bruceq

Jehovah and Jesus use imperfect humans to lead us. We need to obey and be fully "devoted" to them as the Israelites were to Moses. Not critical or undevoted as Korah and his rebels were. The Christians had to obey certain "instuctions" to survive the Great Tribulation in the first century. If anyone has any doubt that  we should be "devoted" to imperfect men then just read the Bible : " 42  And they continued devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles" Acts 2 :42. 

According to RT News [Russian news} they report this :"North Korea has tried, but allegedly failed, to conduct a new missile test launch, according to South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff. The alleged botched launch comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a day after Pyongyang showcased its new sea based and intercontinental missiles." https://www.rt.com/news/384904-korea-pyongyang-missile-launch/
Wonder which General will be killed for that mistake.

What is important is that people right now that I am speaking with in the field are scared to death about things happening this past week. So now is a good time to "comfort them from the Scriptures".

Nicely said Queen Esther. It is possible that a another world war or even a limited nuclear exchange by a "crazy kid" [I think you know who I mean] may trigger the nations to want to strengthen the United Nations and declare "peace and security". How fitting and timely it is that the worldwide talk tomorrow is on the subject "How to Cultivate Peace in an Angry World".
Somehow I do not believe that the events in Russia with Jehovah's Witnesses, and Syria and Afghanistan and the South China Sea and now North Korea all happening at the same time are all just a coincidence. Someone once said "there is no such thing as a coincidence" {Leroy Jethrow Gibbs NCIS}
Footnote: The talk outline for the talk tomorrow was written about a year ago scheduled to be given tomorrow at the same time as all of these things are happening! Interesting.

What is important is that people right now that I am speaking with in the field are scared to death about things happening this past week. So now is a good time to "comfort them from the Scriptures".

NEW    Russia - Transcript of Vasily Kalina's speech.pdf        NEW    Russia - Transcript of Yury Toporov's speech.pdf  
Transcripts of his speech and Yury Toporov's

How WE see us:
How some RUSSIANS sees us:

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}.

IS THERE PREPARING THE THIRD WORLD WAR?
 The United States has just taken a unique step in the history of humanity by launching this afternoon the mother of all bombs on Afghanistan. It is not a nuclear bomb, but it is a step to show that you can survive a nuclear war.
For the first time in history, the United States has used the GBU-43 Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, a gigantic projectile weighing 10 tons, designed to destroy cave complexes and underground tunnels.
The United States had lost years of world influence, being surpassed by Russia and China militarily and economically. The biblical King of the South was no longer the empire of years ago. With the launch of this bomb this afternoon, with the Syrian bombing, with the presence of a military fleet off the coast of North Korea, the king of the South is claiming his authority, power and world influence again. A serious warning has been issued to the Russian power, recognized by the slave as the king of the north years ago, that he is willing to do whatever it takes to not lose the authority that Satan has given him.
Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Faith in this world, who does not believe in the future destruction of the planet. But we do not rule out the possibility of a Third World War, something that has never been seen since the days of the flood to this day.
To the question of if there can be a Third World War, the slave has answered on a single occasion: "we do not know" (he does not deny it)
However, we must be very careful about the announcements of fatalism: (Matthew 24: 4-6) And in reply Jesus said to them: "Be careful that no one misleads them; 5 For many will come upon my name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will mislead many. 6 You will hear of wars and reports of wars; See that they are not terrified. Because these things have to happen, but it is not yet the end
The world scene has changed dramatically. 1914 is already far away and now the Jehovah's Witnesses are preparing definitively for the end of a civilization and a change of system. Jesus did not retract his words about a human channel on earth: (Matthew 24: 45-47) "Who is truly the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his household, to give them his food At the appropriate time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master, when he arrives, finds him doing so! 47 Verily I say unto you, He shall appoint him over all his goods.
It has begun a countdown that only if we remain united with the authentic and discreet slave of Jehovah's Witnesses, will lead us to survive the great tribulation.
 

Not mentioned yet because it may happen soon is what the article is saying : "The future will show whether the representatives of the Guinness Book record a new world record for the number of letters written"

No one is pressured into doing anything they don`t want to, Jehovah wants willingness not forced

Baloney. 
 

Really? Pressured to leave work. Seriously? I can give you countless of JW articles that encourages finding a job and keeping it and it's benefits (e.g. Awake July 8 2005 pp. 1-11). I admit, even some elders in some congregation may impose their personal opinions on you, but that is what it is - their personal opinion. That have nothing to do with being a Witness. Like Derek mentioned, there's no compulsion in serving God.
Who are they? Elders? Administrative center? or JWs as a whole? Well, I see JWs getting married all the time; From the governing body to the last of a publisher.
Required? by who? As much as I can hardly see this to be true, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. There is no such instruction to disfellowship any brother on such basis. The worst is the brother not being able to handle certain responsibilities in the congregation.
Please, next time, get your facts right. For all you know, that wasn't the basis for his disfellowshipment

ACTUALLY IT IS IRONIC THAT THE RUSSIANS AND OPPOSERS TRY TO SAY THE WITNESSES HAVE TOTAL CONTROL WHEN IT IS THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TRYING TO IMPOSE "TOTAL CONTROL" OVER YOUR RELIGIOUS VIEWS. JUST LIKE HITLER WANTED TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE WITNESSES. IF SOMEONE DOSEN'T LIKE BEING A WITNESS THEY CAN LEAVE WHEREAS HITLER PUT THEM IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND STALIN PUT THEM IN SIBERIA!
ACTS 2:42 SAYS: 42 " And they continued devoting themselves to the teaching of the apostles"
DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO IMPERFECT MEN? INTERESTING - YET THAT IS JEHOVAH'S WAY. AND HIS WAY IS ALWAYS TO OUR BENEFIT EVEN IF YOU DO NOT REALIZE IT AT FIRST. I WOULD RATHER HAVE JEHOVAH AND HIS PEOPLE HAVING ANY KIND OF CONTROL OVER ME THAN SATAN AND HIS MINIONS. WE ARE "SHEEP" AND SHEEP ARE CONTROLLED OR LED BY SHEPHERDS. THAT IS JEHOVAH'S WAY.

