Since 2017, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses have been banned. Studies have shown that activities are extremist in nature. Representatives of the sect continue to assert their rights.
Jehovah's Witnesses is an organization that appeared in 1970 in Tissmburg based on a local biblical student movement. Over 150 years of its existence, it has grown into a society with a rigid hierarchical structure. Its head office is in New York.
Society is one of the most numerous cults: the number of participants is more than 8 million people. Almost 120 thousand parishes are dispersed in different corners of the planet. In Russia, the attitude towards members of the sect is more negative, which is associated with propaganda activities. Adepts have been visiting homes for decades, coming up on the street to conduct conversations. Their main goal is to attract new members to their faith.
Is a sect prohibited in Russia?
In April 2017, the Supreme Court banned the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization was recognized as extremist, so it was decided to liquidate the existing parishes and prohibit propaganda. The decision was an indication of the immediate termination of all 395 branches in the country. The property was transferred to the state.
The process lasted several weeks, took place behind closed doors. The Ministry of Justice acted as the prosecutor. The sect participants tried to bring a counterclaim demanding that the Justice Ministry be recognized as extremist. At the same time, members of the society themselves positioned themselves as victims of political repression. In their opinion, the modern government repeats the mistakes made during the Soviet era, prohibiting free religion. The court decided to reject the application.
Before the trial, all brochures were studied. Specialists and independent experts unanimously agreed that the information contained in them poses a threat to health. Examination showed that even the usual reading of leaflets can be an impetus for changing a person’s behavior beyond his will.
The witness who was in the organization from 1995 to 2009 also spoke at the trial. He said that all participants are under total control of the management center. It falls under him:
- intimate life;
- Work;
- education and other areas of life.
Why are Jehovah's Witnesses banned in Russia?
According to lawyers, psychologists, psychotherapists, the organization is dangerous for several reasons. Decrease in financial well-being of participants, lack of opportunities for professional self-realization. Members are forced to spend a huge amount of time preaching and attracting new members. Because of this, they all find themselves overboard a healthy social life.
Another danger lies in the formation of a stable complex of self-doubt. The books of the sect talk about the need for constant search for problems within themselves. Many people have such a strong fixation on their own "inferior ego" that over time, the psyche begins to suffer.
Criticism in the sect is prohibited. Any member who allows himself to doubt the foundations of the teaching is subjected to persecution, exclusion and isolation from the rest of the members.
Another proof of the sect’s harm was the confirmation of the fact that the participants refused blood transfusion. Several cases were recorded in the world when people died because of this:
- In 2007, a fourteen-year-old teenager with leukemia died in the United States. He himself was a member of the sect. The court decided that the requirement of the city authorities for compulsory treatment is unconstitutional.
- In 2012, in St. Petersburg, a driver knocked down a woman with a one-year-old daughter in a wheelchair. Father came to the hospital with a lawyer. The latter explained to doctors that they have no right to save a little girl. Arina was saved, but only after the intervention of the children's ombudsman.
- In St. Petersburg, another father forbade, due to his religious views, the transfusion of blood to a three-year-old son with a brain tumor. Themis decided to ignore the opinion of her father, so the operation was carried out.
The situation in the world and in the country after the ban
"Jehovah's Witnesses" are prohibited not only in our state, but also in China, the Islamic states of Africa, the Middle East. In all countries, the main reason is extremism. Jehovah's people hold views that have a pronounced antisocial orientation.
Some experts came to the conclusion that the true reason was the strengthening of the position of the Orthodox Church, its transformation into a state religion in many countries.
Following the entry into force of a decision of the Supreme Court, criminal cases are periodically instituted. For example, on April 17, 2018, a man was arrested who was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The sect went underground, but continues to take people away from their homes and forbid them from being treated.
