July 13, 2009 (NYC)2:46 am (NYC)
Jehovah’s Witnesses, known for their doomsday prophecies, are seen as an extremist cult by the Russian authorities. Banned in many countries, their activities could soon become illegal in Russia as well.
Since appearing in Russia in the early 1990s, Jehovah’s Witnesses have rapidly gained popularity. The organization says they have 200,000 members in the country, but they could soon be classed as criminals.
A high-profile case five years ago branded Jehovah’s Witnesses “an extremist organization” that incites religious hatred and breaks up families.
They were stripped of their Moscow registration, yet even though Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to re-register, authorities have issued over forty official warnings to them in the last three years.
Their faith doesn’t allow them to receive blood transfusions, and several have been tried for denying them to their children. Most notably last year, doctors in Russia’s far eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky had to appeal to court to get permission for a blood transfusion for a six-year-old girl after she suffered serious head trauma. The court ruled in their favor and the doctors managed to save the child. Others have been imprisoned for refusing to do their compulsory military service.
Critics of the group warn that the people they recruit into their community end up being brainwashed.
Oleg Zakharenkov’s wife changed completely after becoming a Jehovah's Witness.
“She became isolated. She began to disappear for days and give them all my money,” says Oleg.
Jehovah's Witnesses were founded in the US in the late 19th century. There are over seven million regular followers worldwide.
They say their unusual beliefs – such as refusing to vote or serve on juries – don't make them a dangerous cult:
“Our poor image comes from those in the media and the authorities who have no knowledge about us. When people meet us, they realize what good we do for society,” said Aleksandr Valevich.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are banned in China, parts of Africa and some former Soviet republics. As for Russia, some say it will be difficult to prove their guilt.
“Personally, I think Jehovah’s witnesses combine the worst features of an international corporation that exploits its own members, and a totalitarian state. But it’s hard to prove what current law they are breaking,” theologist Father Mikhail Plotnikov told RT.
Source: http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-13/Will_Jehovah_s_Witnesses_be_banned_in_Russia.html
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Showing posts with label extremists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extremists. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Dozens of active-duty troops found on neo-Nazi site
WASHINGTON — It is the Facebook for the fascist set, and the typical online profiles of its members reveal neo-Nazi tastes.
The one other thing that dozens of members of newsaxon.org, a white supremacist social networking website, have in common: They proudly identify themselves as active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Montgomery, Ala.-based watchdog group that tracks extremist hate groups, has compiled a book containing the online user profiles of at least 40 newsaxon.org users who say they are serving in the military, in apparent violation of Pentagon regulations prohibiting racist extremism in the ranks.
The report was criticized by some veterans and conservative groups as inherently anti-military.
See the rest of the article at http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63650
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