During the hearing in the Russian Supreme Court on the suit of the Ministry of Justice against the Jehovah's Witnesses (SI) revealed that one of the banned books, planted a believer, belonged not to them but to the Orthodox anti-sectarian center, the correspondent of "Portal Credo.Ru-» . April 7 at the hearing SI lawyers explained that almost all the cases in which their local religious organization (MPO) in Russia were liquidated decisions of the courts, based on fabricated evidence.Believers do not spread and do not even store books and magazines, made to the federal list of extremist literature, the Russian Federation, however, the law enforcement agencies themselves throw up these SI materials, and then "find" during searches. Some incidents of this kind are recorded on video, widely available on the Internet and shown on television.
Jehovah's Witnesses were able to establish the fact that in Voronezh "extremist literature" law enforcement agencies gave structures associated with the ROC. In one of the books ( "What Does the Bible Really Teach?"), Located in the file in the package number 5, there is a field in which you can enter the name of the owner of the book. This field is the inscription "IKTSMV", which means "Information and Consultation Center of St. Mitrofan Voronezh ". Thrown the book was "discovered" by a layer of carpet, on which stood a pot of flowers.

According to the database vob.ru data, the center was created with the blessing of Metropolitan of Voronezh and Borisoglebsk ROC Sergei (Fomin) and is part of the Russian Association of Centers for Study of Religions and Sects (RATSIRS). According iriney.ru site IKTSMV headed by Eugene Lischenyuk priest, the center also helps the well-known "sectologist" Alexander Dvorkin. The stated purpose of the center's activities - "the development of appropriate (do not contradict the orthodox morality and do not violate the secular law) forms of anti-sectarian activities and the development of targeted mission to neutralize proselytizing programs and religious extremism."

However, the Criminal Code contains an article 303: the falsification of evidence and the results of operatively-search activity. This article states that the falsification of evidence in a civil case by a person involved in the case, or his representative, shall be punished by a fine of 100 to 300 thousand rubles, or by compulsory works up to 480 hours, or correctional labor for up to 2 years, or imprisonment for up to 4 months.
In fact there is a second copy of the same book, the fields that have a ballpoint pen marks, which are critical remarks in relation to the text of the book. It is obvious that the mark makes a person who does not agree with the position of the SI.
In spite of the falsification of evidence, the court in Voronezh took the side of Jehovah's Witnesses and took note of the evidence toss. March 2 this year, the court noted the contradictory testimony of prosecution witnesses and reversed a lower district court on the Elimination of Voronezh organization SI.

FAMOUS POET JOHN MILTON SAID ALSO IN HIS WORK "PARADISE LOST" AND THE SEQUEL "PARADISE REGAINED" THAT THE EARTH WOULD BE RESTORED TO A PARADISE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE. FROM THE 17TH CENTURY.
In 1651, one scholar wrote that since through Adam men “have forfeited Paradise, and Eternal Life on Earth,” so in the Christ “all men shall be made to live on Earth; for else the comparison were not proper.” (Read 1 Corinthians 15:21]
Revelation 21:1 mentions a "new heavens AND a new earth". The new heavens is described in vs.2 and the new earth is described in vs. 3 and 4. pretty simple.

FAMOUS POET JOHN MILTON SAID ALSO IN HIS WORK "PARADISE LOST" AND THE SEQUEL "PARADISE REGAINED" THAT THE EARTH WOULD BE RESTORED TO A PARADISE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE. FROM THE 17TH CENTURY.
In 1651, one scholar wrote that since through Adam men “have forfeited Paradise, and Eternal Life on Earth,” so in the Christ “all men shall be made to live on Earth; for else the comparison were not proper.” (Read 1 Corinthians 15:21]
Revelation 21:1 mentions a "new heavens AND a new earth". The new heavens is described in vs.2 and the new earth is described in vs. 3 and 4. pretty simple.

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}.

