Russia: Jehovah’s Witnesses write to Medvedev, tell him they are persecuted like in Soviet times

The religious community complains about “arbitrary” trials, persecution and a campaign of “demonisation’ by the courts and the press. They ask Russian president to “guarantee their constitutional rights” and protect them “from bureaucratic arbitrariness.”

Friday, November 13, 2009

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Moscow – The leader of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses has appealed to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to protect his community from a campaign of persecution. V.M. Kalin, chairman of the steering committee of the ‘Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia’ (ACJWR), wrote to the Kremlin leader, complaining about “arbitrary” trials against members of his community (see AsiaNews, 17/09/2009, “Court in Rostov bans Jehovah’s Witnesses for being religious extremists,” in AsiaNews, 17 September 2009, and “Altai court condemns Jehovah’s Witnesses for “extremism,” in AsiaNews, 5 October 2009).

In his letter, the ACJWR chairman noted that his community has been in Russia for more than a century, and that only under Soviet rule did it suffer discrimination and persecution. Now, it is subjected to a process of “demonisation" by some courts with the support of the press.

For Kalin, Medvedev’s article “Russia, Forward”, which appeared in Gazeta.ru, on 10 September of this year, is a source of hope because it refers to the ideals of the separation of state and religion and peaceful coexistence.

Russia’s president, the letter explains, should realise that Jehovah’s Witnesses are present in 236 countries around the world, but that only in 25 is “their freedom of conscience” restricted, nations “famous for the crudest violations of human rights.”

All the community wants is for Medvedev to “guarantee their constitutional rights” and protect them from “bureaucratic arbitrariness”.

Ultimately, “basic rights, for which Jehovah's Witnesses are fighting today, are vitally necessary for the maintenance in Russia of democratic liberties and the construction of civil society”.

Source:

Filed under geopolitics, , medvedev, persecuted, soviet, russiajehovahs witnesses

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Comments

STEVE KLEMETTI IS APOSTATE TO THE GB

by Georgia elder | Monday, December 28, 2009 3:44:57 AM

I have to laugh at you Victor, you are FULL of crap. Get a life.

by Jake | Friday, December 25, 2009 8:31:35 AM

The Watchtower society Jehovah's Witnesses cult organization actually employs three psychological tools to maintain control and subjugation to their policies and rules.

1. Fear
2. Humiliation
3. Exaltation

Fear of being lost or destroyed in the upcoming, pending great battle of Armageddon where the possibility of suffering a horrendous death according to them, is a very real fear. Such a fate awaits anyone who is not counted among JW's!

Those who are considered spiritually strong are exalted to an elevated status within their respective congregation. Brothers can advance to the lofty position of ministerial servant, elder or overseer at which time they command the respect of all in the congregation. Sisters can achieve a highly respectable status as well, though they are not appointed to a position. Those who spend considerable time in the field ministry, pioneering for example(spending a predetermined amount of time door knocking)are considered very strong spiritually.

Those who are deemed unfit or unrepentant non conformist can suffer the punitive measure of disfellowshippment. For most JW's, this is a fate worst than death, to be avoided at all cost. The psychological impact this can have on an individual is immeasurable. Most JW's will do anything in their power to avoid this type of humiliation.

So it is very easy to become psychologically locked into a specific action(work) with the expectation of a specific reward.

by Wife of JW | Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:15:59 AM

Victor, what made you so bitter? The fact that you were removed from spreading your wrongdoing amongst members of the congregation? Where is your respect for God's arrangement? Your bitterness will eat you alive. I notice you tear down, tear down, tear down! But you have nothing to offer that matches or exceeds what Jehovah offers each and every one of us! Where is your counteroffer?

by Jonathan | Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:49:43 PM

The Jehovah's Witnesses on one hand fill their books and lectures with details about how evil and corrupt every other religion is, but then when theirs is exposed as corrupt they fall back on how it's "voluntary" to be a member, and how it's not nice to say nasty things about them, and how they're being "persecuted."

Jehovah's Witnesses are unpopular for many reasons, none of which matched the early church except for non-political involvement, which is not exclusive to them at all. They are like carnival hucksters preaching the need to become a Jehovah's Witness or die at Armageddon.

They say they promote good family life? Only until you disagree with the leadership in Brooklyn on the slightest of points, and then they completely divide and destroy the family. Then they write hypocritical articles like the new July 2009 Awake! "The Bible's Viewpoint - Is It Wrong to Change Your Religion?" and make themselves look open-minded and progressive, but practice the most destructive forms of shunning of all religions if you disobey the leadership's ever-changing doctrines, dates and rules.

Anyone can be persecuted, which proves nothing if you are a religion invented in the late 1800s by a man who was into pyramidology, numerology, and who stood on the top of a building with a white sheet waiting to be raptured. 130 years later, they are still awaiting a false hope.

by Roger | Thursday, December 10, 2009 11:19:56 AM

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