There will be no state examination of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus. They are already writing letters: how do Jehovah’s Witnesses “work” in Belarus and is it legal? About blood transfusion
Alla Chernysheva writes the following: "Against the backdrop of such gloomy news and unclear prospects, some Jehovah's Witnesses have already begun to discuss emigration... to Belarus! There - unlike Russia - their communities exist legally and practically without any oppression. It turns out that there is more freedom and democracy in Belarus, than in Russia:
“At the moment there are no restrictions, with one small exception: in some cities (including Minsk) local authorities do not allow ministry with a stand. Otherwise, everything is the same as in Europe. In recent years, the situation has even improved: we began to hold large congresses in stadiums. Many cities have official Kingdom Halls (prayer rooms. - Ed.)"
The idea of refugee from Russia to Belarus is attractive for Jehovah's Witnesses, because a person with a Russian passport in Belarus has almost the same rights as in Russia. But can Jehovah's Witnesses count on a long-term stay in our country? Will the legislative bodies of Belarus take action and pass a similar law in their country? What can prompt Belarus to such a decision?
Before answering these questions, I decided to ask myself the question: “Am I ready to have a Jehovah's Witness as my neighbor?” While thinking about the answer to this question, I asked myself who are my neighbors now? Basically, they position themselves with the Orthodox. In the recent past, virtually all of them and their parents were communists and Komsomol members. Some who have already left this land openly hated Baptists... Now they are Orthodox... It sounds strange to me, but still.
Now, do I agree to have a family of Jehovah's Witnesses live next to me? Why not? How is it dangerous? Only because they can convince me and my children. But the same danger comes from representatives of other worldviews. I do not believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists. No civilized country believes in this! In fact, I believe that communists are many times more dangerous than Jehovah's Witnesses. It was they who brought great grief to Russia and my country. Further, our pioneer fathers suffered a lot because of Orthodox priests who set their flock against the so-called heretics...
I don’t remember a single case when our church suffered in any way from Jehovah’s Witnesses. I also don’t know of cases from other countries, for example from the USA, where there are a lot of Baptists. Jehovah's Witnesses feel free there, but I have not heard of any conflicts between Baptists and them. There are constant discussions about the doctrine and there are people migrating here and there, but there is no war.
Yes, I do not accept the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, but I also do not accept the teachings of communists and representatives of Islam, and I do not even accept many provisions in the teachings of Orthodox and Catholics. But my peaceful coexistence is possible with them.
However, not everyone understands it that way. After all, many Belarusians “feed” on the Russian media, which have established the extremist image of Jehovah’s Witnesses in people’s minds. I think that the phobia of Jehovah’s Witnesses will continue to work in Belarus for a long time.
If Belarus is really ready to accept Jehovah’s Witness refugees from Russia, then it is necessary to clarify in people’s minds the understanding that they are not extremists at all. However, in Belarus there is the same human rights center as in Russia, whose representatives, to put it mildly, have a very unfavorable attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses. So the situation is not simple and it is unlikely that representatives of this organization banned in Russia do not understand this. So I don’t think that many Jehovah’s Witnesses will rush to Belarus. Surely they will look for more guarantees for permanent residence than in Belarus. Although, who knows?
Is it even legal to go around apartments like this and pester their residents with questions about God, and write letters to specific people? Euroradio spoke with curators of the religious sphere and representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses themselves.
Illegal, but...
The letter makes no mention of any religious organization. However, its author - Tatyana Ch. - we find it on the social network “VKontakte”. In the “activity” column there is a predictable: “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
“They (Jehovah's Witnesses - Euroradio) are registered in Belarus, however, unfortunately, there are also episodes that do not belong to the permitted form of activity of religious organizations,” Andrei Aryaev, head of the department for religious affairs of the Office of the Commissioner for Religious Affairs and Nationalities, tells Euroradio . - Distributing literature, simply appealing to people (outside specialized institutions - Euroradio) is a violation of the law on freedom of religion and religious organizations. Such actions imply administrative punishment.”
“We ask you not to carry out such activities...”
According to Andrey Aryaev, complaints about the “meticulousness” of Jehovah’s Witnesses are constantly coming from citizens. Officials respond by “taking all possible measures”:
“We periodically hold conversations with representatives of religious associations. We accumulate such facts. In the near future, when the next meeting takes place, we will raise this issue again and ask not to carry out such activities.”
