JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ARRANGED SECRET MEETINGS IN KURGAN
by Tatiana Andreeva
The religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses (ruled in Russia to be extremist) conducted secret meetings in Kurgan and Shadrinsk. A few days ago the organizers of events were arrested by personnel of the regional directorate of the F.S.B. The religious studies scholar Aleksei Minin, from Kurgan, described for Ura.ru how the Jehovah’s Witnesses are dangerous.
“The three detainees conducted in Kurgan oblast religious meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to which they attracted more than 130 residents of the oblast into participation,” the oblast investigation department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (S.K.R.) reported after it had conducted a joint operation with the directorate of the F.S.B. At the same time the organizers used conspiratorial methods.
The religious studies scholar Aleksei Minin explains the danger of the Jehovah’s Witnesses as the fact that the organization gets complete control over an individual. This places it in the category of a totalitarian sect. “They have a constant expectation of the imminent end of the world. A person lives in constant tension. It is easy enough to gain control over him. For them this is all described in their magazine, Watchtower. These are the written words of God. This is a complete guide to action which the organizers from the U.S.A. send,” Aleksei Minin explains.
In Kurgan oblast they comprised more than 1,300 persons, before the Jehovah’s Witnesses were declared to be an extremist organization. At the same time, the number of adherents was growing. “For example, there were meetings where ‘Central Stadium’ was completely filled. They had huge houses of worship in Kurgan. Their supporters brought donations,” the religion scholar explains.
Their attitude toward the state also poses a danger. “From the point of view of the Witnesses, any government is the kingdom of the Beast, the Antichrist, with whom one must fight. Naturally the government could not permit the appearance in Russia of millions of haters of the authorities and this led to the prohibition of their activity,” Minin explains. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 July 2021)
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