With the Charity Commission now investigating Jehovah's Witnesses, has the penny finally dropped?
With the Charity Commission now investigating Jehovah’s Witnesses, has the penny finally dropped?

Not long after waking up from my indoctrination as a Witness I posted an article on this website expressing my dismay at the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK are classed as a charity despite falling woefully short of the rules on public benefit.

A few weeks ago, prompted by developments in the Jonathan Rose case, I followed this up with a formal complaint to the Charity Commission and a video appeal on YouTube.

As I mentioned in my video, though I was heartened by the fact that the commission was investigating the New Moston congregation for its atrocious negligence, the focus on this one congregation rather than the Watchtower hierarchy displayed (in my view) a fundamental naivety as to the systemic nature of child abuse mishandling by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Now it seems the Charity Commission has broadened its investigation from New Moston congregation to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, according to a report in the Third Sector magazine.

This is the same magazine that reported back in January 2013 that Jehovah’s Witnesses are one of the top two most complained about charities in the UK.

“The Charity Commission has opened statutory inquiries into the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and one of its congregations amid concerns about safeguarding and whether trustees have complied with charity law,” the magazine reports.

Apparently the statutory inquiry is targeting the Watchtower leadership primarily over their safeguarding (child protection) policies, and will determine whether they have “complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law.”

The commission admits that it has already investigated the organization as early as July last year, but that recent developments have “amplified” their concerns.

Watchtower has already hit back by labeling the statutory inquiry “premature.”

Could it be that the Jonathan Rose case, in which a convicted pedophile was allowed to grill his victims under the auspices of a congregation judicial process, is the smoking gun that could lead to Watchtower’s game finally being up?

As I mentioned in my coverage of the Rose case, it is inconceivable that the New Moston elders weren’t acting under instructions from the London Branch, especially since Watchtower directions to elders clearly stipulate that the Branch (not the police) is to be involved whenever accusations of child molestation arise.

If the Charity Commission digs deep enough (and they have set their sights pretty high), they will surely find clear evidence, not only that child abuse is systemic and rampant among Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, but that the objectives and practices of the organization are anything but charitable.

However, as encouraged as I am that the commission is finally taking this seriously, I’m afraid I still have my reservations.

Watchtower in the UK is capitalizing on the Charity Commission's tendency to believe anything it is told
Watchtower in the UK is capitalizing on the Charity Commission’s tendency to believe anything it is told

I fear the Charity Commission lacks the teeth it needs as a regulatory body in order to act decisively in these matters. For example, the toughest measures a charity can expect in the wake of a statutory inquiry include removing trustees, undertaking a governance review, and establishing new “schemes” for the charity’s management. Nowhere in the commission’s own guidelines on statutory inquiries could I find any hint that removing an organization’s charitable status might be a potential outcome.

It is for similar reasons that the commission has recently been slammed as “not fit for purpose” by MPs. In her own scathing criticism, Labour MP Margaret Hodge complained that “the commission too willingly accepts what charities tell it when it is investigating alleged abuses. It too often fails to verify or challenge the claims made. Some of the most serious cases of abuse have not been properly investigated.”

This environment of indifference and credulity is perfect for Watchtower to flourish as a self-proclaimed “charity,” given that it has shown great eagerness historically to bend the truth to its advantage.

There is a small glimmer of hope that a government consultation launched by MP Nick Hurd may eventually lead to the commission being given tougher powers, including the power to “close down a charity,” but given that the consultation ended in February this is clearly not being treated as a matter of any great urgency.

In the meantime Watchtower continues to capitalize on the credulity of the UK authorities by cashing in on its erroneous claims of working in the public benefit. As distasteful as this may be for those like myself who are victims of Watchtower, I can take a morsel of comfort from the Charity Commission’s ongoing scrutiny of the organization. I have a feeling that if the game isn’t up now, it soon will be.

 

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If you are a UK national, and you would like to register an official complaint against the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Britain, you can do so on this link. The registered charity number is “1077961” and I recommend preparing your complaint in advance and reading the instructions before completing the form.

Further reading…

49 thoughts on “The Charity Commission and Jehovah’s Witnesses – is the game finally up?

  • June 11, 2014 at 6:29 am
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    Been snowed under with work lately, but will finally get my complaint to the commissioners under way this weekend.

