by AndersonsInfo 16 Replies latest jw friends
Athanasius> The sad thing about this potential ban on JWs in Russia, is that the Watchtower will play this up to draw attention away from their child abuse scandal.
I know what you mean, but this doesn´t have to be sad at all. When such a news item pops up in the media, often optional and related news items pop up as well. A domino effect leading to TTATT is possible. Wouldn´t WT make themselves more suspicious if someone finds out about this one-sided news coverage?
Anony Mous - "...This isn't 'let's throw them in jail and send them to Siberia', this is 'you can't organize your religion here with those viewpoints'..."
Important to remember.
Quote-worthy, in fact.
Athanasius - "The sad thing about this potential ban on JWs in Russia, is that the Watchtower will play this up to draw attention away from their child abuse scandal."
redpilltwice - "When such a news item pops up in the media, often optional and related news items pop up as well. A domino effect leading to TTATT is possible. Wouldn't WT make themselves more suspicious if someone finds out about this one-sided news coverage?"
I can just imagine the WT's PR guys spinning their wheels, anxiously trying to figure out which option has the potential of coming back to bite them on the ass... 
Anony Mous: Also note that the Guardian is a derivative of the JW press releases on the topic.
The article appeared in the print version of The Guardian on Friday 10 March 2017, as a strip along the bottom 1/4 of page 32 which is in the 'Journal' section of the newspaper rather than the 'News' section. Above the article was the 'Letters Section.'
The article was written by Giles Fraser in his regular opinion style 'Loose canon' column, so named because:
Dr Giles Fraser is priest-in-charge at St Mary's Newington in south London and the former canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral. He writes the Loose canon column for the Guardian
Russia is a sovereign nation and has every right to protect itself and its citizens from an abusive cult that has all the hallmarks of a fast spreading malignant cancer.
If the Russian authorities have read any of the Society's literature on end times prophecies they will have read that Watchtower considers Russia to be the "King of the North" who will have "to come all the way to his end." Extremist indeed!
How easy is it to get out of Russia these days? Especially with the backing of the Watchtower with their millions of dollars. The Watchtower is fully aware of the problems that exist in Russia, they are also geared up to provide emergency aid. Maybe they can do a lot more.
Anony Mous: ...the Russians, given it's history with religion sides on the side of banning (they have anti-religious laws due to the Czar, like the Germans have anti-Nazi laws due to Hitler).
Actually, no.
The Tsar did not pass anti-religious laws. In fact, it was Tsar Nicholas II who passed Russia's first freedom of religion laws back in 1905. He passed an Edict of Toleration on April 30, 1905, giving legal status to religions not of the Russian Orthodox faith. Which allowed other orthodox faiths (like the Old Believers, who had been persecuted for over 200 years in Russia), and other religions, the right to own property.
Who was responsible for the anti-religious laws in Russia were the Soviets.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union
