A Russian Jehovah’s Witness Vows to Keep Worshipping Despite Crackdown

[ChristineM]

Are you suggesting that racist paranoia of influence from the US is the real reason they are banned?

That hardly seems like a just reason for banning them.

Anyhow you referred to unbiased articles, do you have a link to any english examples?

No, i am suggesting that influence of the US, (i did not mention racism) is one of the reasons. Please don't put your words in my mouth

 

[danieldemol]

No, i am suggesting that influence of the US, (i did not mention racism) is one of the reasons. Please don't put your words in my mouth

My apologies. Why would influence from the US be a problem (or would it be a problem) in a non-violent setting?

 

[ChristineM]

My apologies. Why would influence from the US be a problem (or would it be a problem) in a non-violent setting?

Why should foreign influence or assumed foreign influence not be a problem to a dictator?

 

[danieldemol]

Why should foreign influence or assumed foreign influence not be a problem to a dictator?

I'm not a dictator, and I would suggest that dictatorship is unjust, therefore this is an unjust reason to raid Jehovah's Witnesses.

Also even to a dictator surely foreign influence falls into the categories of benign, neutral or malignant depending on nuance provided they are not completely bereft of ability to reason?

 

[ChristineM]

I'm not a dictator, and I would suggest that dictatorship is unjust, therefore this is an unjust reason to raid Jehovah's Witnesses.

Also even to a dictator surely foreign influence falls into the categories of benign, neutral or malignant depending on nuance provided they are not completely bereft of ability to reason?

We are talking about Russia, i see putin as a dictator. The guy is paranoid about foreign influence, to the extent he sends agents out to kill his detractors, several times in the uk.

Add that Russia had a serious bad time with religion both during and after the revolution.

I guess some of that history has some influence.

Yes it's unjust, just as injecting someone with radioactive poison is unjust. Putin does not give a ruble for justice.

 

[Glaurung]

I thought Russian Orthodox considered their religion to be the only true religion, yet you dont hear of them being rounded up in Russia these days.

If I had to speculate. Russia is hostile to the U.S. and the Jehovah's Witnesses are an outgrowth of a specifically American brand of Protestantism. Secondly, the Jehovah's Witnesses are perceived (even in the West) as particularly obnoxious. From the point of the view of the Russian Orthodox Church, allowing a heretical American sect free rein to preach their heterodoxy in Orthodox land would be an odious proposition.

I'm not saying Russia is right to oppress them but I can kind of understand why an authoritarian state would perceive them as a nuisance.

 

[Clara Tea]

'Every day at 6 a.m., former Russian army officer Yevgeny sits bolt upright in bed, remembering security officers in black balaclavas storming his apartment during an early morning raid.

His was one of 16 Moscow households targeted by the authorities earlier this year for being Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination outlawed in Russia since 2017, when the Supreme Court labeled it an extremist organization...

...
The law on extremism in Russia has evolved over the past few years to target those the state views as threats.

“Russia changed the law in such a way that it means when some experts prove that a certain statement is, in their opinion, extremist and the court agrees with this, then criminal responsibility ensues,” Sivulsky said.

That has made it possible for a believer who considers their religion to be the only true one to be designated an extremist.'

Source: A Russian Jehovah’s Witness Vows to Keep Worshipping Despite Crackdown - The Moscow Times

I thought Russian Orthodox considered their religion to be the only true religion, yet you don't hear of them being rounded up in Russia these days.

Extremists sometimes call for someone's death.

Laws blocking extremists sometimes call for death to extremists.

Ultimately, we have to find a way to fight evil without becoming evil. I believe that the Buddhists also believe this.

While Russia is easing off of religion, there is still an economic disparity. Christians for Jews (an organization to help starving Jews, like the Nazi holocaust survivors living in Russia) has to accept donations for starving 90 year old Jews. I thought that Russia (a Communist nation) was supposed to believe that everyone deserves government aid equally. Why, then, are their rich Russians living in the lap of luxury while segments of their population are staving?

 

[Twilight Hue]

'Every day at 6 a.m., former Russian army officer Yevgeny sits bolt upright in bed, remembering security officers in black balaclavas storming his apartment during an early morning raid.

His was one of 16 Moscow households targeted by the authorities earlier this year for being Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination outlawed in Russia since 2017, when the Supreme Court labeled it an extremist organization...

...
The law on extremism in Russia has evolved over the past few years to target those the state views as threats.

“Russia changed the law in such a way that it means when some experts prove that a certain statement is, in their opinion, extremist and the court agrees with this, then criminal responsibility ensues,” Sivulsky said.

That has made it possible for a believer who considers their religion to be the only true one to be designated an extremist.'

Source: A Russian Jehovah’s Witness Vows to Keep Worshipping Despite Crackdown - The Moscow Times

I thought Russian Orthodox considered their religion to be the only true religion, yet you dont hear of them being rounded up in Russia these days.

The Russian orthodox church was around at the height of communism in the USSR. It was essentially a state run church.