by Kool Jo 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Hello Folks:
Just curious....back when they institutued the voluntary donation arrangement for the literature rather than specifying a cost....was the reason related to avoid paying taxes....i heared this somewhere, but checking to see if there's real proof or some letter from the Borg.
Thanks
Kool Jo
I don't remember whether it was in a letter, but I do remember a meeting with elders & ministerial servants in which it was stated explicity that the reason was to avoid being taxed.
I was actually not at the meeting because I was in transit to some work (JW related) in another country. However, a ministerial servant in my home congregation called me right after the meeting and excitedly said "hey, the end is coming!" He thought that the fact that we might be taxed was some kind of indication that big things were about to happen.
The tax situation started with one of the big name televangelists and it was thought that it might affect JWs, too. I can't remember exactly who it was; maybe somebody else will remember. Was it Jimmy Swaggart?
Anyway, yes, it was for tax purposes that the donation arrangment was instiuted.
The Swaggart issue brought it to a head, or at least that's what the local elders said.
It made sense, or so the gullible child I was then thought. Of course I trusted them because I believed this was God's Organization.
Oh what a fool I've been. No longer!
Listen, Obey and Be Blessed: It's a cult!
Too, they said it was a blessing from Jehovah-a simplification which was already successful in other countries.
But it did make it possible for me to obtain literature I wanted and needed- no longer being charged a set amount for it.
@Obliette
Yes, the WT filed an "amicus curiare" or "friend of the court" on that one didn't they. So much for being no part of the world when you are Swaggart's bed-fellow, well only in a legal sense.
Gotta admit that one really angered me, this "friend of the court" BS. It seemed rather expedient. You or I would have been sanctioned if we pulled that crap!
