by smiddy3 22 Replies latest jw friends
How ironic it is for an organization that feeds bullshit to people through the literature it publishes to pull in money and get tax exempt status.
It some ways the (Worldly) American government let this happen through its high protection and support of religious institutions.
Liberty and freedom for all I guess
I vote and support with my wallet. After years of abuse and use of the WT. I no longer support them and their organization. I carefully support groups that support others. Most non religious.
The Watchtower Corporation pulled off the biggest world wide commercial fraud in the act of religoius charlatanism in the 20th century, accomplish with the aid of tax exemption status.
The issue at the heart of the matter is that religions receive tax exemptions because they are supposed to be charitable organizations that assist people (i.e. feed the poor, shelter the homeless, etc.). The Watchtower is clearly not living up to that obligation. The Watchtower even publishes in writing that to donate to charity to help needy people shows a lack of faith in God.
I seriously want to petition my elected representatives in congress to sponsor legislation that would require a minimum percentage of incoming revenue to be used to help all people (not just members) if a religious organization wished to receive the tax exempt status.
The main issue is that you don't want government deciding what religious activity or charity looks like. Government approved activities of any sort is a slippery slope.
I also don't like the idea of government taxing anything it does not directly contribute to, taking money at the point of a gun is still considered theft. I can agree to road taxes to build roads and healthcare taxes to fund hospitals and sales taxes to fund economic needs but taxing private property is a wealth tax and wealth taxes are perverse in many ways.
It's easy in the US. You just have to claim that you are a "religion" and you qualify as "tax exempt".
A nonprofit business does not mean the business makes no profit.
What MMMustard said is totally correct. They essentially have to be "profitable" to remain in business.
I have had numerous nonprofits as clients and and trust me, they need to make money. Being a nonprofit in the USA is more legalistic than anything else. They have much the same business model and structure as anyone else but are supposedly operating for some "good" (Mission Statement) instead of distributing earnings to shareholders. From a practical standpoint, the term "good" can be argued to mean almost anything.
In the case of religious nonprofits, they get even more leeway since religion is mentioned in the Constitution. That's why is it so easy to legally set up your own religion and get tax-exempt status for next to nothing.
@RubaDub:
If you boil down the thread, I think it would be: “WTB&TS hurts people, and everyone would be better off without them. Ergo, The government should be hurting them, not helping them.”
But Anony Mous has the right idea: Giving more power to the government is always a bad idea.
If you boil down the thread, I think it would be: “WTB&TS hurts people
@MMMustard ...
You could argue that point about the WTBTS and virtually any other religion and for that matter, many other nonprofits. It's just if you are close to one and know the inner workings, you "see how the sausage is made."
Anony Mous is correct as you pointed out. Letting the government determine what is a "good" organization and what is not "good" just empowers them to make decisions; some we may like, others we may think are invasive.
How have JW's ever gotten away with being a tax exempt religion?
And, if Governments are backed by Satan, why are they so helpful in regard to JW's in regard to the paying of taxes and i coming to their defense if their freedoms are encroached upon, even when JW's pride themselves as not being part of the religious world, say awful things about the government and other religions and barely qualify (if at all) as a charity organization?
