At the time of writing, there is no news on any appeal against the ban recently imposed on Jehovah's Witnesses religious activities in Moscow.
However, this perhaps gives us an opportunity to review the facts and to get a few points straight. Most people seem to have very similar views on this religious group and the principal concerns appear to be over the blood transfusions and the methods in which Jehovah's Witnesses promote their faith.
Although we follow no religion ourselves, we have taken a closer look at this group and its faith. Initially, we too had doubts about many of their "rules" and this was based on a lack of understanding and knowledge. However, in the last few weeks we have gathered a lot more information and see things in a different light (so to speak).
The one thing we have discovered is that Jehovah's Witnesses follow a very good set of moralistic rules. Some may be open to debate and it's very likely that some of their followers may not adhere to them totally, but this is true of every religion on the planet.
Let's take a look a look at some of the areas that are important to them: They believe that a husband and wife should be properly married in the eyes of the law. A husband should never hit his wife or mistreat her in any way. A father should work hard to care for his family. He must provide food, clothing, and housing for his wife and children. A wife is expected to care for her family lovingly. Parents should never discipline their children in a harsh or cruel way. Marriage mates must be faithful to each other. Adultery is a sin against God and against one's mate. They do not listen to or tell dirty jokes or unclean stories. They are against Sex before marriage, adultery, bestiality, incest. Every form of gambling is tainted by greed. So Christians do not take part in any kind of gambling, such as lotteries, horse racing, and bingo. It is wrong to take revenge or to return evil for the bad things that others might do. It is not wrong to drink a little wine, beer, or other alcoholic beverage, but heavy drinking and drunkenness are wrong. It is wrong to mistreat animals or to kill them just for sport or pleasure. Smoking and taking drugs are not permitted. In each congregation, there are elders, or overseers. They do not dress differently from others. Neither are they paid for their work.
This does not sound like a group who "Incite religious discord...break up families....endanger life" in fact, if you were to take the religion from their rules, you would have a set of morals that many should consider following! Unfortunately, a body affiliated to the Russian Orthodox Church seem to have a different opinion and seem determined to keep the ban in place.
In March we saw headlines like "Church hails Jehovahs Witness ban" and comments such as "We think that the Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine and the organisation's activities provide a legal reason for banning it," Moscow Patriarchate spokesman Mikhail Dudko was quoted as saying.
Perhaps the area we most admire about their religion is the fact that their elders do not get paid for leading a congregation. How many other religions can you find that do not give their Church "workers" a salary? Does the Russian Orthodox Church pay their leaders? Obviously Jehovah's Witnesses need to raise money to cover expenses like any other religion, but this is done by way of donations. We believe it is wrong for someone to get paid for preaching, if they truly believe in their faith they should be prepared to do it for love and for free (as the Bible states, this information was given to them for free!).
It is a little sad that another religion can be so vindictive of another, something the Russian Orthodox Church have indicated that Jehovah's Witnesses are guilty of. It is also of some concern that very few (if any) other religious groups have shown any support against this ban and are either afraid of speaking out or secretly support Moscow's decision. Maybe Moscow should take a closer look at some of the other religions that operate in the City, as these clearly do not practice what they preach (love thy neighbour!).
Yes, the situation regarding blood transfusions is a difficult area, but as we have already reported, not all blood saves lives (some blood can be contaminated). This is an area of their belief that we must try and understand, but then you have religions where the eating of pork is forbidden. What if someone from that religion was faced with the decision of either eating that meat or starving to death, what would they do?
Clearly, there is a lot of misunderstanding about Jehovah's Witnesses and a certain amount of prejudice. Our advice would be to study the facts for yourself and not belive everything you hear from others. We hope the authorities in Moscow will take this advice and rethink the ban.
http://www.profindpages.com/news/2004/04/19/MN081.htm