The Money is Interest-Free, People!!!

by Yan Bibiyan 22 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Yan Bibiyan

  Inspired by another thread on the "Who are Doing Jehovah's Will Today", I did a little digging into the masterpiece.

  Pg 25. talks sbout KHs and there is the revelation:

  "...They (KHs) are built with donations made to a central fund. In every Kingdom Hall, there is another contribution box for Kingdom Hall Construction Worldwide. These donations are sent to the branch office so that money can be made available interest-free to congregations needing to build or remodel a Kingdom Hall"

  Sooo, the money is made available interest-free!? That same money that was donated for the purpose of building a KH, not for the WT to play Bank. Shouldn't it be simply used for the construction or remodel of a KH?

  Why is it so wonderful that there is no interest? What about a principal?

  How can you say sh!t like this with a straight face, and be freaking proud of it too..
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  InterestedOne

  Yan Bibiyan - Maybe I'm just thick. I agree something is odd about this, but can you clarify what bothers you about it?
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  wha happened?

  well it is interest free. You just have to sign over the KH, and agree to pay back a loan that is way to high, due to their estimate of costs. Who cares about interest when u get to doiuble up your money and u get the property in the end
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  Yan Bibiyan

  Interested,

  When you make a donation to the homeless shelter, do you expect them to buy some food and only give it to the hungry if they sign a contract to pay it back?

  When you support your cancer research org, would you be OK if the money is used to find a cure and the cure is given to cancer patients only if they sign a legal contract to reimburse the cancer research org for the spent money that was given to them as donations in a first place?

  See where I am going with this...
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  InterestedOne

  If I understand correctly, the brochure has left out a crucial piece of information: to get the loan, the congregation must sign a contract saying the property goes to the Watchtower Society if the congregation ever dissolves. That means not only does the Society get the money back, it gets the property. Is that the problem you were pointing out?
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  iamwhoiam

  Yes. I love it when we have a remodel where materials to complete the job only cost about 6,000 dollars total (including food) and we ask for donations for double the cost. People get caught up in the moment and forget that labor is free. Then..whatever monetary surplus is left over, we donate it the the worldwide work via resolution (like anyone is going to say no). Also, no public announcement is made that we signed over the property to the Society in return for an inflated 0% loan.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Okay, it's crystal clear.

  The money is GIVEN as donations from the members. It can be specifically GIVEN for the purpose of building Kingdom Halls.

  The GIVEN money is LOANED to the members. They must pay back the loan.

  Once a congregation pays off their mortgage, they still let the WTS own the property.

  If they manage to save up funds at any given time, the C.O. will recommend that they have the RBC come in and remodel and use up those funds. If the Kingdom Hall didn't already belong to WTS, they will loan some money for a remodel and make the trustees sign over the property and pay back the money.
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  Yan Bibiyan

  Interested,

  you ask:

  the congregation must sign a contract saying the property goes to the Watchtower Society if the congregation ever dissolves.

  The property goes under the WT umbrella regardless, as OTWO described above. It is the missappropriation of funds I was fuming about. This Worldwide KH Fund is nothing more than a giant piggybank and WT leadership uses it to make loans instead of simply distribute it where needed without recourse or strings attached .
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  designs

  Rent a Chruch
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  InterestedOne

  Ack!! What is wrong with me? I am an idiot sometimes. Duh?! The principal!! People donate money in order to build a KH. Rather than use that money directly to build a KH, the WT loans that donated money back to them such that they have to pay back the loan! This means, at the end of the day, the WT will always have a giant pot of donated money in the form of actual cash or as loans being repaid. So what if the loans are interest-free?! It's still a pot of donated money that will never actually get spent to build any KH's - it will only be -loaned- to build KH's!!!! Geez, how simple. Sorry for being slow.