It would be devastating for them. From reading their Charter for the WTBTS Pennsylvania and New York (and most likely many of their other corporations) I understand that they can only operate if they are tax exempt otherwise all their assets must pass on to a different entity that is tax exempt.
Listener
JoinedPosts by Listener
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35
What Would Happen if the Watchtower Loses Their TAX EXEMPT STATUS?
by John Aquila inwould it really affect them?
how would it affect volunteers at any construction project since that work would now be taxable.
any materials they buy would be taxable.
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Back in the Basement
by LostGeneration inlooks like the faithful jws are back in the basement, the oct 15th wt has this image on page 9. but now the lights have been turned out!
i guess the persecution is really kicking in if the electric company has shut off their electricity, or the jws are really, really paranoid that the government is gonna get them if they have the lights on!.
only one guy is smart enough to use his tablet (far right), the rest of the jws are old school, using a lantern to read their bibles in the dark!
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Listener
There are hardly any houses with a basement in Australia, I wonder what they are expected to use? -
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Where Is The Jehovah's Witness Zeal?
by minimus init seems to me that the religion is nearly dead.
or dying.
very little pulse exists for the organization.
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Listener
Zeal - another old fashioned jw cult word
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Strange Moment During The 2015 Regional Convention
by JW_Rogue inhi, i'm new here but hadn't seen this mentioned anywhere yet.
during the "imitate jesus" rc there was a strange moment where they played a video of a brother trying to explain the 1914 teaching.
the brother quickly goes through all the scriptural "proofs" and the householder is dumbfounded.
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Listener
The video puts the blame for not understanding the doctrine squarely on the teacher, who isn't teaching but only preaching. It's not the fault of the orgs publications or the reader's, its the person that tried to teach you. -
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WT Historians: You can own Charter paperwork for WT Corporations1884-2003
by AndersonsInfo intoday, i have made available through my website, www.watchtowerdocuments.com, an e-document containing the handwritten watch tower corporation charter, plus the following material as explained on my website.
"on december 13, 1884, charles taze russell and his wife, maria f. russell, founded a corporation in pennsylvania which they named, zions watch tower tract society.
the charter for that corporation was amended in 1896 changing the name to watch tower bible and tract society.
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Listener
I am putting a link to the above mentioned documents here for future reference to anyone who is trying to research the Charter of the WTBTS Pennsylvania. Currently there is no charge
http://www.scribd.com/doc/237936900/Watch-Tower-Charter-Corporate-Entities-and-Amendments#scribd
Unfortunately, it does not include any by laws or other legal documentation establishing how members, directors and the Governing Body members are elected or removed from any positions in relation to the WTBTS.
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What the Governing Body found out when they ' did the math'
by Esse quam videri instephen lett may 2015 broadcast.
14:45 ... the governing body very much feels the urgency of accomplishing as much as we possibly can, in behalf of kingdom interests, knowing that the great day of jehovah is near....
... in an effort to inform you of the support that is needed for this great work, i have the following information to share.
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Listener
"the amount flowing out will be much greater than the money flowing in"
This is such a simplistic view that they have presented.
If I was going to buy or build a house in the next fiscal year and had saved up that money to fully cover the cost, or had already sold my home, I could also claim that my expenses for that year would be much greater than the amount I am earning. I would be better off at the end of that fiscal year if my living expenses were less than my income.
What the organization fails to say is whether they will be better off at the end of the fiscal year than they will be at the beginning. Because a lot of their expenses will be for Assets (Kingdom Halls and other land and buildings) that they will now own at the end of the year it is more than likely that their total net worth will be greater at the end of the year.
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Jehovah's Witness woman refuses blood, then dies.
by Lee Elder inanother jehovah's witness woman has died while giving birth due to massive blood loss and refusing a blood transfusion.
she leaves nine children behind.
she finally consented to the transfusion but it was too late to save her.
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Listener
Lisa Rose, you're being a bit harsh to what is a reasonable question. The woman needed a blood transfusion in the past after childbirth.
You made your own judgement that this woman was a victim and accuse someone else of being judgemental.
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Lett, the lying, deceitful TURD
by Esse quam videri in... we just felt that you dear brothers and sisters needed to be made aware of these expenditures that were facing in the coming months and years.... .
the may broadcast was just to make the 'dear brothers and sisters aware' and not to ask for more money?.
lett, the lying, deceitful turd!.
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Listener
It's not a lie, they needed to make them aware so that the Brothers knew they needed money.
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Watchtower Charter-A Danger to GB?
by TakeOffTheCrown inthe following link is a pdf of the charter for the watchtower bible and tract society of new york as of 2003:.
https://jwleaks.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/watchtower-bible-and-tract-society-of-new-york-charter-and-certificate-of-incorporation.pdf.
my question: is the governing body in danger of removal if they do not adhere to the charter?.
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Listener
TOTC, there is not enough information presented to answer your question. Firstly, you have only presented the Charter of the WTBTS of New York not that of Pennsylvania. I think that the WTBTS New York is applicable to the USA whereas the WTBTS Pennsylvania is the legal entity applying worldwide. The WTBTS has so many legal entities that it is possible that their are other charters/entities that would also need to be considered in order to answer your question.