Vasily Kalin: "I got a certificate of a victim of political repression. And what kind of certificate does the Justice Ministry want to provide me today? "
April 11, 2017 Trying to complete ban Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia
  Text explanations which 7 April 2017 addressed to the Supreme Cude Russia Vasily Kalin of the Steering Committee of "Jehovah's Witnesses Administrative Center in Russia."
    00   00:00         Dear court! I'm not a lawyer, so I will try to speak in simple words, simple expressions make it clear to you, dear court, as well as to the distinguished representative of the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice appealed to you March 15, 2017 to recognize the extremist and eliminate immediately all the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. A lot of them - this is one centralized organization and 395 local religious organizations throughout Russia. Is this legal? I think not. Management center does not agree with the statements of Justice as extremist activities not carried out and does not perform at the moment.
Over the 26 years of official existence of the organization as a legal entity Administrative Center never prosecuted for violation of any provisions of the Federal Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations" and the Federal Law "On Countering Extremist Activity". If so, then I, the chairman of the governing body, the question arises: if we were good 26 years and have not committed crimes, then I wonder what day we become extremists? That the Administrative Center has done such that it requires to eliminate? Personally, I'm in a suit of the Ministry of Justice did not find the answer to this question.
The Ministry of Justice claims that the statement of claim filed in order to strengthen the rule of law and the prevention of violations of state and public security, protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as to counter extremist activities. Where are these grim facts? I do not argue that the struggle against extremism is really important and noble goal. But the fact that the appreciation of the Ministry of Justice claims the state does not reach the stated goals, and just the opposite - a violation of believers' rights, violation of their freedom and return to the dark past. It is violated the rule of law under Article 4 th of the Constitution, and caused significant damage to legitimate rights, freedoms and interests of more than 175 000 citizens of the Russian Federation - men, women and children.
In addition, the satisfaction of the requirements of the Ministry of Justice will further strengthen the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses on religious grounds, which have already begun. In fact, the court's decision on the Elimination of all religious communities of Jehovah's Witnesses will be interpreted as the enforcers nationwide ban on the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in the announcement of their peaceful worship criminal. As a result, tens of thousands of believers will undergo illegal persecution only because they will be gathered together to read the Bible, and we have already passed such.
Even now, before the pronouncement of the Supreme Court decision in the case, on the basis of the order of Ministry of Justice of Russia on March 15, 2017 the activities of the Administrative Center suspended the organization bank accounts blocked, and therefore the Administrative Center is not able not only to continue normal business operations but also to pay a state fee. Administrative Center of the Ministry of Justice has submitted the list of terrorists and extremists, and put on a par with such organizations as the "Al-Qaeda", the movement "Taliban", Aum, and many others.
We have heard the representative of the Ministry of Justice, acting without blinking said that Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists, that is, criminals, and it is in a lawsuit. The very fact that the Ministry of Justice submitted meet the claim will be the epitome of extremism, gross injustice and a return to the days of the Soviet Union, when thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to brutal persecution, were placed in the Gulag and forever referred to Siberia only because Jehovah's Witnesses practice a religion. In modern history, no state of law did not allow himself such acts against its people. In contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses legally operate in more than 240 countries and territories, including all European countries, and has a worldwide reputation respected, peaceful and law-abiding people.
Dear court! You have the power and the legal basis to make of the administrative case solution, which will show that the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia on charges of extremism should be stopped. Fair, honest and lawful decision in the case can be only one - the failure to satisfy the claim of the Ministry of Justice.
Jehovah's Witnesses have never been extremists, they are not of today. Their beliefs are contrary to the manifestation of hatred, hostility and violence. It is a peaceful, honest, respectable members of society and the state, who follow the biblical commandment to fulfill the prayers, supplications and prayers, thanksgiving for all men, for kings, for all those in authority, to conduct our lives a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty. This is a quote from the Bible, the message of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, chapter 2, verses 1-2 minutes. Also in the Bible, the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 1 says that every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no authority except from God. Hence, Jehovah's Witnesses, obeying the instructions of the Bible, showing deep respect for the power and show respect and love for people. They are not extremists.
The history of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia more than 100 years. During this time there was no occasion when Jehovah's Witnesses called for violence, subversion or otherwise threatening state security. In contrast, Jehovah's Witnesses, as before, and now often receive praise from the government for their good deeds for the benefit of society. Their religious communities the authorities handed over the written letters and gratitude, many of them here, and something given in court.
Christian doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses is based solely on the Bible and does not contain listed in the Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On countering extremist activities" of extremism, not calls for extremist action. The data on the basic creeds draws attention to the fact that believers treat other people the way they want to be treated with them. This is a quote from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 12. And Jehovah's Witnesses have always adhered to and adhere to the principles of peace is today. And the spread of faith stems from a desire to do the will of God, which is also recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, the 24th chapter, 14th verse, and the desire to help others draw closer to God, to find hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth. Court provided these documents.
During the Soviet Union, when the government led a relentless struggle against dissent, Jehovah's Witnesses, along with believers of other faiths were brutally persecuted just because they read the Bible, based on the prints it, and confessed their biblical views. In 1951, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses, Soviet civilians were deported to Siberia forever. All property of the faithful, their homes, belongings, livestock have been confiscated. In the future, hundreds of believers have been convicted on charges of anti-Soviet activities and served his sentence in the Gulag system. Question: For what? Only for the fact that professed beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and followed the biblical commandments.
My family and I have also gone through the political repression during the same thing as what we are accused today, but then we have been rehabilitated. I was born on February 5, 1947 in Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk region. And 8 April 1951 at the age of 4 with his family - his parents, his grandmother, two older brothers and sister - we were exiled to Siberia forever, in the Irkutsk region. They drove us dirty freight cars more than 20 days in inhumane conditions in which animals are transported normally. There were men, women, children, no toilets, no food, no different conditions.
Our exile in Siberia was connected with Stalin's decree and concerned people who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. My parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. But for me it was an interesting one circumstance of this case: my parents, as well as any of Jehovah's Witnesses, to be expelled at the time, I could have avoided this fate. We had to make just a small thing - to abandon the faith, to sign the document of renunciation. Interestingly, if you are a criminal and so you shall be subject to severe punishment, it is unlikely someone the opportunity presents itself. But the opportunity was given Jehovah's Witnesses, and only because they were not criminals. Clearly, Jehovah's Witnesses at the time also did not commit any crime, but were persecuted.
The state simply did not like the position of these people, which is very different from the alien people the ideology of building a godless society. Exiled in Siberia Jehovah's Witnesses have also continued to study the Bible, telling others about what is written in it. Despite the further unleashing of terror and persecution, slander against these innocent people, Jehovah's Witnesses lost their deep convictions, they were angry, did not rebel against their oppressors. They continue to be honest, highly moral, decent people, to show love and respect for all people around, regardless of their beliefs, the nation and the origin. Why? Because they are highly honored the law of God "to love your neighbor as yourself."
Today, nothing has changed. Yes, my childhood was spent largely in poverty, hunger, humiliation, ridicule, because I grew up baby enemies. How would you react, dear court, the fact if a five-year child asks for bread from his mother, and his mother turned away, so that the child did not see her tears, and said: "Son, be patient a little bit, we will soon be a lot of bread." And this kid, who requested a piece of bread ... I've been thinking, how much we will have plenty of bread? Likely, a whole loaf! This weeping woman was my mother. This child asking for a piece of bread, I was.
The question is: why? For what these people were in such poverty? For what crime these children were deprived of the joy of his childhood, a simple piece of bread and a free life? And, of course, I then, the younger boy, it was very difficult to compare the reality with the humiliating propaganda of the time of a happy childhood given to us a great country. And what about the lies that generously showered these innocent honest workers? In my school years, I sometimes felt like an outcast.
Judge asked to speak closer to the point.
Kalin: Dear court, I did not want to do advertising his family and himself. I wanted to show an example of the past, that we return to the same today. Because today is what is already happening, even that claim went to the Supreme Court on the Elimination of Jehovah's Witnesses, we are already seeing a lot of what is happening today. Today, as many people, or some people, already prejudiced against Jehovah's Witnesses, already persecution and ridicule students in the school, already collect lists of places of Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. Therefore, if today to follow the path that invites us to the Ministry of Justice - to eliminate the Administrative Center, to eliminate all the local religious organization in Russia, there will be the same.
I really liked the words of one official, who said to me: 'Vasily Mikhailovich, a legal entity can be eliminated, but faith - no. " How to think the Department of Justice, fulfilling their desire to eliminate Jehovah's Witnesses, do we give up their actions, their faith? Never. But what happens? That is what has happened in Russia, such as the judicial process in Taganrog. Already people have received formal imprisonment, people have been convicted and their families also suffered a lot of persecution. Therefore, looking at the whole situation, which takes place today, of course, a pity that we are returning to that state.
For example, I have a strange question: I have received a certificate as a victim of political repression. I once was a criminal, as well as my parents. Then this charge removed from me. And what a witness today the Ministry of Justice wants to give these people they call extremists? What actions, what actions of Jehovah's Witnesses held their equate to those who commit crimes today?
Therefore, I believe that the lawsuit, which was filed by the Ministry of Justice, returns back and demands to deprive them of the right to profess together the Jehovah's Witnesses faith in God. Otherwise, we face harsh prison sentences, and possibly subsequent complaints. If in the years Jehovah's Witnesses USSR judged on the basis of vague articles of the Criminal Code on anti-Soviet activities, today the basis for the prosecution of (a) the same number of uncertain and vague article anti-extremist legislation. However, I said, Jehovah's Witnesses have never posed a threat to the state either in the past or now, and they do not provide such a threat in the future.
Turning to the representative of the Ministry of Justice, I would like to remind you: the requirement to eliminate the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia outlaw those people who wish you and all citizens of Russia peace, happiness and love. I hope that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will not allow the Ministry of Justice to bring back those shameful pages of history, which I and many other Russians of my age had to endure. Therefore, the claim of the Ministry of Justice asking to refuse. Many thanks.
 