Administrative liability for extra-statutory activities of religious organizations provides for a fine in the amount of 102 to 255 rubles. However, Jehovah's Witnesses are not held accountable. Why? Euroradio was explained by the organization itself.
Walking from house to house is a personal expression of the will of individual believers
“We do not have the right to prohibit members of our communities, on their own initiative, from talking about God with strangers,” the chairman of the steering committee of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization in Belarus told Euroradio. Pavel Yadlovsky. He does not deny that some representatives of the organization carry out similar activities: walking from door to door, talking on the streets.
Yadlovsky: “The legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not limit the places in which we can talk about faith in God, and in which we cannot. It’s about personal professing one’s beliefs, not as an organization, but as citizens.”
“To love your neighbor is to respect the right of another person”
What can citizens do who do not want to talk about God with Jehovah's Witnesses? Pavel Yadlovsky shares a universal life hack with euroradio.fm readers: you just need to say that you “are not interested in this question.”
Use it.
The first communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus appeared in 1994. Now there are more than 20 of them in our country. Every year in Minsk, at the Traktor stadium, a congress of many thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses is held.
But in neighboring Russia, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are illegal. On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the activities of the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as extremist, banning the work of all 395 branches in Russia.
The homeland of Jehovah's Witnesses is the United States, where the history of the organization began with the Bible Students circle, founded in 1870. The main religious and administrative center today is in New York. Jehovah's Witnesses typically reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Only one person in the Universe is considered God - Jehovah.
"They(Jehovah's Witnesses - Euroradio) registered in Belarus, however, unfortunately, there are also episodes that do not relate to the permitted form of activity of religious organizations - the head of the department for religious affairs of the Office of the Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs tells Euroradio Andrey Aryaev. - Distributing literature, simply appealing to people (outside specialized institutions - Euroradio) is a violation of the law on freedom of religion and religious organizations. Such actions imply administrative punishment.”
“We ask you not to carry out such activities...”
According to Andrei Aryaev, citizens constantly receive complaints about the “meticulousness” of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Officials respond by “taking all possible measures”:
“We periodically hold conversations with representatives of religious associations. We accumulate such facts. In the near future, when the next meeting takes place, we will raise this issue again and ask not to carry out such activities.”
Administrative liability for extra-statutory activities of religious organizations provides for a fine in the amount of 102 to 255 rubles. However, Jehovah's Witnesses are not held accountable. Why? Euroradio was explained by the organization itself.
Walking from house to house is a personal expression of the will of individual believers
“We do not have the right to prohibit members of our communities, on their own initiative, from talking about God with strangers,”- the chairman of the steering committee of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization in Belarus told Euroradio Pavel Yadlovsky. He does not deny that some representatives of the organization carry out similar activities: walking from door to door, talking on the streets.
Yadlovsky:“The legislation of the Republic of Belarus does not limit the places in which we can talk about faith in God and in which we cannot. It’s about personal professing one’s beliefs, not as an organization, but as citizens.”
“To love your neighbor is to respect the right of another person”
What can citizens do who do not want to talk about God with Jehovah's Witnesses? Pavel Yadlovsky shares a universal life hack with readers of the site: you just need to say that you “are not interested in this question.”
Use it.
The first communities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Belarus appeared in 1994. Now there are more than 20 of them in our country. Every year in Minsk, at the Traktor stadium, a congress of many thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses is held. But in neighboring Russia, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are illegal. On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the activities of the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as extremist, banning the work of all 395 branches in Russia. The homeland of Jehovah's Witnesses is the United States, where the history of the organization began with the Bible Students circle, founded in 1870. The main religious and administrative center today is in New York. Jehovah's Witnesses typically reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Only one person in the Universe is considered God - Jehovah.
“Because of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I lost both my wife and daughter,” Mikhail, a Minsk resident, admits to Nasha Niva. And he tells his story of confrontation with a religious organization.
“Jehovah's Witnesses are more valuable than their fathers”
“My wife, while still a teenager, experienced a terrible thing - she was with a friend when that girl’s father hanged himself in the next room. After this, the neighbor began tossing Witness literature to the two teenage girls. They got involved,” says Mikhail. - When my wife was 18 years old, we met. At first I convinced her to leave the Witnesses, but later it turned out that my wife was secretly attending their meetings.”
Mikhail blames Jehovah's Witnesses for the breakdown of his family.
