The other day we mentioned that even in this age of the Internet, the Watchtower is still using an art style with an old-timey feel. Which we are not criticizing! We just find it interesting.
Anyway, we then ran across some more of that art, which JW.org has posted online from a book that was recently published. And we were struck by just how frightening it was.
One of the guiding principles in JW is that Armageddon is imminent, but we’re struck by how the use of first responders in these images makes that imagined apocalyptic future so much more sort of terrorizing than the typical comet-strikes or alien invasions that we get in popular movies. These images are supposed to be upsetting, and hit you where you live.
And they don’t spare children, who absorb this stuff from an early age.
Here’s what “The Truth About the Truth” filmmakers had to say about these images at their Facebook page:
These themes and graphics, which contain horrifying and violent imagery, are studied at their meetings with young children in the audience. Watchtower teaches its followers that a dangerous outside world is out to get them. They’re expected to live in a constant state of fear and urgency of an impending persecution. We can’t stress how very real these beliefs are for Jehovah’s Witnesses and there are many mental health studies that reveal the kind of damage caused by living in a constant state of fear and stress.
Pulled out of context, what do you think is being depicted here? Give us your captions.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 18, 2019 at 12:00
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Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He’s written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology’s harassment of Paulette Cooper titled ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely,’ and more recently a compilation of his stories, ‘Battlefield Scientology.’ He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world, as well as other subjects such as Jehovah’s Witnesses. You can reach him by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you’d like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.)
