Photo courtesy Andrew Kuznetsov

This week, the news broke that the Supreme Court in Russia’s southern city of Belgorod ordered a local Jehovah’s Witnesses group disbanded calling it an “extremist” organization.

According to The Moscow Times, “Prosecutors told the court that the religious organization ‘tore’ apart families and tried to entice young people into the group.” (emphasis mine)

There are two big questions to answer in relation to this story. Are the two accusations alleged by the prosecutors true or false? If true, does this justify a banning of the religious organization?

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses tear apart families?

In a previous article, I discussed the issue of whether or not Jehovah’s Witnesses break up families.

A JW gets baptized…the JW equivalent of Scientology’s billion year contract.

Baptism for Jehovah’s Witnesses is a lifelong commitment to uphold the bible standards and principles as interpreted by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. If a baptized Jehovah’s Witness violates those rules, they are dealt with by the congregation elders and sometimes excommunicated (disfellowshipped) from the congregation.

How are parents expected to treat their children the child is disfellowshipped or disassociated from the congregation? The members of the congregation and the family are instructed to “quit mixing in company” with them. The youth is shunned socially. Not even a greeting is supposed to be said to them.

In many cases, they are kicked out of the home, and, with the endorsement of the Jehovah’s Witness organization, the parents cut off communication with their own child unless the child returns to the religion.

So, as to the question of whether Jehovah’s Witnesses tear families apart, there is evidence in support of the Russian Prosecutor’s accusation.

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses “entice young people” into the organization?

The short answer to this accusation is: Yes. When you look at Jehovah’s Witnesses official website, there are two main sections dedicated to Children and Teenagers. Those sections contain numerous articles and activities that are meant to appeal to children and teenagers that are both inside and outside of the organization.

Screenshot from the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

There are also numerous examples in Jehovah’s Witness literature encouraging youths to attempt to convert their fellow students.

Dorcas, a young sister in Mozambique, has made it her personal goal to witness to the principal and all the teachers at her school, as well as her classmates. She presently conducts eight Bible studies, and six of her Bible students regularly attend meetings. Three others progressed to baptism and then qualified to become regular pioneers. — 2000 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses At six years of age, Sydnee was adept at boldly speaking to classmates about the truths of God’s Word, including the condition of the dead and Jesus’ position in relation to God. “She has been a zealous and fearless little minister,” her mother says…Sydnee treats her classmates as her personal witnessing territory. — Awake! Magazine, September 8, 2005

Stories like the ones quoted above are pointed to as “good examples” for the youths in the organization to follow.

Jehovah’s Witnesses also practice child baptism. It is not uncommon for children as young as 9 years of age to be seen getting baptized at one of the assemblies or conventions Jehovah’s Witnesses attend throughout the year.

So, do Jehovah’s Witnesses try to “entice young ones” to join their religion? The answer is clearly, yes.

Do these practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses justify a governmental ban?

If one wants to convince Jehovah’s Witnesses that their beliefs are wrong, banning them is the absolute last thing that should be done.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have a persecution complex. It is part of their doctrine. Banning them will only feed their belief that they have the one true faith. In fact, it may drive some that could be doubting back into the indoctrination out of fear that “the end of the system of things” was near, and that they are about to see armageddon and get to paradise.

But, besides all of that, the bigger issue is one of human rights.

Freedom to worship as one pleases is one of the rights designated and recognized by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is supposed to be protected by the Russian constitution.

As someone who no longer identifies as a Jehovah’s Witness, I have a unique perspective on this.

Though I believe the practices of shunning and child indoctrination are deplorable for any organization to perpetrate, I also believe that everyone should have the right to worship or not worship in a way that they please.

Some would argue that Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves violate human rights through their harsh practices and policies. Though I would agree with that opinion, the cliché “two wrongs don’t make a right” comes to mind.

Governments have other avenues to curb religious organizations from committing harmful acts against their membership. Has the religion broken a law and is it committing human rights abuses? Tax the hell out of them. Revoke their tax-exempt status. Hold the leaders responsible.

Banning a belief or religious organization through governmental action calls to mind George Orwell’s 1984 and is nothing more than “returning evil for evil” in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are certainly not exempt of having their beliefs subjected to criticism or ridicule, however.

Though the practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses are Orwellian themselves, it by no means justifies violating their human rights in return.

A call for reason and education.

Russia has a dark past of human rights abuses, even since the fall of the iron curtain. Though we will likely not see Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses carted off by the train load and sent to Siberian labor camps like as seen during the time of Stalin, this ban is still an affront to lovers of freedom everywhere.

The best way to erode the undue influence of Jehovah’s Witnesses is through reasonable dialog and instilling critical thinking skills through public education. Rationality, reason and critical thinking are the enemy of organizations like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Scientology and the like.

At this time, this ban is isolated to only a few municipalities in Russia. However, policing thought and beliefs is the absolute last thing that should be considered.

If Governments want to step in and protect individuals from abuses JW’s commit, like the ones mentioned above, they don’t have to ban the religion.

If an individual experiences an abuse of their personal rights from a religion, why not allow that individual to sue that religious organization? A financial incentive to reform has the potential to be more effective than an outright ban and it would not trample on the human rights of an entire religion.

Believe what you want. But if you hurt someone because of those beliefs, it’s going to cost you.