@bruceq Possibly! The time is short and Satan and his hordes know it! Let it come. Jehovah will save his people. We are privileged to watch this unfold. It will be perfect timing by Jehovah! Thank you for your hard work. It's much appreciated. 
Bible Speaks ? ? ?
@bruceq A scriptural thought:
 Jesus said to the religious Jews who opposed him: “You are from your father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of yourfather. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him.” (Joh 8:44) This is evidence that it was the Devil who spoke through the instrumentality of the serpent, and that this one was a manslayer from thebeginning of his lying, devilish course. In thevision that Christ later gave to John, he revealed that Satan the Devil is also called “the original serpent.” (Re 12:9) Satan got his hold on mankind, gaining influence over Adam’s children, by inducing their father Adam to rebel against God. So in the first prophecy, of Genesis 3:15, Jehovah gave hope that this Serpent would be put out of the way. (Compare Ro 16:20.) Not only is Satan’s head to be crushed but also all of his works are to be broken up, destroyed, or undone. (1Jo 3:8; NW, KJ, AT) The fulfillment of this prophecy would of necessity require the undoing of the death introduced by Adam, including bringing back by a resurrection those of Adam’s offspring who go into Sheol (Hades) as a result of his sin, theeffects of which they inherit.—1Co 15:26. 

I wonder, and it would be ironic, if apostates because of their hatred actually will be responsible for the outbreak of the Great Tribulation by inciting nations for turn against Jehovah's Witnesses and all other religions as well?

Specified Search View Map Make Timegraph View Tags Image Library JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TARGETED FOR HARASSMENT AND POSSIBLE PERSECUTION Date: 2009 March 5, 15:39 (Thursday) Canonical ID: 09MOSCOW546_a Original Classification: CONFIDENTIAL Current Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
In the metadata of the Kissinger Cables this field is called 'Previous Handling Restrictions'.

Cablegate does not originally have this field. We have given it the entry 'Not Assigned'.

