Watchtower UK's Robert Li asks: "Can you lend me £75 million?"

by Fay Dehr 13 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Fay Dehr

  Anyone got a spare £75 million, for a good cause?

  Go to the UK Charity Commission accounts for Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Great Britain: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/DocumentList.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1077961&SubsidiaryNumber=0&DocType=AccountList Now download the accounts for 2017. See page.4 (signed by Robert Li on p.7, April 2018)

  
  

  Future plans The Charity will continue to carry out a major project to build facilities in Chelmsford for IBSA. Once completed the Charity will also relocate and share part of these facilities. Over the next 2 years the project is expected to incur a further £75 million of costs, all of which will eventually be covered by IBSA.
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  MightyV8

  Hang on let me check my back pocket.....
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  pepperheart

  They are not building as many bulidings as they had planned so how can they be over by so much
  
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  Crazyguy

  No wonder they keep begging for money. I guess they think this project will give them a great return on investment when they sell. Wonder if they thought about who would want to buy such a complex.
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  zeb

  Lets see, kitchens, dormitories, lecture rooms, lots of open space, workshops...... the British army?
  
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  shepherdless

  IBSA accounts are here:

  http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/DocumentList.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=216647&SubsidiaryNumber=0&DocType=AccountList

  IBSA has included the £32 million already spent, in its assets. It has also allowed for the additional £75 million.

  Both sets of accounts state or presume the works are on program, and on budget. It will be interesting to see if it stays that way.
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  lastmanstanding

  Interestingly, the Charity Commission UK refused “charity status” to the Church of Scientology.

  CoS is not charitable as an organisation established for the advancement of religion because having regard to the relevant law and evidence:
  (c) Public benefit arising from the practice of Scientology and/or the purposes of CoS had not been established (section 8, pages 43 to 44 and pages 47 to 48).
  CoS is not charitable as an organisation established to promote the moral or spiritual welfare or improvement of the community because having regard to the relevant law and evidence:
  (a) The practice of Scientology and the purposes of CoS are not analogous to the legal authorities establishing the moral or spiritual welfare or improvement of the community as a charitable purpose (section 7, pages 26 to 29), and in taking a broader view of the authorities, would not be likely to achieve such a purpose (section 7, pages 30 to 37).
  (b) That even were CoS otherwise established for the promotion of the moral or spiritual welfare or improvement of the community, public benefit arising out of the practice of Scientology and/or the purposes of CoS had not been established (section 8, pages 45 to 47 and page 49).

  
  

  The same principles would eliminate the WTS as a candidate for Charity Status
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  shepherdless

  That is interesting, lastmanstanding. Here is IBSA’s basis for remaining a charity, according to their own financial statements:

  Public benefit
  In addition to being a religious entity, the Trustees confirm that they have taken into consideration Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in exercising their powers and duties. This is amply demonstrated in this report and in particular the following:
  1.Bible literature we have supplied without charge to congregations ofJehovah's Witnesses in the UK, has been distributed gratis, by those congregations, to interested members ofthe public in their local communities, in the following quantities: 14,836,474 copies of The Watchtower and Awake! and 23,805,463 other publications including, Bibles and Bible study aids, brochures, tracts and invitations to meetings.
  2. Our conventions for Bible education are widely advertised by personal invitations delivered by individual Jehovah's Witnesses to the public nationwide. Admission is free.

  Hardly any better than Scientology.
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  lastmanstanding

  Shep

  I think it would be productive to launch a campaign to the UK Charity Commission.

  The Commission is being hypocritical in denying status to the CoS when it grants it to JWs
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  Fay Dehr

  Shep, you have to run with this - you're onto something. For example, in boasting of the number of magazines "supplied without charge...distributed gratis" what was the quantity distributed containing "offensive | prejudiced | intolerant" content? How does the UK Charity Commission feel about the distribution (free or otherwise) of the following magazine content:

  • Outright homophobia
  • Gender discrimination
  • Religious hatred

  It would be an interesting project to catalogue examples of such material, and then extrapolate (from their own figures of 14,836,474 copies of The Watchtower and Awake!) the likely number of copies containing homophobia | gender-isms | religious hatred.

  Am I thinking too simplistically?