This is a side point, or question rather, but do JWs in other countries "charge" for the literature at the doors? Did the donation arrangement that started in the US start for all branches or just the US? Reason I'm asking is that if they are still charging in other areas then that shoots down the "simplifying arrangement" story used to explain the donation arrangement here in the US.
WTS and donations
by freedom96 21 Replies latest jw friends
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NameWithheld
May I puke and hurl now?
This was one big thorn in my side shortly before I left - I hated how they would get up and and pontificate on how holy they were "Oooo, we NEVER require donations" and yet no 2 weeks would pass without some plea for $$$ for this or that 'fund', the many articles about 'cheerful giving', the thousands of contributions boxes scattered all over every JW event - you couldn't walk convention aisles without tripping over them. The EVERY assembly predictable plea Sunday morning about how o so short they were, wouldn't Jehovah want us to give like the little widow gave her last 2 coins.
Meantime we have poor JWs who cannot afford to even travel to the big show, put off little things like paying rent to go to it, and get guilted into dropping their gas money home into the boxes.
BTW - wooo hoooo!!! 800 posts!
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Skeptic
This was one big thorn in my side shortly before I left - I hated how they would get up and and pontificate on how holy they were "Oooo, we NEVER require donations" and yet no 2 weeks would pass without some plea for $$$ for this or that 'fund', the many articles about 'cheerful giving', the thousands of contributions boxes scattered all over every JW event - you couldn't walk convention aisles without tripping over them. The EVERY assembly predictable plea Sunday morning about how o so short they were, wouldn't Jehovah want us to give like the little widow gave her last 2 coins.
I am tempted to say they weren't that bad about it, though I have heard that the halls with large mortgages were much like Christendom...always pleas to give more, more, more.
Richard
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NameWithheld
Skeptic, I'm not sure when your last exposure was. It was not bad until the mid-90's. I think the crunch started about then, as the fall-out effects of the 'donation' arrangement began to be felt upstatirs in crooklyn.
My last couple of years around it, it was indeed that bad - at three different halls I went too. We had 'please give' pleas at almost every Thursday night meeting. And the pleas at the assemblies were constant. And the frequency of WT articles like the above increased enough that my brain-dead brain woke up and realized "Why are they begging so much?" I really thought that well before I left the religion mentally.
Edited to say - we also had a bunch of KM articles about 'how to give' that we would have 30 minute parts on the Thursday meeting about. All about putting WT in your will, planned giving (regular amts from each paycheck), and many other ways to 'give'.
Edited by - NameWithheld on 21 November 2002 11:52:44
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JT
Not requiring a tithe has always been a distguishing point for the Witnesses, and one that attracts followers.
Plus, they charge the congregation for the literature, and have other money-making avenues to get cash. They have never been stupid about finances, and have a level of control that can only be envied by other churches and businesses.
yep they use it to be different from other religions , and they know how to work a dollar
consider the type of expenses A 6MILLON MEMBER religion like wt DOES NOT HAVE-
AT BETHEL they have free labor, in the congo no elder, ms pioneers or pub get paid-
they run no colleges, they run no hospitals they run NO outreach services of any kind
drug, pregancy,.women abuse center, child abuse center, job training, NO KINDS OF CHARITY
so they have removed a tremedous amount of expenses that other religions incur due to all the programs they run
even though they pay to support bethelites, consider the priest, nuns and monks, etc
the catholic church like wt houses and feeds it folks- but they also set aside a little something for them even retirement homes,
yet the CO abd DO have nothing - no retirement home no pension, nothing
so while wt doesn't raise as much funds as it could if they had a 10% rule neither do they spend the amount that another religion with 6 million memebers spend to maintain various projects
I do not know of ONE HALL ever built in the USA that was built with money that the bros sent to wt
all the halls i know of are the result of GETTING A LOAN- now why does the wt just find a location where there seems to be a reasonalble interest in the community and say
WE ARE BUILDING A HOUSE OF TRUE WORSHIP - NOPE YOU got to get a loan baby
smile
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JT
Never did I hear them say, look around in the congregation, and try to help brothers and sisters who don't work, and have a hard time financially.
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Are you Crazy or what, how dare you suggest that we actually give money to help out the poor, fool didn't Jesus say YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE POOR!! so saith the GB
great point and i agree i have never read where that was stressed as much as helping out the wt
how many times did we as elders sit in circuit assemly meetings and were asked
BRO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE EXTRA MONEY
and right down to the last man, would agree SEND IT TO BETHEL
i can't believe i belonged to such a group
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NameWithheld
I do not know of ONE HALL ever built in the USA that was built with money that the bros sent to wt
all the halls i know of are the result of GETTING A LOAN- now why does the wt just find a location where there seems to be a reasonalble interest in the community and say
WE ARE BUILDING A HOUSE OF TRUE WORSHIP - NOPE YOU got to get a loan baby
Too true. They've been collecting $$$$ for the 'KH building fund' for years now. What has it been 15-20 years? And they use this to LOAN $$ to the very people who donated the $$ in the first place. Very nice scam. Here's a deal - you give me money and I'll loan it back to you so you can repay me.
Ask the brothers in Africa where their regional building commitee is and why they don't have a 1500 sq ft building to meet in - oh, it's because they can't afford the loan!
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Country Girl
I always wondered what would happen if you absolutely DIDNT have the money to pay a donation for the literature. Could they LEGALLY refuse you?
CG
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NameWithheld
CG, no they can't and don't. I regularly took books/mags and never dropped a dime in towards the end of my Jw-hood. Couldn't stomach paying for crap I knew was going to end in the dumpster, but had to take some mags to 'look good'. I would suspect this is true for a lot of people, which is why you see the WTBTS's bottom line being hurt so badly from the 'donation arragement'. I suspect a lot of people take advatage of it. After all, JWs are trained from youth up to be as cheap as possible!