At that time, the couple already had a daughter. Mikhail tried to explain to his wife the fallacy of the Witnesses' philosophy - to no avail. He forbade me to go to meetings - also to no avail. Everything ended in scandals. Once, the wife even climbed onto the windowsill and threatened to jump out when Mikhail did not allow her to leave the apartment for a meeting, he claims. I had to let go.
The scandals continued, says Mikhail, the wife ran away to meetings and did not pay attention to her daughter. One day, the wife took the child and ran away from the apartment. Her whereabouts had to be clarified with the help of the police. It all ended in divorce, and the court left the daughter with her mother.
“I asked my wife not to take my daughter to meetings, but she didn’t listen. As a result, I saw less and less of the child. I have never been to the apartment where they live. I don’t know what the conditions are there,” says Mikhail. - But I tried to convince my daughter. One day I told her: if you are so confident in your religion, let’s document it.”
“Jehovah's Witnesses are dearer to me than my dad,” this letter was written by his 10-year-old daughter, the man says.
Now my daughter is 15 years old. Mikhail hasn’t seen her for a long time - the last time he called her was six months ago.
“Before her birthday, I explained that she could choose her own religion. She said she chose Jehovah's Witnesses. I replied that I would still continue to fight with them. If she changes her position, I will be glad to hear from her. But for now there is silence,” says the man.
They do not receive blood transfusions and live in anticipation of a war with Satan.
The Jehovah's Witnesses movement arose in the 1870s in the United States. At that time it was still called “Bible Students.”
Witnesses consider themselves Christians and believe in one God, Jehovah. But they do not believe in the Trinity; Christ is not god for them, but the creation of Jehovah God, his prophet and ideal man. Witnesses do not recognize the cross, icons, and do not celebrate Easter and Christmas.
Jehovah's Witnesses translate their literature into many languages. Including in Belarusian.
Periodically, Witnesses predict the End of the World. The fact that he does not come does not bother them - each time a new date is set when to expect the Apocalypse. When it finally happens, 144 thousand anointed Witnesses will go to heaven (it is believed that most of them have already been recruited from among the first followers, and now “recruitment” is taking place). In addition, the anointed ones, together with Christ, will wage war against Satan. The rest - the righteous - will be resurrected, but settled on Earth, where there will be Paradise (they will not have to fight).
In addition, Witnesses do not participate in elections, refuse to serve in the army, and do not recognize state flags, emblems and anthems, because they believe that they should serve not the “king”, but Jehovah.
The main complaint against the Witnesses is their “bioethics”. They categorically do not accept blood transfusions, even in emergency cases. Meanwhile, previously established rules change over time: for example, the Witnesses abolished the ban on vaccinations in the 1950s, and in the 1970s they decided that they would not baptize smokers.
In 2015, the Witnesses claimed to have more than 8 million followers worldwide.
Standards for the spread of faith
5 years have already passed since the victory went to the Witnesses in the struggle for the family between Michael and Jehovah’s Witnesses. But Mikhail continues to fight the religious organization. On his car it is even written in large letters: “I am against the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect, I am looking for victims” and his telephone number is indicated. Gradually, a small circle of like-minded people formed around him, who also encountered the Witnesses and considered them a dangerous sect. Each of them has their own claims.
Bobruisk resident Maxim fell in love with a girl in 2015; it later turned out that she had been a member of the Witnesses since childhood. The guy decided to pull her out - but failed.
“For about 9 months I went to their meetings, pretending to be interested. At the same time, I tried to convince the girl to renounce her views,” the interlocutor says.
But the couple still separated. The girl chose her religion.
According to Maxim, the main emphasis of the Witnesses is on “door-to-door ministry.” The importance of this rule is constantly reminded at our meetings.
“Witnesses are obliged to spread the teaching and go door to door. There are even certain standards; they submit reports at the end of the month. If a person wants to advance in a sect, he must spend as much time as possible spreading the faith, and sometimes he has to quit his job. I know people who closed their businesses for this reason,” says Maxim.
Illustrative photo.
By the way, Mikhail also tried to attend the meetings. But, he says, he was taken out with the police.
“They called the police if they saw me. They lied that I was disrupting order and trying to disrupt the meeting, they wrote statements against me,” says the man.
“Can the guy live with us?”
Viktor Poklevko from Logoisk lost his daughter because of Jehovah's Witnesses.
