Miguel Martinez - March 2003
We have not been writing any new articles
about CESNUR or Massimo Introvigne for several months. However, this time
Introvigne seems to have found a wonderfully original way to sell a book he has
written: turning the subjects of his investigation into active salesmen.
Introvigne has rewritten an already very
mild book of his about the Watchtower Society (WTS), censoring out every
possibly critical statement. The WTS was so grateful that their leadership
actually “invited” the thousands of Italian Jehovah’s Witnesses to turn into
militant buyers of the book, almost as if it were the
latest issue of Awake! , although the customers this time were only members of the WTS themselves: there will be no solicitous Witnesses knocking on our doors with the book by the Turin lawyer and political extremist. However, the market is equally impressive: if even 20% of Italy's "publishers" (the active members of the WTS) take the strong hint of the organization, this would mean the purchase of 45,000 copies in a country where the sale of 2,000 almost makes a book into a bestseller.
To fully appreciate what this means, we
must remember that it is simply impossible to write objectively about
the Watchtower Society and not be considered an enemy. We are not talking here at all
about so-called “anti-cult” criticism of the organization. Rather, we are referring to very
simple things, like suggesting that the leadership of the WS might be subject
to human failings; or that there might be problems or power dynamics inside the
organization. In order to be even remotely acceptable to the
leadership of the organization, matters like sociology or history or politics or psychology have
to be thrown completely overboard . Something which, come as we have shown elsewhere, Introvigne is particulary good at.
In 1991, Introvigne published I Testimoni
di Geova (Oscar Mondadori, Milan), a very bowdlerized book about the
Watchtower Society. Carefully limiting himself to theological issues, never
casting more than a fleeting doubt on the perfect nature of the Society, his
book was still considered hostile: some years ago, Achille Lorenzi, a Jehovah’s
Witness of Trento in Italy was put through a tough spell of interrogation by the Elders of the organization, and one issue that came up was that he had read Introvigne's book.
In 2002, Introvigne published a new
edition, Testimoni di Geova: già e non ancora, (Elledici, Leumann,
Turin). At a first glance, only the title had changed. However, Achille
Lorenzi, who had since left the
Watchtower Society, decided to compare the two editions. Coming up with a
surprising result: While little or no new information had been provided, every sentence even moderately embarrassing to the WS
leadership had been crossed out. The
deleted references include changes of policy by the WS leadership; any notion
which might appear offensive to a Catholic reader. Some of the changes are
simply silly: Rutherford’s problems with alcohol turn into “health problems”
(the full text of Lorenzi’s analysis can be found here, in Italian).
The most interesting fact that Achille
Lorenzi discovered, however, was that on February 4th, 2002, just
before the book came out, the Italian leadership of the WTS - the “Congregazione
cristiana dei Testimoni di Geova” in Via della Bufalotta 1281,
Rome – sent out a unique instruction to their “press representatives”. We must
remember that the WTS hardly ever invites its followers to read “worldly” material: there have been a couple of exceptions with highly apologetic texts, plus
Introvigne’s book. Probably fearing that the
instruction would fall into the hands of some “worldly” individuals, there is a
disclaimer - “We do not want to give you the impression that we wish to
promote the sales of this book”. This is followed by specific instructions on
how to promote the sales of the book. Even discounts for multiple orders are specified: the example mentions the discount on a single order for no less than 191 copies, apparently expected to be an average sized order. You can read the full text of these orders in Italian here, in jpg format.
In order
to order the book, you should proceed as follows. The secretary of each
congregation can collect the orders from the various publishers and then
send you the order with the quantity of books which the congregation wishes to
order. Once you have collected the orders from all the congregations of the circuit, you must make out the parts in yellow. The order must be sent
directly to the following address by priority mail:
Via
xxxxxx
10136
Turin Do
not sent the orders to our office. The books will be paid on reception.
Send only one order per circuit. Therefore, make sure you have
received the orders from each congregation before passing on the order. The
latest date for the order is March 15, 2002. Make sure you comply with the
deadline.
Of course, together with the order, the secretary of the
Congregation must also give you the money to buy the book, including shipping
costs. As you can see from the attached order note, the shipping expenses
should be calculated on
the basis of the number of books ordered. If the congregation does not send the
money, you must not take their order into account.
It is up to you to decide whether the books should be sent to your address or to
a local Association of the circuit. Once this has been decided, and after
consulting with the president of the Association, you will proceed to make out
the order note. Make sure you have made out every part of the order note.
Once
you have received the books which you ordered, notify the congregations so they pick up the quantity of books they
requested.
The
press representatives of Piedmont,
Valle d'Aosta and possibly Lombardy, or a part of Lombardy, may decide
to pick their orders up directly and not receive them by mail. In such case,
they must advise Dr Zoccatelli (cellular phone xxx; e-mail xxxx) about the
order so it is not shipped by mail.
We
invite the co-ordinators of the press representatives to follow the issue,
keeping in touch with press representatives assigned to each of them, in order
not to create difficulties, and so that all the brothers, if they so wish, can
order the book.
Do not hesitate
to get in touch with us for further information. We send you our fraternal
greetings.
Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses Now, let us take a closer look at the
whole affair.
In any case, it is nice to be able to count on militant salesmen. A new book has just come out by Introvigne, with the title Hamas. Fondamentalismo islamico e terrorismo suicida in Palestina ("Hamas: Islamic Fundamentalism and Suicide Terrorism in Palestine"), published as usual by Elledici.
The cover price is 8 Euro, but the e-bullettin of Alleanza Cattolica - the angrily anti-Islamic rightwing movement which has Introvigne as one of its leaders - tells you that if you buy it through them, they will sell it to you for just 7.00 Euros including shipping costs.(Novita' sul sito di Alleanza Cattolica-Cristianita'
ACList005/2003 (Periodo dal 23 febbraio all'11 marzo 2003).
You will find a German language translationof this page bere..
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