Jehovah's Witnesses : A Struggle to Survive on Russian Soil

MOSCOW -- It was time to worship in the capital of the Russian Orthodox world, but there wasn't one incense-darkened icon, one black-robed priest or one word uttered in Old Church Slavonic.

Instead, believers of a different sort--Jehovah's Witnesses--faced a simple stage. Two women were demonstrating how to win Russian converts over to the Witnesses, a controversial religious group with roots in the United States.

One of the women, reading from a script, pretended to fend off the other, who was offering the Witnesses' literature. "I'm Russian Orthodox," the first woman said. "No thanks." "Well," said the second woman, "it's so very nice to meet another believing person. Now, if you have a minute, couldn't we read something from the Bible?"

At this gathering of Jehovah's Witnesses in northern Moscow, the lesson in proselytizing was not merely a matter of worship style. It was part of a struggle for survival.

Most Russians follow an Orthodox Christian tradition that emphasizes ritual and monastic spirituality--and rejects Witness-like proselytizing. Russian "anti-cult" centers denounce the Witnesses' practices. The Witnesses, who claim 117,000 active adherents across Russia and 6 million worldwide, have been denied registration as a legal entity by Moscow authorities. And their members are embroiled in a court case testing a 1997 Russian federal law that aims to regulate religious organizations and restrict sects.

The rift is deepened by the fact that Witnesses consider themselves to be the only true Christians, and hold that their church is the only path to salvation.

They also renounce much of the secular world: They don't vote, celebrate national holidays or marry non-Witnesses. Besides rejecting blood transfusions, they refuse to serve in the military or to pledge allegiance to any government.

In a country where up to 80% of the population identifies itself as Orthodox and where Orthodoxy is as much a cultural label as a religious one, the Witnesses' beliefs perplex and even offend many people.
(...)

In February, prosecutors who want the Witnesses banned under the 1997 law were dealt a blow when their case was dismissed for lack of evidence. But in late May, a judicial panel reinstated it, and the retrial is scheduled for next month.

Religious rights watchdogs say the case sets an alarming precedent for the government's handling of minority religious organizations.
(...)

Much of the group's status hinges not on registration, however, but on the court case. If the prosecution scores in the September retrial, the Witnesses will lose their current legal status and, with it, the ability to rent property, distribute literature and invite foreign guests--the missionaries and teachers who come from the United States and elsewhere.

Kondrateva, the prosecutor, said her goal is not to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow, where the group claims as many as 15,000 active members, but to make the organization act within the law.

Officially, the Russian Orthodox Church is taking a neutral stance on the controversial case.

"It's not our issue at all," said Yelena Speranskaya, a member of the foreign relations department at the Moscow Patriarchy.

But church officials dismiss Witnesses' theology, saying it has nothing in common with Christianity.

Kondrateva, who identifies herself as Orthodox, said, "You should act with regard for the culture and traditions of a country."

Tradition is also on the mind of Moscow official Zhbankov, who supports amending the 1997 law to give government privileges to Russia's "traditional religions," such as Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. In his view, such support could include financial assistance to the "traditional" groups.
[...more...] [Need the full story? Read this]

A Struggle to Survive on Russian Soil

Jehovah's Witnesses, denied permission to register as a legal entity in the largely Orthodox Christian nation, face both cultural and religious obstacles.