If the JW leadership is all about the money, what do they want it for?

by True North 21 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  True North

  In the brief time that I've been reading JW-related postings and sites on the net, I've seen a lot of stuff regarding the JW leadership being all about the money with the implication that there is something unsavory about their acquisitiveness.

  If that is true, what exactly do they want it for? From what I've read, the GB seem to live reasonably well (better, in fact, than the average JW would expect, I think) but it hardly seems anything that would have earned them a spot on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. So, why would they be so concerned about amassing organizational wealth? What can they do with it? Do they want to pile it up in a vault to leap and burrow through it like Scrooge McDuck? Are they secretly building luxurious vacation dachas on the Black Sea? What's the point for them?

  Is it empire building? Do they want to fuel an ever-growing organization and recruitment/preaching effort just so that they can be ever-bigger big shots? Or are those who take them to task for being avaricious suggesting there's something more sinister afoot? (Well, actually, I guess that growing that particular organization is pretty sinister, but you know what I mean.)
• 

  dustyb

  money = power = control.... the more money, the more members you have to control, put it together =D
• 

  run dont walk

  i guess the same can be said, regarding any rich person,

  why would someone who is a billionaire, want more, why buy more businesses, why expand further, why do McDonalds keep opening more restaurants, in Canada, why do they keep opening more Tim Horton's, how many do we need, i guess it is NEVER enough, and the same goes for the Watchtower, it is never enough, and although we know how much they are making, we do not know how much it costs to keep all these places going worldwide, new printing presses, new assembly halls, new kingdom halls, etc etc etc.

  I agree, the more money , the more power, thus the more control you have over those in the organization.

  Maybe deep down the governing body want to have more then the Catholic Church, uh oh, we are in for a long ride then.
• 

  El blanko

  Remaining objective for a moment - I do not believe that the org' is motivated by gathering huge amounts of money. It would be wiser to channel resources into other areas of business, and unless this is proven, it is unwise to suggest that this is one of the primary motivations.

  Suggest that the governing body are deluded spiritually and argue upon those grounds.
• 

  link

  I wondered the same thing until the Company I worked for was taken over by an American Corporation. The amount of money they could amass was the only measurement of success that they were capable of recognising – there were no other criteria as far as they were concerned.

  I believe that this applies just as much to the Society and the people who operate it as it does to American business in general.Being successfull is the be-all and end-all of the Societies existence and they use money to measure this.Failure will not be contemplated therefore it is vital to accumulate and hold on to as much money as possible.

  link
• 

  Amazing

  True,

  I don't see the GB as wanting money the same way that wealthy playboys and playgirls do ... but money facilitates their ability to have power and control ... its easy for them to disavow materialism becuase they do not personally own the assets of the Society, but they do have charge over these assets, and these assets do benefit them.

  Truly wealthy people often place their funds, investments, and assets into varous forms of "Trusts" which they no longer technically "own" but they have full control. This helps to make them virtually judgment proof, because if they are sued, they can disavow ownership of anything ... yet as "Trustees" of whatever "Trust" they have incredible power.

  I equate the Governing Body with this level of wealth, and not with the lower rich class that has accquired much personal wealth and material possessions. The Governing Body has, by virtue of their position, reached dynamic wealth of the Super Rich. And, oddly enough, this seems to escape the notice or consideration of both the rank and file JWs as well as the IRS and other agencies.

  I think you really hit the nail on the head with this comment:

  Is it empire building? Do they want to fuel an ever-growing organization and recruitment/preaching effort just so that they can be ever-bigger big shots?

  Excellent way to put it. - Jim W.
• 

  Sneaky Russian

  If you can read Ray Franz book Crises of Conscience, then included in this book is a picture of his room at Bethel. Very much far removed from the opinion that these people live like Moks and have no material goods.

  Also, he claims that GB members are heralded as Kings and treated as such as they fly around the world in beautiful locations with the money from contributions.

  They are just a mind control sick cult, money is a bonus.
• 

  drawcad_1

  I think that the governing body is a group of men that believe in their cause. They think that what they are doing is for the betterment of people and the end of this system. The collection of money is just another way to report success. We get to see the annual numbers of baptized, pioneers and number of hours as a form of growth, while they get to see the bank statement. From a spiritual perspective they have everything that they want, power, a comfortable place to live and the shaping of the organization.

  You could also ask why do people give up everything to be a CO, and it is probably for the same reasons. The power must be intense and one of the reasons that turns me off to the organization.
• 

  garybuss

  
  
  The Watch Tower Publishing and Real Estate Development Corporation's wealth is not casual wealth like a lottery winner. The Watch Tower wealth is real wealth like the wealth of a country. The leaders have more power than dictators.
  
  

  If the Watch Tower Corp. was a country what country would it look like?
  
  
  
  
  
• 

  DIM

  I think they are super evil and using the borg to take over the brains of people all over the world...either you are for or against...either way you are thinking about the super evil borg and their mission is accomplished. They must all be sitting in the ivory towers in borgland laughing at all of the jw's and xjw's always thinking about the borg.