Since 2017, the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization have been banned. Research has shown that the activity is extremist. Representatives of the sect continue to defend their rights.
Jehovah's Witnesses is an organization that appeared in 1970 in Tiessmburg based on the 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 located in New York.
The society is one of the most numerous cults: the number of members is more than 8 million people. Almost 120 thousand parishes are scattered in different parts 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 for conversations. Their main goal is to attract new members to their faith.
Is a sect banned in Russia?
The Supreme Court in April 2017 banned the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization was recognized as an extremist, so it was decided to liquidate the existing parishes and prohibit propaganda. The decision instructed the immediate termination of all 395 branches in the country. The existing property was transferred to the state.
The process lasted several weeks and was held behind closed doors. The Ministry of Justice acted as the prosecutor. The members of the sect tried to put forward a counterclaim with the requirement to recognize the Ministry of Justice as extremist. At the same time, the members of the society positioned themselves as victims of political repression. In their opinion, the modern government is repeating the mistakes made during the Soviet era, prohibiting free religion. The court decided to reject the application.
All brochures were studied before the trial. Specialists and independent experts unanimously agreed that the information contained in them poses a threat to health. The examination showed that even the usual reading of leaflets can become an impetus for changing a person's behavior against his will.
A witness who was in the organization from 1995 to 2009 also spoke at the trial. He said that all participants are under the total control of the management center. It falls under:
- intimate life;
- Work;
- education and other spheres of life.
Why are Jehovah's Witnesses Banned in Russia?
According to lawyers, psychologists, psychotherapists, the organization is dangerous for several reasons. Decreased financial well-being of participants, lack of opportunities for professional self-realization. Members have to spend an enormous amount of time preaching and recruiting new members. Because of this, they all find themselves outside a healthy social life.
Another danger lies in the formation of a stable complex of self-doubt. The books of the sect speak of the need to constantly search for problems within oneself. Many people have such a strong fixation on their own "defective 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 doctrine 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 to receive blood transfusions. 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 ruled that the city authorities' demand for compulsory treatment was unconstitutional.
- In 2012, in St. Petersburg, a driver hit a woman with her one-year-old daughter in a wheelchair. My father came to the hospital with a lawyer. The latter explained to the doctors that they had no right to save the little girl. Arina was rescued, but only after the intervention of the children's ombudsman.
- In St. Petersburg, another father forbade blood transfusion to his three-year-old son with a brain tumor because of his religious views. Themis decided to ignore her father's opinion, so the operation was performed.
Situation in the world and in the country after the ban
Jehovah's Witnesses are banned not only in our state, but also in China, the Islamic states of Africa and the Middle East. In all countries, the main reason is at the forefront - extremism. Jehovah's Witnesses hold views that are strongly antisocial.
Some experts came to the conclusion that the true reason was the strengthening of the position of the Orthodox Church, its transformation into practically the state religion in many countries.
After the entry into force of the decision of the Supreme Court, criminal cases are periodically initiated. For example, on April 17, 2018, a man was arrested and accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The sect went underground, but continues to take away people's homes, to forbid them to be treated.
Sect reaction
In the summer of 2018, representatives of a religious organization reported that the persecutions against them were publicly condemned by prominent human rights activists, politicians and cultural figures. They claim that 150,000 people are now outlawed. Each of them can be arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. However, the participants do not commit any illegal acts, they try to live according to the Bible.
According to activists, 23 people are in custody. All of them are held under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Among the people who signed the appeal are such public figures as:
- Lyudmila Alekseeva;
- Mitya Aleshkovsky;
- Lev Ponomarev;
- Leonid Gozman and some others.
The EU also stood up to defend the extremist religious organization. It is believed that followers should be able to conduct their meetings peacefully and calmly. This was stated in a statement by the European External Action Service.
In conclusion, we note that the study was carried out by Ksenia Khramova, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of Philosophy of the Bashkir Medical University. She studied how sectarians position their personality. They have been found to be aggressive, dangerous, dependent, and easy to manipulate. Believers are completely dependent on the work of the religious center. On several occasions, people were forced to sell their property and donate money for preaching work. The article was immediately answered. Almost all sectarians disagree with this opinion. It was noted that people are "held captive by stereotypes."