Citations for acronyms used are available here." data-hasqtip="true" oldtitle="Handling Restrictions" title="" style="box-sizing: inherit; background: transparent; color: rgb(33, 107, 124) !important; text-decoration: none; font-size: 10pt !important; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; margin-top: 2px; margin-left: 2px; display: inline-block;">Handling Restrictions -- Not Assigned -- Character Count: 12037 Executive Order: -- Not Assigned -- Locator: TEXT ONLINE TAGS: KIRF - International Religious Freedom | PGOV - Political Affairs--Government; Internal Governmental Affairs | PHUM - Political Affairs--Human Rights | PINR - Political Affairs--Intelligence | PREL - Political Affairs--External Political Relations |RS - Russia | SOCI - Social Affairs--Social Conditions Concepts: -- Not Assigned -- Enclosure: -- Not Assigned -- Type: TE - Telegram (cable) Office Origin: -- N/A or Blank --   Office Action: -- N/A or Blank -- Archive Status: -- Not Assigned -- From: Russia Moscow Markings: -- Not Assigned -- To: Group Destinations Commonwealth of Independent States | Russia Moscow Political Collective | Secretary of State  
  Content Raw content Metadata Print Share Show Headers Classified By: Ambassador John Beyrle for reason 1.4(d) 1. (C) Summary. Over the past several months, two regional courts have charged the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) of Russia with distributing extremist literature, and the Russian General Prosecutor has ordered a full investigation of JW religious activity, in coordination with the FSB. Local police and FSB officials interrupted JW religious ceremonies and individual members subsequently received burdensome and intrusive information requests. No other religious groups in Russia have experienced a similarly intense period of scrutiny in recent months. JW representatives believed that an "anti-cult" organization loosely affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) instigated the investigation, just days after the inauguration of ROC Patriarch Kirill. Human Rights Ombudsman Lukin has refused to meet with JW officials three times in the past several years, calling any such meeting a "dangerous situation." Lukin's deputy covering religious affairs warned us about United Russia party efforts to revise the 1997 Law on Freedom of Conscience to combat extremism. The Ambassador underscored strong concern over the targeting of JW with Presidential Human Rights Council Chairperson Pamfilova and plans to raise the issue in an upcoming meeting with Patriarch Kirill. End Summary. Targeted for Legal Action? -------------------------- 2. (C) On February 26, Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) attorney Marc Hansen, JW Presiding Committee Chairman Vassiliy Kalin, and JW Presiding Committee member Yaroslav Sivulskiy told us that Russian First Deputy Prosecutor General Aleksandr Buksman issued an assignment to regional prosecutor offices to investigate the legality of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses' religious activity in Russia. Buksman requested that regional prosecutor offices cooperate with the FSB, Ministry of Justice, public health departments and organizations, and military commissars to provide a full account of JW violations by February 18. Hansen learned about the coordinated review after receiving a copy of a letter from the Moscow Region Prosecutor's Office dated February 13, issued to all Moscow city, district, and special prosecutor's offices. The letter signed by First Deputy Regional Prosecutor Aleksandr Ignatenko tasked all regional offices to take prosecutorial measures, wherever grounds for action existed, and chastised JW's missionary activity, social isolation, teachings to avoid military service, and refusal to receive blood transfusions as fostering a "negative relationship to the population and traditional Russian confessions." A similar order issued by Sakhalin Region First Deputy Prosecutor Vladimir Minigorayev on February 2 called on territorial police departments, FSB, and Ministry of Justice officials to organize an investigation of any JW violations of Federal Law 125 on Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Communions of 1997. Ignatenko's request acknowledged that JW registered with the Ministry of Justice in 1999 and has over 400 communities in Russia subordinate to the Administrative Center. 3. (C) As a result of the Russian Prosecutor General's assignment, several Jehovah's Witnesses chapters received court orders to provide information about the organization's activities. JW chapters in Solnechnodolsk (Stavropol Territory), Angarsk (Irkutsk Region), and Sarapul (Udmurt Republic) received requests for legal documents on chapter registration, member lists, details on religious events and practices, real estate documentation, bank account records, and details on chapter management decisions. All of the orders, issued between February 13 and 17, requested a full accounting from JW chapters by February 18. A fourth chapter in Belokurikha (Altai Territory) received a court order on February 18 for information on all chapter members who applied for marriage annulments from 2004 to the present. Vague Extremism Charges ----------------------- 4. (C) Russian authorities charged Jehovah's Witnesses in Altai Territory and Rostov Oblast with extremism in early 2009, prompting a flurry of legal activity from both sides. On February 26, Andrik told us that there had been positive developments in the Salsk (Rostov Oblast) court proceeding that charged JW with the production and dissemination of 12 pieces of extremist literature (as opposed to 27 in Altai). Andrik noted that the Salsk prosecutor lacked evidence proving the extremist nature of JW religious literature, and added that the prosecutor never claimed in the proceedings that JW literature is actually extremist, only that it "could MOSCOW 00000546 002 OF 003 be" or "might be used as" extremist literature. The Salsk prosecutor, whom Hansen described as inexperienced, promised to discuss the evidence with her superiors before the next court hearing on March 12. 5. (C) While no decisions in the Gorno-Altaisk (Altai Territory) case had been made, JW representatives described their chances of success as "comparably poor." Hansen attributed part of JW's problems in Gorno-Altaisk to the rural characteristics of the region, conceding that more traditional bureaucrats likely will rule against them. While Andrik and Hansen applauded the judge's decision to allow them access to the prosecutor's files, they pointed to a problematic 49-page study conducted by a Gorno-Altaisk university that claimed JW engaged in "mind control" activities. While JW challenged the admissibility of the study, performed over a three day period in January 2009, Hansen believed that cost and time constraints would prevent the judge in Altai from ordering a second evaluation. Hansen offered that a quick review of the lists of the so-called "extremist" magazines and books showed that none of the publications singled out in Salsk and Gorno-Altaisk overlapped, calling into question the uniformity of criteria used by these courts in the review process. (Note: Andrik stated that there are only 150,000 registered members of JW in Russia, but twice that many attend services. End Note). Harassment in Kazan, St. Petersburg ----------------------------------- 6. (C) Sivulskiy told us on February 26 that the St. Petersburg office of the JW had received hundreds of calls from members complaining about government harassment in schools and worship services. He said that local police and FSB agents recently visited elementary school classes and asked teachers to indicate which students were members of Jehovah's Witnesses, subsequently approaching the children for information about their lifestyles. Law enforcement officials singled out no other "minority" students. In Tatarstan, FSB agents interrupted a JW worship service and asked for identification from each parishioner, preventing the observation of their normal practices. Such incidents compelled JW leaders to appeal to Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin in past years, but Sivulskiy said that Lukin's rejection of the last three meeting requests as a "dangerous situation" hardly encouraged JW representatives to try again. Government Expert Wary About Current Trend ------------------------------------------ 7. (C) Mikhail Odintsov, Head of the Department of Religious Affairs in the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, told us on January 20 that "all things are possible in Russia" regarding changes on religious freedom, and characterized the current environment for non-Orthodox groups as a "return to the Soviet Union." Odintsov cited the legal problems of the Jehovah's Witnesses, property disputes facing the Baptists, a Justice Ministry lawsuit against a Pentecostal seminary, and visa problems restricting missionaries as examples of hardships facing many religious groups in Russia. Concerning the cases currently facing JW, Odintsov cited past European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions in 1993, 2000, and 2001 which confirmed the legal rights of the JW, as well as the ECHR ruling on the complaint "Kuznetsov and Others vs. Russia" which dismissed government charges against JW in Rostov region in November 2007 as a breach of article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. That said, he believed that the scale of the campaign suggested higher powers at play. Russian Orthodox Church Tied to Harassment? ------------------------------------------- 8. (C) Andrik told us on January 28 that an organization associated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) provided the main impetus for action against Jehovah's Witnesses. In documents provided to the ECHR regarding the investigations of the JW Administrative Center, he pointed to the Committee for Salvation of Youth from Destructive Cults (the Committee) and the Vologda Regional Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Non-Traditional Religions as the sources of hostility. Andrik noted that ECHR itself recognized in 2003 that "the Committee," led by Alla Zhavoronkova, is connected to the ROC. According to Andrik, the Moscow General Prosecutor's office liquidated "The Moscow Community of Jehovah's Witnesses" as a legal entity in 2002 in a court case initiated by a complaint brought by "The Committee." Hansen openly suggested on February 26 that Patriarch Kirill could be behind the push, citing Kirill's past statements in opposition to non-Orthodox Christians and sects, as the JW MOSCOW 00000546 003 OF 003 have been labeled. Sivulskiy also unveiled his suspicions, highlighting the surge of activity against JW immediately after Kirill's enthronement. Changes in 1997 Law Forthcoming? -------------------------------- 9. (SBU) The recent surge in acts of extremism and nationalist violence has prompted Russian authorities to promise increased surveillance, and could lend to heavy-handed regulation of non-mainstream organizations. On December 2, a United Russia expert consultative council recommended the adoption of an anti-extremist project, which included changes in the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations. Religious organizations would be forced to present data about the faith's foundations, the history of its formation, and the "methodology" of its activity. Also subject to scrutiny would be the religion's outlook on family and marriage, health care for its followers, education, and requirements for membership. The United Russia bill stated that any changes to an organization's educational program must be reviewed and registered by authorities, ostensibly broadening these authorities' powers for subjective interpretation and restriction on religious activities. Comment ------- 10. (C) The crisis-driven government campaign against extremism will prod Russian bureaucrats to pick easy targets as trophies of their efforts. Ella Pamfilova, the newly re-appointed head of Medvedev,s Council on Promoting the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights told Ambassador March 4 that the JW should appeal to Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, and that although the Council is not set up to take complaints, she welcomed them to speak with her and other members of the council, including representatives from Moscow Helsinki Group and Memorial, who could also be approached. The Ambassador plans to raise the issue in an upcoming meeting with new ROC Patriarch Kirill, to gauge his personal views and advocate greater tolerance and acceptance. We will actively engage with our contacts in the Russian government, human rights community, and religious circles for more clarity on this issue. End Comment. BEYRLE      




   



   
References to this document in other cables References in this document to other cables 09MOSCOW261809MOSCOW1205 08MOSCOW1213 If the reference is ambiguous all possibilities are listed.

What We Owe Jehovah’s Witnesses
FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN PINTEREST PRINT BY SARAH BARRINGER GORDON 
1/27/2011 • AMERICAN HISTORY
Jehovah’s Witnesses were unlikely champions of religious freedom.
One of the most momentous cases on the Supreme Court docket as war raged globally in 1943 was about a single sentence said aloud by schoolchildren every day. They stood, held their right hands over their hearts or in a raised-arm salute and began, “I pledge allegiance to the flag…” To most Americans the pledge was a solemn affirmation of national unity, especially at a time when millions of U.S. troops were fighting overseas. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious sect renowned for descending en masse on small towns or city neighborhoods and calling on members of other faiths to “awake” and escape the snare of the devil and his minions, felt otherwise. They insisted that pledging allegiance to the flag was a form of idolatry akin to the worship of graven images prohibited by the Bible. In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Walter Barnett (whose surname was misspelled by a court clerk) argued that the constitutional rights of his daughters Marie, 8, and Gathie, 9, were violated when they were expelled from Slip Hill Grade School near Charleston, W.Va., for refusing to recite the pledge.
 
