Watchtower made money off Hurricane Katrina?

by Coded Logic 13 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Coded Logic

  So I just heard from someone who was on the RBC that when they were working on homes after the hurricane before they could start work on a brother or sisters house the brother or sister had to first sign a form that the WTBTS could collect all their insurance money. And that since all the labor was free (and many of the brothers on the RBC provided construction materials our of their own pockets) that the WTBTS actually made money off of the disaster.

  Has anyone seen or heard this before and is there anyway to confirm it? It really sounds like something the WTBTS would do.
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  blondie

  A team of brothers went down from this area to rebuild and were stunned to find this out. They were all qualified construction people and came to donate their time not get paid for it.

  But I would suggest using the Google Search on JWN.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/scandals/112105/1/WTS-profiting-from-Katrina-Disaster

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/Search?cx=partner-pub-4963413421914369%3Ag5in7s-4bz3&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=katrina+insurance&sa=Search&siteurl=www.jehovahs-witness.net%2FSearch&ref=www.jehovahs-witness.net%2F&ss=4282j1389456j17
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  DesirousOfChange

  Different hurricane but same story where we have family living along the southern coast.

  Actually, it was "expected" that insurance proceeds would be assigned over "so the RBC could assist many others who did not have insurance".

  Doc
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  Justnowout

  Yes this is true and it started long before katrina/rita. I was involved in hurricane Andrew (Florida, USA (1992) ) and the policy of requesting that 'friends' "donate" the insurance payouts. Its roumoured to be as old as the RBC itself but I have never been able to confim or deny that
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  Coded Logic

  Thanks for the links Blondie. This whole thing just makes me sick.
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  Londo111

  BAU for the Watchtower. Disasters mean money...and publicity for them. They never fail to blow their trumpet.
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  OnTheWayOut

  I was a Hurricane Hugo victim. I felt good about Watchtower then. I was only in the religion as a batized member for over a year. I received a small check from Watchtower for lost wages and other losses. I received a donated car from other JW's as a tree fell on my car. I had enough canned food to fill a bathtub. I was still eating from it more than a year afterward. I didn't accept clothing donations because all my clothing was intact- my rented mobile home fell off its blocks but the contents were good. My landlady did not let JW volunteers fix my trailer but waited for insurance to take care of it.

  I was a Hurricane Andrew volunteer the next year. The number of volunteers and donations were huge. We did everything at our own expenses. Watchtower did buy many supplies for fixing homes, particularly roofs. Somewhere in there (I think after Andrew but I could be wrong), Watchtower started insisting on not earmarking donations for the specific disaster. It makes me think that I got a small check after Hugo because they had to show that earmarked money went to actual victims.

  I tried to be a Katrina volunteer but Watchtower actually stood in the way of many volunteers with their rules. I was sickened to hear them stating over and over again about only donating to the Worldwide Work without earmarking and not to donate anything but money.
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  Atlantis

  Watchtower/2003/June/1st/pg.6

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  See the bottom of the last paragraph. JWs have been encouraged to donate disaster relief insurance checks for years. And according to them, "so that it could help others in need."

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  Jehovah’s Witnesses today are also quick to help 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 disaster relief committee made up of qualified Christian elders was immediately formed to assess individual needs and to allocate relief funds to help the local Witnesses to cope with the situation and repair their homes. Willing volunteers from neighboring congregations performed all the work. One Witness was so appreciative of the help that when she received payment from her insurance company to cover the repairs to her house, she immediately donated the money to the relief fund so that it could help others in need.

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  After reading that Watchtower other JWs fell right in line to donate their insurance checks as well.

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  Atlantis!
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  Jeannette

  I've often wondered about the donations and relief work in Nashville a couple of years ago when that River flooded, the Cumberland was it. Witnesses from this area, which is about 99 miles away, were scheduled to put in a week.
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  JWdaughter

  I know that there are quaified brothers to help those in need-so they should give immediate (financial, food, clothing, shelter) assistance to any JW who needs it,but repairs only to those who have no insurace or way to pay for it. Why would anyone with insurance want a bunch of dodgy construction guys doing their repairs? I knew that while many brothers would eagerly help, that many were ridiculously unskilled. My dad helped at a few quick builds and often around different halls (he was not a JW, but he was part of the community via my mom and called upon regularly). He commented on the "yahoos" (direct quote) that worked along side him at times. He had the same comments about a lot of the Habitat for Humanity volunteers that had much better intentions than they had know how or ability. My dad was a "do it" kind of guy, not a guy that showed folks how to do it. He had no patience for incompetents or training, unfortunately. Anyway, I would rather hire a known professional construction crew to repair my home. Just sayin'. My dad could only do so much. . . and turned down paid positions with H4H because of it. Dealing as a contractor for years he knew too much about OSHA and dealing with homeowners, subs and everyone else. :) He would rather build a house alone than with folks who needed constant direction. (He appreciated kind intentions, he just didn't have a personality to be patient with training situations)