Can Jehovah's Witnesses SURVIVE? - Trevor Willis

Ok. Ok. I'm ending my run of Jehovah's Witnesses books on this one (I've moved on to Christopher Hitchens' The Missionary Position). 

Can Jehovah's Witnesses SURVIVE? is a very decent guide to the beliefs, practices and errors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. It is truly disturbing that such a malignant religion has grown so common place. Lots of us know where the nearest Kingdom Hall is. Many of us share the same "Oh God, the Jehovah's are at the door HIDE!" experience. They are not your tiny band of Scientologists or your less harmful group of Latter-day Saints. This is a creepy, controlling organisation that treats its members incredibly badly. 

Sure I remember when I was younger hearing my family discuss someone they knew who had been converted in the sort of tones one discusses someone who has died. I know lots of people are aware that this is a dangerous group to get involved with. But too many still fall for their lies. 

Next time you open your door to the Jehovah's Witnesses beware. But also do as Trevor Willis suggests and offer them an a friendly face and try to let them know you want to help them if they ever need a person to turn to. There is no good to come of trying to argue theology with a Witness (though I did enjoy it when I did it back when I was a smug A-Level student. I nearly turned one! I'm certain of it). Try instead to be their ticket to freedom. 

A decent book on a worrying subject. 

The Truth About The Truth - Tami Dickerson #jehovahswitnesses

Whereas "Journey To God's House" was mainly a view from within the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society's main headquarters, this book is a tale of one woman's life as a Jehovah's Witness and her journey out (and into a Christian church). It gives a good overview of life in a North American congregation and showcases the "humanity" of members of the Society; the good and (to a greater extent) the bad.

Through her story we learn more about the basics of being a Jehovah's Witness from the importance of baptism, through the grind of door-to-door missionary work (something the author was very uncomfortable with) and to "disfellowshiping" a form of clannish shunning equivalent to Scientology's "disconnection" policy. It is something that obviously causes create heartache for members.

Her realisation that the Society was not "true" came through a rather interesting finding regarding, of all things, the United Nations. Jehovah's Witnesses denounce all "worldly" organisations and their publications quote their absolute disdain for the United Nations. When Dickerson discovered that the Society had registered as an NGO with the United Nations, and signed up to defend the aims of the UN, she discovered the Society's frequently used ability to downplay it's past actions, and fabricate what really happened, and she was eventually disfellowshiped.

Dickerson writes well and the appendices for the book contain a sizeable amount of information refuting several Society doctrines. And. despite being a Christian still, her book is far from preachy and very much evidence-based. I liked her approach and her thoroughness. And I enjoyed her personal story too.

Journey To God's House - Brock Talon #jehovahswitnesses

A light-hearted but bitter look at the (then) Jehovah Witness headquarters in Brooklyn, New York in the 1980s, Journey To God's House can't help but be interesting.

The HQ, known as Bethel, is described in grim detail in a series of vignettes. For all its claims to godliness Bethel seems very "worldly" (which is how we unbelievers are described by followers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), with its very corporate way of working and instances of very human power struggles and jealousy.

Talon's (not his real name) writing style is jokey and sarcastic. He writes well but his style isn't really my style. That said he does come across as believable and his insights into the flawed humanity of those who profess to be holier than others is something that is often missed in more academic or clinical descriptions of religious institutions.

This is not a chronological memoir, and it jumps about a lot as Talon explores individual aspects of life at Bethel (such as alcoholic consumption or "Watchman duty"). And Talon's perspective, whilst interesting, is that of (and I don't mean this offensively) someone who wasn't part of the decision making processes at Bethel which is what I really want.

The similarities between his experiences and those of Scientologists working at Int. Base are fascinating. The poor pay, the isolation and the physical labour expected of even those who are injured or sick are all there.

Despite not meeting my hopes, Journey To God's House helps remind everyone that even the most "godly" are human and that all authority should, at the very least, be questioned and never blindly accepted.