The other problem is that the Charter you do link to refers to ByLaws and these are not included. These by laws would affect the application of the Charter.
But let's look at the Charter we do have and assume that other Charter's would be similar. A quick google search suggests that the Pennslyvanian Charter does include the same wording as the New York Charter.
In particular this is the statement in the Charter that is applicable
“The purposes of the corporation are religious, educational, and charitable, including to act as the servant and legal entity for the religious body of Christian persons known as Jehovah’s Witnesses;… and do any and all other lawful things that its Board of Directors, in accordance with the spiritual direction of the ecclesiastical Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, shall deem appropriate in harmony with those purposes.”
What stands out from reading the Charter is that it does not define who or what the Governing Body is. The only identification is that they belong (or are of) the Jehovah's Witnesses. That is why I am wondering if the Bylaws identify or establish who the Governing Body is. If it doesn't then the Government Body is not legally identifiable, it doesn't exist other than to any extent that the Jehovah's Witnesses give them at any given time.
The Charter establishes that it is to "act as the legal entity for the religious body of Christian persons in the United States known as Jehovah's Witnesses" and to support their efforts.
Is it possible that they (the Governing Body) can be removed it they violate the Charter?
No. Nothing in the charter establishes any powers in which the WTBTS can remove any religious person from any position within the JW religion. It only commits itself to acting according to the GB wishes if they are in accordance with the goals as set out in the Charter. If the GB made a request or acted in a way that was not in accordance with the Charter then the WTBTS is not to follow that direction.
The real question is, who gets to decide whether that direction is in accordance with the Charter or not? Under the Charter, that power and responsibility lies with the Directors and the GB would have to sue (or begin court action) the WTBTS if it believed that the WTBTS were not following their direction which was also in accord with the chartered aims of the WTBTS.
What is it that the WTBTS would remove the GB from anyway? The WTBTS charter does not put the GB in the position that they currently have in the first place, neither does it establish what that position is. It only recognizes that there is such a position, that is, that there is a Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Note also that the Charter only allows the GB to provide spiritual direction, nothing else. Even with that spiritual direction it must still be in accord with the aims of the Charter and the responsibility to determine that (whether it is a bible truth or not) is not left to the GB but rather the directors. The Charter does not provide any direction to come from the Governing Body relating to physical or material actions. How would this work practically?
Let's say that the WTBTS wanted to sell all the Kingdom Halls that they owned and state that Halls were now be rented. The GB would be powerless to provide any direction in this matter as it would not be spiritual direction.
Another situation may be around the blood issue. The Directors may feel that blood transfusions were acceptable for JWs and that is wasn't promoting bible truths by stating that it wasn't. The GB was still of the opinion that it was unacceptable and instructed the WTBTS not to print the new directive. It would be debateable as to whether this was a spiritual direction or not but if the Directors did not believe it was in harmony with promoting bible truths then they would be forced by their own Charter not to print it as it would not be in accord with it.
The fact is, the GB need the WTBTS to promote it's ideas, the WTBTS (the Directors) are only limited to a very small degree in promotings it's own ideas.
In resigning as Directors of the WTBTS the GB clowns don't realize the power and control that they have given up so all that remains to them is to have faith and trust that the WTBTS will do their bidding.
Legal terms do get beyond me and I might be wrong regarding the following thoughts but there is also more wording in the Charter that should be closely examined, that is the phrase "and do any and all other lawful things"
“The purposes of the corporation are religious, educational, and charitable, including to act as the servant and legal entity for the religious body of Christian persons known as Jehovah’s Witnesses;… and do any and all other lawful things that its Board of Directors, in accordance with the spiritual direction of the ecclesiastical Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, shall deem appropriate in harmony with those purposes.”
It is only after that phrase that the GB is even mentioned. Therefore it is also limiting on the authority provided to the GB. All the requirements listed prior to this are imposed on the Directors outside of any direction of the GB. This means that the Directors are required to fulfil all the aims mentioned in the Charter regardless of the direction of the GB. The GB just has the power to add to it (in spiritual matters only)
The Governing Body only exists because of two things
- the JWs believe and are willing to comply to their authority
- the degree to which the WTBTS allows
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14
Need help on Resurrection
by Bella15 ini hope all is well.
recently my uncle ( my mom's brother ) passed away, he was never a jw but evangelical christian all of his life, never accepting my moms teaching.
so my mom in facebook keeps on making references to other family members when her brother comes back in the resurrection and live in the paradise ...i thought that worldly people who is not jw will not going to be resurrected .... what is the current teaching on resurrection for nonjws?...
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Listener
"No it does not because being resurrected gives you the chance to become perfect in a perfect paradise. The resurrected gradually become perfect."
This is what they teach but how would it even be possible for God, who is perfect in everything, to even resurrect someone to an imperfect state? So prior to death that person had a leg missing or had a mental illness (and we all suffer from mental illnesses to one degree or another as we are imperfect), God will resurrect persons to their imperfect state only for them to 'heal' or grow to perfection from then onwards.