bruceq

He is a "Dork!" ???????
Sorry I'm laughing now. Can it get worse? Maybe he'll find some "snakes" ??in his "vegetable patch"? 
@bruceq Trying to get you to laugh ? 

NO ACTUALLY IT WAS 2009 THE YEAR THE MINISTRY STARTED STRENGTHENING  ITS CAMPAIGN AGAINST JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. 

: "17  No weapon formed against you will have any success,+And you will condemn any tongue that rises up against you in the judgment.This is the heritage* of the servants of Jehovah,And their righteousness is from me,” declares Jehovah.+ ISA 54:17
 7  He will not fear bad news.+נ [Nun]His heart is steadfast, trusting in Jehovah.+ס [Samekh] 8  His heart is unshakable;* he is not afraid;+ע [Ayin]In the end he will look in triumph on his adversaries.+ PSALM 112:7,8
18  And you will be brought before governors and kings+ for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.+ MATT. 10:18

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses After Religious Right Hailed Putin As Christian Hero
By Brian Tashman | April 21, 2017 11:27 am  
For years, American Religious Right activists praised Russian president Vladimir Putin as a champion of Christianity and conservative morality, even as his government was taking steps to curb the rights of religious minorities, including evangelical Christians and groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses. Putin even sponsored militias that targeted Protestants in eastern Ukraine and signed a law banning evangelism by non-Orthodox religions. None of this seemed to matter to the U.S. Religious Right as long as Putin kept up his war against the LGBTQ community. It was Barack Obama, they said, who was truly persecuting Christians by supporting equal rights for LGBTQ people in America and around the world.
Today, Russia moved even further in its crackdown on religious freedom when the nation’s supreme court sided with the government in outlawing the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a long-persecuted group.
As the Washington Post reported, the high court “ruled that the group’s St. Petersburg headquarters and 395 churches could be seized and liquidated. All church activities, including worship and door-to-door evangelizing, were banned. Those who defy the ruling face a fine of several thousand dollars and six to 10 years in prison.” The Russian government argued that the denomination threatened “public order and public security” and was an “extremist” group.
The Post added that Jehovah’s Witnesses have already faced “assault, vandalism, seizures and raids on houses of worship and dozens of arrests,” and some fear that the decision “may make it easier for the Kremlin to go after religious minorities in general.”
Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, many evangelical Christian groups are also viewed by the Russian government, which has increasingly sponsored the Russian Orthodox Church, as cults and extremist organizations. Newsweek adds that the government has targeted not only Jehovah’s Witnesses and evangelical Christians but also Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists.
Evangelist Franklin Graham is among the American conservatives who have hailed Putin, thanking him for “protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda” and “protecting traditional Christianity.”
Graham even picked Moscow as a location for his conference on defending the freedoms of Christians. However, organizers had to cancel once Putin outlawed proselytizing.
We will wait to see if Graham and others will stand up for the long-persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses-after-religious-right-hailed-putin-as-christian-hero/

JUST FOUND OUT DVORKIN IS AN  "ANTI-CULTIST" AND IS PART OF THE "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE" OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION - NO WONDER JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DID NOT GET ANY JUSTICE FROM THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE : 
RUSSIA | CHURCH [ back ]  
Photo via blagovest-info.ru Alexander Dvorkin heads the new commission on religion On 3 April, Alexander Dvorkin, the Russian priest most famous for the defamation of religious groups not belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox faith, was elected Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”, reports Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. This committee had been officially founded a month earlier on 3 March. Dvorkin, a US citizen and according to some reports a 1983 graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood/New York, is a self-avowed specialist on the cults. He is known for the broken glass and other acts of vandalism committed against religious buildings following in the wake of his public appearances across Russia. The result of his election was a vociferous and immediate outcry from academic experts on religion and others acknowledging the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Russian society. Citing Russian literature, the religion expert Michael Sitnikov compared Dvorkin’s election to “authorising the donkey to guard the vegetable patch”.
http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue5494.html
SEE ALSO PG. 79 OF THE BOOK "BELIEVING IN RUSSIA RELIGIOUS POLICY AFTER RUSSIA BY FAGAN :
 
 

4/17/2017 ON DOCUMENT
BEFORE THE BAN

To all those who think "It can't happen here"- know that it will happen everywhere #jwrussia #jwban #JW #StopJWBan

HEY WE BOTH POSTED THE SAME SCRIPTURE AT THE SAME TIME LOL 

Treacherous snake. This is why we need Jehovah on our side. We cannot win against against such devious enemies. They have no principles. We cannot fight a war on their terms. As our Brother Stephen Lett reminded us: 
Happy is the man who fears Jehovah........He will not fear bad news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Jehovah.   His heart is unshakable; he is not afraid; In the end he will look in triumph on his adversaries.  Ps 112 :1; 7-8.
Keep digging brother......
 

