It's a double standard if they sell the Kingdom Halls to Christendom, Judaism or Islam. They preach in their magazines that the friends must not have interfaith but selling these buildings to them is the same thing. They should tear the building down if they don't want to support Babylon the Great. That would make a statement about their absolute integrity. The building is God's not theirs after the dedication ceremony. He'd want it torn down.
Footage from Recently Converted Kingdom Hall to a Mosque
by raymond frantz 17 Replies latest watchtower bible
-
-
LongHairGal
NATHAN NATAS:
Yes, that is a sad and brutal fact that gullible Witnesses paid for these buildings that now got sold - and they didn’t get any of the money back.
It might hurt less if Jehovah’s Witnesses had social programs to help their poor people but they don’t. And, I agree with you that people who donated might have imagined they were getting ‘everlasting life’.
The Catholic Church had the selling of indulgences. But, I am not implying that today’s Catholic Church is anywhere near as bad as the JW religion.. I am not religious anymore but I was raised Catholic and at least I didn’t have a bullseye target painted on me like when I got involved with the JWs!! 👎 The JWs were and are heavy duty into exploitation and maybe my Catholic upbringing saved me from falling for it. Who knows?
-
Nathan Natas
LongHairGal, I was "born" and baptized Roman Catholic. My father's family is of Polish ancestry, and this was just the way things were done. I attended St Adalbert School in Elmhurst, NY for the first grade, but as for my Catholic education, I didn't get as far as confirmation before my mom got involved with the JWs.
I'm not bragging, but in my case I attribute my leaving the JWs to, #1, the SHOCK of learning first hand that the JWs are not a "righteous" organization when I learned (in the early 1970s) of a pedophile in the Middle Village, NYC congregation who the body of elders decided to protect and hide (I was an MS at the time, but quit soon after that) #2, the (slow) working of my rational mind, which led me to conclude that the JWs were a "snare and a racket." #3, the uplifting association I have enjoyed here on Simon's discussion group for the past 24 years.
-
Journeyman
It's a double standard if they sell the Kingdom Halls to Christendom, Judaism or Islam.
I completely agree. Ok, sometimes the Org might not know who ends up with the site if it's sold via a property company first, so that's understandably out of their hands. But if they knowingly sell it on to another religious group, that's surely hypocrisy.
Buildings in the UK are generally categorised and sold as designated for a specific purpose, so if it's previously been for religious use it is known as category F1 which I believe is non-residential and non-commercial use but also covers schools, galleries, libraries and museums, so the org could still sell to one of those institutions instead without anyone having to apply for a change of use.
Picture this: a Kingdom Hall, dedicated with heartfelt prayers to Jehovah, sold to the highest bidder just a few years later. And not just any bidder—sometimes, to groups whose practices stand in stark contrast to biblical teachings.
Whether the building is knowingly sold to another religion or not, if they have a dedication to Jehovah for a Hall at the start, shouldn't they at the very least carry out some sort of "undedication" ceremony before leaving it? Otherwise they've effectively sold something "dedicated" to God to someone else who might have completely different attitudes (as in the example from the OP). It all seems very weird, not to say blasphemous if one is supposed to be a faithful believer.
-
DisgruntledFool
WATCHTOWER logic at its finest:
Average Joe Witness can't work on a building (church, mosque, temple etc.) owned by 'Babylon the Great' so that he can make a living, feed his family, afford to go out in service preaching the 'good news' and probably make a donation to the 'Worldwide Work'.
However, The Governing Body can sell a Kingdom Hall to 'Babylon the Great' and use the funds to further the "World Wide' work.
Makes perfect sense to me.
-
belogical
Hi
In New Zealand the whole branch complex was sold to the Ellim Church
-
Nathan Natas
For anyone who, like me, has no idea who or what the Elim Church is, I copied this from Wikipedia:
The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based Pentecostal Christian denomination. It was founded in Ireland in 1915 by George Jeffreys and is the second-largest Pentecostal denomination in the UK.
-
raymond frantz
Nathan Natas
I think Life Church and Emmanuel are linked with Elim Pentecostals, we have 3 in my area