      In a landmark decision written by Justice Robert Jackson and announced on Flag Day, June 14, the Supreme Court sided with the Witnesses. “To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds,” Jackson said. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses were unlikely champions of religious freedom. The sect’s leaders denounced all other religions and all secular governments as tools of the devil, and preached the imminence of the Apocalypse, during which no one except Jehovah’s Witnesses would be spared. But their persistence in fighting in the courts for their beliefs had a dramatic impact on constitutional law. Barnette is just one of several major Supreme Court decisions involving freedom of religion, speech, assembly and conscience that arose from clashes between Jehovah’s Witnesses and government authorities. The Witnesses insisted that God’s law demanded they refrain from all pledges of allegiance to earthly governments. They tested the nation’s tolerance of controversial beliefs and led to an increasing recognition that a willingness to embrace religious diversity is what distinguishes America from tyrannical regimes.
The Witness sect was founded in the 1870s, and caused a stir when the founder, Charles Taze Russell, a haberdasher in Pittsburgh, predicted the world would come to an end in 1914. Russell died in 1916; he was succeeded by his lawyer Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who shrewdly emphasized that the Apocalypse was near, but not so near that Witnesses didn’t have time to convert new followers, which they were required to do lest they miss out on salvation. This “blood guilt” propelled in-your-face proselytizing by Witnesses in various communities on street corners and in door-to-door visits. Soon the sect developed a reputation for exhibiting “astonishing powers of annoyance,” as one legal commentator put it.
Rutherford ruled the Witnesses with an iron fist. He routinely encouraged public displays of contempt for “Satan’s world,” which included all other religions and all secular governments. At the time, the number of Witnesses in the U.S.—roughly 40,000—was so small that many Americans could ignore them. But in Nazi Germany, no group was too small to escape the eye of new chancellor Adolf Hitler, who banned the Witnesses after they refused to show their fealty to him with the mandatory “Heil Hitler” raised-arm salute. (Many Witnesses would later perish in his death camps.) In response, Rutherford praised the German Witnesses and advised all of his followers to refuse to participate in any oaths of allegiance that violated (in his view) the Second Commandment: “Thou shall have no Gods before me.”
With conflict looming around the world in the 1930s, many states enacted flag salute requirements, especially in schools. The steadfast refusal of Witnesses to pledge, combined with their refusal to serve in the military or to support America’s war effort in any way, triggered public anger. Witnesses soon became a ubiquitous presence in courtrooms across the country.
The relationship between Witnesses and the courts was complicated, in part because of the open disdain Rutherford and his followers displayed toward all forms of government and organized religion. Rutherford instructed Witnesses not to vote, serve on juries or participate in other civic duties. He even claimed Social Security numbers were the “mark of the beast” foretold in Revelations. The Catholic Church, said Rutherford, was a “racket,” and Protestants and Jews were “great simpletons,” taken in by the Catholic hierarchy to “carry on her commercial, religious traffic and increase her revenues.” Complaints about unwelcome public proselytizing by Witnesses led to frequent run-ins with state and local authorities and hundreds of appearances in lower courts. Every day in court for Rutherford and the Witnesses’ chief attorney, Hayden Covington, was an opportunity to preach the true meaning of law to the judges and to confront the satanic government.
In late 1935, Witness Walter Gobitas’ two children—Lillian, 12, and Billy, 10—were expelled from school in Minersville, Pa., because they balked at the mandatory recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a long court battle ensued. When Gobitis v. Minersville School District (as with Barnette, a court clerk misspelled the family surname) made its way to the Supreme Court in the spring of 1940, Rutherford and Covington framed their argument in religious terms, claiming that any statute contrary to God’s law as given to Moses must be void. The Court rejected the Witnesses’ claim, holding that the secular interests of the school district in fostering patriotism were paramount. In the majority opinion, written during the same month that France fell to the Nazis, Felix Frankfurter wrote: “National unity is the basis of national security.” The plaintiffs, said Frankfurter, were free to “fight out the wise use of legislative authority in the forum of public opinion and before legislative assemblies.”
In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Harlan Stone argued that “constitutional guarantees or personal liberty are not always absolutes…but it is a long step, and one which I am unwilling to take, that government may, as a supposed educational measure…compel public affirmations which violate their public conscience.” Further, said Stone, the prospect of help for this “small and helpless minority” by the political process was so remote that Frankfurter had effectively “surrendered…the liberty of small minorities to the popular will.”
Public reaction to Gobitis bordered on hysteria, colored by the hotly debated prospect of American participation in the war in Europe. Some vigilantes interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision as a signal that Jehovah’s Witnesses were traitors who might be linked to a network of Nazi spies and saboteurs. In Imperial, a town outside Pittsburgh, a mob descended on a small group of Witnesses and pummeled them mercilessly. One Witness was beaten unconscious, and those who fled were cornered by ax- and knife-wielding men riding the town’s fire truck as someone yelled, “Get the ropes! Bring the flag!” In Kennebunk, Maine, the Witnesses’ gathering place, Kingdom Hall, was ransacked and torched, and days of rioting ensued. In Litchfield, Ill., an angry crowd spread an American flag on the hood of a car and watched while a man repeatedly smashed the head of a Witness upon it. In Rockville, Md., Witnesses were assaulted across the street from the police station, while officers stood and watched. By the end of the year, the American Civil Liberties Union estimated that 1,500 Witnesses had been assaulted in 335 separate attacks.
The reversal of Gobitis in Barnette just three years later was remarkably swift considering the typical pace of deliberations in the Supreme Court. In the wake of all the violence against Witnesses, three Supreme Court justices—William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy and Hugo Black—publicly signaled in a separate case that they thought Gobitis had been “wrongly decided.” When Barnette reached the Supreme Court in 1943, Harlan Stone, the lone dissenter in Gobitis, had risen to chief justice. The facts of the two cases mirrored each other, but the outcome differed dramatically. Most important, in ruling that Witness children could not be forced to recite the pledge, the new majority rejected the notion that legislatures, rather than the courts, were the proper place to address questions involving religious liberty. The “very purpose” of the Bill of Rights, wrote Justice Robert Jackson, was to protect some issues from the majority rule of politics. “One’s right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, may not be submitted to vote….Fundamental rights depend on the outcome of no elections.” Jackson’s opinion was laced with condemnation of enforced patriotism and oblique hints at the slaughter taking place in Hitler’s Europe. “Those who begin in coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters,” Jackson wrote. “Compulsory unification of opinions achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.” Religious dissenters, when seen from this perspective, are like the canary in the coal mine: When they begin to suffer and die, everyone should be worried that the atmosphere has been polluted by tyranny.
Today, the Witnesses still proselytize, but their right to do so is well established thanks to their long legal campaign. Over time they became less confrontational and blended into the fabric of American life.
In the wake of the Barnette decision, the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance continued to occupy a key (yet ambiguous) place in American politics and law. The original pledge was a secular oath, with no reference to any power greater than the United States of America. The phrase “under God” was added by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. Eisenhower, who had grown up in a Jehovah’s Witness household but later became a Presbyterian, alluded to the growing threat posed by Communists in the Soviet Union and China when he signed the bill: “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resources in peace and war.”
Eisenhower’s political instincts for the ways that religion functioned in American life were finely honed: Support for the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance was strong, including an overwhelming majority of Catholics and Protestants as well as a majority of Jews. According to a Gallup survey, the only group that truly opposed the change was the smattering of atheists. In a country locked in battle with godless communism, a spiritual weapon such as an amended pledge that was not denominationally specific made sense. Only after the intervening half-century and more does the “Judeo-Christian” God invoked in the pledge seem less than broadly inclusive.
Sarah Barringer Gordon is the author of The Spirit of the Law: Religious Voices and the Constitution in Modern America.