: "17  No weapon formed against you will have any success,+And you will condemn any tongue that rises up against you in the judgment.This is the heritage* of the servants of Jehovah,And their righteousness is from me,” declares Jehovah.+ ISA 54:17
 7  He will not fear bad news.+נ [Nun]His heart is steadfast, trusting in Jehovah.+ס [Samekh] 8  His heart is unshakable;* he is not afraid;+ע [Ayin]In the end he will look in triumph on his adversaries.+ PSALM 112:7,8
18  And you will be brought before governors and kings+ for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.+ MATT. 10:18

JUST FOUND OUT DVORKIN IS AN  "ANTI-CULTIST" AND IS PART OF THE "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE" OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION - NO WONDER JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DID NOT GET ANY JUSTICE FROM THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE : 
RUSSIA | CHURCH [ back ]  
Photo via blagovest-info.ru Alexander Dvorkin heads the new commission on religion On 3 April, Alexander Dvorkin, the Russian priest most famous for the defamation of religious groups not belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox faith, was elected Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”, reports Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. This committee had been officially founded a month earlier on 3 March. Dvorkin, a US citizen and according to some reports a 1983 graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood/New York, is a self-avowed specialist on the cults. He is known for the broken glass and other acts of vandalism committed against religious buildings following in the wake of his public appearances across Russia. The result of his election was a vociferous and immediate outcry from academic experts on religion and others acknowledging the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Russian society. Citing Russian literature, the religion expert Michael Sitnikov compared Dvorkin’s election to “authorising the donkey to guard the vegetable patch”.
http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue5494.html
SEE ALSO PG. 79 OF THE BOOK "BELIEVING IN RUSSIA RELIGIOUS POLICY AFTER RUSSIA BY FAGAN :
 
 

Translated from Russian so please excuse any inaccuracies 
Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records is ready to commit a new world record for the number of letters written ?! What is this marvelous news, which is almost entirely ignored by the media, especially in Russia, but considered representatives of the Guinness Book of Records? Most recently, the post offices in many countries ended international brands. In Facebook, Instagram and other social networks continues to grow the number of photos with people, writing letters to Russia.  Guinness workers watch to see letter-writing campaign can this be included in the Book of Records.  The current record holder for writing letters  The current record for a letter-writing marathon organization "Amnesty International": write letters in defense of human rights. The campaign has been written in general, more than one million letters, through which dozens of people were released.  What is this new story - by writing letters in Russian ? At a time when everyone is busy controversy about the extent to which Russia could intervene in the recent US elections, Russia quietly, significantly limited and restricts the freedom of one particular group of its citizens.  Perhaps you read and say, "Well, it - Russia, in the end; Is not she always restricts the rights of its citizens? ". Not really.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became a democratic society with the Constitution, described  even more clearly and specifically than freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.  Despite this assurance, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation petitioned the Supreme Court to recognize Jehovah's Witnesses (Jehovah's Witnesses) extremists on a par with an organization such as LIH. If the claim is satisfied, then for more than 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the country illegally will meet to worship, to discuss the Bible with others or even just to read the Bible in their own homes. Hearing on the case was scheduled for April 5, 2017, hearings were held and now the court will continue April 12, 2017. Interesting statistics © Google Trends All these actions of the Russian authorities have led to the fact that the dynamics of the popularity of Jehovah's Witnesses on the Internet has increased a record compared to other religious denominations.  As they say, are now Jehovah's Witnesses on the Internet in the trend, as ever! :-) Top of the Pops in the Google Trends has received their official website, which is locked in a single country in the world - Russia. Witnesses decided to take the pens and pencils In response to the injustice all 8,000,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses from all over the world have decided to write a letter in defense of their Russian fellow six key officials in Moscow, including the president - Vladimir Putin.  Sending six letters by mail to Moscow from the United States costs about $ 8. The total cost of postage, according to one researcher, based only on the US level, amounted to more than $ 55 million. In some other countries it cost the family a large part of their monthly income. But these costs do not stop Jehovah's Witnesses to write so many letters in support of their co-religionists.  H as the basis of reports from sots.setey, "Jehovah's Witnesses",  their children , friends and business partners took up this matter with great desire.  Surprisingly, if each of the 8,000,000 people to send six letters, Facebook mathematician calculated that Moscow post office can get a stack of mail in height or length of over 30 kilometers!  And Russian Post has celebrated the new record of international mail. This campaign of letter-writing, which was organized by Jehovah's Witnesses, in some countries went so quickly and orderly, that simply amazed. Here is one example: Foreign media about the trial witnesses and letter-writing campaign In addition, many foreign media spread the news about the forthcoming decision of the court, and the campaign of writing letters against the RF Ministry of Justice action against Jehovah's Witnesses  (in English / in English) : The article on the Australian site   the R ealnewsone  begins with the incredible, but absolutely accurate entry : "The Russian government has decided to defy Jehovah God." Rochester, NY (Rochester, NY): Jehovah's Witnesses in favor of freedom in Russia. Of Missouri You will's University then Religion News the Service (University of Missouri, news service): Jehovah's Witnesses are afraid that the Russian authorities may prohibit them Philippines of The (Philippines): Witnesses problem - we join in the appeal against the Russian threat to ban them Leone sierra ( Sierra Leone): "Jehovah's Witnesses" - Mobilizing the global response to the threat of a ban in Russia. The Network's Mission Michigan You will News : Religious freedom and the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia Spokane, Washington You : Jehovah's Witnesses protest against the label And Tobago trinidad : Russia: Witnesses terrorist group World television channel the BBC , on its front page, post articles and videos , as law enforcement throw Witnesses prohibited materials with explanatory interview with a representative of Jehovah's Witnesses, Jaroslav Sivulskii (in English / in English). Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and the websites of other countries  also reprinted a press release on the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses.  Although the titles of the pro-Russian news sources, you can see several different outlook. But, in fact, the English-language news read as Russian: Had enough, enough, unjustly, that Jehovah's Witnesses are facing a ban! The Helsinki Commission , which consists of US senators and congressmen condemned the Russian lawyers filed a lawsuit. The UN also called on Russia to stop the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. While a sense of world politicians are not appreciated, millions of Jehovah's Witnesses letters - peaceful, law-abiding citizens who  just  want  that  all  people  have  the freedom  of religion -  strewed all over the world and are perhaps even more chances to persuade the Russian government to stop the persecution than a few American politicians.  If your local news outlet covered this story, please feel free to send them the link to this article.  Jehovah's Witnesses in the Book of Records  Guinness The future will show whether the representatives of the Guinness Book record a new world record for the number of letters written. Jehovah's Witnesses have at times fall into the Guinness World Records  - the number of languages into which translations of their literature magazine  The Watchtower,  which was there , even witnesses were in this book because of the refusal of transfusion of foreign blood .  Although Jehovah's Witnesses are not fundamentally, will they in the  Guinness Book of Records for the number of written messages or not, because their main task is quite different - the commandment that instructed them to their Lord Christ, in particular, in Matthew 7: 12; Matthew 22: 35-40; 28: 18-20; John 13: 34-35 ...
Подробнее тут: http://www.fakt777.ru/
WATCHTOWER HISTORICAL ITEMS AND RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS -FOR MORE INFO AND BOOKS ON RUSSIA REPRESSION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SEE {LISA.JOEYWIT EBAY}.