    The label ‘religion’ makes many assume that there is something intrinsically charitable about an organisation. For some reason the ‘snare and racket’ concept is not a general one. Al Quaedr, though, has helped to change that.

  • June 11, 2014 at 7:01 am
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    Good article. The watchtower is not a charity by any means. They don’t even help their own members with medical bills. I have a friend who spent time in special full time service. He got sick. Do you think the branch helped him pay bills? Of course not.

  • June 11, 2014 at 7:44 am
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    great job !

  • June 11, 2014 at 8:35 am
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    Very well done John another fine Job

  • June 11, 2014 at 9:32 am
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    John, very well done, lets hope that at last something will be done to expose this cult.

  • June 11, 2014 at 9:55 am
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    I definitely look forward to seeing what the outcome of this investigation will be. However, if they are going to look into the creation, development, and implementation of the safeguarding policies of this “charity” then I don’t see how it can’t lead them to the very Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and Pennsylvania. This investigation has to go beyond the borders of the U.K. and I surely hope it does.

  • June 11, 2014 at 10:04 am
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    How do I go about complaining, and what should I say. Should I highlight the 2-witness policy, or what?

  • June 11, 2014 at 10:16 am
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    Great news, John!

    As Cuthbert asked, how can we best press home this investigation? I looked on the charity commission website, and it said that we have to complain to the charity first.

    I don’t want to have to give my name to those gits at Bethel, because I don’t want any repercussions for my dear old Mum. I can’t allow that.

    Could you create a new survey, and perhaps only provide email addresses? I really want to help, but my poor old Mum could not cope with being disfellowshipped. She simply couldn’t.

    I’m sorry that I’m so flaky, but I want to help as much as I can.

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • June 11, 2014 at 11:00 am
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    I feel we should write protest letters like we did back in the old days at the behest of the Wt. organization to Malawi………they said to fill the mailbag, so the government would say “this Watchtower organizationis big”…………… and stop persecuting the brothers.

    At that time I sent about 5 per day for a month………I would more than be happy to now (on the other side of the organization) do the same for Manchester. Give us a place to send our views, please.

  • June 11, 2014 at 11:43 am
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    Very good article, Cedars!
    I remember years ago when I had been a newly baptized JW, I was eagerly studying with a young man who had loads of problems. He came to the Kingdom Hall, and after a meeting he asked me if I could maybe help him filling some forms. An elder overheard it, and he took me aside and said that JW are not a charity club, and that guy only wants to take advantage of our kindness. So in fact, the elder stopped me from helping which would have been a matter of course to me, and I began developing a warped view of helping and charity.
    This is just a small example, but it says a lot about JW are thinking.

  • June 11, 2014 at 3:47 pm
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    Yes, it’s amazing how a so-called charity like the Watchtower, deters all its members from giving to anything else but them!
    Unfortunately, a good number of Witnesses have to buy their clothes from charity shops as they are deterred from taking well paid jobs in ‘the world’.
    When the s— finally hits the fan, not one of us who have devoted our lives to this organisation will have a penny of compensation. No pensions, no nothing. The organisation will seize the lot!
    So what good is ‘Charitable status’ when the only ones it benefits is the top ranking men within the organisation who live like kings.
    An organisation based on lies and deceit is no use to man nor beast. I hope the Charities Commission discovers the real truth behind Watchtower. Maybe the axe is finally ready to fall!

  • June 11, 2014 at 4:12 pm
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    ‘I haven’t found what I’m looking for,
    I’m embarrassed about bothering you again, however, there are one or two more questions that I’d like to ask you.
    Its something personal and I won’t bother you anymore.
    I drink too much. Sometimes I get in trouble a lot because I talk to much. Something’s Wrong, and I don’t know what it is.
    – Elliot Gould – Capricorn One 1976

    But we do what it is, and what’s wrong, what’s very wrong indeed. The WT has been predicting the End of the World for the last 120 years but for to many people including to many children their lives came to an end the first time an unfriendly brother, sister, father or mother, or so-called respected elder first placed his hands on them.
    From that moment the world of their childhood ended.
    A world once filled with joy and the innocence of childhood now replaced with one of fear, doubt and distrust.

    We know the WT keeps an ongoing record of child abuse cases on its files, of both abusers and their victims within its so-called Christian Congregations maybe the Charity Commission needs to be aware of these details too.
    We are also aware to some degree of how many children have died because of being denied blood transfusions by their parents over the years as does the WT Society.
    Are they also aware of those unnumbered thousands that may also have committed suicide because of their Un-Christian policies. How do these people sleep at night?