Interviewing witnesses Koretskaya, the court pointed out that it uses personal notes when testifying. The lawyer Lew asked, how do you explain the similarity of the wording of its records with texts from the site well-known anti-sectarian center. The court decided to read the recordings Koretskaya later.
Interviewing witnesses Zverev, the court asks, "If you harm if you are treated to the competent authorities on the matter?" The witness did not address. Zverev said that influenced the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, he personally experienced the hatred of the clergy of the Orthodox religion. The witness denies that he is anti-cult organizations, though there are pictures with the most famous "sectologists".
Witness Justice Petrov, a former Jehovah's Witness. In 1983, he became a Jehovah's Witness, she left work associated with the promotion of military heroism, because it does not meet the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2009, she left the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. As an example of extremist activity Administrative Center of results in the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are excluded from its ranks those who commit sins. (The court asked the representative of the Ministry of Justice, which is the Ministry of Justice the arguments set forth in the claim, confirmed by the testimony of this witness? The Ministry of Justice once again talking about a possible threat to the public.) On the question of the court, the witness Petrov saw that someone was distributing extremist literature, the witness He says he does not see.
18:11 The Court of Justice welcomes the last witness, V.V.Koretskogo. 18:11 The Court of Justice welcomes the last witness, V.V.Koretskogo. 18:11 Interviewing witnesses Koretskaya, the court pointed out that it uses personal notes when testifying. The lawyer Lew asked, how do you explain the similarity of the wording of its records with texts from the site well-known anti-sectarian center. The court decided to read the recordings Koretskaya later.
Interviewing witnesses Zverev, the court asks, "If you harm if you are treated to the competent authorities on the matter?" The witness did not address. Zverev said that influenced the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, he personally experienced the hatred of the clergy of the Orthodox religion. The witness denies that he is anti-cult organizations, though there are pictures with the most famous "sectologists".
Witness Justice Petrov, a former Jehovah's Witness. In 1983, he became a Jehovah's Witness, she left work associated with the promotion of military heroism, because it does not meet the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2009, she left the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. As an example of extremist activity Administrative Center of results in the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are excluded from its ranks those who commit sins. (The court asked the representative of the Ministry of Justice, which is the Ministry of Justice the arguments set forth in the claim, confirmed by the testimony of this witness? The Ministry of Justice once again talking about a possible threat to the public.) On the question of the court, the witness Petrov saw that someone was distributing extremist literature, the witness He says he does not see.
The Court of Justice welcomes the last witness, V.V.Koretskogo.
18:30 In 2009 Koretsky left the ranks of Jehovah's Witnesses. The judge asked whether the 2009 limited his knowledge of Jehovah's Witnesses. Witness: Yes. The Ministry of Justice asked the witness to explain what he knows about Jehovah's Witnesses to higher education, to the state symbols. The court asked the representative of the Ministry of Justice: "If you do not specify the points in the grounds of the claim, why do we find out?" The representative of the Ministry of Justice, "the question is removed." On the question of the court, whether Koretsky is interested in the outcome of the case, he answers briefly: "Yes."
The court announces a break until April 19, 2017 10:00.
Case to proceed on April 19th after the memorial special talk on April 16th ENTITLED "HOW TO CULTIVATE PEACE IN AN ANGRY WORLD" WOW. THANK YOU JEHOVAH FOR A GREAT WITNESS TO THE WORLD.

What We Owe Jehovah’s Witnesses
FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN PINTEREST PRINT BY SARAH BARRINGER GORDON 
1/27/2011 • AMERICAN HISTORY
Jehovah’s Witnesses were unlikely champions of religious freedom.
One of the most momentous cases on the Supreme Court docket as war raged globally in 1943 was about a single sentence said aloud by schoolchildren every day. They stood, held their right hands over their hearts or in a raised-arm salute and began, “I pledge allegiance to the flag…” To most Americans the pledge was a solemn affirmation of national unity, especially at a time when millions of U.S. troops were fighting overseas. But the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious sect renowned for descending en masse on small towns or city neighborhoods and calling on members of other faiths to “awake” and escape the snare of the devil and his minions, felt otherwise. They insisted that pledging allegiance to the flag was a form of idolatry akin to the worship of graven images prohibited by the Bible. In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Walter Barnett (whose surname was misspelled by a court clerk) argued that the constitutional rights of his daughters Marie, 8, and Gathie, 9, were violated when they were expelled from Slip Hill Grade School near Charleston, W.Va., for refusing to recite the pledge.
 
