scholarly journals Eyes on You while Your Eyes Are on God: State Surveillance of Religion in Ghana under the Provisional National Defence Council Regime

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-409
Author(s):  
Smith Oduro-Marfo
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Religious Sects ◽  
National Defence

This paper discusses Ghana’s erstwhile Religious Bodies Registration Law (PNDC Law 221) passed by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) in 1989 and the associated bans placed on the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormon sects. First, the paper analyzes how the state’s surveillance moves engendered lateral and anti-surveillance practices. Second, Eric Stoddart’s concept of (in)visibility is used as an analytical framework to track how both the surveilling entity (the state and community surveillers) and the surveilled (religious bodies and their members) actively partook in constructing the visibility and invisibility of the surveilled. The paper concludes that the state’s theoretical ambition of religious surveillance was not fully matched in practice, as implementation was mediated by a pragmatic blend of “seeing” and “unseeing.” Also, the response of the religious sects to the surveillance involved a strategic pursuit of simultaneous visibility and invisibility.

scholarly journals The state of the late Protestant denominations

2008 ◽  
pp. 302-331
Author(s):  
Petro Yarotskiy
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Soviet Rule ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Ideological Criticism ◽  
State Security ◽  
Right Of Return ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
The Right ◽  
Protestant Denominations

Late Protestantism - Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses have existed in Ukraine for over a hundred years. Under Soviet rule, these denominations were under constant administrative pressure, subject to party-ideological criticism, atheistic propaganda. The Pentecostals were virtually banned and non-registrable, since they were forcibly annexed by evangelical Baptist Christians after the August 1945 state agreement initiated by the Moscow authorities. From the very beginning of the establishment of Soviet power in Western Ukraine (1939), Jehovah's Witnesses were declared an "anti-Soviet sect" and were therefore banned. In March 1951, an act of genocide was committed against Jehovah's Witnesses: according to the "Memorandum Note of the USSR Ministry of State Security", approved by J. Stalin's personal signature, all Jehovah's Witnesses, together with their families (7650 persons), were sent from Ukraine to eternal settlement in Siberia. without the right of return to Ukraine, and their homes and property were confiscated by the state.

scholarly journals Jehovah's Witnesses in the Modern World and Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Kireyev ◽  
Konstantin Berezhko
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
The State ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Registration ◽  
The Right ◽  
First Time

This article highlights the history of Jehovah's Witnesses as a Christian religion in Ukraine from its occurrence on the territory of Ukraine in the early 20th century to the present day. The response of the Witnesses to the massive attempts of the Nazi and Soviet regimes to marginalize and suppress their religious manifestations is described separately. In particular, the biblical nature and confessional content of one of the fundamental teachings of the Witnesses – neutrality – is analyzed and explained. It includes the information about what it means and what it does not mean for believers. This makes it possible to better understand the current display of the neutrality of the denomination members when it comes to compliance with certain requirements of the local government. The growth statistics of the denomination members throughout history are given, which indicate the failed attempts of the totalitarian governments repressive system to eradicate the faith in the controlled territories. For the first time, information is published from the memoirs of Witnesses who tried to obtain state registration in 1949 when under the communist regime and the reaction of the government officials to believers’ attempts to be recognized by the state and society. There is a link between the recognition of the state through state registration and the increase of confessional activity, by which the Witnesses actually disprove the myths and labels produced and imposed on society by totalitarian regimes for decades. Emphasis is placed on the Witnesses’ current activities, which gives an idea of their attitude towards Ukrainian society and their role in strengthening and affirming Christian values among fellow citizens. Their publishing activity, evangelization work, religious and family values, public worship, educational programs, charitable and social work, attitude to representatives of other religions are analyzed. The view of health care is particularly examined. It describes the principles of a reasonable balance that Witnesses follow between the right to make informed treatment choices (including the refusal to use blood) and the attitude toward life and health as one of the highest human values. The significant contribution of Jehovah's Witnesses to the development of alternative nonblood treatments in world medicine is acknowledged. Therein are recorded the conclusions from numerous religious studies of Ukrainian and European institutions regarding the social and pedagogical value of materials published and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses through their periodicals and official online resources. The involvement of Jehovah's Witnesses in providing charitable assistance to civilians during the conflict in Donbas is highlighted. The activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in the context of their attitude to the culture, history, and traditions of the local people are considered. In particular, the part of the tourist program for fellow believers, who come from abroad to join in the ministry or assemblies, is to get familiar with Ukrainian monuments and the historical heritage. Witnesses publish and distribute Bible publications in 14 languages spoken by small indigenous communities in Ukraine. The social significance of biblical teaching, which is meant to meet the spiritual needs of Ukrainians with hearing and visual impairments as well as those who currently remain in places of correctional centers is outlined. For the first time, significant decisions of higher courts in Ukraine and other countries regarding Jehovah's Witnesses are considered. In recent years, the issues of military service and the right for alternative (non-military) service have been considered in higher domestic and foreign courts; denomination’s compliance with the requirements for the provision of state subsidies guaranteed to recognized religions; the right to build and use their places of worship, and proper assessment of religious hate crimes against Jehovah's Witnesses by law enforcement agencies. The decisions of the courts in the above-mentioned cases show that states consider Jehovah's Witnesses to be a recognized religion with the right to exercise freedom of conscience and religion.