    How do I sleep at night knowing this goes on and not knowing how to bring this to an end, either by Direct Action or indirect action on my part???

  • June 12, 2014 at 12:03 am
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    @Excelsior:

    I offer a shoulder to lean on, my friend.

    It was probably the “shunning” policies that pushed me over the edge and finally “out” in the early eighties.

    Dad and I had spent over 20 years at that time with the boot in one camp and the shoe in the other. Christmas, for example…. He couldn’t say “No” to Mum… You will not put up decorations and a tree, or refuse Christmas dinner.

    We walked a tight rope of conscience as we tried to be good Publishers/Pioneers, whilst trying to keep the family together. It was horrible.. and, lonely.

    That was 30 years ago. Dad is alone now, I don’t want to kill him either, Excelsior. He and Your Mum… despite what You feel now about matters… fought hard for what they believed to be “The Truth”.

    On the one hand we play this walk of Compromise and yet, we are pulled to bring the real “Truth” about “The Truth”… out into the open.

    You are I are suffering from a severe attack of “Storge” and “Agape”.

    All I would say is that, we should be sure of Our facts and have a water tight case… otherwise, all that Energy will be wasted, and with little other than adverse result.

    Cedars has put his head on the block… at a price… but, maybe it is the only way for the real facts to be seen clearly. Are we the cowards here, Excelsior?

    Peace with You… with reflection and contemplation

    GEM

  • June 12, 2014 at 1:08 am
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    As much as I would like to see it, I really don’t think it’s got a leg to stand on. They will just hire some top ranking lawyer to weasel their way out of it. They have done it before and they will do it again. If for some reason they do get stung you watch how quickly they cash up and leave the UK shores.

  • June 12, 2014 at 2:08 am
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    At the the end of the day folks it’s a business.
    Cedars may well remember this, following my last comment about the M.E.N. arena,
    It’s a circular arena. Steeply tall. It was very hot and people, rightly so, were complaining about the heat. An announcement came over that the air conditioning was going to be put on. “Please remain standing brothers for these announcements, this assembly is funded by your contributions. . .” Bastards you invited me now your cooking me while your sat in your air conditioned offices & want me to pay! Bugger off.

    • June 12, 2014 at 3:32 am
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      I remember working in the chairman’s office at the MEN conventions and enjoying the air conditioning while realizing how unfair it was that people were baking outside. I remember being amazed that former chairman’s office big-wigs were allowed to continue to use the office as a perk, even though they were no longer doing anything for the convention. The fact that they were old and had once done something made them somehow more important than ordinary elderly brothers and sisters in the main auditorium. I think that practice has since ended (I could be wrong) but the inequality used to irk me. And I remember the bethel reps got an air-conditioned suite all to themselves, which was like a ghost town because it was just two old guys and their wives rattling round inside, in glorious seclusion from the common folk.

  • June 12, 2014 at 2:21 am
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    Charity? . . . My arse.

  • June 12, 2014 at 3:24 pm
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    Great set of related videos.
    Especially the one that was used from Jeremiah films showing the intense difficulties the Blizzard family, husband and wife had with the Pharisee-like elders trying to get them to break the law when the Police intervened to make sure their baby daughter would get the blood she needed in the mid-1970s.

    Also the video of the Awake magazine from 22 May 1994 twenty years ago last month regarding the dozens of children that sacrificed thir lives for their policies and their god je-ho-vah. The Essenes and Zealots of Jesus day might be gone but the Law-Abiding Citizens of the Pharisees are alive and well and living in Brooklyn, USA.
    Thank Yeshua/YHWH that Apostle Paul’s (ex-Pharisee) Gospel of Revelation from Book of Galatians and Romans also survived down to this day.
    Praise Jah

  • June 12, 2014 at 4:27 pm
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    The society has no problem lying if it saves them, even in court. I’m afraid they will be able to escape justice again.

