Totalitarian organisations all have similar features, all resort to the force of power over its members or citizens.
Is the Watchtower totalitarian? It may be helpful to see how it resembles another totalitarian government.
The book "Shadows and Wind" A View of Modern Vietnam, Robert Templer, Abacus 1998 gives some interesting insights into the governing of Viet Nam and, at the same time, may alert us to the totalitarianism of the Watchtower.
As we go through some of the book's insights, it's worth comparing each one to what is found today in the WTS.
Effects of internet
The WTS have shown a concern for the effects that the internet can have on its members and regularly warn against spending time on the internet."Economic reforms, known in Vietnam as Doi Moi or ?renovation?, had opened up some doors of opportunity and shortened the reach of some state powers." (p.3)
Jehovah?s organisation
The WTS teaches that it alone is "Jehovah?s earthly organisation" and all good instructions come from it. In practice, this means that to the average Dub, "the organisation" is
Jehovah and to speak against the WTS is to speak against God himself."Vietnamese Communism was always closely tied to nationalism and the Party?s own identity has been so closely woven together with the country?s that they are hard to separate. The message is constantly reinforced that to attack the Party is to attack the country." (p.83)
Not admitting its mistakes
It has often been observed that the WTS? leaders never acknowledge mistakes made. An example of this was the response made to the reaction of many at the failure of the 1975 prophecy. When finally it was addressed in a Watchtower magazine, responsibility was sheeted home to "some brothers" who had "run ahead" of "the organisation".
"Huu Tho?s assertion that Party members are not corrupt is simply laughable. His idea that it is willing to admit its mistakes is disingenuous in the extreme. Nobody has admitted?." (p.85)
"The Party has often found disingenuous ways of pinning the blame on someone else. Land reform and the cultural purges of the 1950s were caused by the cold winds of Maoism blowing down from the north. Over-reliance on Soviet advice led to the economic collapse and repression that followed reunification, according to many Vietnamese officials, who offer this up in a conspiratorial whisper as if it were a radical revelation. Blaming outsiders serves to put Vietnam and the Party in the position of victims whose only mistakes have been to put their faith in perfidious foreigners."
(p.113)Not going to the authorities
"Throughout the conversation the main concern of both Do Muoi and Dao Duy Tung was that Thanh had openly discussed the Party?s past. ?You made this letter public rather than meeting with me quietly?, Muoi said. ?What if the United Nations obtained this letter and used it to accuse us of violating human rights. It would cause a lot of damage.? " (p.112)"In Vietnamese families, problems must be solved within the group and without any outside help. To discuss problems outside the confines of the group is a serious breach of traditional ethics that give the Party considerable weight when it attacks dissidents for this transgression." (p.125)
Collective leadership ? body of elders, governing body
Elders? Manual states:
The faithful and discreet slave" is used by Jehovah to
give us good counsel. (Matt. 24:45)
This slave class not only helps us to understand the
meaning of Scripture texts but also gives us valuable
counsel and suggestions, indicating how to apply Bible
principles so as to remain spiritually strong. (ks91 Unit 4b)
"There have been no dynastic politics either because that would violate the image of collective leadership, which itself lends an aura of reasonableness and competence to the Party. To suggest that the Party was less than fallible in the past opens the door to public questions about the omniscience of the current leadership. The fear of those questions makes it almost impossible to deal with the errors of the past." (p.126)
Disfellowshiping
"By pushing critics into the margins of society, governments are able to deny them their status as normal people with everyday concerns who have said publicly what most others only dare to say in their homes." (p.127)
"Separation has been the main punishment applied by the Vietnamese." (p.125)
Disassociation
"A peculiar bravery marks out some people who will not be cowed by lies, who turn their iron logic and morality back against a repressive system." (p.104)Crafting history (See the Proclaimers book)"The Party has always left out these strands of history when it weaves what are not so much tissues of lies but great gilded tapestries of untruths about its past. Unity is prized above everything and the Party must maintain this pretense at all costs?????.. As in all societies that lack freedom of expression, there are men and women who have refused to remain silent. Their stories are of prison, exile or the near complete isolation from Society, a form of modern excommunication mastered by the Communist Party." (p.103)Those who suffered for obeying old rules, e.g. alternative military service"The injustices done to these people in the name of ideology are perhaps even more sharply felt now that those ideologies have diminished in importance." (p.106)Treatment of "apostates""All Vietnamese dissidents have found themselves victims of campaigns to discredit them, both in Vietnam and among the overseas community. At home they are normally discussed as tools of foreigners, traitors who have sold out to (the enemies)" (p.119)Using families to punish DF/DA"They were able to hurt him, however, through his family." (p.122)Moving on with their lives:The leaders of the WTS fail to understand that former members "move on" with their lives. They live lives that are happy and fulfilling, yet the Watchtower has no part in it."Phung Van My, a former professor of philosophy at the Institute of Marxism-Leninism jailed from 1967 to 1976 also wrote that he had been deeply moved by Thanh?s letter. But he rebuked Thanh for saying the Party should ?clear? the victims of the purges, saying he was glad to have been expelled from that world. ?The word "clear" doesn?t mean anything today?, he wrote. ?We live normal lives, not those of the condemned. Spiritually our lives are peaceful and independent. We are no longer slaves or members of any department or system. Why do we need anyone to clear us? Will we be cleared and returned to the old system? I can?t tell you how much that idea scares us." (p.111)