Who Knows Anything About Being A Charity?

by sweet pea 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  sweet pea

  My real question is - "How Can The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society Get Away With Being Called A Charity?"
  
  They don't seem to do any charitable works within the community, they get free labour to develop their property empire and they're a publishing company.
  
  Correct me if I'm wrong please? My motive isn't to be vindictive I just fail to see the justice in being called a charity and getting the perks of one when they don't seem to strike me as acting like one.
  
  I know in France the Witnesses are not looked on favourably, partly to do with this one issue, and that their tax status has been investigated and found wanting. Is there any chance that this scenario could be played out on the world scene?
  
  I have today requested a copy of the 'Governing Document' from the UK Charities Commission which should outline their legal obligations as a charity - it'll be interesting to see what they are and if they meet them. If they are contravening them in ANY way the Commission suggests approaching them to ask them why and give them the opportunity to address these concerns. One could also report them directly to the Charities Commission.
  
  Thoughts anyone?
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  iamfreenow

  Hello sweetpea,

  I can't see how the Watchtower Society can be described as charitable either, they do little or nothing to benefit anyone in the long term, but I would think that they are very careful to operate within the requirements of the Charity Commission as not doing so would be ultimately very costly for them. I did find a link to the Charity Commission website

  http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/index.asp

  perhaps that will tell you why the WTBTS are allowed to keep their charity status.
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  MadTiger

  The Watchtower Society is very skillful in conforming to whatever they need to in individual municipalities in order to further their goals.
  
  Religious Society, Charity, Religious Association, etc. Do you think they really care? No, they don't.
  
  The official reason is so that they can continue to preach the good news in accordance with law. The the extra reasons are to legally be in a position to profit.
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  rebel8

  In the US being a church alone is enough to meet the legal definition. The church does not need to do charitable works.
  
  http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=134331,00.html
  
  The fact that the US wts once did have shareholders once, who held the equivalent of stocks, could disqualify the present-day org from nonprofit status. I reported it to the US government a long time ago, but I'm guessing they don't care about something that happened 100 years ago.
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  sweet pea

  Thanks everyone for all your input.
  
  Anyone know of any threads relating to the France/Tax situation?
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  ninja

  to your question....the answer is ....my kids