A personal, highly charged—perhaps too much—investigation of the prophecies and policies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A former Jehovah’s Witness speaks out about the religion.
Author Staelens, in his debut nonfiction book, writes from a personal perspective as a former longtime member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He’s interested in the history of the organization, its prophecies and its practices, in which he sees coverups, deception, manipulation and an abuse of power. In essence, Staelens depicts Jehovah’s Witnesses as less of a church group than a cult, requiring complete adherence to doctrine among its members and denying the questioning of its tenets. In looking into the group’s past, he uncovers instances of foundational stories that have been retroactively glossed over and avoided. He relates tales about members of the hierarchy damaging families through abuse of the group practices of “disfellowshipping” and shunning members who fall out of favor with leaders. The author, who’s also a former private and commercial pilot, borrows lessons and metaphors from his profession that he believes could be applied to his former religious group. In particular, he outlines how the airline procedure of “crew resource management”—which focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership and decision-making improvements—could help avoid human error. The concept, first started by NASA, has spread to other industries, and the author argues that it could also be usefully applied to religious hierarchies in order to eschew autocratic decision-making and lopsided judgments. Staelens’ writing style is direct though colloquial, often asking rhetorical questions of the reader and frequently resorting to invective and hyperbole, such as comparisons of church propaganda to Nazi propaganda. He appears to be writing primarily for members of the religion to convince them to rely on their own reasoning and judgment and to beware of the group’s teachings. He has potential for a readership within the context of disaffected members, though he would be better served to tone down the volume of his writing and take a more analytical approach in order to sway a larger audience with reason and scholarship.
A personal, highly charged—perhaps too much—investigation of the prophecies and policies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.Pub Date: July 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-1482647808
Page Count: 354
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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