  • June 13, 2014 at 12:26 am
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    Charities in my town do help some of the poor by giving them free stuff that others donate freely. But I have firsthand knowledge of JW’s helping in Bosnia, Haiti and several other countries in an immense way. They have rebuilt 1,000’s of homes all around the world and recently in Solomon Islands after some disaster they contributed bags of rice and oil, ect where the Government had not yet even provided a single thing. Philippines, Burma are another 2 cases that the JW’s have gone into the areas, accessed the needs and got on with the job. I think that is very charitable. I have had a good look at this site and I see that it’s 99% critical. How about a section for all the good that witnesses do? They don’t smoke do drugs and try to be good neighbours ect. I actually hear far more positive comments than I do negative and believe me I have been around far more than 99% of people who comment critically about JW’s. Yes I know what it’s like to be disfellowshipped and I completely agree with this arrangement. Elders do make mistakes and I am aware of this but it’s still the best organization on the planet and even if there was no Paradise for the next 100 years I would still do everything I am doing now, going to meetings and out door to door because the benefits greatly outweigh the sacrifices. Many people are happy to get the literature and say they enjoy it. Yesterday my wife who I married when disfellowshipped and who was Athiest for 25 years now is a pioneer and we had several nice talks with people. One recently said to us “Thanks for the comfort you have given me”. That in itself was an act of charity.

    • June 13, 2014 at 12:57 am
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      Comforting people with false promises that cannot possibly be proven is not an act of charity, it is a cruel disservice. And I find it amazing that you should dare to raise the Philippines as an example of JWs being charitable when the Governing Body has yet to explain why JWs were herded into their kingdom halls on the night of Typhoon Haiyan, with 22 dying in one kingdom hall alone as a result.

  • June 13, 2014 at 12:42 am
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    It seems very premature to claim any sort of victory or to be able to be able to beat our chest for a win. However consider this. Every long journey begins with the first steps. The small victories of open reporting, commenting and freedom of speech and information will in time build to larger victories as more people join their voiced to this outrageous family stealing religion.

    As it is no doubt to early to call a victory it is also to early to call a failure. I hope it brings them down, but in the mean time good solid facts will attract more to consider there position in this religion and may yet leave. Perhaps some even closer to the heart of the wtbs who can speak with candor about its lies. Only time will tell. The path of the courageous is cut by the courageous, rarely are there any footsteps for them to follow.

  • June 13, 2014 at 1:02 am
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    @Thinking of leaving

    If they did cash up and go, I would chalk that down as a very favourable result. It would certainly send a message out to the rank-and-file.

  • June 13, 2014 at 2:30 am
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    please see the article in the western mail,weds 11.june 2014 by Ciaran Jones
    (Ciaran.jones@walesonline.co.uk)about an ongoing court case about an elder in Barry cong.

  • June 13, 2014 at 3:39 am
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    koala boy,

    You need to learn a lesson of history – the ends NEVER justify the means.

    Sure, you can comfort yourself by saying that a few bags of rice were handed out, big deal! Jesus expected his followers to go BEYOND what people of the world do, not just match it.

    Any supposed good that your religion has provided has been negated by the MEANS. The hundreds if not thousands of cases of domestic abuse and child abuse cover ups in your church are cancelling out any supposed good.

    You can’t get grapes from thistles, a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

    If you think that your religion is so decent, why does it have so many court cases against it and why are they NEVER reported on in the WTBTS’ publications and website?

    Why is the charity commission receiving the most complaints about your religion?

    I’m so sorry for you, sir. You have been misled into supporting a religion that harms people.

    Please, think about the fruitage of your religion.

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • June 13, 2014 at 3:39 am
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    Excuse me but you don’t have an ounce of charity in you at all. There is a lot of reconstruction work to build witness homes right now. Have you helped out at all? We did and glad to help others with our money. Jw’s didn’t kill our brothers in the Philippines. It was a super hurricane that wiped out Catholics, Atheists and JW’s. How dare you suggest that they were ‘herded’ into KH’s to die! Have you ever been to the Philippines and see what shacks most people have lived in? I have. At least the KH would have some protection compared to their homes that are made of tin. I have met a lot of people in my life but never one as bitter as you. Thanks to this website that I have had a thorough look through for several weeks,I am more convinced than anytime in my 40+ years as a JW that I have the truth. I wasted not 1 day but you have wasted years according to your comments. How does that make you feel mate that you have wasted so much of your life? But for my fellow witnesses who help each other on a world wide scale that you cannot even fathom, I and some 8 million people are happy to have good purpose in life and even die contented with what we have done. When my brother died of cancer in his 40’s there were 430 at his KH funeral and so many were young people to pay their respects. I was at the funeral for 4 hours talking with his friends. About 100 were not JW’s and they had nothing but admiration for him and his beliefs. One business man said ” I knew your brother for 20 years and he was a gentleman in all our dealings.” This is the type of legacy he left and he never doubted or wasted a single day of being a JW. I pity you Cedars.

