I appreciate the input thus far, but I was there as a kid for just a few minutes and seem to remember something on the wall in the foyer as you entered from the street. Its driving me nuts!
Thunder
Anyone been inside Brooklyn Bethel????
by Thunder Rider 13 Replies latest jw friends
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Mulan
which building? there are so many in Brooklyn.
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Ravyn
Hey thunder---are you sure it was not the year text?
Ravyn
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Elsewhere
Amazing how much time and resources they put into printing publications... but put virtually nothing into charitable work for the poor and hungry. They even discourage the rank and file from making donations to charitable organizations.
I did a search of the 2001 Watchtower Library and discovered something very interesting: The Kingdom Ministry has only ONE occurance of the word "charity"... and it is a brief definition.
Here are a few sample articles... They only want the rank and file to send money to THEM so they can print more books.
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Watchtower 3/22 p. 28 Watching the World ***
Costly CharityMillions of people have benefited from donated drugs in times of crisis. However, a recent survey by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that donated drugs are often inadequately identified or have a limited shelf life. While sent with the best of intentions, many drugs "fail to meet the most urgent real health needs and, once in the country, they clog up already overloaded distribution systems and become difficult to dispose of," says WHO official Dr. Jonathan Quick. Over half the drugs donated to Bosnia were inappropriate. Special incinerators had to be sent to Armenia and to Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to dispose of unsuitable drugs. The estimated cost of shipping 1,000 tons of inappropriate medicines from Croatia for proper disposal elsewhere is between two and four million dollars.*** g73 11/22 p. 24 Is It Always Wise to Give to Charity? ***
Is It Always Wise to Give to Charity?HOW would you feel about giving to a charity if only 1 to 5 percent of what you contributed went to needy ones, whereas all the rest was used to pay for the expenses of collecting the charity funds? How would you feel about giving to a charity if you knew that the president of the charitable organization received $75,000 annually in salary and expenses? You would hardly be pleased or happy about it, would you? And yet such things do happen, and that time and again!The amount of money annually given to charity in the United States alone is more than twenty billion dollars ($20,000,000,000). Of this amount, about 41 percent is given for religious purposes, 16 percent each for health and education, 7 percent for welfare and the rest for cultural and other purposes.
Many are the charitable organizations that make appeals for funds; some internationally known, others known only locally. And likewise many are the reasons why people give. Some give because they believe it is good business or because gifts are tax deductible. Others give because of feelings of guilt, as though by charity they would atone for their sins. And others give for religious or humanitarian reasons, because of feelings of compassion, empathy or pity.
There is no denying that a blessing can result from giving, even as Jesus, the Son of God, emphasized, saying: "There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving." (Acts 20:35) But he also showed that giving with the wrong motive can prove empty, bringing no favor from God.—Read Matthew 6:1-4.
True, there is a blessing in giving out of right motives, but a person would reasonably want assurance that he is giving to deserving causes. To what extent are the billions that are given to charitable organizations used to help people, and to what extent are these supposedly philanthropic organizations operated by or exploited by men for commercial gain?