In Russia, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were not simply banned - the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added the organization to the list of those banned in the country. They were accused of violating anti-extremist legislation. In fact, Jehovah's Witnesses have been recognized as an extremist organization.
Details of the "extremist activities" of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses have not been disclosed, but it is known that supporters of this religious movement categorically refuse to serve in the army and from certain medical procedures. For example, from a blood transfusion.
But in Belarus, Jehovah's Witnesses are an officially registered organization and operate quite legally. ERB was told about this by the office of the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs:
They are registered and operate in accordance with the procedure established by law.
Despite the fact that they were banned in Russia?
And then one thing to the other? Why Compare?
Is it not just that they were declared an extremist organization in Russia? Maybe we should take a closer look at them?
You know, from the outside it is very good to look closely and speak. There are structures for this that resolve these issues.
Dmitriy, a Jehovah's Witness from Vitebsk, believes that in Russia the activities of his co-religionists were banned unreasonably.
"Of course, this is wrong. There is no such thing that the Witnesses there ... violate something, but here they do not violate something. We live according to biblical principles: this is written there - we do it. And nowhere else!"- convinces the Belarusian Jehovist.
Euroradio's reference: The first communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus appeared in 1994 in Minsk and Gomel, in 1997 this religious association was officially registered. Now there are 27 communities in the country, uniting over six thousand believers.
As for the Congress itself, its main purpose is, says Dmitriy, to convey to the people that the end of this system is coming.
"This is about the end of the system of life on our planet,- continues Dmitry Evdokimov. - This will all be over soon. You probably know about Noah's Day? and the Bible says that everyone drank, ate, got married, and there was no sign that an ark should be built. And the flood began. So it is now: all natural disasters, all these problems indicate that everything is coming to an end. Even we Witnesses are shocked at how quickly things are happening ... "
Dmitry argues that Jehovah's Witnesses do not pay any contributions, only voluntary donations. And no one paid them for the attendance at the congress in Minsk: Dmitry and his brother were traveling from Vitebsk at their own expense, here they rented an apartment for two days.
In Belarus, Jehovah's Witnesses are optionally assigned to a three-year alternative service instead of 1.5 years of military service. This right is guaranteed to the citizens of Belarus both by the Constitution and by the law "On Alternative Service" adopted in 2016. Nevertheless, there are cases when Jehovah's Witnesses were tried for refusing to serve in the army. In 2017, the court of early Central Gomel recognized a Jehovist Dmitry Smyk guilty of evading conscription and sentenced him to a fine of one hundred rubles, disregarding his request to the military registration and enlistment office to send him to alternative service because of his religious beliefs.
According to data for 2017, 67 people were performing alternative service in Belarus. How many of them belong to Jehovah's Witnesses, the Ministry of Defense does not specify.
Is it generally legal to walk around apartments like this and pester their residents with questions about God, write letters to specific people? Euroradio spoke with the curators of the religious sphere and representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses themselves.
Illegal, but ...
There is no mention of any religious organization in the letter. However, its author - Tatiana Ch... - we find it on the VKontakte social network. Under the heading “activity” the predictable: “Jehovah's Witness”.
“They (Jehovah's Witnesses. - Euroradio) are registered in Belarus, however, unfortunately, there are episodes that do not relate to the permitted form of activity of religious organizations,” Andrei Aryaev, head of the department for religious affairs of the office of the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, tells ERB. ... - Distribution of literature, simply addressing people (outside specialized institutions. - Euroradio) is a violation of the law on freedom of religion and religious organizations. Such actions imply administrative punishment ”.
"We ask you not to carry out such activities ..."
According to Andrey Aryaev, complaints about the "meticulousness" of Jehovah's Witnesses come from citizens constantly. The officials responded by “taking all possible measures”:
“We periodically hold conversations with representatives of religious associations. We accumulate such facts. In the near future, when the next meeting will take place, we will raise this issue again and ask you not to carry out such activities ”.
Administrative liability for extra-statute activities of religious organizations provides for a fine in the amount of 102 to 255 rubles. However, Jehovah's Witnesses are not prosecuted. Why is that? ERB was told by the organization itself.
Walking through the apartments is a personal expression of the will of individual believers
“We have no right to prohibit members of our communities, on their own initiative, from talking about God with strangers,” the chairman of the steering committee of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization in Belarus told ERB Pavel Yadlovsky... He does not deny that some representatives of the organization carry out similar activities: walking from door to door, talking on the streets.
