, but ADCMS and I had some kind of a communication problem and I couldn't seem to get it across to him. "But if the Brothers have insurance, then those folks should be able to take care of themselves, and the Society should offer their help to those without the means to pay it back." That's what I said. So WHY is the Society fixing the homes of the brothers who already have insurance? That's not charity or disaster relief------------------that's running a business. And since it's tax free and free labor, an extremely profitable business.
  
  Well, anyway........
  
  David
• 

  AndDontCallMeShirley

  My impression when donating for Katrina relief was that the money would go to those who had little or no insurance coverage for the damage they sustained and that volunteers were helping those who were unable to pay for the labor needed to do the repairs. If someone had insurance coverage, other than a lack of laborers, why did the jw volunteers need to be involved?

  ADCMS: There was a shortage of labor in the Gulf Coast after Katrina and Rita hit the area. On the day we arrived, it was explained to us that we were not doing our work there to give the affected brothers a better life, or make their homes better than they were before being damaged, or to make things easier for them. Our reason for being there, get this, was to get the brother and sisters back out in the field ministry faster!

  The disaster committees had decided that the longer it takes JWs to get their homes repaired, then they won't be going door-to-door. So, besides what appears to be an obvious financial scam, the WT Society's disaster relief was not altruistic- it was selfish. You see, if JWs are not proselytizing, then they are not placing literature, counting time, or gaining converts. Since the WT is all about numbers, declining numbers don't fit into the game plan. Additionally, maybe the WT was also fearing that if a JW is working on his home for weeks or months, he also won't be attending meetings. As all of us here know, once you are away from the indoctrination for even a short period of time light bulbs start turning on and you see things differently. In short, your brain begins to work. The fear may have been of losing large amounts of active JWs also. The methodology was focused on keeping JWs in a "theocratic routine" more than truly helping them restore their lives.

  I was still very much "in" when I volunteered for disaster relief. But that statement, "we were there only to get the brothers and sisters back into the ministry as quickly as possible", really hit a nerve with me. I thought to myself, "my god! These brothers just went through a horrible disaster, their lives have been turned upside down, the region is devastated, and this is the WT's biggest concern, field service? Talk about a myopic and self-absorbed view of life!

  So, many here are correct: normal thinking would be to help those without insurance get back on their feet and those who were insured will just have to get in line with everyone else and wait their turn. But, obviously, there seems to be a deeper motivation for the WT disaster relief which had little to do with charity. If insured property was the focus, then there's a powerful financial motive for prioritizing those homes over uninsured ones that wouldn't generate enormous profits.

  david_10: that's exactly what I said, but ADCMS and I had some kind of a communication problem and I couldn't seem to get it across to him.

  ADCMS: no worries, friend! I understand what you're saying.
• 

  maisha

  Maybe they should operate out of Nigeria instead of the USA.
• 

  david_10

  Our reason for being there, get this, was to get the brother and sisters back out in the field ministry faster!

  I remember a poster here from a few years ago, his name was Gary Buss, I think. He made a very insightful statement (and made it many times) that I've always remembered: "Nobody ever leaves the "Truth" all at once. You leave it in increments, a little at a time." ADCMS, it sounds like this experience might've been one of your big increments.
  
  So, besides making all that money, their main goal was to get the brothers back out in service faster? It just keeps getting better.....
  
  David
• 

  CaptainSchmideo

  Old Hippie, I'll see your assertion, and raise you 10...
  
  I know a brother who lost his entire house in a tornado many years back. The circuit overseer put immense pressure on the brother to have the RBC rebuild the home, using RBC plans, and then turn the check over to the Society. The brother was very reluctant to do this, as he did not feel that the house plan proposed would fit in with the other houses in the neighborhood, nor would it be at the quality that he would expect from a "worldly" contractor. Eventually, he flat out told the CO "No." Which angered the CO, who told the brother that he had an inflated attitude.
  
  So, O.H., it's not that the brothers should get free work; they should have the CHOICE of WHO does the work, and not get pressured into giving the Society a sweetheart deal, or, as in the case of the house not even NEEDING the work done, shouldn't get pressured into committing insurance fraud (which is what it is, plain and simple).