Description
This book, "Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Winner," by Shawn Peters, explores the history of religious persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses during World War II. It discusses the legal battles and Supreme Court rulings that took place as the Witnesses fought for their First Amendment rights. The book also delves into the personal stories of Witnesses who faced discrimination and violence, and the role of organizations like the American Legion in perpetuating this persecution. Through extensive research and interviews, the author highlights the impact of the Witnesses' fight for their rights on the nation's commitment to individual and minority rights. Overall, the book serves as a reminder of the importance of the Constitution and the rights it protects.
Winner of the Scribes Award Given by The American Society Of Writers On Legal Subjects Finalist, Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association
Washington Post Book World Notable Book in Religion and Philosophy While millions of Americans were defending liberty against the Nazis, liberty was under vicious attack at home. One of the worst outbreaks of religious persecution in U.S. history occurred during World War II when Jehovah's Witnesses were intimidated, beaten, and even imprisoned for refusing to salute the flag or serve in the armed forces. Determined to claim their First Amendment rights, Jehovah's Witnesses waged a tenacious legal campaign that led to twenty-three Supreme Court rulings between 1938 and 1946. Now Shawn Peters has written the first complete account of the personalities, events, and institutions behind those cases, showing that they were more than vindication for unpopular beliefs--they were also a turning point in the nation's constitutional commitment to individual rights. Peters begins with the story of Walter Gobitas, a Jehovah's Witness whose children refused to salute the flag at school. He follows this famous case to the Supreme Court where he captures the intellectual sparring between Justices Frankfurter and Stone over individual liberties; then he describes the aftermath of the Court's ruling against Gobitas when angry mobs savagely assaulted Jehovah's Witnesses in hundreds of communities across America. Judging Jehovah's Witnesses tells how persecution--much of it directed by members of patriotic organizations like the American Legion--touched the lives of Witnesses of all ages; why the Justice Department and state officials ignored the Witnesses' pleas for relief; and how the ACLU and liberal clergymen finally stepped forward to help them. Drawing on interviews with Witnesses and extensive research in ACLU archives, Peters examines the strategies that beleaguered Witnesses used to combat discrimination and goes beyond the familiar Supreme Court rulings by analyzing more obscure lower court decisions as well. By vigorously pursuing their cause, the Witnesses helped to inaugurate an era in which individual and minority rights emerged as matters of concern for the Supreme Court and foreshadowed events in the civil rights movement. Like the classics
Gideon's Trumpet and
Simple Justice, Judging Jehovah's Witnesses vividly narrates a moving human drama while reminding us of the true meaning of our Constitution and the rights it protects.
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