Yadlovsky: “The legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not limit the places: where you can talk about faith in God, and where you don’t. It is about the personal confession of one's convictions, not as an organization, but as citizens. "
“To love your neighbor is to respect the right of another person”
What is left for citizens who do not want to talk about God with Jehovah's Witnesses? Pavel Yadlovsky shares with the readers of euroradio.fm a universal life hack: you just need to say that you “are not interested in this question”.
Use it.
The first communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus appeared in 1994. Now there are more than 20 of them in our country. Every year in Minsk, at the Traktor stadium, thousands of congress of Jehovah's Witnesses are held.
But in neighboring Russia, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are illegal. On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the activities of the “Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia” as extremist, banning the work of all 395 branches in Russia.
The homeland of Jehovah's Witnesses is the USA, where the history of the organization began with the circle of Bible Students, founded in 1870. The main religious and administrative center today is located in New York. Jehovah's Witnesses are characterized by a denial of the doctrine of the Trinity. Only one person in the universe is considered God - Jehovah.
“Because of Jehovah's Witnesses, I lost both my wife and my daughter,” says Mikhail from Minsk to Nasha Niva. And he tells his story of confrontation with a religious organization.
"Jehovah's Witnesses Are Dearer than Father"
“My wife, while still a teenager, experienced a terrible thing - she was with a friend when the father of that girl hanged himself in the next room. The neighbor then began tossing Witness literature at the two teenage girls. They got involved, - says Mikhail. - When my wife was 18 years old, we met. At first I persuaded her to leave the Witnesses, but later it turned out that my wife was secretly attending their meetings. ”
Michael blames Jehovah's Witnesses for his family's disintegration.
At that time, the couple already had a daughter. Michael tried to explain to his wife the fallacy of the philosophy of the Witnesses - without success. Forbidden to go to meetings - also to no avail. It all ended in scandals. Once the wife even climbed onto the windowsill and threatened to throw herself out when Mikhail would not let her leave the apartment for a meeting, he claims. I had to let go.
The scandals continued, says Mikhail, his wife ran to meetings, did not pay attention to her daughter. One day, the wife took the child and ran away from the apartment. They had to find out her whereabouts with the help of the police. It all ended in divorce, and the court left the daughter with her mother.
“I asked my wife not to take my daughter to meetings, she didn’t listen. As a result, the child I saw less and less. I have never been to the apartment where they live. I don’t know what the conditions are, ”says Mikhail. “But I tried to convince my daughter. Once I told her: if you are so confident in your religion, let's document it. "
“Jehovah's Witnesses are dearer to me than my dad,” his 10-year-old daughter wrote this letter, the man says.
Now the daughter is 15 years old. Mikhail has not seen her for a long time - the last time he called up six months ago.
“Before her birthday, I explained that she herself can choose her religion. She said she chooses Jehovah's Witnesses. I replied that I would continue to fight them anyway. If she changes her position, I will be glad to her call. But for now, there’s silence, ”the man says.
Do not receive blood transfusions and live in anticipation of a war with Satan
The Jehovah's Witnesses movement originated in the United States in the 1870s. At that time it was also called "Bible Students".
Witnesses consider themselves Christians and believe in one God, Jehovah. But they do not believe in the Trinity, Christ is not God for them, but the creation of God-Jehovah, his prophet and ideal man. Witnesses do not recognize the cross, icons, do not celebrate Easter and Christmas.
Jehovah's Witnesses translate their literature into many languages. Including in Belarusian.
Periodically, Witnesses predict the End of the World. The fact that he does not come does not bother them - each time a new date is assigned, when the Apocalypse should be expected. When it finally happens, 144,000 anointed ones from among the Witnesses will go to heaven (it is believed that most of them have already been recruited from among the first followers, now the “drawdown” is taking place). In addition, the anointed ones, along with Christ, will wage war with Satan. The rest - the righteous - will be resurrected, but they will be settled on Earth, where there will be Paradise (they will not have to fight).
In addition, the Witnesses do not participate in elections, refuse to serve in the army, do not recognize state flags, coats of arms and hymns, since they believe that they should not serve the “king,” but Jehovah.
