Annie, Do you think this is a change? Or what?
Governing Body claims title to Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls
by garybuss 57 Replies latest jw friends
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Mary
The members of the slave class know that they will be called upon to render an account for the way in which they have used what has been entrusted to them.
Ya, I can't wait for Judgement Day to come, when they're sent straight to Hell in a Service case, for destroying millions of peoples lives.
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Sunspot
Quite honestly, Gary, most often I can't really tell when it comes to anything the WTS prints.
I've re-read this three times slowly, and it seems as thought it might be a really major twist that is being downplayed and hidden in the woods....or it may be nothing at all. We never know when they are being purposefully deceptive.
You'd think that I'd have enough experience with them to be able to discern any changes, but it's because I've dealt with this type of weasel-wordng for 30 years, that I'm never very sure about what they are trying (or not trying to say.
Sorry to be so vague---but this is how they leave me!
Annie
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Sunspot
Ya, I can't wait for Judgement Day to come, when they're sent straight to Hell in a Service case, for destroying millions of peoples lives.
May they also be sent with every time slip they filled out!
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ljwtiamb
Not sure if this is related, but they are forming more JW corporations in most major metropolitan areas.
Perhaps these are now becoming owners of the local buildings.
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kls
May they also be sent with every time slip they filled out!
Amen Sunspot,,,lol
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garybuss
Annie, I understand. I read their articles three times and can't for the life of me figure out what they are trying to say. They must hold the record for being able to say everything in a way that can be debated three different ways.
Mary, I'd hope there's a God to direct justice too:-) What do you think about the Kingdom Hall ownership question?
ljwtiamb, I'd think if they are printing they own the Halls, and they seem to be doing that, they would have been slowly taking control of the kingdom halls and assembly halls over a period of time. These guys work like a slow cancer. -
blondie
I've posted this before but it bears repeating.
In a sense the WTS owns the KHs.
The congregation that holds the territory the KH is in forms a non-profit corportation with the elder body selecting 3 elders on the body to serve as trustees. They must follow the laws of non-profit corporations within their state. This is the way the KH property is tax free legally. Every year they must prove that they are still following these laws to qualifty for the non-profit status (or less often in some states).
This group of men on the corporation are considered holding this property in trust. If one of them moves, is DF'd, or is no longer an elder, another elder must be chosen. None of these men "owns" the KH and the land.
If the congregation is dissolved, then the buildings and land revert to the parent non-profit organization, the WTS.
Since the WTS is the one that initiates the process of dissolving congregations, they do hold the trump card
but
until they do that, the congregation corporation controls the land, making decisions regarding sale, etc.
I have seen on 2 occasions where the WTS wanted a congregation to sell surplus land and donate the proceeds to another congregation, on one occasion, and to the WTS on another. The BOE in both cases refused to do so. So far neither congregation has been dissolved and the BOEs have not followed the WTS "suggestion."
Blondie
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garybuss
Blondie, what's your take on the "Organized" book quote? Are they paving tomorrow's road?
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blondie
Gary, the key phrase is "spiritual assets."
I don't think the WTS means this in a secular/legal way.
Legally, a government could come in and take away the WTS assets if the laws were changed.
In the website on non profit corporations it says this about ending one:
Nonprofits are not actually owned by anyone and therefore cannot be sold. If the directors of a nonprofit corporation decide to dissolve it, they must pay off all debts and obligations of the nonprofit and distribute all of its assets to another tax-exempt nonprofit corporation.
The WTS is not in control of the laws of the land. As long as the IRS requires this structure to qualify for tax exemption, congregations will continue to be the ones legally in control of the assets as long as the WTS does not dissolve the congregation.
With its current tax problems in France, I don't think the WTS wants to go around the tax laws in the US any time soon.
Blondie