by raymond frantz 25 Replies latest watchtower scandals
Hi guys last night I posted this here but only a few notes as it was quite fresh and only announced last night at the meeting.I have now updated the article and included a couple of useful links about this matter
Good job. Great idea for the UK Witnesses to turn WTBTS and the local elders in ! That is a great law, I wish they had it in the USA.
You make an interesting point about each congregation being a separate charity.
The trustees are legally obliged to always act in the best interests of the charity so they would have to justify selling off the family silver and giving it all away.
I'll give you a proper update. The other thread on this subject is a fantasy trip. What was actually in the letter was that there are hundreds of halls needing built or refurbished and this task will take around 5 years. There may be some locations where up to 4 congregations could share a hall and some halls could be sold. This potential great sell off has been seized on here like carcass for a feeding frenzy. There is a major problem though, halls are built on land designated for religious use in the UK so who is going to want to buy them for any significant sum of money. This is getting blown out of all proportion. Shows how a lifetime of JW indoctrination makes 2+2 =5.
good job!
NDF, the funny thing about it is this: Everyone that is actually posting what they see with their own eyes is saying that the selling off is going on where they are; or, at the very least, there is no building going on.
The "building" always seems to be "somewhere else."
As you said, "2 + 2 = 5"
@newdawnfades,
I can see how you think this may all be blow out of proportion. However, the WT wants their cake and wants to eat it too. they want each congregation to be a separate entity so as to avoid lawsuits. however, they also want to be able to tell each congregation exactly what to do (under the disguise of "they have the choice"). at the end of the day, the WT is telling individual JWs to do whatever is requested of them through the heiarchy. Eventually, governments are going to get their nose in this business that is going on and will wise up that it is in essense a type of ponzi scheme.
it would be different if each congregation was encouraged to be autonomous (like in Russell's day). then i could understand all this making complete sense.
Plenty of building in my country. New halls, assembly halls, a new bethel. I am not saying this letter is a good thing but its importance is being exagerated. Or does that not fit the agenda?
NDF,
No agenda her per se. I'm not quite certain of your point. I made the point on the other thread, that this is essencially a shrewd business move. The society has always hoarded cash in large amounts. They get nervous with large expendatures. Why is it being requested so much of the rank and file accounts be send to headquarters? Not sure. So it can be redirected? So that it can earn interest in a large interest bearing account instead of individual congregation accounts? Maybe. That would make more sense.
Also, with stagnant growth in western countries, it may just be a reallocation of assets.
Either way, consolidating 4 congregations down to one with 4 meetings, is news. I also bet that in the UK zoning can and will be changed in order to accomidate new buyers. Happens all the time. The value in the real estate is not in selling to another church most of the time. If that was however the case, the irony would be spectacular.