“In 2014, she met a guy. She was 20 years old, he was 25. At first, the daughter told me what a good relationship they had, how good he was: he doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke. And then he says: he is an orphan, his parents died in Russia, he has nowhere to live. Can he live with us? - Victor recalls. - I didn’t like the idea, but I agreed. And so they started going to Minsk every weekend. At first they said that they were going to hockey, then they said that they were going to courses in English. We even bought hockey paraphernalia and textbooks.”
In fact, the daughter and her boyfriend went to meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Victor claims. After the man directly asked the guy what was going on, he admitted that he was one of the Witnesses. Victor spoke out against it and called the Witnesses a sect.
“Then they left. We lived with one of the Witnesses, who has his own home here. They probably got married a month later. The daughter began studying the Bible, began to pay less attention to other matters, lost her job at the bank: she was asked to resign at will. A letter subsequently arrived at my address saying that she needed to pick up her work book, but my daughter ignored it,” says Victor. “In general, she stopped any communication with me.”
One day in 2015, Viktor Poklevko’s friend Olga called and said: the sectarian came here with your daughter. Victor came running, but his daughter did not want to talk to him. And her “partner” Pastukhova called the police, saying that a man had broken into the house. After the police arrived and Olga said that she called the guest herself, she received a portion of curses from the Witnesses.
They burned a 100-year-old icon
The witnesses calmly left (a report was drawn up against them, but they were not detained). Olga said that the aforementioned Pastukhova, together with some man, had already come to her. They then brought brochures of Jehovah's Witnesses, distributed them to the children, and then noticed two icons in the house. They declared that these were “devilish pictures”, took them out into the street, trampled them under their feet and set them on fire. Finally, they read their prayer and put what was left of the icons into a bag and left.
Victor convinced Olga to go to the police. It turned out that both Pastukhova and her companion are Russian citizens, and their whereabouts are unknown. The local police initially reported that there would be no criminal case, saying that what was left of the icons was missing and the whereabouts of the suspects were unknown. But later, the Investigative Committee opened a case: Olga claimed that she had the icon from her great-grandmother, which means it was ancient, more than a hundred years old.
“But the case stalled,” Viktor Poklyovko sadly states.
The Investigative Committee reported that the investigation is ongoing. “Due to the fact that there is operational information about the whereabouts of the defendants outside Belarus, an international order has been sent to neighboring countries to provide legal assistance,” the Investigative Committee said.
“We act according to the commandments of Christ”
Pavel Yadlovsky, the leader of the Belarusian Jehovah's Witnesses, answered the questions and complaints raised.
About standards and reports after visiting apartments
“We act according to the commandments of Christ, who said: “Go and teach all nations.” Every Jehovah's Witness sees in this the fulfillment of Christ's commandments: to tell people about the good news. This is what we do."
Illustrative photo
About marriages in which one is Jehovah's Witness, and the other is against it.
“According to the Bible, marriage is holy in the eyes of God. But sometimes there is domestic violence, and not only physical violence, but verbal violence, emotional violence. And there everyone decides for himself. We don't control people's lives."
About the story of the burning of icons
“If you know the story of Christ, he was also accused of blasphemy. There have been many such cases in the history of mankind. This accusation is unfounded, there is no other evidence.”
About blood transfusion
“We love life. And we do everything to keep our loved ones healthy. If there is a threat of death, then blood transfusion is only one of the treatment methods, and not a panacea. Today there are many alternatives. Jehovah's Witnesses stand for qualified treatment, and blood transfusions are not the safest form of treatment or the most beneficial. There are many safer methods, and Jehovah’s Witnesses use them.”
On the attitude towards the state
“We respect the state. We obey the authorities. All over the world, including in Belarus, Jehovah's Witnesses are law-abiding. This is our official position."
Only a court can liquidate Witnesses
In some countries, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses are prohibited. In the spring of 2017, they were recognized as an extremist organization in Russia.
In Belarus, the state treats Witnesses loyally. It is believed that there are about 6 thousand of their followers in the country. Their activities are not prohibited; moreover, a three-day congress of Jehovah's Witnesses is held annually at the Minsk Traktor stadium, where several thousand people, both Belarusians and foreigners, gather. The Congress has been held since 2011. In 2013, 10 thousand participants gathered, in 2015 - 6 thousand. This year it was announced that 7 thousand people gathered.
At the same time, Witnesses willingly demonstrate their loyalty to the authorities. As one of the eyewitnesses said, skits were played out at the Congress, in one of which believers were warned: going abroad to work and evading taxes is a sin before God.
