I am a Professor of the Sociology of Religion and have been a professional researcher into the religious movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses since 1967. Exhibited hereto and marked ‘JB1’ are authenticated copies of my professional qualifications at the University of Warwick. I would like to comment on the remarks made about Jehovah’s Witnesses by A.L. Dvorkin. I am referring in particular to the remarks made in his letter addressed to M.N. Makhmutov in the Criminal Investigation Department of the Moscow City Administration of Internal Affairs.
 

My book, The Trumpet of Prophecy. A Sociological Analysis of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Oxford: Blackwell, 1975), is still regarded as the definitive sociological study of this movement. In addition, I have published numerous chapters and articles about Jehovah’s Witnesses in scholarly publications in countries as diverse as France, Japan, South Africa and the United States. I have given advice to the Independent Television Commission about Jehovah’s Witnesses and have served as President of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (1988-89), Vice-President of the International Sociological Association (1994-98) and Vice-President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (1995-99).