The main complaint against the Witnesses is their "bioethics". They categorically do not accept blood transfusions, even in emergency cases. Meanwhile, previously established rules change over time: for example, the Witnesses' vaccination ban was abolished in the 1950s, and in the 1970s they decided not to baptize smokers.
In 2015, the Witnesses claimed to have more than 8 million followers worldwide.
Standards for the dissemination of faith
It has already been 5 years since the victory went to the Witnesses in the struggle for a family between Michael and Jehovah's Witnesses. But Michael continues to fight the religious organization. His car even reads in large letters: "I am against the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses, I am looking for victims" and his phone number is indicated. Gradually, a small circle of like-minded people formed around him, who also encountered the Witnesses and considered them a dangerous sect. Each of them has its own claims.
In 2015, a resident of Bobruisk, Maxim, fell in love with a girl, later it turned out that she had been a Witness since childhood. The guy decided to get her out - but failed.
“For about 9 months I went to their meetings, pretended to be interested. At the same time, I tried to convince the girl to give up her views, ”the source says.
But the couple broke up anyway. The girl chose her religion.
According to Maxim, the main emphasis of the Witnesses is on "door-to-door ministry." The importance of this rule is constantly reminded in their meetings.
“Witnesses are obliged to spread the teaching, go from door to door. There are even certain standards, they submit reports at the end of the month. If a person wants to advance in a sect, then he must spend as much time spreading the faith as possible, sometimes he has to quit his job. I know people who closed their businesses for this reason, ”says Maxim.
Illustrative photo.
By the way, Mikhail also tried to attend the meetings. But, he says, he was taken out with the police.
“They called the police if they saw me. They lied that I was breaking order and trying to disrupt the meeting, they wrote statements against me, ”the man says.
"Can a guy stay with us?"
Viktor Poklyovko from Logoisk lost his daughter because of Jehovah's Witnesses.
“In 2014, she met a guy. She was 20 years old, he was 25. First, her daughter told me what a good relationship they have, how good he is: he does not drink, does not smoke. And then he says: he is an orphan, his parents died in Russia, he has nowhere to live. Can he stay with us? - Viktor recalls. - I didn't like the idea, but I agreed. And so they started to travel to Minsk every weekend. At first they said that they would go to hockey, then they said that they would go to English courses. We even bought hockey paraphernalia and textbooks. ”
In fact, the daughter and her boyfriend went to meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, says Victor. After the man directly asked the guy what was going on, he admitted that he was one of the Witnesses. Victor spoke out against, calling the Witnesses a sect.
“Then they left. We lived with one of the Witnesses, who has his own house here. A month later, they probably got married. The daughter began to study the Bible, began to pay less attention to other things, lost her job at the bank: she was asked to leave her own free will. Subsequently, a letter came to my address stating that she needed to pick up the work book, but my daughter ignored it, says Victor. “In general, she stopped any communication with me.”
Once in 2015, an acquaintance Olga called Viktor Poklyovko and said: here a sectarian came with your daughter. Victor came running, but his daughter did not want to talk to him. And her "partner" Pastukhova called the police, saying that the man had broken into the house. After the police arrived and Olga said that she had called the guest herself, she received a portion of curses from the Witnesses.
Burned an icon that is 100 years old
The witnesses quietly left (they drew up a report on them, but did not detain them). Olga said that the aforementioned Pastukhova, along with some man, had already come to her. Then they brought brochures of Jehovah's Witnesses, distributed them to the children, and then noticed two icons in the house. They declared that these were "devilish pictures", carried them out into the street, trampled them underfoot and set them on fire. Finally, we read our prayer and what was left of the icons, put it in a bag, and left.
Victor convinced Olga to contact the police. It turned out that both Pastukhova and her companion are citizens of Russia, and their whereabouts are unknown. The local police first reported that there would be no criminal case, they say, there is no remains of the icons, the whereabouts of the suspects are unknown. But later, the Investigative Committee nevertheless opened a case: Olga claimed that she still had the icon from her great-grandmother, which means that it was old, it was more than a hundred years old.
“But it just died out,” says Viktor Poklyovko sadly.
The Investigative Committee reported that the investigation is ongoing. “Due to the fact that there is operational information about the whereabouts of the defendants outside Belarus, an international order has been sent to neighboring countries to provide legal assistance,” the UK said.