Translated from Russian so please excuse any inaccuracies 
Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records is ready to commit a new world record for the number of letters written ?! What is this marvelous news, which is almost entirely ignored by the media, especially in Russia, but considered representatives of the Guinness Book of Records? Most recently, the post offices in many countries ended international brands. In Facebook, Instagram and other social networks continues to grow the number of photos with people, writing letters to Russia.  Guinness workers watch to see letter-writing campaign can this be included in the Book of Records.  The current record holder for writing letters  The current record for a letter-writing marathon organization "Amnesty International": write letters in defense of human rights. The campaign has been written in general, more than one million letters, through which dozens of people were released.  What is this new story - by writing letters in Russian ? At a time when everyone is busy controversy about the extent to which Russia could intervene in the recent US elections, Russia quietly, significantly limited and restricts the freedom of one particular group of its citizens.  Perhaps you read and say, "Well, it - Russia, in the end; Is not she always restricts the rights of its citizens? ". Not really.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became a democratic society with the Constitution, described  even more clearly and specifically than freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.  Despite this assurance, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation petitioned the Supreme Court to recognize Jehovah's Witnesses (Jehovah's Witnesses) extremists on a par with an organization such as LIH. If the claim is satisfied, then for more than 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the country illegally will meet to worship, to discuss the Bible with others or even just to read the Bible in their own homes. Hearing on the case was scheduled for April 5, 2017, hearings were held and now the court will continue April 12, 2017. Interesting statistics © Google Trends All these actions of the Russian authorities have led to the fact that the dynamics of the popularity of Jehovah's Witnesses on the Internet has increased a record compared to other religious denominations.  As they say, are now Jehovah's Witnesses on the Internet in the trend, as ever! :-) Top of the Pops in the Google Trends has received their official website, which is locked in a single country in the world - Russia. Witnesses decided to take the pens and pencils In response to the injustice all 8,000,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses from all over the world have decided to write a letter in defense of their Russian fellow six key officials in Moscow, including the president - Vladimir Putin.  Sending six letters by mail to Moscow from the United States costs about $ 8. The total cost of postage, according to one researcher, based only on the US level, amounted to more than $ 55 million. In some other countries it cost the family a large part of their monthly income. But these costs do not stop Jehovah's Witnesses to write so many letters in support of their co-religionists.  H as the basis of reports from sots.setey, "Jehovah's Witnesses",  their children , friends and business partners took up this matter with great desire.  Surprisingly, if each of the 8,000,000 people to send six letters, Facebook mathematician calculated that Moscow post office can get a stack of mail in height or length of over 30 kilometers!  And Russian Post has celebrated the new record of international mail. This campaign of letter-writing, which was organized by Jehovah's Witnesses, in some countries went so quickly and orderly, that simply amazed. Here is one example: Foreign media about the trial witnesses and letter-writing campaign In addition, many foreign media spread the news about the forthcoming decision of the court, and the campaign of writing letters against the RF Ministry of Justice action against Jehovah's Witnesses  (in English / in English) : The article on the Australian site   the R ealnewsone  begins with the incredible, but absolutely accurate entry : "The Russian government has decided to defy Jehovah God." Rochester, NY (Rochester, NY): Jehovah's Witnesses in favor of freedom in Russia. Of Missouri You will's University then Religion News the Service (University of Missouri, news service): Jehovah's Witnesses are afraid that the Russian authorities may prohibit them Philippines of The (Philippines): Witnesses problem - we join in the appeal against the Russian threat to ban them Leone sierra ( Sierra Leone): "Jehovah's Witnesses" - Mobilizing the global response to the threat of a ban in Russia. The Network's Mission Michigan You will News : Religious freedom and the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia Spokane, Washington You : Jehovah's Witnesses protest against the label And Tobago trinidad : Russia: Witnesses terrorist group World television channel the BBC , on its front page, post articles and videos , as law enforcement throw Witnesses prohibited materials with explanatory interview with a representative of Jehovah's Witnesses, Jaroslav Sivulskii (in English / in English). Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and the websites of other countries  also reprinted a press release on the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses.  Although the titles of the pro-Russian news sources, you can see several different outlook. But, in fact, the English-language news read as Russian: Had enough, enough, unjustly, that Jehovah's Witnesses are facing a ban! The Helsinki Commission , which consists of US senators and congressmen condemned the Russian lawyers filed a lawsuit. The UN also called on Russia to stop the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. While a sense of world politicians are not appreciated, millions of Jehovah's Witnesses letters - peaceful, law-abiding citizens who  just  want  that  all  people  have  the freedom  of religion -  strewed all over the world and are perhaps even more chances to persuade the Russian government to stop the persecution than a few American politicians.  If your local news outlet covered this story, please feel free to send them the link to this article.  Jehovah's Witnesses in the Book of Records  Guinness The future will show whether the representatives of the Guinness Book record a new world record for the number of letters written. Jehovah's Witnesses have at times fall into the Guinness World Records  - the number of languages into which translations of their literature magazine  The Watchtower,  which was there , even witnesses were in this book because of the refusal of transfusion of foreign blood .  Although Jehovah's Witnesses are not fundamentally, will they in the  Guinness Book of Records for the number of written messages or not, because their main task is quite different - the commandment that instructed them to their Lord Christ, in particular, in Matthew 7: 12; Matthew 22: 35-40; 28: 18-20; John 13: 34-35 ...
Подробнее тут: http://www.fakt777.ru/
WATCHTOWER HISTORICAL ITEMS AND RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS -FOR MORE INFO AND BOOKS ON RUSSIA REPRESSION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SEE {LISA.JOEYWIT EBAY}.

