Anna

Even Miles Coverdale has the expression "eternall purpose" at Eph.3:11 along with many other English translations since, so perhaps longer?
This shouldn't really be a surprise. Didn't Jesus say of his disciples (as Miles puts it) "O ye fooles and slowe of hert to beleve all that the prophetes have spoke" Luke 24:25 (Principle of, of course).

What is incredible to me, is that fake news is allowed to pose as real news. This particular piece was very well disguised, posing as Fox News, and easily overlooked that it was not. It was a lot simpler in the days before the  internet to identify physical newspapers, because all papers were well known, and  tabloids in particular were know for sensationalism. I never forget the headline in one in the UK: "Man raped by giant cabbage". You know ANY kind of news from THAT newspaper is for entertainment only.
With online news it's a little bit more difficult if you are not familiar with all the news website as there are so many, and new ones are popping up all the time. This particular one had apparently only been in operation for a few months. So you can't be blamed for making a mistake @bruceq. I fell for it too at first.

What is incredible to me, is that fake news is allowed to pose as real news. This particular piece was very well disguised, posing as Fox News, and easily overlooked that it was not. It was a lot simpler in the days before the  internet to identify physical newspapers, because all papers were well known, and  tabloids in particular were know for sensationalism. I never forget the headline in one in the UK: "Man raped by giant cabbage". You know ANY kind of news from THAT newspaper is for entertainment only.
With online news it's a little bit more difficult if you are not familiar with all the news website as there are so many, and new ones are popping up all the time. This particular one had apparently only been in operation for a few months. So you can't be blamed for making a mistake @bruceq. I fell for it too at first.

Well my first indication was that the link was not acting right as I could not even copy and paste almost as if it did not exist on the net. I also noticed NO other news site was reporting this then I checked with #stopjwban and a few others and some were mentioning that this might be fake. Then I put checked the website itself on scam advisor and found out it is not even originating in the U.S. which fox news is located and it mentioned a very good possibility that it is from Ghana in Africa and it was fake.
   Regarding Kushner it is interesting that he bought about 80% of the Brooklyn properties over the past few years and now is living at the White House. So Trump his father-in-law certainly knows about Jehovah's Witnesses but probably cares less about their plight in Russia as The King of the South has other things on his agenda.
 

A sister sent me this a few minutes ago all excited. Thankfully the cynic that I am, only sent it to my husband and no one else. Then I went on line to do some research because it sounded just too crazy (but you never know with Trump). No one else was writing about it, I thought that was strange, but then at the back of my mind there was that connection with JWs through Jared Kushner......
So how did you find out it was fake? @bruceq
P.S. On top of that Trump apparently saying that he invites any JWs to seek asylum is just a stretch too far. I can just imagine any Russian Tom Dick and Harry becoming JW just so they can move to the US and live the high life. Even Trump, with his craziness, surely would not open up a can of worms like that.

Als ich den Beruf des Journalisten erlernte, lernten wir auch sogenannte "Zeitungsenten" zu fabrizieren mit dem Ziel, sich selbst interessanter zu machen. TRUMP and JW : quack, quack, quack...
I cant believe, that Jehova use TRUMP for helping in the case of Russia.

A sister sent me this a few minutes ago all excited. Thankfully the cynic that I am, only sent it to my husband and no one else. Then I went on line to do some research because it sounded just too crazy (but you never know with Trump). No one else was writing about it, I thought that was strange, but then at the back of my mind there was that connection with JWs through Jared Kushner......
So how did you find out it was fake? @bruceq
P.S. On top of that Trump apparently saying that he invites any JWs to seek asylum is just a stretch too far. I can just imagine any Russian Tom Dick and Harry becoming JW just so they can move to the US and live the high life. Even Trump, with his craziness, surely would not open up a can of worms like that.

It is fox24 news USA news but something is funny about it. I cannot copy and paste anything and links work starnge.
it is also directly contradicting the Moscow Times article...I wouod avoid this site as no one else is reporting what they are claiming

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

I was looking for you comments @Arauna and @Eoin Joyce and I see the "Russian" Librarian is he culprit

: "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

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......
 