"We act according to the covenants of Christ"
Pavel Yadlovsky, the leader of the Belarusian Jehovah's Witnesses, answered the questions and complaints.
About standards and reports after visiting apartments
“We are acting according to the commandments of Christ, who said:“ Go and teach all the nations ”. Every Jehovah's Witness sees this as fulfilling the commandments of Christ: to tell people about the good news. We are doing this. "
Illustrative photo
Marriages in which one is one of Jehovah's Witnesses and the other is against it.
“According to the Bible, marriage is sacred in the eyes of God. But sometimes there is domestic violence, and not only physical violence, but verbal violence, emotional violence. And there already everyone decides for himself. We do not control people's lives. "
About the history of the burning of icons
“If you know the story of Christ, then he was also accused of blasphemy. There have been many such cases in the history of mankind. This accusation is unfounded, there is no other evidence. "
About blood transfusion
“We love life. And we do everything to keep our loved ones healthy. If there is a threat of death, then blood transfusion is only one of the methods of treatment, and not a panacea. There are many alternatives today. Jehovah's Witnesses are for qualified treatment, and blood transfusion is not the safest form of treatment and not the most useful. There are many safer methods, and Jehovah's Witnesses use them. ”
About attitude towards the state
“We respect the state. We obey the authorities. All over the world, including Belarus, Jehovah's Witnesses are distinguished by their law-abidingness. This is our official position. "
Only a court can liquidate Witnesses
In some countries, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are prohibited. In the spring of 2017, they were recognized as an extremist organization in Russia as well.
In Belarus, the state is loyal to the Witnesses. It is believed that there are about 6 thousand of their followers in the country. Their activity is not prohibited, moreover - every year at the Minsk Traktor stadium a three-day congress of Jehovah's Witnesses is held, where several thousand people, both Belarusians and foreigners, gather. The Congress has been held since 2011. In 2013, 10 thousand participants gathered, in 2015 - 6 thousand. This year it was announced that there were 7 thousand people.
In doing so, the Witnesses willingly demonstrate their loyalty to the authorities. As one of the eyewitnesses said, scenes were played out at the Congress, in one of them believers were warned: to go abroad to work and to evade taxes is a sin before God.
Photo from the Minsk congress 2013.
Jehovah's Witnesses are officially registered by the Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs. There are 27 communities in Belarus. One in Minsk, 3 each in Brest, Minsk and Mogilev regions, 5 each in Vitebsk and Grodno. Most of the communities in the Gomel region - 7.
“This association officially carries out its activities in Belarus,” confirmed Natalya Kolyadchik, deputy head of the department for ideological work and religious affairs of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee.
Each religious organization has a charter and acts in accordance with it, the official explained. A religious organization can be liquidated either by its founders or by a court. To liquidate an organization through the courts, the body that registered the organization (for example, the regional executive committee) must file a claim that the religious community has repeatedly violated the law.
Meanwhile, Michael and like-minded people continue to fight against Jehovah's Witnesses. According to him, there are about 25 more or less active people involved in this. They have already asked for a religious examination of Jehovah's Witnesses, but they were refused. Then they created it on the Internet. They wrote to the Presidential Administration. On more than one occasion, the police were summoned in relation to the Witnesses who were distributing literature.
But so far, all to no avail.
“I turned to the police, to our executive committee, to the committee on religious affairs. I attended a reception with the Deputy President for Ideology, met with the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, addressed local deputies ... In 2015, I addressed presidential candidates before the elections: Korotkevich, Gaidukevich, and Ulakhovich. The result is zero, ”complains Viktor Poklyovko.
The main claim of Victor and his supporters: people are losing their loved ones, family members. Indeed, one person is almost always weaker than an organization whose methods have been developed over more than a hundred years of its activity. And, more often than not, the opinion of the closest person gradually begins to mean less and less against the background of the organization of fellow believers. But the authorities are not able to return the wife to the family, they cannot force the daughter to start communicating with the father. Lack of love is a misfortune, but not a criminal offense. Even if this love was stolen.
A petition to the Commissioner for Religious and Ethnic Affairs in Belarus Leonid Gulyako demanding a state religious examination of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses appeared on the website change.org. Someone named Maxim Arsentiev was named as its author.
