Haha! I have a feeling that a letter writing campaign isn't going to go over well with Russia.
What a stupid response - to actually do exactly what it is that Russia is pissed off about - evangelism.
When they write their letters, maybe the JWs should try to defend their suicide pacts with the WTS:
A Russian newspaper reports that the community opposition to blood transfusions has killed 18 people, including eight children. Two investigations opened in Kogalym and Moscow.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The refusal of blood transfusions by Jehovah's Witnesses has killed 18 people, including eight children. This is the accusation against the religious community, for years the object of persecution and discrimination in Russia, that appeared on the pages of Komsomolskaya Pravda. The newspaper, the most widely read in the Federation, tells the story of of these deaths. According to the newspaper, the authorities have already opened investigations into the death of two children: one in Kogalym the other in Moscow.
If the WTS wants their religion to not be considered an "extremist" organization, they need to stop asking their members to engage in extreme behavior. Committing suicide, in the face of medical doctors who hold a life saving measure in their hands, is not the behavior of sane and rational people. It is extreme behavior that costs real lives and impacts everybody around them.
Freedom of religion is one thing...but the freedom to do what you want by disregarding the laws of the country you are in is quite another. Claiming religious freedom does not give you the right to infringe on other peoples' freedom from religion. Going around telling other people that their religion or way of life is wrong and God only loves JWs is a divisive action, not a unifying one.
I think Russia has a long memory and they aren't ready to forgive the WTS for the campaign they have launched against the "King of the North" in the past. A letter writing campaign mounted by evangelizers is the last thing that will work in this situation. The only thing it is going to do is give JWs an opportunity to fill in their time cards so that the WTS gets their US tax break for engaging in "charitable"/letter writing activity.
And, with the help of all those people in the Western media, the GB can divert attention from all the crap they are trying to pull off everywhere else concerning their keeping child abuse secret.
I think that the GB is welcoming the Russia controversy - get the world to point fingers at Russia and maybe people will ignore what is coming out of Australia and elsewhere about child abuse.