AND NOW THE U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM HAS STATED:
 “The Russian government’s latest actions appear designed to eliminate the legal existence of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. If the Supreme Court rules in April that this group is ‘extremist’ it would mark the first time that Russia legally has banned a centrally-administered religious organization and would effectively criminalize all Jehovah’s Witnesses’ activity nationwide. USCIRF calls on the Russian government to stop its harassment of this peaceful religious group.”
http://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases/russia-russia-suspends-jehovah-s-witnesses
AND NOW JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ARE BANNED IN RUSSIA.
Society April 20, 2017, 20:34 Ivan Ovechkin  The State Duma will examine the Court's decision, "Jehovah's Witnesses"
Legal precedent will develop new laws to protect the rights of believers
  The State Duma will examine the Court's decision, "Jehovah's Witnesses". Legal precedent will develop new laws to protect the rights of believers, told "Izvestia" of the Civil Society Development of the State Duma Committee, the issues of public and religious associations Sergey Gavrilov.
"It's a legal precedent, even though we no case law, but it is important to examine the details of the case, that we once took the decision to protect the rights of believers. We have adopted a number of amendments to the anti-extremist legislation. If you remember, the Russian parliament passed an amendment relating to the limitation antilegal missionary. Therefore, it is important to study this matter, because we may in the future have to use it in their law-making ", - said Gavrilov.
In his opinion, Russia has a lot of religious organizations whose activities are under question. 
"All organizations that we exist, except for the traditional religions, should be investigated for the protection of the interests of traditional morality, traditional Russian values, institutions respect for the family's neighbor care and love for the Fatherland. In my opinion, a lot of organizations today do not meet these criteria, "- said Gavrilov.
Earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the Russian representation of "Jehovah's Witnesses" extremist organization and banned its operation in the country.