According to the petition, Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus did not undergo a religious examination of their beliefs, which is mandatory for state registration of religious organizations or associations. “Until the results of the examination of this organization are received, we demand to suspend the activities of all local religious organizations and the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus, to ban illegal recruitment and distribution of religious literature,” the authors say.
In doing so, they refer to the experience of Russia, where the activities of the SI were recently banned. “We all, as citizens of our country, cannot allow illegal propaganda work on the territory of our Motherland of obsessive adherents of a religious organization, whose creed and ideology have never been studied in detail by recognized experts and scholars (by whom, it is not specified - Krynica.info) for its danger to the physical and mental health of citizens of the Republic of Belarus, as well as to their social life, ”the petition says.
It is also reported that in the summer, activists have already sent a letter to the office of the Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs with a demand to carry out a state examination of Jehovah's Witnesses in connection with their annual congress in Belarus. Then the examination was denied, indicating that there was no reason, since the organization of the congress of Jehovah's Witnesses took place legally.
Another attempt to ban the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses was commented on Krynica.info by one of the believers, blogger Anton Chivchalov.
“Jehovah's Witnesses officially and legally operate in all countries of the European Union, and in the Republic of Belarus they were registered in 1994. All these years they have been working closely with the country's authorities at all levels. For example, all literature entering the country is subject to mandatory state censorship. The religious association of the SI in the Republic of Belarus pays all taxes and duties in good faith. Anyone can attend any event of Jehovah's Witnesses and make sure that they are peaceful, law-abiding people. Both Belarusian and Russian experts are aware of this. Unfortunately, the authorities of the Russian Federation decided to follow the path of North Korea, Afghanistan and several other countries in which freedom of religion is severely limited. The April decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has already been accepted for consideration by the European Court of Human Rights. I want to believe that Belarus will not step on the same rake, but will continue to respect the rights and freedoms of its own citizens, as is customary in Europe and in the civilizations of the world in general, ”the source said.
Trouble suddenly came to a large family from Rechitsa. Sasha, 16, hanged himself in the building of a community of Jehovah's Witnesses, which he attended with his mother and stepfather. On that tragic day, the teenager went to the building to put things in order there and locked himself from the inside. Soon the parents entered the room and found the corpse of their son.
The Investigative Committee is conducting a check on the tragedy, but a suicide note says that it was a suicide. According to unofficial information, it is known that in it Sasha explained his terrible act by the fact that he “defamed the name of Jehovah,” in particular, he smoked and committed other minor and forgivable offenses for ordinary children.
Representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses and the teenager's parents refused to communicate. But in the district department of education, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" was told that Sasha was an ordinary boy who was loved in the classroom and who were proud of at school:
He had the same hobbies as his peers, he was actively involved in sports, and the guys in the class said that it was thanks to Sasha that they won many competitions. He did not have any conflicts, he was friends with everyone, however, Sasha was always distinguished by the fact that he was a little calmer than other children. But on a religious topic, he never spoke with his classmates; they learned that he visited Jehovah's Witnesses only after his death, although he was open and did not hide.
There were never any complaints about Sasha's family either. They lived in prosperity, their stepfather is an entrepreneur, works in the construction industry, the teenager often helped a man in his work. Mom is on maternity leave now. In total, the family had four children.
Mom always came to parent meetings, her children on the rulers - in suits, with flowers - everything is very decent. Children from this family are slightly different in that they are calmer than others and also run along the corridors, but not so frenziedly, they continue at school.
Sasha's classmates say that they cannot understand why this happened. Friends say that Sasha dreamed of joining the army. True, Jehovah's Witnesses are prohibited from serving.
By the way, they say that in the 90s it was in Rechitsa that a guy who attended the community of Jehovah's Witnesses also committed suicide.
HAVE A QUESTION
Jehovah's Witnesses Officially Allowed in Belarus?
This is a religious organization registered in Belarus, so it operates legally. This organization has a very specific religious consciousness and a very specific behavior. They use their own translation of the Bible, not the same as traditional confessions, do not recognize Jesus Christ as God. Christian denominations and other religious organizations of Belarus are very wary of Jehovah's Witnesses, - says Viktor Odinochenko, associate professor, teacher of religious studies at the Skorina Gomel State University. - The tragedy that happened to Jehovah's Witnesses does not surprise me. But I do not think that it should be directly related to the activities of the organization, people with an unstable psyche are everywhere.