Richard Lindor

It is amazing to see what hatred can do to the most intelligent people.  Please take away whatever you dislike And distrust about Jehovah’s witnesses, look at the law of the land. You are asking why don’t they break the law? Lie say they are not a religious institution and pay taxes. You are telling people it is okay to let themselves be discriminated and treated differently just because you feel like they should. 
I read all the tread multiple times again it doesn’t sense at all. I took away everything I may or may not like about Jehovah’s Witnesses to be objective on this subject. I even made some research on other major religions wealth, assets and investments compare to the watchtower’s organization, as you probably already know the witnesses are not even half close compare to the other religions. 
I made the research to understand the arguments about paying taxes, again compare to Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostal, Baptist’s, Mormons, Muslim, Hindu and more the witnesses can not even compare. 

It is amazing to see what hatred can do to the most intelligent people.  Please take away whatever you dislike And distrust about Jehovah’s witnesses, look at the law of the land. You are asking why don’t they break the law? Lie say they are not a religious institution and pay taxes. You are telling people it is okay to let themselves be discriminated and treated differently just because you feel like they should. 
I read all the tread multiple times again it doesn’t sense at all. I took away everything I may or may not like about Jehovah’s Witnesses to be objective on this subject. I even made some research on other major religions wealth, assets and investments compare to the watchtower’s organization, as you probably already know the witnesses are not even half close compare to the other religions. 
I made the research to understand the arguments about paying taxes, again compare to Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostal, Baptist’s, Mormons, Muslim, Hindu and more the witnesses can not even compare. 

The witnesses have the right to fight for their rights. I would be very disappointed if witnesses decided not to put up a fight if any government try to make them pay for taxes when other religious group are not. We call that discrimination.
You are saying because witnesses claimed to be God’s people it is ok for them to let others treat them unfairly in the name of Jesus and Jehovah. 
It is the law in many western countries religious organizations are exempt from taxes.
it is like you are saying, the government is giving families a tax break because you are a witness you will not take it for whatever your reasons are. This is a nonsensical subject. 
They are other things you can criticize the watchtower organization for, this is not one of them. This is an an idiotic subject, you are telling a group of people to let themselves be treated unfairly and be discriminated just in the name of God. What kind of God will be ok with that?

The witnesses have the right to fight for their rights. I would be very disappointed if witnesses decided not to put up a fight if any government try to make them pay for taxes when other religious group are not. We call that discrimination.
You are saying because witnesses claimed to be God’s people it is ok for them to let others treat them unfairly in the name of Jesus and Jehovah. 
It is the law in many western countries religious organizations are exempt from taxes.
it is like you are saying, the government is giving families a tax break because you are a witness you will not take it for whatever your reasons are. This is a nonsensical subject. 
They are other things you can criticize the watchtower organization for, this is not one of them. This is an an idiotic subject, you are telling a group of people to let themselves be treated unfairly and be discriminated just in the name of God. What kind of God will be ok with that?

The point the critics are missing is that the superior authorities have the right to demand taxes as well as to waive taxes.  If you say they have to demand taxes on every occasion you are saying they can't use their discretion. It is like saying a pensioner should pay taxes although the government prescribes the income bands wherein a pensioner can be tax free.  What pensioner would go tell the government that they don't appreciate that reprieve from paying taxes on a small income. It would be tantamount to showing lack of appreciation for the government's consideration and sympathy for the person now earning one-third to one-fifth of what they used to work for. Governments are not run by robots that can only think one way.  Decisions are made by people who are themselves workers and would look forward to that same treatment when they can no longer receive full salary.
It is the same with religious organizations.  These organizations did not ask the government for this consideration.  It was a gift  or a concession to them because of the nature of their work.  All religious organizations avail themselves of that right, and are viewed equally,  just like all pensioners have the privilege of being tax-free where their income fall below a certain threshold.  So saying that they must still pay taxes is showing lack of appreciation for this concession and is also saying that the government is a one-way thinking robot and cannot use discretion.  It is simple-mindedness.
Jesus once said that the "sons are really tax-free" and that taxes should really be collected from foreigners *  But he said because of conscience we should be willing and ready to pay. JWs would be willing and ready to pay if the government changed its mind and started to tax all religious organizations - but if it told JWs that only they had to pay, they would fight it for sure, as that would not be fair. There are  secular organizations where their employees and premises and income are tax-exempt - because the governments say they do not want them to pay taxes for various reasons, especially international organizations with employees from various countries.  People should educate themselves on these matters.   Any person or entity can demand payment or can waive payment for various reasons.  It is like saying that if a business decides to give a customer a free product, the customer has to give it back or insist that he pays for it.  The government needs taxes, but the government can decide to forego payment in areas where it wishes to do so.
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*(Matthew 17:24-27) 24 After they arrived in Ca·perʹna·um, the men collecting the two drachmas tax approached Peter and said: “Does your teacher not pay the two drachmas tax?” 25 He said: “Yes.” However, when he entered the house, Jesus spoke to him first and said: “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive duties or head tax? From their sons or from the strangers?” 26 When he said: “From the strangers,” Jesus said to him: “Really, then, the sons are tax-free. 27 But that we do not cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a fishhook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a silver coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”
 

The witnesses have the right to fight for their rights. I would be very disappointed if witnesses decided not to put up a fight if any government try to make them pay for taxes when other religious group are not. We call that discrimination.
You are saying because witnesses claimed to be God’s people it is ok for them to let others treat them unfairly in the name of Jesus and Jehovah. 
It is the law in many western countries religious organizations are exempt from taxes.
it is like you are saying, the government is giving families a tax break because you are a witness you will not take it for whatever your reasons are. This is a nonsensical subject. 
They are other things you can criticize the watchtower organization for, this is not one of them. This is an an idiotic subject, you are telling a group of people to let themselves be treated unfairly and be discriminated just in the name of God. What kind of God will be ok with that?

I really tried not to comment on this post, but the point about taxes is so ridiculous and make no sense whatsoever,  I felt like I have to say something. Criticizing a religious organization for using their tax exempt status is beyond non sense. First of all religious organizations activities are reviewed very so often if the government believed the witnesses where not qualified for whatever reasons they would know about them. 
Simple, in the United States the law said approved religious organizations are exempted from taxes. 
If we have an issue with this law, write to our congressman, take it to the Supreme Court if we have to.