I had dinner tonight with a woman that I knew in my old congregation growing up. She was an elder's wife, and I was friends with her daughter. She has written a new book that is being published by Prometheus Books and is being released in January 2002. She will be doing upcoming radio interviews to publicize the book, and I'll post more information when I have it. It was so good to see her after not having any contact with her in 11 years. She's a fabulous woman with a great story to tell for all of us....
Here is the book information from the publisher:
[b]Awakening of a Jehovah's Witness - Escape from the Watchtower Society[b]
This tale of mind control, the use of fear to manuipulate vulnerable people, and final escape from a suffocating cult environment is a revealing expose of a secretive contemporary sect, as well as a true psychological thriller. Diane Wilson spent twenty-five precious years of her life, first becoming indoctrinated by the dogma of the Watchtower Society, and then struggling to free herself from its pervasive, intimidating clutches. In this porbing, brutally honest assessment, Wilson describes how a childhood of psychological abuse and lack of self-confidence rendered her vulnerable to the seductive doctirnes of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Yet as time went on and the society demanded rigid control over every aspect of her life, even her every thought, Wilson began to rebel. Her gradual awakening, at first unconsciously as a caring therapist helped her rediscover her true self, is a fascinating story.
What she reveals about the goings-on within the closed Watchtower Society will shock the average person who assumes the polite, well-dressed people who pass out leaflets are much like any other conservative religious group. Wilson contends that membership in the Jehovah's Witnesses requires obedience bordering on psychological enslavement and the complete supression of individuality. Her engrossing memoir will be of great interest to former Witnesses, students of cult phenomena, and anyone who has ever had contact with Jehovah's Witnesses.