A Brief Statement of Belief

I thought a brief statement of my religious beliefs might be in order, as I do not wish to be accused of pushing an agenda. 

Here it is: I don’t have any religious beliefs, at least not that I’m willing to talk about. I do not attend any church. I have a personal philosophy, I do not feel compelled to tell anybody about it, nor make them adhere to it. I believe that each of us should find our own spiritual path, if we wish to do so.

I speak out in opposition to groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses because I think they are an impediment to finding your own path. If, after careful consideration you want join such a religion, that is your choice, I’m here only to help you make an informed choice. I do cite the Bible as a source of authority when discussing the Witnesses, because they claim it as an authority. 

In short, it is not my intention to preach to you or convert you to something.  

The Watchtower Society and Financial Transparency (or Lack Thereof)

The Watchtower Society places high demands on its followers. All adherents to the Watchtower religion must spend many hours each month selling the Society’s literature, without compensation. 

As noted in my last message, the Society expects its members to forgo education and career to pursue “kingdom interests,” actually the interests of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. At the same time, it demands considerable financial support from believers.  

I don’t think it is unfair to say that Jehovah’s Witnesses make huge personal investments in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Does the Society deserve this investment? Although Witnesses do not expect a financial return on their time and money, I’m going to look at the Society from the perspective of financial investment. I am an accountant, so it’s a natural line of inquiry for me, and I believe it sheds some light on the Society’s moral leadership.

The Society’s finances are a closely guarded secret. This is in sharp contrast to normal investment principles, and contrary to best practices for nonprofit organizations.  Although not required to do so, many churches (those organizations the WTBS constantly maligns) do release reports, and many belong to voluntary associations such as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The ECFA issues two relevant standards for its members:

Standard 3 Financial Oversight

"Every organization shall prepare complete and accurate financial statements. The board or a committee consisting of a majority of independent members shall approve the engagement of an independent certified public accountant, review the annual financial statements, and maintain appropriate communication with the independent certified public accountant. The board shall be apprised of any material weaknesses in internal control or other significant risks."

Standard 5 Transparency

"Every organization shall provide a copy of its current financial statements upon written request and shall provide other disclosures as the law may require. The financial statements required to comply with Standard 3 must be disclosed under this standard.

An organization must provide a report, upon written request, including financial information on any specific project for which it sought or is seeking gifts." http://www.ecfa.org/Content/Standards

In contrast to these excellent standards, the Watchtower Society’s record of financial disclosure is nonexistent. Once a month, each congregation provides its members with an accounts report that discloses its financial status. Circuits provide a general (but flawed as we will see) accounting report. Above that level, the Society is silent in matters involving money, except when asking for more. Districts do not release financial reports even for conventions. Branch offices in some locations outside United States are legally required to provide financial reports.

But the Society’s headquarters is in the United States, which has no requirement for private organizations to release financial information. Consequently, no overall financial statements for the Watchtower organization as a whole are available to the public. 

Recently the Watchtower’s instructions for circuit assembly accounting was leaked on the internet. This provided some additional insight on its accounting practices. It has been known the “expenses” for the assemblies (as announced partway through the session) include a per attendee charge paid to the society. Many Witnesses do not know about this calculation, I certainly did not hear of it until long after I left. Here is an excellent video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APb1RpfjCrA

In addition, I noticed this in the instructions:

“Funds-on-deposit arrangement: The funds on deposit arrangement is not a banking arrangement. Rather, it is an arrangement wherein circuits are encouraged to send excess, or presently unneeded, circuit funds to the branch office instead of setting up a savings account, money market bank account, or certificate of deposit. Doing so makes such funds available for use in promoting Kingdom interests while the circuit is not using using these funds. No interest is paid on such funds sent to the branch office.”

Note “this is not a banking arrangement”. If it was, they couldn’t get away with the following:

 “It is understood that whenever a need arises for these funds, the assembly overseer and the accounts overseer may request that they be returned. A brother authorized to transfer circuit funds can log in to the jw.orgWeb site, view the current balance, and request an amount to be returned.”

Think about that for a minute. If you want to transfer a thousand dollars from your savings account to your checking account, do you need to tell your bank what you need it for and request that they move the money? No, you just go in and do it, it’s your money. So, just as they did with extra funds at the congregations, the Society is now seizing control of loose funds at the circuit level. I doubt most Witnesses are aware of these transfers.