Jehovah's Witnesses, Pregnancy, and Blood Transfusions: A Paradigm for the Autonomy Rights of All Pregnant Women

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joelyn Knopf Levy
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Blood Products ◽  
World War ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Physical Constraints ◽  
The Sacrifice

The liberty of the woman is at stake in a sense unique to the human condition and so unique to the law. The mother who carries a child to full term is subject to anxieties, to physical constraints, to pain that only she must bear. That these sacrifices have from the beginning of the human race been endured by woman with a pride that ennobles her in the eyes of others and gives to the infant a bond of love cannot alone be grounds for the State to insist that she make the sacrifice. Her suffering is too intimate and personal for the State to insist, without more, upon its own vision of the woman's role ….For years, Jehovah's Witnesses have posed a challenge to the medical profession. Bound by religious belief to refuse blood and blood products, they can frustrate physicians who, since World War II, have utilized transfusions when indicated in the course of treatment.

scholarly journals The Right to Family Life and Religious Freedom Versus the States‘ Interests

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-159
Author(s):  
Bianca-Codruța Băra
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The State ◽  
Parental Authority ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
The Right

Abstract The right to family life and religious freedom rejoice an universal recognition. The right to family life involves the prerogative of exercising parental authority in accordance with the religious beliefs of the parents. The right of parents to decide on behalf of their children is not an absolute one. Interference by the states must justify a legitimate aim and must be proportionate to that purpose. The states have to maintain a balance between the right to family life and religious freedom and its interests in safeguarding the lives and health of its citizens. The difficulty of maintaining this balance was also found in the jurisprudence of the courts. The most common cases arose as a result of the refusal of parents who belonged to the Jehovah's Witnesses religion to allow blood to be transfused for their children, risking their lives. Although the courts have explicitly recognized the right of parents to raise their children in accordance with their beliefs, they have shown that rescuing life and ensuring the physical and mental integrity of children are issues of national concern, so that the rapid intervention of public authorities, when these values are jeopardized, becomes not only a right of the state but also an obligation

scholarly journals Fundadors religiosos: reflexions sobre un patró hagiogràfic i mític

2016 ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Joan Prat
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Baha'i Faith ◽  
Spiritual Leader ◽  
Religious Sects ◽  
Brahma Kumaris