Arbitrary deletion perhaps, as I have experienced. I found my deleted posts under my profile. They seem to still remain there. I was miffed because I had received reputation as well 
It felt like the Russians had got me!  

It says: "The court called in five experts to examine the literature of the Jehovah's Witnesses".......and that was brfore dismissing the case!!!
How many experts does it take to identify extremism?????

EVEN BEFORE THE 1997 ANTI-CULT GROUP I HAVE INVESTIGATED THAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPE HIMSELF AND ARCH-BISHOP KIRILL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF RUSSIA JOINED FORCES TO BEGIN THE ELIMINATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DURING THE BREAK-UP OF THE SOVIET UNION !!!
The Archbishop Cannot Cope!
   LAST year, a consistory (solemn council of cardinals) was organized to discuss certain matters that are of great concern to the Catholic Church. One of these, according to the newspaper Il Sabato, is “the aggressiveness of the sects.” However, the newspaper said: “It should be no problem for the cardinals to reach agreement on this point. All are in accord that there is a need for a more in-depth study of the phenomenon of new religious movements and also a need to prevent, as far as possible, their expansion.”
Evidently, though, “the aggressiveness of the sects” is not just a problem in Italy. Il Sabato reports: “While visiting the Vatican recently, Archbishop Kirill of Smolensk [one of Russia’s oldest cities] . . . asked the pope for ecumenical aid in coping with the overwhelming growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses and similar groups in the Soviet Union.”

