title: I, Witness: The Shocking Insider's Story of Jehovah's Witnesses
author: Daniel Clark
description: Kirkus Discoveries Review " A page turning glimpse into the lifestyle of a Jehovah's Witness. In sharing his memoir, Clark seeks catharsis and closure. Born and raised a Jehovah's Witness in a particularly dysfunctional family, he describes his upbringing in a filthy, sometimes violent home with a mentally ill mother and often absent father. His early exerpiences range from shameful visits to the Kingdom Hall, where his family sat at the periphery of the faith due to neglect, to visiting his mother in a mental hospital, a scarring experience. Reaching adulthood illequipped for the world, Clark entered a brief, failed marriage, turned back to the Kingdom Hall, married again, and then a spiritual and emotional rollercoaster ride. After a lengthy struggle with the hypocrisy he perceived in the leadership and doctrine of his faith, Clark's family finally left the Jehovah's Witnesses, a jarring change that was part of the cause of the breakup of his second marriage. More ups and downs followed as he suffered through depression, financial ruin and another failed - and obviously painful and raw period, only briefly explored here. At last, Clark discovers peace in a new faith tradition and comfort through a third marriage. The story is engrossing, and the writing solid. Clark's portrayal of the life of a Jehovah's Witness is necessarily subjective, but it's grounded in a lifelong experience with this often; mysterious faith. Anyone who has received a Witness at their door will find his perspective intriguing. The tradition Clark presents is troubling at best, frightening at worst. hough an imperfect character in many re-pects, his ability to change course and seek out a truer relationship with God is inspiring. One man's successful return from a spiritual hell." Arbor Books (160 pp.) 2007 --Kirkus Discoveries Review - 2007<br /><br />The New York Times Book Review: The Author is to be commended for coming forward with his tale of abuse, violence and insanity. This chilling and disquieting account should be read by anyone who has left a cult or knows of someone in a cult, as well as there families and loved ones. --New York Times Book Review 2007<br /><br />Midwest Book Review: Written by former Jehovah's Witness Daniel Clark, I, Witness: The Shocking Insider's Story of Jehovah's Witnesses is the shocking true-life story of a devout member of the Watchtower Society who became disillusioned with the church teachings after observing corruption, dysfunctional manipulation, and cultlike abuse of powe throughout his entire life. He and his family were virtually held prisoner by the demands of the organization. A true tale of growing up in a world of brainwashing, violence and ruthless religious indoctrination, I, Witness is a sovering revelation of the darkness within corrupted religion. --Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
zlib_text: ALTAR
  Confessions 
  of a 
  Jehovah’s 
  Witness 
  Minister
  d a v i d  a . r e e d
  
  BLOOD
  OS THE 
  ALTAR
  In 1993 David Koresh led more than eighty 
  Branch Davidians to their deaths in Waco, 
  Texas. In 1978 some nine hundred follow­
  ers perished in a mass suicide in Jonestown, 
  Guyana, under the command of their cult 
  leader, Jim Jones. These events sparked great 
  media attention because of their sensation­
  al nature, and because so many deaths oc­
  curred at once. But another cult has, over 
  the years, sacrificed untold thousands of lives. 
  These deaths, occurring quiedy and one at a 
  time, have so far escaped large-scale scrutiny.
  “More kids are dying right now, in obe­
  dience to the Jehovah’s Witness ban on blood 
  transfusions, than perished in the fire at 
  Waco,” says ex-Witness David A. Reed. This 
  former elder, now widely recognized as a 
  prominent authority on the sect, recounts 
  his thirteen years as a Witness. In this live­
  ly and engrossing book, drawing on his own 
  experience as well