Customer Reviews

Awakening of a Jehovah's Witness: Escape from the Watchtower Society

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

A clear demonstration of the emotions that come into play when discussing religious experience. I liked the mix of factual topics like JW doctrinal changes with the personal conflicts that many probably experience but are told how evil that is to think about and feel when seeing injustice or untruth.

The Watchtower put the organized into "organized religion", this shows how the higher goals of organizations (including other churches as well) supercede the individual need. Don't suspend your higher mental functions when accepting "truth".

This book is much better reading than the confrontational and expose style anti-JW, protestant Christian books. Thinking with mind and heart is much more productive, as is this book.

For those among the Watchtower camp, the material conforms well with many other sources that I've encountered over 30 years about Watchtower practice and teaching. It isn't out to get you, just to make you stop pretending not to notice commonplace occurrences among Jehovah's Witnesses. A good complement to the Ray Franz book "Crisis of Conscience".

This book is one persons story, not an objective but a subjective account about life in the Jehovah's Witnesses. Books such as M. James Penton's excellent and highly recommended work Apocalypse Delayed are a scholar's account of the Watchtower based on library research. To fully understand a movement (any movement), reading individual life stories such as Diane Wilson's are critical. Having read many accounts such as Ms. Wilson's, it is obvious to me that her story (and those of many others) should be taken very seriously. Only one who has lived as part of the Watchtower Society as a baptized member can fully understand what is it like to be a committed member (or trapped because a spouse is a member, and one knows that all too often leaving means loss of family as happened to Diane). Ms. Wilson's account will give the reader a feel for what it is like to be a Witness (and Witnesses will find themselves saying over and over "that is just how I felt!" or "that is what happened to me!"). A trend exists in academia that concludes one should not say unkind things about other religions. This rule may be fine in mixed company, but it will not really help us to understand this or any other movement. Also, few people wish to apply this rule to some groups such as the Taliban now, although certainly scholarly studies and individual life storied are both necessary to understand both the Taliban and the Watchtower (both have more in common than it first appears). To be a Witness, one usually must be either in or out, or, as they say, in the truth or of the world (Satan's world, that is). Outsiders seem to have a hard time accepting the reality of what it is like being in the Watchtower Society. Read this book (the whole book, and also check the many references) and find out why. Even a veteran Watchtower watcher can learn much from this well documented story.

This book is refreshingly different than other books I have read about Jehovah's Witnesses, because it goes a step beyond them all by demonstrating exactly how Watchtower doctrines effect the lives of its followers. The author's writing style drew me into her life, allowing me to experience her pain, her intense struggle, but also her eventual triumphant escape from this group that uses unethically manipulative techniques to both entice new members and hold onto them. Although the subject matter of this book is serious, the intensity of her story is pleasantly offset by her refreshing sense of humor.

This is a very thorough, well-thought out account of one women's lengthy sojourn in the Watchtower Society as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Many of the characteristics of that group that Ms. Wilson describes were familiar to me as a former member of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (the "Moonies"). For example, she mentions the Watchtower Society's claim to be the only true Christians; the Unification Church teaches the same. She mentions the belief that in the near future, the world will be completely transformed when believers alone will be elevated to positions of power; this is something I also encountered in the Moonies. She mentions the tendency of the Jehovah's Witnesses to act in a very friendly manner toward new recruits, but then to become disinterested once an individual is fully committed to the organization. This is something I also experienced in the Moonies. The Watchtower Society fits in every particular the model of a high-demand, psychologically abusive mind control group such as I myself had the misfortune to endure. As well, Ms. Wilson delves into doctrinal issues, demonstrating from old publications that the Watchtower Society has frequently vacillated in its teachings on key doctrines, often with terrible medical repercussions for their believers. This is a well-researched and well-argued account of an excruciating emotional ordeal.

Jehovah's Witnesses call their beliefs---which are actually the beliefs of the Watchtower Society that are forced on all of Jehovah's Witnesses---"The Truth". Thank God the author of this book had the guts to reveal to the world the REAL truth about this religion! I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for many years, and I saw for myself a lot of the same unloving behavior among the JWs as this author writes about. I saw the same vascillating doctrines that Diane Wilson talks about in this book. I saw fellow JWs DIE while following Watchtower medical doctrines--all in vain, because later the Watchtower Society changed these doctrines. All these things bothered me, but when I brought them up to the JW Elders, I was told I had a "bad attitude". Thank you, Diane, for speaking up! I hope many people who are thinking about becoming JWs will read this book before they commit themselves to the Watchtower organization. They should know the REAL truth (which the Watchtower tries to hide) about this religion up front. This fine book does reveals just that.

