truth_b_known, you are right in saying that the WT was getting paid twice for the literature that ended up being distributed in the field ministry (though not in the case of JWs obtaining the literature for their personal use, unless the JWs made an additional contribution to the WT, such as by putting it in the contribution box). I disliked the idea of having the pay twice for the literature distributed in field service. I thought why should I have to pay my own money for the literature since I will be forwarding the money from the householder to the WT. Later when the Kingdom Halls stopped collecting money from the counters, I stopped contributing my own money for the literature I distributed in field service, though I still forwarded the money from the householders to the WT. You also make a good point with your comparison of the pricing with that of for-profit sales of comic magazines.
You are also right about the tendency of the human brain and I realize that I have that tendency also and that I need to resist it. Interestingly, earlier today I was telling strangers (on public transportation) that people, all of us, have a tendency to believe information we strongly want to believe. In the same conversation I also mentioned that it is hard to stay alive. There are so many things we need to know and do to stay alive. [For example, loosing our job and housing, poor eating and drinking habits, not having regular medical check ups, associating with certain kinds of people, and how we react to potentially violent people, all effect how long we will live.]
Rocketman123, you made a good point when you said "The American Constitution availed men to openly and freely propagate
their religious expressions without government regulatory control." In the back of the WT publications where a price was mentioned for the literature, it did not say "Suggested contribution amount" or similar wording, instead it just said the price (and other times said such was the cost to obtain the literature) and in so doing it gave the impression that one had to pay that price in order to obtain the literature. Because of the laws at the time, the WT could get away with that practice, including being dishonest about the matter. That practice of the WT combined with the laws (which you wrote about) is now causing me to think that maybe you are right in saying that the WT was literally selling literature. If you are right on that matter, it would mean the WT was dishonest and at times even lying about the matter, and that I was one of the victims of such dishonesty and even outright lying. That is an idea I don't want to accept, due in large part to the unpleasantness about it, but perhaps I should accept that idea. The state of California certainly thought they had a right to charge state sales tax for those kinds of transactions and they won a court case (federal supreme court or state supreme court?) in the matter. That implies that both the court and the state of California thought that literature was being literally sold. Perhaps they were right to think that.
It is interesting how the issue of potentially being charged sales tax and the WT's desire to avoid such tax by not asking for money (especially in specific amounts) specifically for literature distributed, is a major factor in the huge financial problems the WT is now experiencing. Further such financial problems may become a huge factor in a future huge decline in operations of the WT and in the number of JWs.