What happened at a practical level is exactly that: "Russian government's actions targeting and repressing . . . Jehovah's Witnesses, under the pretense of combating extremism." At some level this happens in the U.S.A. too. A local police department used 9/11 funding to put in millions of dollars in surveillance equipment that floods our suburb, block by block, reaching into the back yards of law-abiding citizens. It can't be admitted to exist, and can't even be used in open courts to prosecute crime, but it is still used to help solve crimes and track crime. And it has been used indirectly for confiscation of property. But it is not used for anything related to extremism or terrorism. Other police forces bought more visible items: tanks and "battering rams" and  military equipment that can never be of much use in a low-crime suburb of 10,000 unless they all decide to start rioting against the next town over, I guess.
But I've asked a Russian brother to translate some interesting commentary internal to Russia, and I've talked to him about it. I'm hoping to get a better sense of what an average Russian citizen might feel about the JW situation. Or at least what various media outlets want us to think they are feeling, or, perhaps, what they are supposed to think about it.
I noticed that the usnews article links to an RT article, which has some comments that run in the same direction as what we are seeing in Russian "public" commentary.
Evidently, many Russian people are not linking the word extremism the same way all of us are. It is not linked with terrorism or violence, but merely "cult-like" behavior. If it's a "sect" like the "Scientologists" then it's extreme. As was shown in earlier comments in other threads on the subject, it's more about the control of lifestyle and life choices. Of course, this is still a load of hypocrisy, because all religions have a right to do this to some extent, and there is no such thing as "totlal control" which is the specter. Some people become fanatical and totally controlled in any religion or ideology. But there is no total control of a whole group of people.
It's probably the fear of choice that is driving this suppression of JWs and others, not the fear of total control. There is a fear that anyone, a poor person, a rich person, a less educated person, or even a scientist, can make a choice to leave the state-sanctioned religion and general ideologies. These persons, especially if it's your mother or son or cousin who converts to become a JW, can cause you embarrassment in a state that expects a high level of conformity among the class of people who work in government careers.
 
The US News article had this line: The Justice Ministry showed pamphlets from the group that it argued posed "a threat to health."
The link goes to RT here: https://www.rt.com/news/385539-jehovah-witnesses-ban-russia/ specifically these points:
 
Blood policy, education policies, mental health, and the idea that the "chief managing organization" takes marching orders from New York were points that were forefront in the minds of some Russians but did not come across in the review on JW Broadcasting. Evidently the lawyers had a hard time convincing the MOJ that they were really "autonomous."
I'll grab a few of the comments in English, before they disappear from the RT article (comments are not necessarily from Russians, however). Also, where the indentation worked it does not mean that these are dialogues; I left off the names but they are from random people even if appears these might be back-and-forth comments. Some are likely JWs:
 

Some of the ones I thought were most interesting already disappeared from another page I was tracking yesterday.
Edited to add a couple more:
Why? It is no secret that Russia has banned or made all foreign NGO's register as foreign agents, these guys are no different and there is more than just this lot coming under the same controls. The door to door activities may be seen as trying to openly subvert the population and with the US's history in doing so I can't blame them. I laugh when people say that it must be removed because its a western import. I think the only item in Russia that is not a Western import is the Vodka! lol
Not a good move. Jehovah's are known around the globe as pacifists. I'm sure Russia isn't going to be winning any points with the Human Rights Council when it starts persecuting them.
 

Absolutely, especially if there is anything new. (He's actually Ukrainian. My sloppiness in calling him Russian.) 
It looks like you hit on the definition closest to what the MOJ was using to rationalize the suppression of JWs. We kind of knew that, but there have been many comments, from non-JWs all over the world that see it the equivalent of "radicalized fanaticism with a propensity to violence". This actually makes the disparity seem all the more ridiculous. Technically, we aren't pacifists, but from the world's point of view, we might as well be.

I agree that this distinction is vital in understanding the Russian position in this matter. I would also suggest that confusion around understanding the application of this term is not limited to any particular group
Here's one of our standard definition for extremism:  the holding of extreme political or religious views; fanaticism. That already, (pardon the pun) seems a bit extreme in that it limits the position to political or religious views, and by introducing the term fanaticism, immediately evokes negativity in most minds. In fact, due to the actions of highly publicised and commented on groups, such as ISIS or Al-Qaeda in recent times, a very narrow and negative association with the term is now common in the popular perception.
I found this alternative definition by Drs. P Coleman and A Bartoli more rational: "Most simply, it [extremism] can be defined as activities (beliefs, attitudes, feelings, actions, strategies) of a character far removed from the ordinary." They add this caveat: "However, the labeling of activities, people, and groups as “extremist”, and the defining of what is “ordinary” in any setting is always a subjective and political matter." (Interesting White Paper attached).
Certainly, what is viewed as "ordinary" from a Scriptural standpoint by Jehovah's Witnesses will differ greatly from what is considered to be so by others outside of the faith, and not the least by those who, in Biblical parlance, are termed "the superior authorities". (Rom.13:1).
@JWInsider, I am looking forward to the comments from the Russian brother you mention if you are able to share.
9386_WhitePaper_2_Extremism_030809.pdf

I thought @bruceq explained it quite well. Child abuse is nothing new. Not only that, Jehovah's Witnesses have been made aware of the problem since the early 80's. I remember the Awake article very well. There is enough information on the website about it:
https://www.jw.org/en/search/?q=child+abuse
Also, I believe, most recently there will be a special handbook of some sort made available to every publisher.
But I suppose what you really would like to see is a big announcement made that; "there are some among Jehovah's Witnesses, or some who are associated with Jehovah's witnesses, who are pedophiles" instead of advice on how to protect children.

Opposers like to quote this reply to a comment “From our Readers” implying that although Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that “Any organization that assumes that position should be willing to submit to scrutiny and criticism”  they themselves do not tolerate any scrutiny or criticism and therefore are being hypocritical.
Is that accusation true?
 