I cannot adequately express how much I enjoyed Diane Wilsons book. I can completly relate to her experiences because I, too, was once one of Jehovahs Witnesses. In addition, I used to attend the same congregation that she did, so I knew her, her family and many of the people that she wrote of. At the time, I had no idea that she was going through such an ordeal, nor did she know that I going through a similar crisis of my own. While there are several good books that have been written about the Watchtower Society, I found this one particularly interesting as it was written from a womans perspective. The reader from Philadelphia who did not care much for the book misses the point entirely, in my opinion. I assume that this reader was never one of Jehovahs Witnesses, nor was he ever a member of an authoritarian religion or cult. There are many strong and intelligent people who become involved in cults. The more intelligent a person is and the more they are involved in the activities of the cult only makes walking away all the more difficult, in spite of any doubts or percieved hypocrisies in the organization! The mind is poisoned against everything outside of the organization, leaving one with "no other place to go!" It's not that different from a woman in an abusive relationship. "Well, why doesn't she just walk away?" People who have never been in a similar situation may not be able to understand or appreciate what Diane went through or how hard it was to leave, but I believe that her book will most definately be appreciated by former Jehovahs Witnesses!

For some years I have worked with individiuals who are in extreme groups and thier families. I have read many books about the Jehovah Witnesses by ex- members and by theologians who have outlined the doctrinal differences and they are all good. However, this book shows an indepth look at the control and struggles that Diane went through before finally leaving. I liked the way her therapist just simply asked her questions that were obvious contradictions that she was already seeing for herself. He never put her or the organization down.
I am in the process of copying down the many contradictions that were listed on how many times the governing body through the Watchtower and the Awake magazines contradicted their doctrines going back and forth. I want to put them in a note book to have ready to point out when I have an oppotunity to talk with members of this group.
Diane points out that the Jehovah Wittnesses attempt to cover up their contradictions by saying it is new light or progresive light, it cannot be either because the doctrines go in reverse not once but several times. If one was to use this excellent resource, it would, I believe cause a member of this
organization to begin to question if this is the TRUTH.
Diane thankyou for your courage in writing this book which will help others to escape the control and fear.
Mark Roggeman

I was a JW for nearly 25 years myself. I just finished reading this book and all I can say is that it is 100% accurate in what it says. If you have never been a JW, you will think that the author is making this stuff up because it sounds so rediculous. Looking back on my 25 years as a JW, I feel stupid and used, as I'm sure the author did as well.

Unfortunately, the author allows her emotions, and especially her anger, to come through virtually every page. The reader might get the impression that this is simply a book of revenge to get back at the Watchtower Society. Although I won't speculate what the author's motive was for writing the book, I can tell you it is genuine and accurately represents the day-to-day nonsense and mind control that goes on inside Kingdom Halls.

It took me nearly 6 years to break free myself, but the cord is broken.

Another great book I would recommend is Raymond Franz's "Crisis of Conscience" - which gives you an inside look at the Governing Body of Jehovah's witnesses.

Thank you, Ms. Wilson for writing this book. I can relate to nearly everything you wrote.

Thank you for your engaging book! It has touched my heart and has forever changed my life for the better. I had been living in constant fear for many years, because as a child raised as a Jehovah's Witness, I was taught that Jehovah would not protect me at Armageddon if I didn't live my life in complete obedience to the Watchtower Society. As I grew older, I had doubts that the Watchtower Society was God's Organization, and I drifted away from it. However, every time I experienced the violent winds of a tornadeo or saw its menacing funnel forming in the sky, I thought it was Jehovah coming to kill me. I lived in constant fear. Once I started reading your book, I couldn't stop. With every page, I felt a little more free from the cruel grasp of the Watchtower. I had not been aware of the many false prophecies the Watchtower had made, nor of their absurb quack medical cures, until I read the research section of your book. I now realize Jehovah God would never have channeled such nonsense as "Truth". Thank you for setting me free.

Diane Wilson has written a tightly, specifically documented book with exceptionally few errors or distortions (there are a few).
Chap. 1: Explains how an early life of emotional put-downs prepares one for "rescuing" by organizations such as the Watchtower Society (Witnesses of Jehovah).
Chap 2: Presents the emotional "hooks" that convince the convert he/she has found "truth" at last.
Chaps 3-5: These chapters document numerous instances and methods of authoritarian manipulation and control, decreasing the convert's ability to trust her own thoughts, feelings or experiences
Chaps 6-11 relate numerous emotional struggles as the author balances fear, hope, anger, distrust, against ongoing manipulation.
Chaps 12-18 presents long lists of actual quotes from JW publications, displaying contradictions, inconsistencies, total reversals of "truth," absurd official excuses and shame-building tactics, teachings alleged from God that resulted in adherents' deaths from following mistaken medical advice, etc., etc. It's quite a horrendous litany, all with volume and page numbers specified.
Chaps 19-26 outline additional mind-control techniques and blatant absurdities that evoke laughter despite their tragic stupidity.
The Conclusion and Epilogue contain Ph.D.-professional commentaries on how cults control believers, and related scientific data.

And I had thought that Mormons were criticizable under some of those headings! This book very competently demonstrates that the Jehovah's Witnesses are FAR ahead of Mormons in the manipulation race and zigzag-excuses techniques.

All that said, the fact remains that many people find relative fulfillment in Watchtower Society life, causing it to be among the fastest-growing churches in the US. As my exemplarily rational father used to say, "There's nothing scarier than true believers."