The Watchtower Way Of Laundering Money - Randall Watters.pdf - Opracowania - język angielski - Watchtower-files

The Watchtower Way of Laundering Money - David Icke - Religious Frauds Archive

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"...the TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE"

The Watchtower Way

of Laundering Money

by Randall Watters

source:

http://www.freeminds.org/history/launder.htm

reprint from the Jun/Aug 1995 Free Minds Journal with

additional notes made on 12/8/96

Previous to a major policy change in 1990, Watchtower

literature was distributed at what was termed a "specified

contribution" price for each item. Witness canvassers

(called "publishers") bought their literature supplies from

the congregation and then resold these from door-to-door.

All monies were then remitted to the Society's

headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

The new policy announced in 1990 detailed a complete

donation basis for literature. It was now to be supplied

without charge to congregations, but contribution boxes

are placed by the counter for donations from the

publishers, supposedly to cover the cost of printing and

distribution. In the field, donations for the items are

solicited, but are supposedly not necessary in order to

obtain books and magazines. Such donations received

http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/jw/laundering.html

4/5/2004

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from the public are then to be brought back to the Kingdom

Hall and sent to the Society.

What was the motivation for these changes? The Society's

answer was that less paperwork would be needed and the

literature could be more easily distributed. "By adopting a

method of literature distribution based completely on

donation, Jehovah's people are able to greatly simplify our

Bible education work and separate ourselves from those

who commercialize religion." (Letter from the Watch Tower

Society to all U.S. congregations dated February 21,

1990.)

The second reason given about `separating ourselves

from those who commercialize religion' alluded to the real

reason for the Society's change in literature distribution.

Just one month before the new policy was announced, the

Society watched how the Supreme Court ruled in

California Board of Equalization vs. Jimmy Swaggart

Ministries. California wanted to assess sales taxes on the

sale of books and tapes and other items by Swaggart's

ministry. The Watch Tower Society filed amicus curiae (a

friend of the court legal brief) in support of Swaggart's

position, that a religious organization should be exempt

from such taxation. On Jan. 17, 1990, just a little over a

month before the Society's change in policy, the Supreme

Court ruled against Swaggart and permitted taxation. The

Society's new policy avoided any liability for taxation by

taking the financial transaction out of the picture

(donations cannot be taxed).

The new policy was primarily a tax dodge. The side benefit

to the Watchtower was that they received monies TWICE

for the items, if all went as planned: Perhaps a dollar or

two for a small book when you picked up the literature from

the Kingdom Hall, and if you received a donation for the

book from the householder, you were required to bring this

back to the Hall and deposit it as well. (Hmmm...,

something's fishy!)

The Society's letter outlining the new policy took great

pains to emphasize that the donation policy was not a

subterfuge for continued specified prices. The claim was

made that "we will not suggest a specific donation." (Letter

dated February 9, 1990.) Yet a subsequent letter gave

http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/jw/laundering.html

4/5/2004

The Watchtower Way of Laundering Money - David Icke - Religious Frauds Archive

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instructions on how to suggest the old prices for

Watchtower and Awake! subscriptions:

"It may be that the subscriber will ask how much is

expected. The publisher should inform the subscriber that

the making of a donation or the amount of such is entirely

up to the subscriber. The publisher may inform the

subscriber that some have donated $5 and others $10 or

more, but the amount is left up to the subscriber. Whether

or not a donation is made the subscription will be

renewed ... If it turns out that a subscriber does not make a

donation, as Jehovah God's fellow workers we have the

opportunity to support that work, depending on our

circumstances." (Letter dated February 21, 1990)

Here the WT Society is telling Witnesses to suggest $5 or

$10 for subscriptions, which is the previous rate.

Interestingly, the Society also suggests that if Witnesses

can't collect that from the public, then the Witnesses

themselves have the opportunity to donate to cover for the

public.

So what happens when people currently write in to the

Society asking for literature?

Apparently, literature, including magazine subscriptions,

can rarely be obtained through the mail any longer. Even

renewal notices for return mail are no longer sent, the

householder being informed that they must obtain all

materials through their local Kingdom Hall. Even at

Watchtower headquarters in New York, only two or three

items can be requested at a time from the Society's

Furman Street literature counter. The Society's literature is

free, but only in limited supply.

More recently, attempts to obtain the Watchtower's new

CD-ROM computer disk (containing all of their publications

on electronic media, some back to 1950) have yielded

interesting results. Because the May 1994 Our Kingdom

Ministry (p. 7) "suggests" a price of $25 or $50, though not

in so many words, publishers are often requiring a

minimum payment, sometimes up front, before they will

order the CD-ROM disk. In one case, the JW is demanding

$40 before he will place the order! It seems that Witnesses

are taught to be more and more deceptive as time passes,

http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/jw/laundering.html

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which is merely a reflection of their mother (the

organization).

Apparently, their recent significant drop in income, coupled

with the failure of rank-and-file Witnesses to donate funds

sufficient to their liking for materials received "free" has

caused the Watchtower to make the following statement in

the November 1996 issue (p.3) of their in-house bulletin

entitled Our Kingdom Ministry :

_________________________________

additional notes:

It is interesting how they have even "raised the price" of a

number of items! They appear be suggesting a donation of

$50-100 for the CD-ROM instead of $25 to $50, and $40

for reference works such as Insight on the Scriptures.

Since their costs of producing CD-ROMs could not exceed

two dollars each (probably closer to $1), one wonders who

they are trying to deceive.

One investigator sent in a donation to the Watchtower

"equivalent to that once specified" for some literature, just

to see what would happen. A letter, and an additional card

was sent back. The letter was a "thank you" letter

acknowleding a donation, but containing no hint as to any

literature involved. But the card sent with it stated, "We are

pleased to inform you that your request for Bible literature

has been honored and will be mailed seperately." Using

this technique, the WT feels they are going to avoid legal

complications. Time will tell as to whether the State of

California decides to reopen the case with regards to the

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/jw/laundering.html

4/5/2004

The Watchtower Way of Laundering Money - David Icke - Religious Frauds Archive

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http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/jw/laundering.html

4/5/2004

The Watchtower Way Of Laundering Money - Randall Watters.pdf

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