Photos from the Minsk Congress 2013.
Jehovah's Witnesses are officially registered by the Committee on Religious and National Affairs. There are 27 communities in Belarus. One in Minsk, 3 each in the Brest, Minsk and Mogilev regions, 5 each in the Vitebsk and Grodno regions. The most communities are in the Gomel region - 7.
“This association officially operates in Belarus,” confirmed Natalya Kolyadchik, deputy head of the department of ideological work and religious affairs of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee.
Each religious organization has a charter and acts in accordance with it, the official explained. A religious organization can be liquidated either by its founders or by the court. In order to liquidate an organization through the court, the body that registered the organization (for example, the regional executive committee) must file a claim that the religious community repeatedly violates the law.
Meanwhile, Mikhail and like-minded people continue to fight against Jehovah's Witnesses. According to him, there are about 25 more or less active people involved in this. They have already asked for a religious examination of Jehovah's Witnesses, but they have been refused. Then they created it on the Internet. They wrote to the Presidential Administration. The police were repeatedly called against Witnesses who distributed literature.
But so far everything is to no avail.
“I contacted the police, our executive committee, and the committee for religious affairs. I was at a reception with the Deputy President for Ideology, met with the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, addressed local deputies... In 2015, I addressed presidential candidates before the elections: Korotkevich, Gaidukevich, and Ulakhovich. The result is zero,” complains Viktor Poklyovko.
The main complaint of Victor and his supporters: people are losing their loved ones, family members. Indeed, one person is almost always weaker than an organization whose techniques have been developed over more than a hundred years of its activity. And, more often than not, the opinion of the person closest to you begins to gradually mean less and less against the background of the organization of fellow believers. But the authorities are unable to return the wife to the family and cannot force the daughter to start communicating with her father. Lack of love is a problem, but not a criminal offense. Even if this love was stolen.
Peter has almost a year of wasted time and a bitter aftertaste. Konstantin has a broken family and a desire to regain his daughter. Both men see the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses as the cause of their current unsettlement. How right are they? And are they even right? Dont clear. And it is unlikely that it will become clear in the near future. Onliner.by examines the controversial situation by publishing stories from men, peppered with the opinions of the leader of the Belarusian Jehovah's Witnesses and a religion expert.
The story of Konstantin began in the “zero”. His wife hid her involvement in the Jehovah's Witnesses organization for more than a year. It was revealed completely by accident. The man worked mainly in the evenings and at night, but one day he changed his schedule and became an eyewitness to a picture that surprised him.
- I saw my wife teaching her daughter to pray before bed. I listened. I quickly realized that this was clearly not Orthodoxy. I began to take an interest in watching my wife. It became clear that the situation was somewhat unusual. In the evening, my wife called back to some woman. Each time the wife talked about the events that happened to her during the day. An audio diary, a report with the smallest details. It got to the point that the wife shared the personal data of her clients.
Somehow Konstantin could not stand it and snatched the phone from his wife’s hands: they say, under no circumstances should you do this. True, the words turned out to be ineffective, the daily reports continued.
- Around that time we were going to build,- says the man, who seems to be no longer so touched by these memories: he was worried. - Just on the day the contract was signed, the wife admitted that she was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. I was suspicious of this: “You know, with this situation, it seems to me that we will eventually go our separate ways. Maybe not the first time, but we’ll go our separate ways.” She was very indignant: “This cannot be! We have been together for so many years!”
There have been a dozen and a half years together. Subsequently, the couple divorced.
- Jehovah's Witnesses, of course, do not particularly favor opponents of their faith. Over time, the organization learned that I was one of those. My wife believed very strongly. Therefore, our divorce was expected.
Konstantin believes that he has reasons to dislike the organization.
- I remember one evening I found myself at home. The daughter sits and watches TV. The refrigerator is empty. At the same time, there is always cash in the house, the store is under the entrance, but the daughter is hungry! “Where is mom?” - "At the meeting". It would seem that the wife should take care of household chores, among which the child’s comfort is one of the main concerns... As a result, I fed my daughter myself and went to the meeting... Yes, several times I had to take my wife by the collar and lead her out of the hall, pushing the guards as I went . “Here is the daughter, here is the house. And I went to work. Because we have to pay rent and pay off the loan,” I told my wife.
