by link 17 Replies latest watchtower scandals
In another thread outoftheorg said he was unaware that all congregations in the U.K (except Scotland) were registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
The following link will take you to the first web page of the names of all these congregations.
It shows the name of the Presiding Overseer (correspondent), his address and often his telephone number.
Cut and paste this into your browser to check the info.
link
(Sorry, unable to properly format the page)
I am doing the unthinkable and responding to my own thread.
I just could not bear the thought of starting yet another thread that gets a big fat NIL response.
link
Link,
In 2002, a bunch of UK' ers sat down and sent a letter to everyone of those people mentioned in the Charity commisions listings.
It was about the upcoming revelations of paedophilia in the congregations to be shown by the BBC.
Englishman.
Hi Link.
When I stated, I was not aware of the charity status of jw's in the uk, I was not questioning your statement or your knowledge. I was revealing my ignorance on the matter.
Sorry if you felt insulted.
By the way, what is the criteria needed in the UK, for an organization to receive that status??
I find it difficult to believe that the wbts could meet that requirement. Do they use some loophole to get past?
Charity of any real substance was never delivered by any congregation I was in. In a subtle way the wbts looks down on real charitable organizations. At least that is my experience.
Outoftheorg
I have no specific legal information, but one my last jobs as Congo Secretary was to complete the registration of my congegation as a charity . congegations benefit by being able to claim back the income tax that donaters have paid on their K hall contributions thus increasing those contributions by some 25 - 30%
As I recall, the reason given for charitable status was simply that we were a non profit organisation that was set up for Bible education and religion , serving our community . Charitable giving, as in aid to the poor, simply did not come into it.
This issue of charity has always puzzled me.
My dictionary defines charity as= leniency-tolerance-generosity to the poor-alms-universal love and good will-institution or fund for the poor. SYN-kindness-beneficence.
I can't attribute any of these ACTIONS to the wbts. They may spout a lot of words on these issues, but I have seen the exact opposite of ALL these acts performed in the congregations.
Outoftheorg
a snippet from http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/supportingcharities/protection.asp :
Children are an especially vulnerable group and the Charity Commission is particularly concerned to stress the importance of proper safeguards within charities for the protection of children. This applies both to charities working in the UK and other countries where children may face different or additional risks of abuse or exploitation. These safeguards should include a child protection policy and procedures for dealing with issues of concern.
(I noticed it had in parentheses "version August 2002")
Hi NIlfun.
That is the year that E Man mentioned. Maybe their efforts had some effect.
The wbts will do about anything, to keep the money in their pockets and not have to spend it on true charitable efforts.
I think that this is another area in addition to the paedophile problems that needs to be brought to the publics attention and to the attention of the governments.
Outoftheorg
As I recall, the reason given for charitable status was simply that we were a non profit organisation that was set up for Bible education and religion , serving our community . Charitable giving, as in aid to the poor, simply did not come into it.
What actually was involved was that all congregations adopted a "Constitution" written by the branch office and in which the cong effectively loses control of an of its destiny/propery/funds etc if the society wants to step in at any time.
By adopting this standard constitution congregations handed control (legally) to the society and on a plate - it was another con - at the time elders were being told that the Charity Status ensured security for operations in the UK if things became difficult in Europe (the FrenchTax case etc) - what was really behind it was the control that passed to the society over congs property etc after the constitution was adopted.
Thank You Core.
I understand what you are saying. Similar steps were taken by the wbts in the U.S.
My point is, that since the congregations (wbts) recieves special treatment from the government, in areas such as taxes, maybe some form of support from the government.
Based on the assertion that the wbts is a charity organization. Since they don't really do much beside trying to get converts, it seems to me, that they don't deserve the status of (charity).
Outoftheorg
