by nugget 324 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Leaving quietly
i can see the same thing happening. Waiting for projects to be approved and never getting done. Or maybe this is an end game for them. Make the congregations pay and run the Kingdom Halls into the ground and then run off with the money.
It will also mean closing some Kingdom Halls and selling them off. I know of a congregation that is small about 40 publishers with their own hall paid off and the members are all very well off enough to finance themselves and then some. I could see the branch closing them down and making them drive to another hall with this new arrangement.
Waiting for projects to be approved and never getting done
.
The money only goes one way: to Brooklyn. WT will collect hundreds of millions of dollars for these building funds, then when it comes time to distribute that money, WT will claim that donations have fallen short- the R&F are slacking-there is not enough to proceed. How will WT resolve that? Ask for even more money from the R&F.
.
Since WT never discloses its finances, who's to know??
or they can say they are building projects in another country for so many millions of dollars and there is no way to verify it.
@hoser
the Netherlands received 22.1 Million dollars for a new Assembly Hall,... verified (6 more european countries will follow)
Since it was my contact that implied that at some point elders might sit down with "family heads" and "single brothers" and review their past years' tax returns to see it they could agree on how much could be donated on a regular basis - let me clarify and add my own 2p to the mix:
Such a move would most likely be "voluntary" or "suggested" as a way to "help the brothers" calculate what would be "fair and reasonable for them."
But we all know what "voluntary" and "suggested" would mean in a Watchtower environment. Remember that 1975 was only "suggested" by Fred Franz as the "possible arrival of Armageddon." Look what JWs did in the years prior to that - selling properties, quitting jobs, moviing to where the "need was greater." The Watchtower often uses this approach to ease the flock into something that they will later establish as hard and fast policy.
Also remember that those who are approached and "offered this" financial counseling will be hard pressed to refuse because of the hammer of "resisting the direction of Jehovah's organization" can lead to loss of privileges and accusations of being "spiritually weak." We all know where that leads. It's all WT blackmail and intimidation. We see it in action as almost an ingrained method of getting compliance.
I can see it being handled this way: "Brother Wimply. Perhaps we could sit down and discuss your family's finances to see if we can help you budget for your planned (weekly, monthly, quarterly) donation amount. (In the USA) you can deduct those donations on your income taxes. Perhaps we could have Brother H. R. Block sit down with you at a computer and see if a larger donation would be offset by increased tax deductions - thereby not creating an undo burden on you or your family. This is purely voluntary on your part, but the elder body wants to be sure that everyone is carrying their fair share of the congregation's commitment to the worldwide preaching and building work. This tax review is another loving arrangement provided by Jehovah to help you."
The Watchtower might even come up with a computer program that would do this on a local laptop manipulated by a trained elder or MS. Bringing along last year's tax forms would be "voluntary" (yeah, sure!), but without them (the elders would reason convincingly) an accurate estimate could not be calculated.
It is true, at least in the USA, that some taxpayers will actually increase their contributions by a substantial amount on the advice of their accountant or tax advisor. A difference in net income could move them down to a lower tax bracket or allow them to take additional deductions in another category (medical expenses, for example). If the brother owns his own business, especially as a sole proprietor or LLC, and makes the contribution from a business account rather than a personal account - the benefits might actually put him in a far better tax bracket.
I think this was the possibility that my contact was hinting at for further out in the future. Maybe, if the Watchtower has been following this thread, talk of such a possibility and the ramifications might make them re-think implementing such a policy. Or, maybe it was all just a false rumor and now we have given the Watchtower something to actually consider doing in the future.
Who really knows? I certainly don't. But as my contact emphasized in our last conversation, "They don't call rank and file Jehovah's Witnesses 'the other sheep' without good reason. The majority will drink the kool-aid and do what they are told. Those that don't will give up their families. Tax returns? Petty stuff and not a big deal to the average JW, especially married brothers with dedicated sisters for wives."
All we can do is watch. All we know is that there is something afoot at WT headquarters and we will see a lot of changes in coming months to rival what we have seen since the Governing Body declared themselves the "Slave."
JV
Juan Viejo2 wrote:
I can see it being handled this way:
This is unfortunatley what JW's are guilty of; imagining something, and then saying or doing something else not based on solid facts. This thread has evolved a rumor into opinion, which then gave way to conspiracy, which is now quickly becoming hearsay. How is this not as fanatical as organizational JW doctrine?
If families are supposed to sit down with an elder to go over tax returns there may be things they spend money on that the society would prefer that they didn't. Cable TV, magazine subscriptions, professional memberships, gym memberships, pensions, etc. Families could be encouraged to transfer these funds to their pledged amount.
The society can no longer state that they do not beg for money or solicit donations since that is exactly what they are doing.
warehouse - While I agree with 90% of what you say, how does that become as "fanatical as organizational JW doctrine?"
What are you saying? That I am as fanatical as the Watchtower? That my contact who is genuinely trying to keep me and others reading this thread informed - is somehow being "fanatical"?
While I do not want to start a cat fight with you or anyone else on this forum, your tossing out snippy little remarks like that does not add to the discussion.
How does this qualify as a "conspiracy." Who among us are working together to use this information to bring down the Watchtower or anyone else?
How is this "fanatical"? Relaying inside information and then critiquing and discussing it is "fanatical"?
I clearly stated in the very first sentence of the fourth paragraph that it was conjecture on my part - not something cast in stone or actually factual. Am I not allowed to express my opinion about the future of Jehovah's Witnesses or the Watchtower without being branded "fanatical"?
JV
the Netherlands received 22.1 Million dollars for a new Assembly Hall,... verified (6 more european countries will follow)
I highly doubt the branch is planning on taking the money and running. And, frankly, I'm not about to impute a bad motive here regarding this being a money grab, other than to say: it's guaranteed income for the Society. Before, with the KH Construction fund, it was more loosy-goosy with whatever people wanted to donate. I'd have to check what the average is for our cong, but I can't recall it ever being more than $400 in any given month. If they decided to have a 'suggested amount' per publisher, say, $8.50, and the number of publishers was 80 in a congregation, that's a guaranteed revenue stream of $680 per month, or $8,160 per year. Multiply that by just 13,714 congregations (the number of congs in the U.S. according to the 2014 yearbook), and that's a guaranteed revenue stream of $9,325,520 PER MONTH, or $111,906,240 PER YEAR on the U.S. congregations alone. (That ought to take care of at least 5 of those Assembly Halls in Europe, right emeth?)
Of course, I don't know that there is any suggested amount per publisher, but $8.50 seems to be a number they like to use for other donation arrangements, so I've used that here as an example.
The more I think about this, the more brilliant a move I think it is on their part. I don't like it, but it is brilliant.
So, no, JWs don't pass a collection plate, but they are now requiring each congregation to pay a pre-agreed upon resolved amount. I'm not sure what the difference is. Oh, wait, yes I am... with a collection plate, one gives from their heart. With a pre-agreed upon resolved amount, one gives under compulsion.
