101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

by rory-ks 13 Replies latest jw friends

  • rory-ks
    rory-ks

    Victory Mansions/cigarettes/gin/Square

    Anything Jehovah's Witnesses get to name is either "Watchtower," "Kingdom," or "New World," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or Bible.

    Victory Gin

    He took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked VICTORY GIN. It gave off a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese rice-spirit. Winston poured out nearly a teacupful, nerved himself for a shock, and gulped it down like a dose of medicine. Instantly his face turned scarlet and the water ran out of his eyes. The stuff was like nitric acid, and moreover, in swallowing it one had the sensation of being hit on the back of the head with a rubber club. The next moment, however, the burning in his belly died down and the world began to look more cheerful.

    The experience of drinking in the "pure water" of spiritual "truth" is more akin to having a shot of Victory gin.

    We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness

    More often he wondered where he was, and what time of day it was. At one moment he felt certain it was broad daylight outside, and at the next equally certain that it was pitch darkness. In this place he knew instinctively, the lights would never be turned out. It was the place with no darkness.

    "Do you know what time of day it is?" he said.

    Ampleforth looked startled again. "I had hardly thought about it. They arrested me - it could be two days ago - perhaps three." His eyes flitted round the walls, as though he half expected to find a window somewhere.

    "There is no difference between night and day in this place. I do not see how one can calculate the time."

    It is not true to say that all Kingdom Halls have no windows, but windowless halls can prove to be alarmingly disorienting, and the Society is not averse to approving them.

    Hate Week

    There was a time when Watchtower conventions lasted for a whole week - eight days, in fact - full of talks lambasting false religion, governments, and the United Nations. These days, although they are only over a weekend, the Society still finds opportunity to hate on religion or "apostates".

    Big Brother

    On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

    Jehovah's Witnesses like to be reminded of Psalm 11:4. "Jehovah is in his holy temple. Jehovah’s throne is in the heavens. His own eyes see, his watchful eyes examine the sons of men." 2 Chronicles 16:9 and Proverbs 15:3 are often deployed in the same way. It is dressed in words of love, but the warning is ever present - your sins will find you out.

    There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment...You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.

    Big Brother is not Jehovah, per se, but he is personified in Jehovah's "representative," the Governing Body, aka the "faithful and discreet slave."

    ***************************

    That's the binary version. If you would like to read the full "how-many-fingers-am-I-holding-up" version I have posted it here: 101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  • Julia Orwell
    Julia Orwell

    Hm I've been rereading 1984, and I think there's more than 101... good number though ;)

  • rory-ks
    rory-ks

    Oh, I agree, Julia. The whole thing - lock, stock, and barrel - finds a parallel in the Organisation. And why shouldn't it - it is after all describing a totalitarian state.

  • rory-ks
    rory-ks

    And please, anyone, read the article and feel free to add more ways that you think have been left out. It is a fascinating subject.

  • rory-ks
    rory-ks

    ...

  • Julia Orwell
    Julia Orwell

    Will do. Not today though, maybe tomoz.

  • rory-ks
  • cultBgone
    cultBgone

    Hang in there,Rory, the weekend is coming With more time to read and post.

  • stuckinarut2
    stuckinarut2

    I have never actually read it yet...I will do so soon.

    Was the movie accurate to the book by the way?

  • jwleaks
    jwleaks

    Download link to George Orwell's 1984 in PDF:

    George Orwell 1984

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