OK soI grew up in the religion and I remember so often the churches being slammed at the meetings for passing the plate and how they shamelessly begged for money. How we as Jehovah's Witnesses are so much better because we NEVER ask for money and the contribution box is sort of hidden in the back of the hall like we were even embarrassed to have to have that. Just the word contribution was so much better than the words the worldly churches used. Everything was free, free Bible studies, etc expect for the WT and Awake it was 10 cents and then 25 cents which sort of confused me as a kid because why were the magazines not free if everything was free but anywho I believed it all because I was told to. Pastor Russell I was told even used to say that if he ever had to ask for money then he would know Jehovah was not with his work.
The Awake of 1973 had this to say about the Catholic Church
(ChurchMoney
♦ Some religious organizations are going to new ends to acquire money. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York, now accepts credit cards, not just cash donations. One finance committee member says: "A church can't survive on 50-cent [cash] donations." Credit-card donations are up to $30. Admission is now being charged visitors to London's thirteenth-century Salisbury Cathedral. A London Observer article calls this "a last-ditch attempt to find a way of meeting the desperate need for funds.")
Yet here in the April 2012 KM it says "Beginning this year all conventions will accept debit/credit card donations in addition to cash and checks.
OK so we all knew this was coming but also in the same KM is on page 7 is another part on begging for money. It does not look like this will be a meeting part but it is just thrown in, sort of strangely. It says "Two Coins of Little Value One important way that we support Kingdom interest is by contributing financially to the worldwide preaching work. What if we are of limited means? One on occasion Jesus saw a poor widow contribute to the temple treasury two coins of little monetary value. Love for Jehovah moved her to give "out of her want...all of what she had, her while living." Jesus took note, indicating that her contribution had more value in God's eyes. Similarly, first-century Christians did not view the responsibility of providing financial support for the ministry to be the privilege of only wealthy Christians. The apostle Paul cited the example of the Macedonians who, despite "deep poverty...kept begging...with much entreaty for the privilege of kindly giving." Therefore if we can only contribute 'two coins of little value,' we should remember that many contributions can add up to a large amount. Our giving from the heart will please our generous heavenly Father, for "God loves a cheerful giver."
I just have never remember seeing such a blatant article on asking for money as this one seems to be.
Maybe it has always been there and I was just to blind to see it? I remember when we went to the donation arrangement for the literature my husband and I were pioneering and living on very, very little money. My husband was an elder the only elder at the time and he asked me to get the magazines for service the next day. We had no money to put in the box but I thought I would catch it the next meeting. The brother who was doing the magazines asked me where my money was. The magazine counter we full of people and it seemed like everyone was looking at me. I stammered that I was going to have the money at the next meeting so the brother grabbed the magazines out of my hand and said then at the next meeting you can have them. I could not tell my husband what had happened as he would never believe me and I know the brother would have been too afraid of my husband to pull it on him as he was the only elder. I was so hurt as we spent a ton of money on gas driving around aimlessly in field service and we always packed out our car. I had to lie to my husband about why I did not have the magazines as it would have caused a fight with him as he never believed me when I was treated like garbage by his friends they were never mine.
So years latter it's been about six years ago now, I was still an elders wife at the time and I was walking to my car, this sister who was a little different but still a really nice person with a good heart, she had always treated me kindly more then I could say for most of the other elders wife's. She came up to me and was just talking about really nothing and had in her hands a box with her bound volumes, some the newer video and a couple of other books she had picked up from the literature room. I thought nothing of it until the literature servant came tearing out of the hall clearly looking for her. He came up to us and asked her if she was going to pay for what she had. She was speechless as was I. The brother just stood there looking at her waiting for her to answer. She finally said yes, yes of course. He said well you had better you have about $150.00 dollars worth of stuff there. I was just speechless too. She muttered I did not realize this cost so much the brother said well what would you pay for all of that at Barns and Noble, We both just looked blankly at the brother and he started to itemize what was in her box with the most expensive things that Barns and Noble sell and told her she needed to pay for it and then he stormed back into the hall. This poor sister just looked at me totally humiliated like she was going to cry and I told her not to worry about him that he was wrong and he had no right to do that to her, that Jehovah knew what she had and he was crazy about the Barns and Noble thing, that our things did not cost as much as the worldly books and videos. This poor sister had lost her daughter to a car accident and she was on state help and did not have a lot of money, plus she had just offered her car out in field service to an elder who only owned a two door as there were three elders out during the CO visit and NONE of the elders had a car being this sister was working with the CO's wife she was not going to use her car in service and when she saw that none of those elders had a car she offered her car.
Anyway the whole thing was just unbelievable and I asked my husband who was still an elder at the time if there was some sort of letter that only the elders had on making sure the publishers pay for what they take. My husband swore that there was no such letter but I truly wonder as my husband wants this to be the "truth" so badly that he has overlooked or not let things sink in that clearly spell out this is a cult.
Sorry for how long this turned out.
Just wonder everyone else's take on this.
LITS