JW collecct 315,000 signatures for petition

by GermanXJW 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  GermanXJW

  I am not too sure if anybody already mentioned this:

  Over 300,000 Russians sign petition to President Putin
  protesting Moscow ban on Jehovah's Witnesses

  MOSCOW?More than 315,000 citizens across Russia have signed a petition addressed to President Vladimir Putin expressing their deep concern over the ban imposed on Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian capital. The majority of those who signed are not Jehovah's Witnesses, but they are disturbed by the chilling precedent of a court outlawing a peaceful religious group.

  On August 25, 2004, two representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia will present the text of the petition and the entire 76 volumes containing the signatures to the designated department of the Presidential administration in the Kremlin. The petition is also addressed to the General Prosecutor of Russia, Vladimir Ustinov, and the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedyev, who will receive a copy of the text of the petition. The signatures were gathered in less than two months, between May 10 and June 27, 2004.

  Prompting the petition was the Moscow Golovinsky Court ruling on March 26, 2004, liquidating the local registered Community of Jehovah's Witnesses and banning the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses. On June 16, 2004, the decision was upheld by the Moscow City (appeals) Court. Ordinary people and religious experts alike fear that the vague criteria used as a basis to ban Jehovah's Witnesses could be applied just as easily to any religion, including their own.

  edited to mention that this is from http://www.jw-media.org
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  logansrun

  Good for them.

  B.
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  Odrade

  I wonder how much influence 315,000 signatures from a group of people who don't vote will have on a politician?
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  undercover

  I wonder how much influence 315,000 signatures from a group of people who don't vote will have on a politician?

  That's priceless.
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  kls

  I couldn't have said it better Odrade.
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  Bubbamar

  I know some teenagers who are hoping the law won't change so they won't have to go in fs. haha

  I think I would have rather gone to jail than go in fs.
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  Lady Lee

  hmmmmm

  315,000 signatures

  I doubt there are that many JWs there so I would assume these are the signatures of people around the world.

  If I was a politician how interested would I be on the thinking of people from som eother country that wants to tell me how to do my job in MY country.

  hmmmmmm
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  Pole

  This is a pathetic petty demonstration of a politically powerless interest group in Russia. I don't think it's going to work there.

  Some calculations Putin may bother to make:

  JWs are not voters, so with 110,000 witnesses in those 315,000 who signed the petition only 214,000 may count. How many of those 214,000 are under age or otherwise not eligible for voting? Let's say only 150,000 are potential voters.

  They have over 100,000,000 elligible voters in Russia. So what percentage of potential voters can Putin risk losing if he ingores this petition? Isn't it something around 0,115%?

  JWs were banned in Moscow because of the religious monopoly of the Orthodox Church. Even Russian Catholics get "persecuted" in Russia. I mean it - if you don't believe me - you can do your research about recent persecution of Catholic missions in Russia. Proselytising is something that really pisses off the Orthodox Church hierarchy. Even in Greece, which is an EU member. (in this respect Greece is really still a pseudo-democracy, IMO).

  And if there is any relligion Putin wants to make friends with it's not JWs, it's not Catholics, it's the Orthodox Church, especially in Moscow.

  You have to understand that Russia is a parody of democracy. Putin's political record includes plans to exterminate an entire nation of Chechnya, shutting down free TV stations, and jailing the brightest politically incorrect businessmen (confiscating private property - e.g Yukos).

  Russian JWs should therefore send their petition to the Orthodox Church leaders, not to Putin. They could make a deal about how many people they are allowed to convert and how much they could bribe them pay for these souls.

  Sounds, crazy, I know. But it's Russia. It's beyond your comprehension, you Westerners.

  Pole of the former Communist Bloc
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  Carmel

  If Putin ignores the pleas of hundreds of thousands of Chechnyans why would he give one iota of attention to these folk?

  carm
• 

  seattleniceguy

  JW collecct 315,000 signatures for petition

  Now who says JWs aren't politically active? The next step is for them to understand that signing petitions and voting on any other cause is no different: you're trying to effect change in your world through peaceful means.

  ** heading off to the voting booth **

  SNG