The Watchtower Way of Laundering Money
by Randall Watters
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 doortodoor. 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 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 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 "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, which is merely a reflection of their
mother (the organization).
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 Calif. decides to reopen the case with regards to the Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society. ###
reprint from the Jun/Aug 1995 Free
Minds Journal
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