"Banned in Brooklyn" (page 2)

Bangalore

What about older WT publications such as the books by Russell or Rutherford? Did they not frown on reading such books as well?

Bangalore

Thanks, everyone, for all your comments! I'm not surprised that LOTR and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz would be on the WTS hit list. I'm equally certain that the other titles mentioned on this thread would also be condemned. I've had Witness parents tell me that they would not allow their children to read Grimm's or Andersen's fairy tales, either.

For quite a few years I had Witness roommates. I loved reading aloud so I would select different books to read to them. I will never forget the eager looks on their faces as they listened to Watership Down, Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet, The Lord of the Rings, and other wonderful stories. It was as if they were starving for anything that would feed their imaginations. Many had never read or even heard of the books I introduced them to. You can just imagine my surprise to have them tell me they had never looked at Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Peter Pan. Talk about having a deprived childhood!

What also saddened me was the fact that it wasn't just tales of fantasy and wonder that got the evil eye by over righteous uber-Witnesses. It seems that anything that wasn't published by the WTS also got the thumbs down. I had elders criticize my ownership of books on mathematics, geography, and history. I never tolerated such talk from them and quickly and firmly told them that if they wanted to stay in ignorance and darkness, they were certainly welcome to, but I believed in real education. How dare they tell me that my God given mind should not be maintained and allowed to grow.

The experience RayPublisher shared about the Bethelite forced to get rid of his LOTR books really angered me. "Banned in Brooklyn" indeed! Such an order would have made me think long and hard about what kind of organization I was in. That attitude is the same one that led many churches to persecute free thinkers and burn them at the stake. WhatWasIThinking is right to say that anything fun or uplifting raises hackles. And I really liked Bangalore's observation that Russell's and Rutherford's books must also be disliked. Of course, the WTS can't come out and say that openly. But the fact that they have let them go out of print says a lot. Also, they would tell anyone interested in reading them that those writings represent "old light" and so don't contain the "truth" God has given his people today. I'm looking forward to more comments.

Quendi

CaptainSchmideo

Hi, Quendi. Your name was a dead giveaway that you are a Tolkien devotee!

I knew one uber-Witness that wouldn't even let his kids watch cartoons! One time, someone invited him and his family over to watch

"101 Dalmatians." He declined, saying he couldn't let his family watch a movie like that. This surprised the other Witness, who wanted to know why

he objected. The answer: "Come on, Brother! You know Dogs Can't Talk!"

oy...

compound complex

Greetings, Quendi:

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your observations and personal experiences as well as those shared by fellow posters on this delightful thread. I, too, have more books than I can count (most in storage due to my living in tiny quarters) and, as an educator, I'm a great believer in books of all stripes. I promote reading upon diverse subjects among my students, even outside the particular subject at hand. Of course, among JWs, with whom I still maintain contact, I am more discerning but not totally held back by the ridiculousness of book banning.

When I lived at Bethel NHK declared that a young brother had just been dismissed because his apostate father had influenced him along the lines of old light (I assume that meant Russell's writings). Somehow that stuck in my overly righteous JW mentality. After my return home, I became alarmed that my mother was very much into the older publications. It must have been to an inordinate degree (I cannot remember much about it) as I called in the elders and they convinced/coerced her to get rid of them. She was very angry with the entire lot of us banners.

Talk about being brainwashed - ME! I feel bad about what I put my mother through though I scarcely am a proponent of CTR's opera. It was she who introduced me to the fascinating world of letters ...

All the best and thanks!

CoCo des Livres

Quendi

I am really enjoying reading all the comments on this thread. Thanks again to everyone.

To RayPublisher and Captain Schmideo I want to say, "Elen sila lumenn omentielvo!" And, Captain, thanks for picking up the significance of my handle. That shows you also are a Tolkien devotee. As for you, compound complex, your nom de plume definitely marks you as a man of belles lettres as well as a lover of language! I am delighted to meet you as well.

The history of religion shows that Jehovah's Witnesses are not the first to get on the slippery slope of intolerance. They won't be the last, either. I very much doubt that any of the elders we've talked about here or even the Governing Body itself has read even one of the books we have discussed. Like the seventeenth century Puritans, and the cold-blooded prosecutors who were part of the Inquisition, they have closed minds and darkened hearts. It's not simply their ignorance, deliberate and willful as it is, that I find so disgusting. It is also the fact that they would impose that ignorance on others. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, this is an organization that is at ceaseless war with higher education and actively discourages its followers from seeking it. Their opposition is staunch and unwavering until there is a need for that kind of expertise. We saw that when the Patterson Education Center was being built and the Society begged for college-educated experts to lend their talents and time to the project. Once it was completed, however, the WTS quickly resumed its anti-education stance.

But having seen the face of intolerance, it behooves us not to don it ourselves. We must continue to share the fruits of our education with others. I have left the organization now with no intention of returning. I left many dear friends behind. But I still hope that I may yet have a reconciliation with some if they are willing to open their minds and hearts. The only way that will happen is if they are willing to listen to other points of view. Reading "banned books" would be a good start.

When I was reading aloud to my Witness friends and roommates, it was fascinating to see the effect exposing them to real literature had. It wasn't just the stories they heard which enchanted them. They would also comment on how the language itself affected them. They would marvel at some turn of phrase, a verse of poetry, the presentation of an idea in a way that would really stimulate their thinking, or how they would feel drawn to the author and wish they could meet him or her. Maybe I planted some seeds with my readings that may yet sprout and bear flower and fruit. At least I hope so. And I want to encourage all of you to read aloud to others if you ever get the chance. You will reap substantial rewards.

Quendi

Nickolas

Back in the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church issued its Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the List of Prohibited Books.

Back in the Middle Ages? The Roman Catholic Church routinely banned books and movies and posted the list just inside the entrance of the church up until the time I stopped attending mass, which was the mid-1960's. I distinctly remember seeing "Peyton Place" and "Valley of the Dolls" on that list. I had no idea I was so old.

Quendi

The Index first appeared in the Middle Ages, Nicholas. That was my point. Book banning by the Catholic Church is nothing new.

Quendi

compound complex

They would also comment on how the language itself affected them. They would marvel at some turn of phrase, a verse of poetry, the presentation of an idea in a way that would really stimulate their thinking, or how they would feel drawn to the author and wish they could meet him or her.

Betty MacDonald and Pearl Buck have been my literary friends since childhood. I read and reread them. The underscored lines above relate perfectly to their influence and that of other writers upon my own thinking, writing, life.

I certainly hope your thread carries on ...

With sincere gratitude,

CoCo des Ecrivains

talesin

In jr high school, part of the required reading list was A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, and The Other by Thomas Tryon. My parents went up against the school board to try to prevent me having to read these 'demonized' books,,, and lost.

Books = best friends

tal

*inveterate reader* klass

sizemik

The Origin of Species, New Scientist, Science Journal, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Discover, Cycles of Time, Physics of the Future, etc etc etc.

They love selectively quoting out of context from books on Scientific discovery . . . but they DON'T want you reading them! . . . Oh no . . . demonized they are!

"Banned in Brooklyn"

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