   In the first century, leaders of established religion had similar complaints when Christianity was spread aggressively by its adherents. On one occasion indignant Jews complained to the city rulers: “These men that have overturned the inhabited earth are present here also”! (Acts 17:6) Back then, religious leaders tried hard to stop the spread of Christianity, but they failed. Today also, any effort to stop the spread of true Christian doctrine is doomed to failure. God himself promises: “Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success, and any tongue at all that will rise up against you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the hereditary possession of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from me.”—Isaiah 54:17. SOURCE : 8/15/1992 WATCHTOWER
IN 1998 THIS ANTI-CULT GROUP TOOK JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TO COURT IN RUSSIA  BUT LOST THE CASE.
HERE IS EVIDENCE FROM 1997 ABOUT THIS GROUP:
"Dangerous" sects named
VICTIMS OF SECTS
Argumenty i fakty, 
4 December 1997
Question: I read somewhere that there is some committee for rescuing youth from false religions. From which specific religious organizations and by what means does this committee "save" our youth? Z. Fomicheva, Ekaterinburg
Answer: The Committee for Rescuing Youth from False Religions was created by persons who had suffered one way or another from totalitarian sects. In comprises both relatives of young people who have fallen under the influence of destructive cults and sectarians themselves. Former sectarians, of course. The committee actively participated in the development of the State Duma's new law on freedom of conscience.
Each member of the committee "specializes" in a particular religious organization and provides advice and counsel regarding it. The victims of destructive cults principally need psychological help, but we still do not have this mechanism in place. Incidentally in the USA such organizations have operated for twenty years already, like the American Family Fund and the Network for Information about Cults. Their work includes counseling and psychological rehabilitation of sectarians.
The Committee for Rescuing Youth considers that the most dangerous sects operating on Russian territory include "Unification Church" (the official name is the Association of the Holy Spirit for Unification of World Christiaity), "Church of Scientology," "Jehovah's Witnesses," "Church of Christ," "International Society of Krishna Consciousness," "Aum Shinrikyo," "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Mormons), "Church of the Final Covenant" (Vissarion), "Mother of God Center," and "The Family" (also known as Children of God). It is also possible to mention "Union of Independent Christian Missionary Societiet," "White Brotherhood," "Witness Li," and "The Spiritual Center of Satora." (tr. by PDS)
http://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/9712a.html
MOSCOW COURT VINDICATES JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AFTER YEARS OF PERSECUTION; 
Effort to outlaw the group is dismissed. Action called a victory for religious freedom.
by Robyn Dixon 
Los Angeles Times, 24 February 2001
Earlier generations of Yaroslav Sivulsky's family were persecuted as Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union, and then the state still sought to ban the group as a dangerous cult--even in democratic Russia.
Finally, in what was called an important victory for religious freedom in Russia, Sivulsky saw justice done Friday when a Moscow court threw out a case that sought to outlaw the group in the capital.
In 1998, an anti-cult group called the Committee to Save Our Youth pushed for action against the Jehovah's Witnesses. Prosecutors in Moscow's northern district launched the case in early 1999 based on Russia's controversial 1997 law on religion, designed to limit the activities of foreign religious organizations.
For Sivulsky, the case was a flashback to the repressive Stalin regime 50 years ago when his parents, grandparents and thousands of other Jehovah's Witness families were exiled to Siberia. His father got seven years in a labor camp, he said.
"The accusations were basically the same," he said Friday. "The accusation was that their religion ran counter to the ideology of the Communist Party."
Sivulsky, 33, was jailed for 18 months in 1987 for refusing to serve in the Soviet army. Believers do not accept blood transfusions, refuse to salute any national flag or do military service.
"In court in 1987 , I refused the services of a lawyer because the lawyer, the prosecution and the judge all played on the same team against me," he said.
Prosecutors in 1999 took action to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses under an article in the religion law aimed at cults, which can be outlawed for splitting families, inciting religious discord, encouraging suicide or denying medical care to the critically ill.
"Today's decision sends a very important and optimistic message to other religions and confessions trying to practice in Russia," said Sivulsky, who is spokesman for the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
"Russian society is not prepared to go back to totalitarian thinking," he said. "It is impossible to prohibit freedom of religion, freedom of association and freedom to speak to people, which is basically what the prosecution was demanding."
Human rights groups welcomed Friday's decision but cautioned that harassment of many religious groups by bureaucrats and police remains common in Russia.
Advocates of religious freedom feared that a successful prosecution against the Jehovah's Witnesses would have opened the gates to similar actions against many other religious groups struggling to operate in Russia.
The court called in five experts to examine the literature of the Jehovah's Witnesses before the judge dismissed the prosecutor's case for the ban.
"It's a very important test case. It sets the standards for how much evidence you have to produce to ban a group like this," said Diederik Lohman, director of the Moscow office of Human Rights Watch. "The fact that all the literature had to be examined by experts sets a precedent for the way cases like this are to be dealt with."
The Jehovah's Witnesses group was founded in the late 19th century in the U.S. and appeared in Russia several years later. It now claims to have 250,000 followers here.
Galina Krylova, a lawyer for the group, said the Moscow case was based on absurdities.
She cited a "stupid accusation that my clients don't celebrate the Russian Orthodox Christmas--but Muslims or Jews don't celebrate it either."
Russian Orthodox Deacon Andrei Kurayev, professor of theology at St. Tikhon's Institute and Moscow State University, insisted that it was clear that the Jehovah's Witnesses are "a totalitarian sect" that must be resisted strongly by the Orthodox Church's anti-missionary program.
"This sect tries to control people's consciousness," he charged. "They very strictly limit all the information that their followers get. Thus, they are a threat not only for the state but for individuals as well."
But he said he feels that it is up to the Orthodox Church to struggle against such groups.
"We should work hard and struggle for people's souls rather than wait for courts to ban them," he said.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which bitterly opposes missionary activities, was one of the main proponents of the 1997 religion law, which forced many denominations to go through a difficult registration process. The only ones excused were those defined as "traditional" to Russia: Russian Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.
http://www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/0102f.html
EVIDENCE IS HERE THAT THE ANTI-CULT GROUP WERE INVOLVED IN THE VERY LAWS THAT ARE NOW USED TO CURTAIL AND NOW BAN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. OF COURSE THIS WILL BE A "PRECEDENT" AGAINST ALL RELIGIOUS GROUPS AS THE STATE DUMA JUST SAID YESTERDAY !!!

@bruceq Any Link? Just in case they doubt it? ?‍?
http://www.neonnettle.com/features/872-us-ambassador-north-korea-behind-us-blackouts-with-emp-attack

A US Ambassador and former presidential advisor has claimed that the power outages across the US yesterday were caused by an attack by North Korea and has warned that this first wave was merely a test, and they have the capability to "shut down North America for years", adding that the United States has "no defence against such an attack". 