Aquest article proposa una reflexió general sobre les biografies, hagiogràfiques i mítiques, dels fundadors de moviments i institucions religioses divines. L'autor analitza el procés d’“invenció del líder”, que segueix una mena de principi tautològic segons el qual només poden ser líders religiosos aquells personatges la vida dels quals acompleix i s'emmotlla a un seguit de requisits, i, complementàriament, només aquells individus que acompleixen aquest requisits seran percebuts com a fundadors d'institucions o de sectes religioses. Els personatges analitzats són: sant Benet, fundador dels benedictins; Bernat de Claraval, reformador del Císter; Baha’u’lláh, fundador de la Fe Baha'i; Charles T. Russell, creador dels Testimonis de Jehovà; Brahma Baba; fundador de Brahma Kumaris; Prabhupada, organitzador de l'Associació Internacional per a la Consciència de Krisna (ISKCON); Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, fundador de l'Opus Dei, i Samael Aun Weor, líder espiritual de Gnosis.Este artículo propone una reflexión general sobre las biografías, hagiográficas y míticas, de los fundadores de movimientos e instituciones religiosas diversas. El autor analiza el proceso de “invención del líder” que sigue una especie de principio tautológico según el cual sólo pueden ser líderes religiosos aquellos personajes cuya vida cumple y se amolda a una serie de requisitos, y, complementariamente, sólo aquellos individuos que cumplen estos requisitos serán percibidos como fundadores de instituciones o de sectas religiosas. Los personajes analizados son: san Benito, fundador de los benedictinos; Bernardo de Claraval, reformador del Cister; Baha’u’lláh, fundador de la Fe Baha'i; Charles T. Russell, creador de los Testigos de Jehová; Brahma Baba, fundador de Brahma Kumaris; Prabhupada, organizador de la Asociación Internacional para la Consciencia de Krisna (ISKCON); Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, fundador del Opus Dei y Samael Aun Weor, líder espiritual de Gnosis.Cet article propose une réflexion générale sur les biographies, hagiographiques et mythiques, des fondateurs des mouvements et institutions religieuses diverses. L'auteur analyse te procès de «construction du leader» qui suit une sorte de principe tautologique selon lequel seuls peuvent être leaders religieux, les personnages dont la vie s'accomplit et s'adapte a une suite d'exigences, et, complémentairement, seuls les individus qui réunissent ces conditions, seront perçus comme les fondateurs d’institutions ou de sectes religieuses. Les personnages analysés sont Saint Benoit, fondateur des Bénédictins; Bernat de Clairvaux, réformateur du Cister; Baha’u’lláh, fondateur de la Foi Baha'i; Charles T. Russell, créateur des Témoins de Jehovà; Brahma Baba, fondateur de Brahma Kumaris; Prabhupada, organisateur de l'Association Internationale pour la Conscience de Krisna (ISKCON); Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, fondateur de l'Opus Dei et Samael Aun Weor, lider spirituel de Gnosis.This article proposes a general reflection upon the biographies, hagiographies and myths, of the founders of several religious movements and institutions. The author analyses the process of “leader invention” which follows a kind of tautological principle according to which only those people whose lives fulfil and are moulded by a series of requisites may be leaders and, complementarily, only those individuals who fulfil these requisites will be perceived as founders of institutions or religious sects. The individuals analyzed are: saint Benedict, founder of the Benedictines; Bernard of Clairvaux, reformer of the Cistercians; Baha’u’lláh, founder the Baha'i Faith; Charles T. Russell, creator of Jehovah's Witnesses; Brahma Baba, founder of Brahma Kumaris; Prabhupada, organisor of the lnternational Association for the Krishna Consciousness (lSKCON); Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei and Samael Aun Weor, spiritual leader of Gnosis.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, blood transfusions and judicial decision

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Cyrych
Keyword(s):  
Premature Death ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Undue Influence ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Religious Sects ◽  
The Right ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Religious Reasons

Every patient has the right and capacity to decide on accepting medical treatment, even if a refusal might risk permanent injury to his/her health or even lead to premature death, and regardless of whether the reasons for the refusal were rational or irrational, unknown or even non-existent, if a patient’s capacity to make a decision had been overborne by the undue influence of others, it is the duty of the doctors to treat her/him in whatever way they considered, in the exercise of their clinical judgement, to be in his best interests. The dangerous practice of denial of therapy for various religious reasons affects almost all religious sects and, to a small extent, other religious groups. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that accepting foreign blood blocks the way to salvation. They only agree to provide a medical service with the use of non-blood products. Therefore, treatment of such a patient can be extremely difficult for doctors. In other words, the arise is whether the rights of a mother refusing to have treatment can prevail against those of her unborn child, whereas potential limit to the absolute right of a competent adult to accept or reject treatment was recognized by English and American courts.

scholarly journals Kobiety Świadkowie Jehowy w nazistowskich obozach koncentracyjnych. Przyczynek do charakterystyki społeczności kobiecych w lagrach

2020 ◽  
pp. 234-250
Author(s):  
Barbara Czarnecka
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
Nazi Regime ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Western Literature ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Of Research

The article describes Jehovah’s Witnesses women as one of less remembered groups among victims of the Nazi regime. What is pointed out, first of all, is the state of research ontheir history, especially pertaining to their camp experience, Western literature on the subject and a negligible number of Polish research works devoted to the topic in question, and also some methodological dilemmas related to researching it. The author presents the circumstances of German Jehovah’s Witnesses after Hitler’s seizure of power, their subsequent persecutions, and also – reconstructed on the basis of documents, witnesses reports, and the members of persecuted group themselves – the fate of female followers of this religion (“the purple triangles”) in concentration camps. The author’s main points of focus are, described by witnesses/beholders/onlookers of the events, acts and attitudes of “the purple triangles” marked by strong spirituality, at the same time unbreakable/intransigent in their defiance of/against violence and the authorities’ orders. (Everybody knew that Jehovah’s Witnesses could have basically “sign off” from the camp by putting their signature at the bottom of a declaration that they would renounce their faith and cease to practise their religion.) Such a defiance may be better understood, the author claims, by interpreting it in the light of the anthropological concept of emotional communities.

scholarly journals SEKTE KEAGAMAAN DI LINGKUNGAN PENGIKUT KRISTIANI

Tsaqofah ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (02) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Ahmad Jais
Keyword(s):  
Human Existence ◽  
West Java ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Religious Sect ◽  
Religious Sects

Religion is considered as an answer to the weakening belief in modernization because modernization is considered to have a negative and destructive impact on human existence as evidenced by the increase in spiritualism among religious followers. The revival of religious spiritualism is not in conventional religions but there is a tendency to enter into spiritual schools, cults and religious sects. Likewise for Christian adherents in Bandung City, West Java. There are several reasons why the author should appoint a religious sect in the Christian Community of Bandung City because Bandung is the center of the movement of Jehovah's Witnesses for seven (7) cities in West Java, so they often mention his movement with the Jehovah's Witnesses or known as JW 07.

