Persecution toward Jehovah's Witnesses; Charges against them valid?

by Butterflyleia85 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Butterflyleia85

  OMG if only my mom's eyes could look through mine. She just sent me this (as it is from Jehovah's Witnesses literture)

  Could It Happen Again?

  A Question

  for the Citizens of Russia

  “Today is the Day of Remembrance of Victims

  of Political Repression. . . . It is impossible

  to grasp the sheer scale of terror that

  swept across the country . . .

  [ the ] millions

  of ruined lives. For people executed without

  trial or record; for people exiled and sent

  to concentration camps, deprived of civil

  rights for having the ‘wrong’ occupation or

  the ‘improper social origins.’ . . . Let’s just

  think about it: Millions of people died because

  of terror and false accusations. They

  were deprived of all rights, even the right

  to a humane burial. For many years, their

  names were simply crossed out of history.”

  —President Medvedev, October 30, 2009,

  http://blog.kremlin.ru/post/35
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  WITH those words, President Dmitri Medvedev

  called on all of us to think seriously about what

  happened during one of the darkest periods of our

  history—the brutal repression of millions of our fellow

  citizens. The President’s words, like the Day of

  Remembrance, reflect a noble ideal: that recalling

  the mistakes of the past should prevent those mistakes

  from occurring again.
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  The purpose of this tract is twofold: first, to share

  with you a part of that dark history that you may

  never have been told about; second, to alert you to

  a serious danger—that history might, indeed, repeat

  itself. In fact, there are signs that the process

  has already begun.

  Scarcely mentioned on the Day of Remembrance

  was the story of one religious minority that has

  been active in Russia for over a century. This story

  involves tens of thousands of believers who were

  persecuted for their faith during those dark decades.

  Innocent people were uprooted from their

  homes and locked away for years in prisons and labor

  camps. Husbands and wives, parents and children,

  grandparents and grandchildren were heartlessly

  torn from one another’s arms. Many were

  never reunited.

  That sweeping tragedy had small beginnings. It

  started with the clever use of rumors, innuendo,

  and baseless generalizations. Left unchecked, such

  harmful words grew into lies and outright slander.

  Then came the bans, house searches, arrests, show

  trials, exiles, and incarcerations.

  The very people who survived those nightmarish

  years to see better times are now seeing the storm

  clouds gather once more. A wave of false accusations

  and terror tactics has again been launched

  against them. What is happening? Is history really

  about to repeat itself?
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  AWave of Persecution

  —Will It Return?

  PERSECUTION is not new to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  Semyon Kozlitsky, the first adherent to this faith in

  Russia, appeared in 1891 but was soon exiled to Siberia

  for sharing his faith with others. In the 1920’s

  and 1930’s, the Bible Students (as Jehovah’s Witnesses

  were then known) were not many in number,

  but they were already being persecuted. More

  recently, the Witnesses were among those repressed

  during the decades following World War II. Consider

  a few facts.

  ?

  The persecution began with propaganda. Witnesses

  were labeled as “anti-Soviet,” as “American spies,”

  and as “enemies of the nation.”

  ?

  From 1947 to 1951, more than 9,000 of Jehovah’s

  Witnesses were exiled to Siberia because of their

  faith.

  The last of the imprisoned Witnesses were released

  in 1990. Thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses

  were thrilled to have their reputation cleared, receiving

  official documents declaring that they were,
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  not “enemies of the nation,” but

  innocent victims.

  The activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia was

  legally registered by the Ministry of Justice of the

  Russian Federation in 1991 and again in 1999.

  In Russia today, there are over 157,000 active Jehovah’s

  Witnesses in more than 2,000 congregations.

  Another 125,000 people in this land enjoy

  studying the Bible with the Witnesses. You may

  have met some of these people, for they are from

  all walks of life—ordinary, hardworking, honest

  people. They may be among your relatives, neighbors,

  coworkers, and friends.

  Yet, recent news reports have made the shocking

  claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “extremists.” Labels

  such as this one and “dangerous sect” and

  even “American spies” are widely repeated. Like

  the phrase “enemies of the nation,” such epithets

  may be used to prepare the way for persecution.

  Consider the following.

  ?

  In February 2009 alone, prosecutors around the

  country have carried out more than 500 investigations

  of the religious activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  ?

  Private medical records have been illegally seized.

  ?

  Illegal raids have been carried out against public

  religious meetings and meetings held in private

  homes.

  ?

  Lawyers attempting to assist in the defense of Jehovah’s

  Witnesses have been harassed and hindered

  from participating in court hearings.

  ?

  Courts around the country have been trying to
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  Are the Charges Valid?

  CAN you imagine being denounced publicly as extremist

  or as dangerous? The very words are inflammatory,

  for they call to mind some of the worst

  crimes and the most frightening problems of our

  times. The more the claim is repeated, the more the

  people believe it. But does that make the accusations

  true?

  Jehovah’s Witnesses simply invite you to see for

  yourself. We welcome you to visit us in our places

  of worship, to get to know us when we visit you in

  our door-to-door work, or to make our acquaintance

  at work, at school, or in the community. Once

  you do so, we are confident that you will wonder

  why anyone would refer to us as dangerous or as

  extremist.

  What is the supposed basis for such attacks? Consider

  three claims made about the Witnesses, as

  well as a brief response to each.
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  CLAIM:

  Jehovah’s Witnesses endanger the State by

  sowing religious discord, claiming that theirs is the

  only true religion.

  CONSIDER:

  Do you know of any religion that does not

  claim to be the true one? After all, why would people adhere

  to a religion if they did not believe its tenets to be

  true? Really, then, all religions are equally liable to the

  same charge. Perhaps it is more meaningful to ask, ‘How

  are the adherents of a particular religion taught to treat

  those with different beliefs?’

  FACT:

  Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a danger to anyone.
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  They are widely known for trying to live by Bible principles.

  They thus reject all forms of violence. (Matthew 26:

  52) They obey secular law. (1 Peter 2:13, 14) They endeavor

  to make peace in all spheres of life. (Romans

  12:18) A reference work edited by M. P. Mchedlov, Chairman

  of the Expert Council for State Expert Religious

  Studies With the Ministry of Justice, stated: “Jehovah’s

  Witnesses view government authority as an arrangement

  that exists by the permission of God. They do not violate

  the law, they respect order, and they are law-abiding.”
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  CLAIM:

  Jehovah’s Witnesses are a destructive sect

  because they break up families.

  CONSIDER:

  In any family, religion can be a sensitive issue,
• 

  Butterflyleia85

  It goes on and on but as far as telling her what I know I guess I hold my tongue... anyone know of this?