The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Heather Botting and Gary Botting

Book Overview

In 1984 George Orwell described a future theocracy that demanded unity at all costs, and in which all independent thought would be eradicated. According to the authors of this book, such a theocracy now exists.

They describe how, in an increasingly restrained 'New World Society', Jehovah's Witnesses busily go about the business of warning the world that their God, Jehovah, will act soon to destroy all who oppose him and his organization...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802065457
• ISBN13: 9780802065452
• Release Date: May 1984
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

EXCELLENT READ

This was the first "apostate" book I ever read and I was pioneering at the time. I was stunned when I read it and quickly realized why the Organization was so afraid of and of the Rank and File reading any literature written by ex-Witnesses. The comparison of the Witness World and George Orwell's 1984 is eerily similiar. The "double think" process, the encouragment of turning in family and close friends who go agains what Big Brother is saying, is all too familiar to anyone raised in this religion. As this book was written 20 years ago, it's interesting to see that, like Crisis of Conscience, they've made a pretty accurate prediction of which road the Governing Body had to take in order to cover up their false prophecies and keep the rank and file in line.

THIS IS A VERY ENGROSSING AND ENLIGHTENING READ

I'm saddened that this book is not part of the Search This Book program. The authors ought to sign it up and get it in so that readers can browze this book online. If they did so it would renew interest in this marvelously insightful and illuminating volume. Also, the book should be updated because the authors accurately predicted exactly what would occur in the Orwellian World of JW's from 1984 onward. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses describes to an uncanny "T" my exact experiences with the Watchtower Slaves in my teens. I was saddenned to see only two reviews of this book. I suspect this book did not do nearly was well as it should have. My educated guess is that most Americans are unfamiliar with the term "Orwellian" because they have never heard of or read George Orwell's chillingly prophetic novel "1984." "Orwellian" means a group of people who are tightly controlled from the top down by a powerful group that has life-or-death authority. Every aspect of life is controlled by this group, and spies are everywhere observing and reporting, and lethal action is taken upon dissidents. That describes the organization and life of Jehovah's Witnesses to a "T" and that is no exaggeration. If the reader is unfamilar with Orwell's book, I recommend you check out "1984" from your public library. Doing so will enable you to better understand and appreciate this book. The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses gets five stars and two thumbs up. NJM Author of JEHOVAH UNMASKED and I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS.

This Book Could Be Invaluable If It Works For You

Nothing is perfect and I'm not sure I'm in agreement with all the analogies drawn by the authors between 1984 and Jehovah's Witnesses, but that's certainly not a reason to give this book less than five stars. This could be a really important book for someone. At the very least it could be a helpful weapon against the, literally, mind numbing, insanity of Jehovah's Witnesses. Let me give just one quote from the book to illustrate what I mean. "I had lived my life until the age of 25 or 26 believing that I was never going to die, or that if I did die in a car crash or something, God would resurrect me and I'd live forever in the New World. I can remember the exact moment when I realized I wan not going to live forever. The physical moment: I was working in my office at Bethel and I got up from my desk to go into the file cabinet; I was bending down to get a file, and - it came out of nowhere - I said, Hey, you're going to die one day. And in that one second the knot unraveled." I suppose I'm aiming my thoughts at the probably hundreds of thousands of those like me who were confiscated and brain washed into the religion by being born into it, or conscripted at a very young and tender age. I was 35 years old before I could really breathe a little fresh air, and even now, nearing 60, it makes me shutter every once in awhile. I'm grateful to the authors for having the will, the courage, and the fortitude to write the book and then see it through the publishing process. I'm sure they realized that such a book could probably never be a best seller, or even a big seller, because though to injured parties like me the Watchtower Society looms large, it's a tiny blip to the billions who inhabit this planet at the beginning of the 21st century. So, even though its not perfect, and is probably a little too intellectual for most folks, for anyone who is struggling to break free from the chains of JWs, it is a voice crying in the wilderness and a small lamp shining in a very dark place.

An Interesting Study

This is a good book and the illustrations in it are excellent. The book captures the totalitarian nature of the Watchtower movement as few books do because it is based on sound academic research and a background understanding of the movement. Both authors were raised Jehovah's Witnesses and are trained scholars. In fact, the book is based on a doctoral dissertaion by Heather Botting. My only complaint about it is that it places too much emphasis on the year 1984, which was not an important "end times" date for Jehovah's Witnesses.