      In a landmark decision written by Justice Robert Jackson and announced on Flag Day, June 14, the Supreme Court sided with the Witnesses. “To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds,” Jackson said. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses were unlikely champions of religious freedom. The sect’s leaders denounced all other religions and all secular governments as tools of the devil, and preached the imminence of the Apocalypse, during which no one except Jehovah’s Witnesses would be spared. But their persistence in fighting in the courts for their beliefs had a dramatic impact on constitutional law. Barnette is just one of several major Supreme Court decisions involving freedom of religion, speech, assembly and conscience that arose from clashes between Jehovah’s Witnesses and government authorities. The Witnesses insisted that God’s law demanded they refrain from all pledges of allegiance to earthly governments. They tested the nation’s tolerance of controversial beliefs and led to an increasing recognition that a willingness to embrace religious diversity is what distinguishes America from tyrannical regimes.
The Witness sect was founded in the 1870s, and caused a stir when the founder, Charles Taze Russell, a haberdasher in Pittsburgh, predicted the world would come to an end in 1914. Russell died in 1916; he was succeeded by his lawyer Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who shrewdly emphasized that the Apocalypse was near, but not so near that Witnesses didn’t have time to convert new followers, which they were required to do lest they miss out on salvation. This “blood guilt” propelled in-your-face proselytizing by Witnesses in various communities on street corners and in door-to-door visits. Soon the sect developed a reputation for exhibiting “astonishing powers of annoyance,” as one legal commentator put it.
Rutherford ruled the Witnesses with an iron fist. He routinely encouraged public displays of contempt for “Satan’s world,” which included all other religions and all secular governments. At the time, the number of Witnesses in the U.S.—roughly 40,000—was so small that many Americans could ignore them. But in Nazi Germany, no group was too small to escape the eye of new chancellor Adolf Hitler, who banned the Witnesses after they refused to show their fealty to him with the mandatory “Heil Hitler” raised-arm salute. (Many Witnesses would later perish in his death camps.) In response, Rutherford praised the German Witnesses and advised all of his followers to refuse to participate in any oaths of allegiance that violated (in his view) the Second Commandment: “Thou shall have no Gods before me.”
With conflict looming around the world in the 1930s, many states enacted flag salute requirements, especially in schools. The steadfast refusal of Witnesses to pledge, combined with their refusal to serve in the military or to support America’s war effort in any way, triggered public anger. Witnesses soon became a ubiquitous presence in courtrooms across the country.
The relationship between Witnesses and the courts was complicated, in part because of the open disdain Rutherford and his followers displayed toward all forms of government and organized religion. Rutherford instructed Witnesses not to vote, serve on juries or participate in other civic duties. He even claimed Social Security numbers were the “mark of the beast” foretold in Revelations. The Catholic Church, said Rutherford, was a “racket,” and Protestants and Jews were “great simpletons,” taken in by the Catholic hierarchy to “carry on her commercial, religious traffic and increase her revenues.” Complaints about unwelcome public proselytizing by Witnesses led to frequent run-ins with state and local authorities and hundreds of appearances in lower courts. Every day in court for Rutherford and the Witnesses’ chief attorney, Hayden Covington, was an opportunity to preach the true meaning of law to the judges and to confront the satanic government.
In late 1935, Witness Walter Gobitas’ two children—Lillian, 12, and Billy, 10—were expelled from school in Minersville, Pa., because they balked at the mandatory recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a long court battle ensued. When Gobitis v. Minersville School District (as with Barnette, a court clerk misspelled the family surname) made its way to the Supreme Court in the spring of 1940, Rutherford and Covington framed their argument in religious terms, claiming that any statute contrary to God’s law as given to Moses must be void. The Court rejected the Witnesses’ claim, holding that the secular interests of the school district in fostering patriotism were paramount. In the majority opinion, written during the same month that France fell to the Nazis, Felix Frankfurter wrote: “National unity is the basis of national security.” The plaintiffs, said Frankfurter, were free to “fight out the wise use of legislative authority in the forum of public opinion and before legislative assemblies.”
In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Harlan Stone argued that “constitutional guarantees or personal liberty are not always absolutes…but it is a long step, and one which I am unwilling to take, that government may, as a supposed educational measure…compel public affirmations which violate their public conscience.” Further, said Stone, the prospect of help for this “small and helpless minority” by the political process was so remote that Frankfurter had effectively “surrendered…the liberty of small minorities to the popular will.”
Public reaction to Gobitis bordered on hysteria, colored by the hotly debated prospect of American participation in the war in Europe. Some vigilantes interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision as a signal that Jehovah’s Witnesses were traitors who might be linked to a network of Nazi spies and saboteurs. In Imperial, a town outside Pittsburgh, a mob descended on a small group of Witnesses and pummeled them mercilessly. One Witness was beaten unconscious, and those who fled were cornered by ax- and knife-wielding men riding the town’s fire truck as someone yelled, “Get the ropes! Bring the flag!” In Kennebunk, Maine, the Witnesses’ gathering place, Kingdom Hall, was ransacked and torched, and days of rioting ensued. In Litchfield, Ill., an angry crowd spread an American flag on the hood of a car and watched while a man repeatedly smashed the head of a Witness upon it. In Rockville, Md., Witnesses were assaulted across the street from the police station, while officers stood and watched. By the end of the year, the American Civil Liberties Union estimated that 1,500 Witnesses had been assaulted in 335 separate attacks.
The reversal of Gobitis in Barnette just three years later was remarkably swift considering the typical pace of deliberations in the Supreme Court. In the wake of all the violence against Witnesses, three Supreme Court justices—William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy and Hugo Black—publicly signaled in a separate case that they thought Gobitis had been “wrongly decided.” When Barnette reached the Supreme Court in 1943, Harlan Stone, the lone dissenter in Gobitis, had risen to chief justice. The facts of the two cases mirrored each other, but the outcome differed dramatically. Most important, in ruling that Witness children could not be forced to recite the pledge, the new majority rejected the notion that legislatures, rather than the courts, were the proper place to address questions involving religious liberty. The “very purpose” of the Bill of Rights, wrote Justice Robert Jackson, was to protect some issues from the majority rule of politics. “One’s right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, may not be submitted to vote….Fundamental rights depend on the outcome of no elections.” Jackson’s opinion was laced with condemnation of enforced patriotism and oblique hints at the slaughter taking place in Hitler’s Europe. “Those who begin in coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters,” Jackson wrote. “Compulsory unification of opinions achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.” Religious dissenters, when seen from this perspective, are like the canary in the coal mine: When they begin to suffer and die, everyone should be worried that the atmosphere has been polluted by tyranny.
Today, the Witnesses still proselytize, but their right to do so is well established thanks to their long legal campaign. Over time they became less confrontational and blended into the fabric of American life.
In the wake of the Barnette decision, the flag and the Pledge of Allegiance continued to occupy a key (yet ambiguous) place in American politics and law. The original pledge was a secular oath, with no reference to any power greater than the United States of America. The phrase “under God” was added by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. Eisenhower, who had grown up in a Jehovah’s Witness household but later became a Presbyterian, alluded to the growing threat posed by Communists in the Soviet Union and China when he signed the bill: “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resources in peace and war.”
Eisenhower’s political instincts for the ways that religion functioned in American life were finely honed: Support for the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance was strong, including an overwhelming majority of Catholics and Protestants as well as a majority of Jews. According to a Gallup survey, the only group that truly opposed the change was the smattering of atheists. In a country locked in battle with godless communism, a spiritual weapon such as an amended pledge that was not denominationally specific made sense. Only after the intervening half-century and more does the “Judeo-Christian” God invoked in the pledge seem less than broadly inclusive.
Sarah Barringer Gordon is the author of The Spirit of the Law: Religious Voices and the Constitution in Modern America.