Studi Eksegetis Yohanes 1:1-18 Sebagai Apologetik Terhadap Kristologi Saksi Yehuwa

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Pangeran Manurung
Keyword(s):  
Striking Difference ◽  
Human Being ◽  
John 1 ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witness ◽  
Search Results ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God The Father ◽  
The Difference

Eksegesa John 1 : 1-18 shows that the Jehovah's Witness teachings deviate from the truth of the Bible and dangerous for Christians . The danger Christology of Jehovah's Witnesses should be bringing us to the prudence and discretion to reject it . It can be said that Jehovah's Witnesses do not include Christianity in accordance with the search results against their teachings . first ; they do not recognize the Bible that has been issued by the Indonesian National Bible Institute and consider if the Bible has too much harm to use their own New Translation of the Holy Scriptures that have been proven not a translation , but just a collection of interpretations and teachings of their leader alone . second ; Jehovah's Witnesses do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior only . They simply believe that salvation is obtained through belief in Jehovah and his kingdom and perform service message and follow the trial associations .                Before errors interfere Christology Christology of Jehovah's Witnesses Bible , please note that the topic of Christology is the difference between Christianity and other religions . This discussion has also become one of the topics that face many attacks from the outside or from within Christianity , either in the form of religion , philosophy , and ideology . The debate on this topic appeared since the beginning of Christianity , and give rise to a long and complex debate for nearly three centuries ( 300 years ) !! . Such debates will continue to exist throughout the period and just a rehash issues that had once appeared . And Christians should study the various debates and views of the ever emerging that are not easily fooled by the views back to this era .Eksegesa John 1 : 1-18 has been done and produce a biblical Christology and biblical correct . The truth is not in doubt because of the analysis conducted in accordance with the procedures and rules that apply in general . Now if Christology Christology of John compared with Jehovah's Witnesses, it will show a striking difference . Once observed , Christology Witnesses builds upon the interpretation of individuals who previously have had a negative Christological doctrine .                Conclusion those who think that Jesus is the firstborn of Creation ; Jesus was a human being ; Jesus is God in creating a peer ; Jesus lower than God , Jesus is the Angel Gabriel , and other Christological doctrine which basically degrading nature of Christ is a form of insult to the majesty of Christ . The Bible clearly and emphatically teaches that Christ is God incarnate , private alpha and omega , the creator of all that exists , and the equivalent of God the Father . Summing Christ as superior human or clear eldest creation is false teachings . The followers of Jehovah's Witnesses must repent. Amen

Strategies Among Young Jehovah’s Witnesses in Compulsory School in Sweden, Age 13–15, a Case Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernilla Liedgren ◽  
Lars Andersson
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Value System ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
A Value ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Primary School Age ◽  
Mainstream Culture

This study investigated how young teenagers, as members of a strong religious organization, dealt with the school situation and the encounter with mainstream culture taking place at school during the final years in Swedish primary school (age 13–15 years). The purpose was to explore possible strategies that members of a minority group, in this case the Jehovah’s Witnesses, developed in order to deal with a value system differing from that of the group. We interviewed eleven former members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses about their final years in compulsory Swedish communal school. The ages of the interviewees ranged between 24 and 46 years, and the interviewed group comprised six men and five women. Nine of the eleven interviewees had grown up in the countryside or in villages. All but two were ethnic Swedes. The time that had passed since leaving the movement ranged from quite recently to 20 years ago. The results revealed three strategies; Standing up for Your Beliefs, Escaping, and Living in Two Worlds. The first two strategies are based on a One-World View, and the third strategy, Living in Two Worlds, implies a Two-World View, accepting to a certain extent both the Jehovah’s Witnesses outlook as well as that of ordinary society. The strategy Standing up for Your Beliefs can be described as straightforward, outspoken, and bold; the youngsters did not show any doubts about their belief. The second subgroup showed an unshakeable faith, but suffered psychological stress since their intentions to live according to their belief led to insecurity in terms of how to behave, and also left them quite isolated. These people reported more absence from school. The youngsters using the strategy Living in Two Worlds appeared to possess the ability to sympathize with both world views, and were more adaptable in different situations.

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