    • June 13, 2014 at 4:19 am
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      koalaboy – before you throw a diva fit, perhaps you should check your facts. JWs WERE herded into kingdom halls on the night of the typhoon. They even held meetings in the town where the typhoon first made landfall as it approached. These are not my assertions, they are based on the JW.org video where these unsavory details are revealed and promptly glossed over.

      JWs WERE put in harm’s way that night, however you choose to look at it. Whether the locals live in shacks or not has nothing to do with it. 22 Witnesses died in Tacloban sheltering in a kingdom hall when they should have been heading to higher ground. No explanation has since been given by your dear leaders, the Governing Body.

      http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/why-the-governing-body-owes-an-explanation-for-what-happened-in-the-philippines

      I note you have pity for me, but I have just as much pity for you. It seems the only thing you have to look forward to is a well-attended funeral.

  • June 13, 2014 at 4:08 am
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    I just read your comment after replying to Cedars comment about “herding’ the brothers into KH to die. He really hit a new low with that offensive comment. I forgot to mention about the hundreds of witnesses that volunteered their time in Texas when there was over 5,000 homes that had to be repaired after a huge hurricane. What about all the help they gave to Katrina witnesses? Did you know that there is an emergency evacuation for the Gulf states that if a strong hurricane hits again, every JW has a home to go to inland to stay with other JW’s? What peace of mind for them. How would you feel about the witnesses if your home was destroyed and they came and helped you rebuild it? Yes they make mistakes but 99% of the witnesses are very good people. We met a neighbour of a witness in the door work yesterday and she had nothing but praise about her neighbours. So besides tearing down our organization what actual good will you do? What legacy will you leave behind? I passed a funeral car the other day with 3 cars following it. It was a very expensive coffin but probably only 10 people where I have been to witness funerals with 600+. Oh and in the instance with 40 kgs bags of rice in The Solomon islands.. it was a very big deal. They had their homes and all their food completely washed away. Have you ever been hungry? I see your compassion for those people by saying “Big deal”. I once lived in the jungle and can imagine their situation. It will help them to get on their feet. It’s a lot more than what you did for these people. And I closely follow all the royal commissions and the paedophile cases. I believe that ANYONE whoever they are should be accountable to the Law. And talking to other witnesses they feel the same. But it doesn’t mean we are a cult just because we get the occasional bad egg in our organization. I am happy to see them DF and go to jail. No sympathy at all. I see a lot more compassion for people in my local congregation than I see for most of the people writing bitter words on JW survey. Remember that critical negative people live on average 7 years less than positive people. Be kind to yourself and learn to look at positive things. You may live longer. I wish you all a nice weekend. I am looking forward to our circuit assembly to catch up with many friends. Ciao

  • June 13, 2014 at 4:38 am
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    @ koala. Rebuilding jw homes. Here is a thought chap. What training do you have in water mitigation? Mold remediation? Applied structural drying? Do you know how to use a hygrometer? What is the dry standard for wood? Concrete? Drywall? Do you know what an AHAM rating is? Don’t say another brother knows.

    The IICRC which is the international body that creates these standards requests that all people working in these environments have the required training before being allowed to work. Why? For the safety of the worker and the homeowners indoor air quality which has lead to death. That standard has been adopted by many cities as a requirement for doing this work.

    As for death one only has to look at the flood in Tennessee where the RBC sent in young untrained men to do the work. The result an elder who served for decades and had COPD was left with mold in his basement that grew to the size of cauliflower. I have photos. He subsequently died from acute respiratory failure. The mold was easily preventable with proper training and testing to make sure what was heard was retained.

    Koala, your beloved Watchtower moves in and does this work to receive international relief funds insurance proceeds and government aid from which they profit heavily. You are blinded. Because as agregious as this is it is only the tip of the iceberg with Watchtower. Repeated false prophecies mishandled child abuse cases, disfellowshipping children they say are to immature to be servants and elders. While concealing their own secrets.

