JWs and charitable work

by kj 28 Replies latest jw friends

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  Elsewhere

  My mother gave me quite a lecture yesterday because she was certain (and correct lol) that we had contributed to Tsunami relief. She went on about how all charities go back to the Vatican and that all the money contributed goes to the church and not the people.

  Why not ask your mother to write to the WTS asking for an accounting for how all of the Tsunami related donations were spent.

  I guarantee you that she will get a response telling her that the WTS does not release such information to the public.
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  jwtexan

  As someone who has worked on the Florida Relief effort - I can help clear up some ideas I see being tossed around.

  First of all keep in mind that some of the folks that have been affected by the disaster do not have insurance to cover their damages or in some cases, not all of their damanges. In these cases, where is the money gathered to help them in this time of need? Well, in the case of those who do have insurance, are able to buy their materials with the insurance money, but instead of paying for a contractor to work on their roof, they can allow their brothers and sisters -who are eager to help- and then allow that insurance money to be used to help those that are in a situation that does now allow them to even have enough for the materials. This will also help feed all the volunteers that are helping repair the homes. Not a confusing thing is it?

  By the way, no one is discouraged from helping others who are not witnesses. Of course, we are drawn to help those who share our faith and who we love dearly, but that does not prevent us from helping others in need. If you are making a statement that we only help ourselves, then you are shooting from the hip and missing your mark.

  Another thing - as far as the Florida hurricane relief efforts - the witnesses have been able to repair hundreds of roofs in the area, all of them passing the strict inspection codes of the area, so the work is quality work done by clean and friendly individuals. Ever wish you had a group of people like that instead of the guys cursing and screaming lewd jokes at each other on your roof? All of this work is being done while hundreds of homes are still waiting for insurance companies to have someone come to their home and repair their roofs.

  I challenge you to find anyone in the organization that personally makes monetary gains from these efforts.
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  candidlynuts

  thanks for posting texan. regarding your statement:

  Well, in the case of those who do have insurance, are able to buy their materials with the insurance money, but instead of paying for a contractor to work on their roof, they can allow their brothers and sisters -who are eager to help- and then allow that insurance money to be used to help those that are in a situation that does now allow them to even have enough for the materials. This will also help feed all the volunteers that are helping repair the homes. Not a confusing thing is it?

  i think the uproar over this is the question Is it required they give the insurance money to the wtbs and is this the practice of all charities?
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  Incense_and_Peppermints

  By the way, no one is discouraged from helping others who are not witnesses. Of course, we are drawn to help those who share our faith and who we love dearly, but that does not prevent us from helping others in need. If you are making a statement that we only help ourselves, then you are shooting from the hip and missing your mark.

  c'mon. if you are an active Jehovah's Witness, you know that's not true. if you're not discouraged from helping non-witnesses, are you actively encouraged?

  Another thing - as far as the Florida hurricane relief efforts - the witnesses have been able to repair hundreds of roofs in the area, all of them passing the strict inspection codes of the area, so the work is quality work done by clean and friendly individuals. Ever wish you had a group of people like that instead of the guys cursing and screaming lewd jokes at each other on your roof? All of this work is being done while hundreds of homes are still waiting for insurance companies to have someone come to their home and repair their roofs.

  i have had a lot of interactions with contractors over the years, from cable company, telephone company and satellite tv technicians to roofers, tilers, painters and plumbers, and none of them were witnesses, and not one of them was ever unclean, rude or used bad language.
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  jwtexan

  Are you REQUIRED to give insurance money? No one in the organization is REQUIRED to do anything. When tropical storms affected homes here in Texas, I have friends who decided that they would simply have their homes repaired by an independent contractor with their insurance check and others who decided that they could use the money to both have their homes repaired by brothers and have the insurance money help others in need.

  Are we discouraged from helping others? The bible states that we should especially helps "those in the faith" - so we strive to help our fellow brothers in the faith. This does not in any way mean that we cannot help others, simply that we will help our brothers first, that is logical - we know and love them dearly.

  Also, keep in mind that in Florida, we cannot simply jump on someone's roof to make repairs. You are required to have a permit to be a roof contractor in Florida. Since we are not roofing contractors, we have to meet specific rules involving our relationship with the homeowner. Bypassing these laws is punishable by jail time and monetary fines. That is a major reason why a lot of witnesses are not jumping on random roofs and making repairs in Florida.

  How do other charities work and do they use insurance money to continue to fund things? I have no idea - I can tell you that they have to pay for salaries for their administrative branch and a lot of funds do not reach the intended recipients. If an insurance check is used to help others, or maintain a fund that prepares for upcoming disasters, is that not acceptable to you?
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  Kenneson

  Of the thousands and thousands of homes damaged in Florida and Texas, 700 in Texas and 1,700 in Florida will have been repaired or rebuilt by Jehovah's Witnesses. It doesn't take a genius to see that those helped are Jehovah's Witnesses or those studying with Jehovah's Witnesses. See http://www.jw-media.org

  The top story is entitled "U.S. hurricane cleanup set to conclude early in 2005." Also note that this was updated today and still no word as to what the Watchtower Society will do to aid Southeast Asia. And here we're speaking of millions of people with no more homes (probably a fraction being Jehovah's Witnesses). It's almost like nothing has happened. I think public opinion, however, can change all that.I hope newspapers would get a hold of this. While the majority of online religious sites have started donations to help with relief work, the Watchtower Society sites remain silent and seemingly apathetic. Why is that?

  No one is saying that Jehovah's Witnesses shouldn't help their own. But don't be exclusive. The criticism is that they help few non Witnesses (other than potential converts). "For if YOU love those loving YOU, what reward do YOU have?" Matt. 5:46 You may not be discouraged from helping non Witnesses, but neither are you encouraged to do so by your official sites.
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  outoftheorg

  Just a note about insurance payments.

  After a fire or other damage to a structure, the insurance company sends a certified inspector and then the insurance adjuster.

  They will issue a check for the damage as it is determined by these two individuals.

  This may differ from insurance co. to another or due to state laws, but some ins. co's, will want to choose the company to do the rebuild/repair.

  All the times I have seen this, the check is given to the home owner before repairs start and they can do as they want.

  So theoreticaly the homeowner could accept the jw rebuild and donate the check to the wbts.

  Knowing the wbts as I do, I am sure a lot of pressure is put on the homeowner to do just that.

  So the labor delivered at no charge would end up as another gift to the wbts. Yet another way to make money.

  Outoftheorg
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  Junction-Guy

  bookmarked
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  UU Now

  On the insurance end of it, there would have to be reciepts/bills for the labor in order for the insurance to pay for the labor. The insurance company does not just hand you the value of the house OR how much you have it insured for. They pay you what it costs to rebuild up to your policy limits. They will however, in many cases pay you to do the labor yourself.

  When the interior of my house was damaged by flooding after my water heater burst, the insurance company gave me a check without asking for any receipts. I did not have to account for the labor; the money was mine to spend as I saw fit. In fact, I was able to use the money not only to repair drywall and paint in the damaged rooms, but to paint some other parts of the house as well.