Judging Jehovahs Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution

by Shawn Francis Peters

Book Overview

While millions of Americans were defending liberty against the Nazis, liberty was under vicious attack at home. One of the worst outbreaks of religious persecution in U.S. history occurred during World War II when Jehovah's Witnesses were intimidated, beaten, and even imprisoned for refusing to salute the flag or serve in the armed forces. Determined to claim their First Amendment rights, Jehovah's Witnesses waged a tenacious legal campaign that led...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0700611827
• ISBN13: 9780700611829
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.13 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Jehovah's Witnesses and the US Supreme Court

Very accurate chronology of the Supreme Court cases that not only spotlighted a religious group, that could have destroyed them; however, the court's visible determination to protect the Constitution turned the situation around to protect freedom of speech and religion for everyone.

great history book

As a history major and a Jehovah Witness I ound this book to be absolutely amazing. The book discusses in detail the facts leading up to the presecution of JWs in America, and also the persecution itself. I was amazed to lean how lil "freedom" there was in America at that time, as will all readers. If it was not for the JWs who knows what the US would have been able to do to people if the people themselves did not rise up, as this book shows the JWs did. 5 stars great history book for anyone who likes history of the US, religion, or JWs.

Gripping stories, brilliant analysis

I picked up this book after learning that it had been a finalist for the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel and had won the Scribes Book Award for legal writing. I'm glad that I did because it turned about to be one of the best books on law I've ever read. (I've read a lot of them, by the way, because I teach both law and history.) The author manages to combine compelling narrative elements (stories about the people involved in the cases) with lucid scholarly analysis of why the cases matter. The result is a rare breed -- a book you could assign in a constitutional law class or recommend to a non-specialist friend. I was floored by it.

Eye-opening Look at USA during the 1940's

I read this book based on a review in USA Today, but it was not what I had expected. I expected a dull review of multiple court cases, but I was pleasantly surprised by a look at life in the mid-USA during the 1940's through the eyes of Jehovah's Witnesses. I especially liked the fact that Peters included interviews with some of the people directly involved with these cases and what life was like for them.The objectivity of the author is very evident throughout the book. He presents information about the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and the opinions of some of their opponents. As well, he provides an interesting view of Americans' reaction to the unknown, based upon fear and insecurity during World War II. Peters is careful not to draw the reader to conclusion about the subject or about the ultimate decision of the courts.I've already recommended this book to our community library.

An Awesome Book of History and Persecution

I bought Judging Jehovah's Witnesses not knowing what to expect. I didn't know if the author would bash the JWs or would, so to say, over glorify them as martyrs for their cause. To the authors credit, they stayed almost completely neutral. I have only read a few chapters in the book, but what I have read thus far is extremely good. They author, however, when discusing the history of the JWs uses sidely biased resources. Most references the author chooses are from opponants of JWs (not to say that that is a bad thing) but I feel that to be fair, equal attention should be payed to books published by JWs themselves. With that aside, the book is worth buying. Even with its many faults I would still rate it a 5 because it one of very few books that has been written to demonstrate the kind of persecution JWs have had to endure. Most people will hear persecution and JWs in the same sentance and say that JWs have a "martyrs complex" thinking that every time a door is slamed in their face they are being persecuted. This, however, is not the case. The author discusses many Supreme Court cases that JWs have fought and won that helped establish the current understanding of the 1st Admendment and the 14th. This is a recomended read for all those interested in the history of the JWs. This portion of their history your not likely to find in many apologetics books against the JWs.