Incidentally, in my years as an accountant I had several jobs working with multiple interlocking companies. It was my experience that intercompany transfers were frequent sources of error and mismanagement. With the Watchtower’s reliance on unskilled labor, this problem gets worse.  

It is natural to wonder what they are doing with all this money. The only answer we get involves the nebulous “kingdom interests.”  As one example, they’ve built a massive new headquarters complex in rural New York. Nobody knows what it cost. Lacing real information, we can only speculate as to the true nature of the Watchtower Society’s financial affairs. It is perhaps human nature to question the legitimacy and integrity of the organization’s finances, when leadership deliberately hides the information.

The ECFA website makes an excellent scriptural point. 

“The financial statements (and the disclosure of the financial statements) are key components of transparency, both within the ministry and to donors and the public. This flows directly from biblical principles: “This is the verdict:  Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19–20 NIV).

Transparency serves to deter improper diversion of funds and other misdeeds. It also provides a defense to critics and a witness to both believers and nonbelievers. When Jesus was arrested, He said to the crowd, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me’ (Matthew 26:55 NIV). The openness of His public actions revealed a significant contrast to His middle-of-the-night arrest.”

If the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society handles donated funds properly, it could end all speculation and clear its name easily: release an audited financial statement.

While we’re on the subject of financial transparency, you may notice I’ve added a “donate” button to the website. Within the next few weeks, I will start serializing a JW related novella (“Armageddon’s Slaves”) on this website. Your feedback will be very useful to me. After a final edit, I intend to publish it through an online print on demand service, if you would like to contribute something to get that project off the ground, please throw something in the tip jar.     

Some thoughts on my 65th Birthday

“If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.” Awake! 1969 May 22 p.15

I was not a Jehovah’s Witness at the time, but the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society published those words eighteen days before I graduated from high school. Today I am sixty-five. I’m on Medicare and collecting Social Security. So much for never growing old.

The article went on to state “Of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, Jesus foretold: 'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone!”

This one article published forty-seven years ago, neatly demonstrates what is wrong with the Watchtower Organization: it requires its believers to accept this nonsense, and act on it. How many people who, like me, were young then and are now approaching their “golden years,” read this and acted as if it was a solid foundation for life? How many put aside chances for education and advancement, chances for a real and rewarding life? They read this and thought that they were obeying commands from God when they accepted menial jobs so they could preach a false hope to the rest of the world.

How many now struggle to put a roof over their heads and food on the table because they did not build a foundation for life in their later years? The July 2016 study edition of The Watchtower shows how the Governing Body views the problem.  “Take the case of José and Rose, who have served Jehovah full-time for over 65 years. Over the years, they have had to care for Rose’s father, who needed around-the-clock attention. Also, José had to endure cancer surgery and chemotherapy. Has Jehovah extended his right hand to this faithful couple? Yes, but how? Through Tony and Wendy, a couple in the congregation who made an apartment available to them. Tony and Wendy wanted to offer it rent-free to full-time pioneers.”

The Watchtower article calls this arrangement a provision from Jehovah. No, it is not a provision from Jehovah. It is a provision from Tony and Wendy. The Governing Body refuses to accept any responsibility for the effects of its teachings, and expects others to clean up the mess. If Jose and Rose had pursued careers that actually paid them for their work, they would be able to live much more comfortably now.

Fortunately, my wife and I broke free of the Watchtower in 1988. Although I’d turned down a chance to go to graduate school in the hype over 1975, I did return to school in the early Eighties, against the advice of the elders. Looking back, this marked the beginning of my exit from the Watchtower. Thankfully, I had reasonably good career, and I’m able to live comfortably. Many, who never managed to separate from the Watchtower Society, are not so well off.       

Given the Governing Body’s refusal to accept responsibility for the lives it has hampered or destroyed, I believe I have an obligation to continue to warn those that might fall into its traps. To that end, I expect to start serializing a new novel on my blog. I know I tried this before and it didn’t work out.  This time I have a draft manuscript completed. I’m editing now and expect to start publishing it here in the near future. In the meantime, I’m probably going to put up some background notes as I made up a religion for the purpose of the book(s). I concocted my own religion because I believe that the issues I raise are bigger than one organization. 


I hope you’ll enjoy it, and I hope it opens some eyes to the dangers of high-control religions. 
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