by suavojr 29 Replies latest jw friends
suavojr, that's right. I suspect social conservatism and the non-interference with religions. But Canada requires all charities who get the tax breaks to publish their financial accounts. Other countries require this transparency as well.
Write your Senator or Congressman. Start a petition.
The US list of charities:
http://www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Exempt-Organizations-Select-Check
Canadian:
The WT made a great article up there. Because of the generosity of the WT, when growing up as a kid in a single parent family, my mother was forced to go to the satanic food banks of the salvation army.
Let me fix the WT article....
"The governing body today are also quick to find lucrative ways for more money when disaster strikes. During the summer of 2001, for instance, torrential storms caused major flooding in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. In all, 723 homes of Witnesses were damaged to some extent, many of them quite badly. A insurance fraud committee made up of qualified Christian elders was immediately formed to determine which homes had insurance policies that could mostly profit from insurance proceeds from the donated equipment, free labor, etc. Suckers from neighboring congregations performed all the work. One Witness was so suckered of the scam that when she received payment from her insurance company to cover the repairs by licensed contractors with paid experienced employees to her house, she immediately donated all the money to the governing body for the free labor so they and their friends could continue to live a lavish lifestyle.
When it comes to organized charity, though, we need to be cautious as we evaluate the many appeals we receive. Some charities actually give to people without any expectation and without having to belong to their religion. Donating to these charities may have one leaving only a small portion of their money left over to give to the governing body. Proverbs 14:15 says: “Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps.” So one should think twice before trusting anything the governing body says.
WingCommander - I share your disgust with the criticisms constantly pouring out
of the Wachtower and self serving "Governing Body".
Churches do help people. And they require no one to tell them
what that they believe or ask them to join anything
before they help them with real necessititie of life.
They just give to help people. Before there were any social services,
the only ones taking in orphans, feeding the hungry,
housing the destitute, were churches.
The Seventh Day Adventists provide medical care world wide,
and build schools, hospitals and villages and dig wells.
Many other Missions have always run soup kitchens,
drug rehabilitation centers and food banks as well as
Thrift Stores and homeless shelters, open to all.
All the WT does is BRAG about how great they are and
how wonderful they are, with nothing to show for it.
The churches do more good than harm.
Sure, there are unscrupulous users that will set up bogus charities,
but double dealing will be exposed because they open
their books and show what and where the money is going
Have any of you elders or lurkers, ever seen a complete disclosure
of the Watchtower's finances ? Or been told how the monthly
money your congregation sends in, will be spent, exactly ?
Or dare to question the Governing Body ? Or have a Vote ?
It is interesting to see what the Watchtower society focuses on when it comes to these supposed disaster relief operations. It's not food, or clothes, or medical supplies. Why? because there is no financial return on these items.
They concentrate on the one thing they can actually make money on. And in fact considering that they use free labor to rebuild homes, even if only one out of every 5 victims hands in the insurance money, they probably still make a profit.
What a shame.
EndofMysteries & revdip2000 - I agree. I've been knowing for a long time that the disaster relief was a scam. A few years ago, I mentioned something to an elder about who gets the insurance checks and he made a face like he knew what I was getting at and had never thought about it before.
revdip2000 - Even though I've been aware that JW disaster relief is a scam, I had never thought about what you said - that is, that they don't focus on food, medical supplies, etc. because they can't make money on that. Wow! So true! Just think, all the labor (which is often the biggest expense) is free. The locals usually feed and house the free labor, so the org doesn't pay for that. They get materials donated or at a reduced rate. And they get the fat insurance checks. Again, you're right; that's why they focus on the rebuilding. A general contractor would make a nice profit even if he did have to pay the labor, etc., so the org must be making a huge profit.
Catholic Answers - "Dedicated to Serving Christ" don't stand up very well
Catholic Answers is one of the nation's largest lay-run apostolates of Catholic apologetics and evangelization. Its mission statement explains its purpose; Catholic Answers is an apostolate dedicated to serving Christ by bringing the fullness of Catholic truth to the world. We help good Catholics become better Catholics, bring former Catholics "home," and lead non-Catholics into the fullness of the faith.
They pay their CEO $242,000
@Magnum
Yes, it really is pitiful. In essense, the organization lets the other disaster relief teams come in first like the Red Cross and others who will supply first aid supplies, food, water, etc. These other organizations get nothing back for it except a "thank you"
Then once the bellies are full, and thirst is quenched, in comes the Watchtower organization with it's teams of slaves ready to rebuilt homes. And of course these Jdubs don't have the heart to keep the insurance money after seeing those slaves work hard to rebuild their homes, so they hand in the check.
Because if you think about it, why the urgency in rebuilding the home if the insurance will pay for it? If my house burns tonight for example, i'm not going to call my family and friends and ask everybody to rebuild it; I'd stay with family, wait for my insurance company to pay and then i'll hire professionals to rebuild my home the right way.
Cofty: I think the point is: The WT takes in millions and the money is controlled by the Governing Body, eight men, and they use it as if it is their personal wealth, no one monitors their decision making and they do not benefit even their own members right down to not serving coffee and donuts before meetings , let alone do any major social programs to benefit the community at large.
This is Globe and Mail Qoute; ( link did not copy )
"Blumberg said most charities pay little or nothing in the way of salaries and forcing them to disclose more information will take up badly needed resources. He added that there are many other areas where better disclosure is needed, such as requiring charities to offer details about the effectiveness of their programs.
Don McCreesh, chairman of Imagine Canada, a charity umbrella organization, added that capping salaries at $250,000 is unworkable. "Some of these charities are big complex organizations and you need some skilled people running them," he said. "If I'm giving money to a big complex organization I want to make sure it's managed right and that may mean paying somebody more than $250,000."
Top earners include executives at Plan International Canada Inc., Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, York University Foundation and five hospital foundations. Those charities all paid their chief executives more than $300,000 last year and some, including York, doled out more than $350,000.
Several other charities - including the British Columbia's Children's Hospital Foundation and Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation - paid top executives between $250,000 and $300,000. And still others, including the Canadian Red Cross, paid officials between $200,000 and $250,000."
Yes but the Catholic charity gets special mention on charitynavigator because it pays it's CEO a huge salary while performing very poorly.
One year on the Florida beach we got hit by two hurricanes, one right after the other over the course of a week. The ONLY people who responded to help THE VERY NEXT DAY was the Red Cross and the local Catholic church. There was no preaching, there was no faith-based literature passed out, and no donations requested. It was food, blankets/towels, tarps, a newspaper, ice (if they had it), and the information to FEMA that took a week to respond to the disaster.
The Red Cross had a staging area outside predicted hurricane landing location days before the storm hit and they were on the beach as soon as structural engineers cleared the bridges. I don't give a flying f**k what the organization costs are... they worked in record time and were not only a source of comfort and information, but the only food we ate for days before FEMA showed up.
So if this sounds like an evil organization that is ripe with scandal, fine. But as a person who survived off their kindness for a week, I honestly don't care what those on the top do... those who work at the bottom do one hell of a job despite all that, and I will and continue to ask people to consider donating to the Red Cross.
Houston (in the article) has one of the biggest and most efficient Regional Building Committees in the nation. I'm going to guess that it still took several weeks before they got aid to any of those brothers. It took over a month to get any aid down to St. Thomas after a major hurricane distroyed the island. JWs are not in the disaster relief business. They are in the preaching business with the occational disaster relief event. That hardly makes them proficient or competent regarding the matter.