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses After Religious Right Hailed Putin As Christian Hero
By Brian Tashman | April 21, 2017 11:27 am  
For years, American Religious Right activists praised Russian president Vladimir Putin as a champion of Christianity and conservative morality, even as his government was taking steps to curb the rights of religious minorities, including evangelical Christians and groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses. Putin even sponsored militias that targeted Protestants in eastern Ukraine and signed a law banning evangelism by non-Orthodox religions. None of this seemed to matter to the U.S. Religious Right as long as Putin kept up his war against the LGBTQ community. It was Barack Obama, they said, who was truly persecuting Christians by supporting equal rights for LGBTQ people in America and around the world.
Today, Russia moved even further in its crackdown on religious freedom when the nation’s supreme court sided with the government in outlawing the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a long-persecuted group.
As the Washington Post reported, the high court “ruled that the group’s St. Petersburg headquarters and 395 churches could be seized and liquidated. All church activities, including worship and door-to-door evangelizing, were banned. Those who defy the ruling face a fine of several thousand dollars and six to 10 years in prison.” The Russian government argued that the denomination threatened “public order and public security” and was an “extremist” group.
The Post added that Jehovah’s Witnesses have already faced “assault, vandalism, seizures and raids on houses of worship and dozens of arrests,” and some fear that the decision “may make it easier for the Kremlin to go after religious minorities in general.”
Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, many evangelical Christian groups are also viewed by the Russian government, which has increasingly sponsored the Russian Orthodox Church, as cults and extremist organizations. Newsweek adds that the government has targeted not only Jehovah’s Witnesses and evangelical Christians but also Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists.
Evangelist Franklin Graham is among the American conservatives who have hailed Putin, thanking him for “protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda” and “protecting traditional Christianity.”
Graham even picked Moscow as a location for his conference on defending the freedoms of Christians. However, organizers had to cancel once Putin outlawed proselytizing.
We will wait to see if Graham and others will stand up for the long-persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses-after-religious-right-hailed-putin-as-christian-hero/

North Korea has confirmed it is now fully prepared for WAR with the US with "powerful arms" ready to strike any minute. © press North Korea has finalized its preparations for War as it responded with a warning North Korea has finalized its preparations for war as it responded with a warning of “catastrophic consequences” to any further provocations by the US following the US Navy strike group positioning on the North Korean peninsula.The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier was diverted to western Pacific from its visit to Australia after tensions mounted over military drills involving American and South Korean forces, something which Pyongyang has interpreted as preparation for invasion.“We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman said. “(North Korea) is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US.”The guardian reports: The spokesman cited Washington’s refusal to rule out a pre-emptive strike against North Korean missile sites as justification for its nuclear program.“The prevailing grave situation proves once again that (North Korea) was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defense and pre-emptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot,” the spokesman said, according to KCNA.“We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by the powerful force of arms.”Last week’s US strike against a Syrian base is also being seen as a warning to North Korea after Donald Trump said Washington was prepared to act alone if China failed to exert more pressure on its neighbor to halt its missile and nuclear weapons programmes.
North Korea again defied UN resolutions banning it from developing ballistic missile technology with another test-launch on the eve of Trump’s summit with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, in Florida last week.White House officials have signalled that all options – including pre-emptive strikes – remain on the table in addressing North Korea’s steady advance towards developing long-range missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as far as the US mainland.The nuclear-powered Carl Vinson’s presence in the area coincides with speculation that North Korea could be preparing to conduct its sixth nuclear test to coincide with key dates in the country’s history, including the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Kim Il-sung, on Saturday.China’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, has played down reports that Beijing has deployed 150,000 troops to its border with North Korea.Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters she was “not aware” of such a mobilisation by the People’s Liberation Army along the 880-mile border. In the past, similar reports had been proven “groundless and false,” Hua claimed.However, with regional tensions building ahead of Saturday’s Kim Il-sung commemorations, Hua said China was “closely following” developments on the Korean peninsula.“We believe that, given the current situation, all relevant parties should exercise restraint and avoid activities that may escalate the tension.”
 
Read more at: http://www.neonnettle.com/news/2058-north-korea-confirms-preparation-for-war-with-us-is-complete
© Neon Nettle

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses-after-religious-right-hailed-putin-as-christian-hero/
BTW FRANKLIN GRAHAM IS THE SON OF BILLY GRAHAM AND President and CEO, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
SO ANYONE KNOW ANY BAPTIST OR OTHER EVANGELICAL BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS WITH. QUITE REVEALING.
{ALSO THIS IS WHERE MUCH ANTI-CULT INFO COMES FROM AND ANTI-CULT APOSTATES WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED IN RUSSIA AS WELL AS DOCUMENTED IN THAT ONE OF THE BOOKS CONFISCATED DURING A RAID HAD BEEN PLANTED IN A KINGDOM HALL WAS FROM AN ANTI-CULT GROUP THAT WAS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH.]
AS YOU CAN SEE "BABYLON THE GREAT" IS ALL UNITED AGAINST THE TRUE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH
 