The man says that the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses are an assembly hall filled with people. There are guards around the perimeter. A presenter appears on stage and reads excerpts from the Watchtower magazine. There is a general discussion. In the hall, special people pass microphones. A lot of women. Often with small children.
During the first attempt to dissolve the marriage, Konstantin suggested that his wife agree to reconciliation: “Go wherever you want. But don’t touch my daughter and I”... For two or three months everything was calm. The child's religious education then continued. Exactly a year later, the wife again wrote a petition for divorce. Having ordered numerous examinations, the court left the daughter with the mother, despite the father’s wishes to the contrary.
- I was left without a family,- Konstantin exhales. - Now I’m fighting for my daughter. Sometimes I ask her: “Why do you go to meetings?” She is silent. Can't give an exact answer. “So maybe don’t go? When you turn 18, you will decide for yourself whether you need it or not”...
The man admits that he has had virtually no success in his struggle so far. The daughter still lives with her mother and is increasingly moving away from him.
- My case is not the only one. I want to gather around me people with similar stories and somehow influence the current state of things,- sums up Konstantin.
A younger man sits next to Konstantin. His name is Peter (in both cases the names have been changed). The story begins with a little less drama. The guy met the girl. They began to meet, get to know each other, and communicate on various topics. We touched on the aspect of religion. The girl said briefly: she is a Christian. It didn't spread for a long time. Then she nevertheless announced that she was a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The young man became interested, Googled and read a lot of things. Then he went to a meeting and began to “partisan” in the organization, pretending to be an adept.
- Meetings take place two to three times a week. There is also door-to-door ministry - these are conversations and distribution of literature,- Peter shares his acquired knowledge. - The attitude towards all sources of information that are somehow against the organization is clear: they are considered apostate literature.
Jehovah's Witnesses are divided into two castes. There is a class of 144 thousand anointed ones. When Armageddon hits - and this will happen, in their opinion, quite soon - these 144 thousand anointed ones will go straight to heaven to Jesus Christ and will rule with him. That is, Jesus is the director of the earth, and the anointed ones are his managerial staff. The rest of Jehovah's Witnesses will remain on Earth and find peace.
Peter says that Jehovah's Witnesses practically do not celebrate holidays. Even birthdays are ignored. An exception is made only for the Lord's Supper. In 2015 it was April 3.
- Well, the most famous thing is that Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. Even in extreme cases they choose death,- says the young man. - These people consider themselves citizens of a theocratic state. A state headed by God. Their government sits in New York. All new legislative initiatives are published in the Watchtower magazine.
Peter tried with all his might to influence his girlfriend. Progress was zero.
- She has been a member of Jehovah's Witnesses since preschool. Now the person is over 20. His mother is a member of the organization, and so are his best friends. The social circle is tied to Jehovah's Witnesses. Yes, my success was extremely unlikely. I realized this a long time ago...
And yet, in his struggle, Peter seems to be a man not without hope. Even in the absence of reasons for it.
It just so happened that the topic of the Belarusian “Jehovah’s Witnesses” became relevant at the start of February. Almost the next day after our conversation with Konstantin and Peter, a succinct commentary by the Commissioner for Religious Affairs and Nationalities, Leonid Gulyako, appeared online.
- I do not rule out that we, together with the regional executive committees, will take concrete steps to deregister some communities of Jehovah’s Witnesses. There will be noise, but I'm ready for it- said the official.
Yadlovsky also indicated his intention to meet with officials. However, after a call to the Minsk office of Jehovah's Witnesses, it became clear that it had not yet been implemented.
- The meeting has been postponed. Unfortunately, the exact date has not yet been determined,- says the head of the organization in an extremely kind tone. - I am all for a calm discussion of existing issues.
The chairman reacts to questions about criticism without explosion:
- They don’t criticize those who do nothing. Jehovah's Witnesses are active people who openly express their position. We have nothing to fear. We have strong families. We pay a lot of attention to moral issues. Therefore, I hope that during a meeting with an official at the republican level, many pressing issues will be resolved. Nevertheless, in recent months we have had very useful, in my opinion, conversations with representatives of four regional executive committees.
As for more everyday things, Yadlovsky recalls several dissatisfied people with whom he had to communicate personally.
- It seemed to me that we had a normal conversation. Most often, the issues that arise in families drag on for a long time. Religious differences, unfortunately, simply become a reason for aggravation. You need to learn to resolve issues in a calm environment. I know quite a few families in which one of the spouses is not a Jehovah's Witness. And they live normally. Marriage is still marriage in the eyes of God. Lack of faith in one of the spouses is not a reason to aggravate the situation or get a divorce.