    Koala, I will go back to the Kingdom Hall if you answer two questions on a lie detector. Which once you know what they are will first make your blood run cold and then second to conceal the truth as all of you do. To which you know what you are and guess what you are just that transparent to all of us, see through you.

    Question 1
    Have you ever masturbated more than one time?

    Question 2
    Have you ever viewed pornography?
    If your first reaction is to ask what I mean by viewed…..well you know what I am going to say. Now turn this off so your wife doesn’t catch you, she may get the courage up to ask her master.

    You are the one to be pitied caught in your own illusion

  • June 13, 2014 at 5:04 am
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    PS the RBC knew the standard, I attended a class where one if them attended before me. He failed the course and was given oversight of the reconstruction. He botched our hall 6 months later and I contacted the EPA and they made them make repairs immediately and shut down the hall. One sister was told by her doc if she did not leave she would die. I have her name and phone number. Guess what happened when she told the operating committee. They ignored her. She is no longer a witness. They told the hall they were doing a remodel for the sisters. A blatant lie that made my wife’s conviction stronger that this was not the truth.

    If you love people koala as you are told you are required to work to fix this. WARNING egos and corporate red tape will make you an apostate, or as the remaining billions of humans call it able to use your own brain. It is a handy tool.

    The WT well know the standard, but being legal and calculating in nature they knew of no cases of volunteer relief workers being charged with crimes for lack of knowledge. The Bible you claim to represent says they are bloodguilty though because they knew the danger and did nothing. Call headquarters and you can find exactly how long the basturds have known.

    If this seems personal it is, because my son needed an inhaler that has never taken since leaving the hall. He was a little boy then.

    (Sorry about typos sent from iPhone)

  • June 13, 2014 at 6:45 am
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    @Koala.
    I don’t know where you live but I live in the U.S. and after Katrina, there was a letter read at our Kingdom Hall from the Society telling people how badly needed it was for brothers and sisters to go and help with reconstruction of homes that were damaged by Katrina and so many went down South from our hall and donated their time and energies to help out. The charity has always been from the brothers and sister’s donating their time and monies. It has never come from the Society. The Witnesses were told to wait on the help from the donated work from the brothers even if it took months and over a year and so these Witnesses waited patiently till the brothers could come and do the work. But, then it was understood that when the insurance money came for the repairs, that the homeowners were to send that money to the Society. They reasoned, it was only fair that the homeowners not keep the money, which of course makes sense. But who was it that made that donation possible? It was the charity from the brothers and sisters doing all the work.

    If you spend some more time on this web site, you will see that nobody ever complains about the Witnesses. Fellow Witnesses are seen as victims of an evil corporate empire known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society which is a huge business, pretending to be a religion and tricking millions of innocent people into thinking that Armageddon is coming any minute and if they want to survive this war, they had better get out there and absolve their consciences of the deaths of millions by going door to door with the Watchtower.

    How do you know that God is using the Watchtower as his one and true Organization? Can you prove it? Watch Peter Gregerson’s video on Youtube called Is The Watchtower God’s Only Organization. If you have the “Truth” you shouldn’t be afraid to put your faith to the test by watching this one hour video. You are willing to give up your life (blood) for this religion and you preach it from door to door as the “truth” so in order to know for sure you are not preaching lies, you really should put your faith to the test. Even the Bible tells us to put our faith to the test “Keep testing whether you are in the faith, keep proving what you yourselves are.” 2nd Cor. 13:5.

    It is difficult to believe that people who we have put our complete trust in, could be using us for their gain. It took me months of research to prove it to myself that the Watchtower is nothing but a corporation bent on getting as much out of us as is possible through tricks and propaganda but I finally was able to see the “truth” for what it is. I thought I was smarter than that but I found out that we are up against an organization that has had more than 100 years of practice at fooling innocent people through fear and intimidation and I was also taken in by it, just as millions of others have been taken in by it.

    Do yourself a favor and get a copy of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and look up what Jehovah actually means in Hebrew. The Tetragrammaton which stood for God in the Hebrew scriptures would be YHVH. Look at the Feb. 1, 1980 Watchtower, pg. 11 and the Watchtower tells us the name Jehovah was invented by a Spanish Catholic monk around 1270. The only problem is that in Strong’s, Jah #3050 means the Sacred name or the Lord, but hovah #1943 means ruin, michief, naughty, very wickedness. The Watchtower tells everybody that God has a name and it’s Jehovah but did Rutherford know that just because Jehovah was being used as the name of the God in the Hebrew scriptures at that time, that that invented name by a Spanish monk would be an insult to him? Probably not. But to keep using it, is an insult to the creator.