 
 
Awake 1984 8/22
“You all loved it, didn’t you? You couldn’t resist taking a shot at the Catholic Church, could you? I will never forgive the way you mercilessly tore down the Pope. If Jehovah’s Witnesses must refer to cheap shots in attempting to bring down other religions, they’re in more trouble than the Catholics”. - Florda
 
"We surely were not trying to take cheap shots at the pope or the Catholic Church, nor were we criticizing Catholics. The Catholic Church occupies a very significant position in the world and claims to be the way of salvation for hundreds of millions of people. Any organization that assumes that position should be willing to submit to scrutiny and criticism. All who criticize have the obligation to be truthful in presenting the facts and fair and objective in assessing such. In both respects we try to live up to that obligation.—ED.
 
 
 

I appreciate you doing this and I would like to add something more to that but it would off topic here, so I am working on starting another topic (hoping it hasn't already been raised at some point already, but I'm sure the Librarian will let me know)
I could understand your reasoning if this had to do with something that was doctrinal very serious, such as misrepresenting God, his standards and his qualities. But using God's name Jehovah? And apparently inserting it into the Christian Greek scriptures instead of the title God? I can not take that kind of argument seriously, especially if you are thereby trying to prove that God is Jesus.
Perhaps as JWInsider suggests, this should be under another topic.

Isn't that the same as a big announcement? In any case, the exposure of wrong doings to children happens every time it is found out isn't it? And it has to be handled correctly. However, a certain form of confidentiality is always required in these cases, and it was never confidentiality that was questioned by the ARC, but the handling of these cases as respects a suitable environment for disclosure and the reporting of such to the police etc. Announcing names of pedophiles to the whole congregation has never been a recommended policy of any child protection institutions as far as I know. However, a pedophile may be put on a public pedophile list by the authorities and in this way the perpetrator may be known to all.
I would hope most Jehovah's Witnesses recognize that the organization is made up of imperfect people, and that there are individuals in the organization who are Jehovah's Witnesses in name only, who in their private lives and behind closed doors molest children, beat their spouses and do all kinds of other things despicable for a professed Christian. Yes, these people, if despite being found out, would remain unrepentant and remained in the congregation would indeed reflect negatively on the congregation and by extension the whole org. That is why people are disfellowshipped. To keep the congregations clean from such unrepentant wrongdoers. The problem is that some situations are difficult to prove. The unmarried sister who becomes pregnant is clear. (Although I know of a sister who got pregnant and apparently swore she didn't do anything). But the husband who hits his wife is a lot more complicated. And so is a pedophile who carefully grooms his victims.
The Russia situation is an entirely different thing and in all fairness cannot be compared to the above situation.
I would hope that a known perpetrator would not be protected under any circumstances, if by protected you mean being allowed to carry on abusing children and not being punished for his crime.

Russian Supreme Court Renders Unjust Decision!
Special Report now available on JW Broadcasting.
https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/VODOurOrganization/pub-jwb_201704_12_VIDEO

Opposers like to quote this reply to a comment “From our Readers” implying that although Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that “Any organization that assumes that position should be willing to submit to scrutiny and criticism”  they themselves do not tolerate any scrutiny or criticism and therefore are being hypocritical.
Is that accusation true?
 
 
 
Awake 1984 8/22
“You all loved it, didn’t you? You couldn’t resist taking a shot at the Catholic Church, could you? I will never forgive the way you mercilessly tore down the Pope. If Jehovah’s Witnesses must refer to cheap shots in attempting to bring down other religions, they’re in more trouble than the Catholics”. - Florda
 
"We surely were not trying to take cheap shots at the pope or the Catholic Church, nor were we criticizing Catholics. The Catholic Church occupies a very significant position in the world and claims to be the way of salvation for hundreds of millions of people. Any organization that assumes that position should be willing to submit to scrutiny and criticism. All who criticize have the obligation to be truthful in presenting the facts and fair and objective in assessing such. In both respects we try to live up to that obligation.—ED.
 
 
 

I thought @bruceq explained it quite well. Child abuse is nothing new. Not only that, Jehovah's Witnesses have been made aware of the problem since the early 80's. I remember the Awake article very well. There is enough information on the website about it:
https://www.jw.org/en/search/?q=child+abuse
Also, I believe, most recently there will be a special handbook of some sort made available to every publisher.
But I suppose what you really would like to see is a big announcement made that; "there are some among Jehovah's Witnesses, or some who are associated with Jehovah's witnesses, who are pedophiles" instead of advice on how to protect children.

These are not transcripts though....they are summaries. Something tells me the court will never make the transcripts available to the public. This is not Australia, this is Russia. @James Thomas Rook Jr.
I could be wrong of course...

Jehovah's Witnesses were banned yesterday. As to why the U.N. and other sources do not recognize Scientology as an organized religion is unknown to me.

Probably because child abuse is found everywhere in all religions so it is obviously not news [btw "incest" a form of child abuse was a problem with the First Century Christians as the letters to the Corinthians shows as well as the first few chapters in Revelation which shows many problems with sexual sins but obviously that did not make them  false Christians]  but only "one" religion has been banned in Russia.out of over 2,000 religions there according to the U.N. and other sources.