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses After Religious Right Hailed Putin As Christian Hero
By Brian Tashman | April 21, 2017 11:27 am  
For years, American Religious Right activists praised Russian president Vladimir Putin as a champion of Christianity and conservative morality, even as his government was taking steps to curb the rights of religious minorities, including evangelical Christians and groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses. Putin even sponsored militias that targeted Protestants in eastern Ukraine and signed a law banning evangelism by non-Orthodox religions. None of this seemed to matter to the U.S. Religious Right as long as Putin kept up his war against the LGBTQ community. It was Barack Obama, they said, who was truly persecuting Christians by supporting equal rights for LGBTQ people in America and around the world.
Today, Russia moved even further in its crackdown on religious freedom when the nation’s supreme court sided with the government in outlawing the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a long-persecuted group.
As the Washington Post reported, the high court “ruled that the group’s St. Petersburg headquarters and 395 churches could be seized and liquidated. All church activities, including worship and door-to-door evangelizing, were banned. Those who defy the ruling face a fine of several thousand dollars and six to 10 years in prison.” The Russian government argued that the denomination threatened “public order and public security” and was an “extremist” group.
The Post added that Jehovah’s Witnesses have already faced “assault, vandalism, seizures and raids on houses of worship and dozens of arrests,” and some fear that the decision “may make it easier for the Kremlin to go after religious minorities in general.”
Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, many evangelical Christian groups are also viewed by the Russian government, which has increasingly sponsored the Russian Orthodox Church, as cults and extremist organizations. Newsweek adds that the government has targeted not only Jehovah’s Witnesses and evangelical Christians but also Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists.
Evangelist Franklin Graham is among the American conservatives who have hailed Putin, thanking him for “protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda” and “protecting traditional Christianity.”
Graham even picked Moscow as a location for his conference on defending the freedoms of Christians. However, organizers had to cancel once Putin outlawed proselytizing.
We will wait to see if Graham and others will stand up for the long-persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses-after-religious-right-hailed-putin-as-christian-hero/

Not literally but have people not come here thinking we are apostate for posting here. But since they are also posting on social media well...?

Japanese destroyers join US strike group amid tensions on Korean Peninsula
Published time: 21 Apr, 2017 14:52 Get short URL FILE PHOTO. U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships. © U.S. Navy / Reuters   Two Japanese Navy destroyers have joined the carrier strike group ‘USS Carl Vinson’ heading towards the Korean Peninsula for a massive show of force as North Korea prepares to mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its military. The Japanese warships, destroyers ‘Ashigara’ and ‘Samidare’, left the navy’s Sasebo base early on Friday for a rendezvous with the ‘USS Carl Vinson’ group off North Korean shores, NHK reports.
Defense Ministry officials said the details of the joint US-Japan naval exercise are yet to be determined. The drill comes as an apparent show of force aimed at deterring North Korea, which will mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its military next week.
Read more
Trump’s ‘armada’ turns toward North Korea as White House defends misleading remarks
Though little is known about the naval exercise, the event was announced by the Japanese Navy earlier last week.
“Japan wants to dispatch several destroyers as the ‘Carl Vinson’ enters the East China Sea,” said one of the Japanese military sources, as cited by Reuters.
The source added that the drills would involve helicopter landings on both American and Japanese ships as well as communications training.
The American strike group includes Nimitz-class aircraft carrier ‘USS Carl Vinson’ with her air wing, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers ‘USS Wayne E. Meyer’ and ‘USS Michael Murphy’, as well as Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser ‘USS Lake Champlain’.
The strike group will operate in the region under the operational control of the 3rd Fleet as part of the 3rd Fleet Forward initiative, according to the US Navy. 
Its arrival to the Western Pacific was marked by a string of conflicting statements from the White House and the Pentagon. Last week, US President Donald Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that “we are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful – far more powerful than the aircraft carrier.”
The news, however, was downplayed by US military officials after it emerged that the strike group was heading to Australia instead of the Korean Peninsula. Some American media reported that the USS Carl Vinson and her escort ships were operating near Indonesia.
Read more N. Korea could have sarin-tipped missiles, Japanese PM says ahead of Pyongyang's ‘big event’ Earlier this week, a senior White House official accused the military of misleading the president and his team about the deployment of the ‘Carl Vinson’, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Defense Secretary James Mattis provided a rather vague statement, saying: “The Vinson, as I’ve said on the record, was operating up and down the western Pacific … And that is, we’re shifting her, instead of continuing one direction as she pulled out of Singapore she’s going to continue part of our cruise down in that region, but she was on her way up to Korea.”
The latest flare-up in tension between the US and North Korea has been triggered by reports that the state was about to conduct its sixth nuclear test or fire a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. Washington threatened to solve the ‘North Korean problem’ unilaterally, arguing that Pyongyang poses a threat to US interests in the region.
North Korea said it was ready to defend itself with all means available, including weapons of mass destruction. In a series of extraordinary statements, China, North Korea’s main trading partner and ally, warned that the region was on the brink of an all-out war.
Russia, which shares a land border with the hermit state, urged all parties to refrain from the use of military force.

Here we have a major milestone: the first official prosecutor's warning to a Jehovah's Witness about gathering AT HIS HOME for praying and reading the Bible with a threat of criminal prosecution.
Source: http://echo.msk.ru/doc/1967462-echo.html