    I have been a Witnesses for 48 years so I have been one longer than you have been so I know how difficult it can be to realize that you have wasted your one and only life on a lie. I also know what a difficult position that it puts one in. You can’t tell anybody what you have learned and it about kills you inside. That is why it is so difficult to find out the real truth. But do you want to continue to live in a bubble?

    When it comes to funerals, the only time I see real grief is when someone young dies. Every witness funeral I have ever been to, it is seen as an opportunity to advertise the meetings at that particular Kingdom Hall to the people who attend who aren’t familiar with the Witness teachings. As for me, I don’t see the fact that I’d have a large attendance at my funeral as a good enough reason to spend my entire life supporting a lying, greedy corporation.

  • June 13, 2014 at 9:03 am
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    For those of you in the UK who might be inclined to communicate by mail or online with the Charity Commission, I suggest that you ask the commission to demand a full list of charitable uses of money at both local and national levels by the Watchtower. Ask them to define what their donation money (at both levels) was spent on that could be, by any stretch of the imagination, considered to be charitable – but not include publishing magazines and books or building new Kingdom Halls. How many widows have they helped support? How many sick people have had some of their medical bills paid? How many elderly and infirm members have had caretakers provided at either their home or in a facility and the WT has helped with the bills? How many homes damaged by fire or flood have been rebuilt with donated funds that were not late compensated with insurance payments? Where do they provide shelters for even temporarily homeless JWs, not to mention the public? How many cases of child abuse has the WT helped provide legal funds to victims? (We know they will spend unlimited funds to fight the victims in these cases – but have they ever supported any of the victims?) While I am not a UK citizen or resident, since the Charity Commission has decided to give the WT a second look, now is the time to flood them with material they can use to formulate their own questions. It’s not just about the “2 witness rule” – it’s about which side of these case does the WT provide monetary support. And even if they do win a case and choose not to punish the pedophile or wife beaters themselves, should they not provide monetary help to the children and battered women these criminals leave behind?

  • June 13, 2014 at 1:59 pm
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    @ Juan, great response!

  • June 17, 2014 at 9:58 am
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    I think you made Cedar’s point, JW’s may offer help but its to other JW’s rather than the public at large. Other faith related charities avoid the distinction. In the Philippine example something like $86 million in (immediate) temporary housing, food, and clothing was delivered to people in the worst hit areas from faith based charities (the Tower was not one of the donating organizations), the JW’s offered up a visit by a member of the GB.
    Read John’s blog on the Philippine disaster, you just don’t get it.

  • June 17, 2014 at 10:00 am
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    Outstanding response, truth hurts

  • June 17, 2014 at 10:13 am
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    Tiger, again you have cut thru the crap, making excellent points. If you are not an attorney, you have missed your true calling.

  • June 17, 2014 at 4:19 pm
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    Anonymous: I like your comment. A MESSAGE TO ALL. Read the Finished Mystery (1917-1918) IF Jesus truly investigated religions from 1914- 1919 as the Governing Body NOW says, (this is the so called spiritual food he would have seen when making his choice.) Also read the (1920) book Millions Now Living Will Never Die. According to the Governing Body this would have been under Jesus’s direction since he supposedly appointed the organization in 1919. That would mean Jesus was responsible for the 1925 false prophesy. I personally do not believe Jesus is a false prophet. You can get these books from Amazon.com. These books are copies of the society’s own publications. This is what was actually going on at the time. Think hard about this. This is the very foundation that they NOW rest on. (NEW LIGHT) Peace!

  • June 21, 2014 at 8:24 pm
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    Can someone please send the charity commission a copy of the elders manual with the instructions for abusers and the abused to meet, i know I saw it in there one time. It is under a heading paraphrased ‘If the accused denies the accusation’.

    It is important that the commission know it is not an isolated, rogue judicial committee at work.

  • June 29, 2014 at 9:26 am
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    The Watch Tower Society had an income of £30.6m and an expenditure of £31.5m in the year to the end of August 2013.

    So they’re not even breaking even.

  • July 1, 2014 at 7:42 am
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    FADED. how do you know this please.

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