Paul immediately counters the question about the mixed reaction to the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses:
- The reaction to the activities of Jesus Christ and his disciples was also ambiguous. Therefore, only time will be able to make it clear who was really right. It is better not to rush to conclusions. Sometimes the media introduces some misunderstandings about the topic of Jehovah's Witnesses. But everyone in the organization is calm about this. We do the right thing by being biblical. They don't become obsolete. The person who lives by biblical principles always wins.
We are going to the capital's theological academy for an expert assessment. The topic is summarized by Vladimir Martinovich, Doctor of Theology at the University of Vienna and head of the department of apologetics at the Minsk Theological Academy.
- There is no concept of “sect” in the legal framework of Belarus. This is not a legal term. Accordingly, from the point of view of legislation, there are no sects in the country at all, but only religious organizations. However, both the Orthodox Church and scientists use this term quite actively. Thus, according to the teachings of the church, sects include religious organizations that distort Orthodox doctrine. Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider Jesus Christ to be God and do not believe in the Holy Trinity. This is a fairly significant distortion of not only the teachings of the Orthodox Church, but also Catholicism, as well as Protestantism.
Martinovich says that from a scientific point of view, sects include organizations that were formed as a result of a split from some other religious entity. At the time of their appearance as such, Jehovah's Witnesses did not have any structural subordination to another religious group. That is, they do not fall under this concept of a sect. However, in the sociology of religion there is a term “cult”, which refers to religious organizations formed as a result of radical innovation or out of nothing. Jehovah's Witnesses fully fit this definition. They were formed in 1879, have religious doctrine, followers and developed structure. This is enough to classify them as a cult from the standpoint of academic science.
- Please note, both for science and for the church, in order to classify this organization as a sect or cult, it is not at all necessary to know whether it causes any harm or not. The terms “sect” and “cult” themselves in this case do not carry any negative connotations.
As for “extremist religious organizations,” there is no such concept in Orthodox theology. However, the Church testifies that belonging to any sects or cults, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, has a detrimental effect on a person’s spiritual life.
Thus, the specialist generalizes, the issue of establishing the presence or absence of elements of extremism among Jehovah’s Witnesses falls outside the purview of the church, but is the prerogative of the same scientists or government bodies.
- This is a question of a comprehensive expert assessment of the organization’s activities. At the moment in Belarus, not a single government agency, not a single expert or scientist has conducted an analysis of Jehovah’s Witnesses to determine the degree of their danger or safety. At the same time, in Orthodox Church and government authorities are periodically approached by citizens who believe that they have suffered from Jehovah’s Witnesses. They provide relevant arguments to support their position. But the state does not have a structure that would collect and analyze such statements from citizens, and also respond to them.
The Church helps them to the best of its ability. But, as you understand, this issue goes far beyond the boundaries of her powers. Apparently, citizens’ appeals are not enough for the state to think about conducting a comprehensive expert assessment of this or that organization and answer, at least for itself, the following questions: a) how justified are the complaints; b) why no one complains about some religious organizations in the country, while there are quite a lot of complaints about others; c) how to most adequately respond to emerging complaints, while maintaining adherence to the principles of freedom of conscience and freedom of religious organizations declared in the Constitution and laws of the country. The issues are not easy, but the sooner the process of analyzing them begins, the faster and less painfully various controversial situations will be resolved in the future.
At the beginning of the week, Peter wrote on Viber. He said that he had something to add to his story.
- Initially, a soft conversation on theological topics led to a quarrel with my girlfriend. We discussed the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses. When my friend ran out of arguments, she started to leave. “I don’t even know why I’m continuing all this! If you don’t think our faith is true, why do you go to meetings?” - “To figure it out, so that you can see that there are controversial issues.” - “Everything suits me! I don't need to be saved from anywhere. Since you are so smart and think that we are wrong, it means you were lying the entire time we communicated.” That's all.
The girl decided that she was breaking off any trusting relationship with Peter. She said that the young man became a tempter and provided her with a test. In general, it strengthened a person in faith. The girl is even grateful to him for this.
- Of course, I stopped my espionage within the organization. This defeat happened for obvious reasons. Psychologists explained the essence of my illiterate actions. It is now clear that after an unsuccessful intervention, it has become even more difficult to convince a person. The girl only deepened her gaze.