The extremist organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" in Rostov-on-Don began active actions promoting ideas banned in Russia, but was stopped in time.
In the history of Russia there are many examples of the actions of both individual organizations and individuals, the provocative orientation of which is aimed at destructuring public life. One of them is Father Gapon, whose activities during the 1905 revolution led to massive loss of life. And whose name has become the personification of religious provocations.
Today on the territory of Russia there are many extremist organizations whose activities are aimed at inciting religious hatred between people.
Jehovah's Witnesses were founded by the American lawyer Rutherford in 1931 on the basis of the secret religious organization Watchtower Society (today a magazine with the same name is being published). A capitalist firm that set up a business on religion, as its founders admitted.
It turns out that the "witnesses" actively collaborated with Hitler, writing him more than one message, where they offered their services to introduce new religious rules in the occupied territories. And I must say, these appeals were noticed by the Nazi leadership and approved by Heinrich Himmler. He wrote a special instruction dated July 21, 1944 to the head of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Ernst Kaltenbrunner, in which it was proposed to actively use "witnesses" in the occupied territories as a new religion instead of Orthodox, arguing that "Jehovah's Witnesses" are disciplined and obedient, they do everything exactly and consistently. These qualities were the best suited to the German regime. But Himmler's order was not followed.
However, since the end of the Second World War, the activities of "witnesses" have moved mainly to the United States. The representatives of the sect did not receive any censure from the American authorities for their connection with the Nazi regime. Moreover, branches of the sect began to appear in various countries and cities. There were none in the Soviet Union. And only after its disintegration "white brothers", Catholics, "Jehovah's Witnesses" and many others poured into the country.
Activities within the sect are strictly controlled by denunciations; there is a ban on communication with people who have left the organization, even with relatives. These rules were developed from the very beginning by the founders of the sect and are preserved to this day.
Due to the nature of my journalistic work, I had to face several representatives of this sect.
The first "collision" happened with my neighbors, who live one floor below in our five-story "Khrushchev" complex.
Mother and daughter are active and consistent supporters of the sect. They often talked in the courtyard with the children, telling them about a new interpretation of the Bible, which is in fact supposedly written not by scientists, but by several representatives of the sect - twelve representatives of the board on the principle "as translated by a Google translator."
But after one of the adults heard their preaching conversations with the little ones on the topic of the "bad" Orthodox Church and the good new faith, two adherents of the sect were harshly told that such conversations were inadmissible. Now mother and daughter are handing out their leaflets and literature on the street.
Together with the second girl, we lay on the preservation of pregnancy in a Rostov sanatorium in the Kamenka area. An ordinary, simple, seemingly sweet woman turned out to be a foreman in the branch of the sect in the city of Bataysk. She said that within their organization there is a strictly verified hierarchy, which is based on the subordination of the younger brother to the older brother. And all deviations from the norm must be reported "upward", to the elder brother. If you do not "snitch", then you can be monitored and calculated by other "younger" and "older" brothers.
Even a wife and husbands are obliged to look after each other and observe a certain set of rules and postures in their intimate sphere.
Activists are required to walk from door to door (they can annoyingly call several times and at any time of the day), stand in the street, send letters of "misfortune", hand out leaflets, and hold unauthorized rallies.
If, for some reason, the representatives of the sect refuse to do this, punishment follows, the choice of which is at the discretion of the senior in rank and may include both corporal and spiritual punishments: a ban on communicating with relatives, blows below the back, etc. … In general, they do whatever comes to mind. And since people with a crippled psyche get there, they can inflict the most terrible punishments. The documents defining the degree of punishment are strictly classified, they cannot be read and the lower members of the sect cannot learn about the consequences of their actions.
The processing technology for ordinary people can be very different. One of my acquaintances, Evgenia (real name), got into the sect when, by the nature of her profession, she decided to talk to one of the representatives of this movement. Word for word, then the young man decided to accompany Evgenia home, then he began to come to work. Gradually, Evgenia realized that she was in love and could not get rid of this intoxication.
They went on a business trip together, where Yevgenia suddenly realized that something strange was happening to her: as it turned out later, psychotropic drugs were mixed into her food and drinks, depressing the effect on the psyche, suppressing any manifestation of will. On the way back, Evgenia was already forcibly injected with drugs, and in such a deranged state they pushed her onto a bus and sent her to her parents in the Volgograd region.
On the way, the girl took off her clothes, handed out her jewelry - the father, who met her at the station, did not recognize his daughter, it took several months of treatment in a psychiatric clinic to bring Eugene to his senses. All this ultimately led to the fact that today the girl has attacks of panic attacks, having given birth to a child, she again went to the hospital three months later with a nervous breakdown.
The followers of the sect did not suffer any punishment for their actions and fled from Rostov.
Today, as before, sectarians are trying to involve the uninitiated people in their organization.
Please note: the houses where such organizations are located are usually fenced off with high stone or brick fences, and it is very difficult to understand what is happening there. The entrance is also guarded, and not every person can enter inside: you need to know the password and the code word.
In Russia, since the perestroika era, many such comfortable and richly furnished houses of worship have appeared, where private services are regularly held. They pray here passionately and with full ecstasy. Often, adherents of the sect temporarily rent a room where violent services are also held. Almost anyone can understand what is happening there.
The technology of processing people includes a certain set of rules: firstly, you cannot tell a potential "client" about the real purpose of attending such a service. For example, they may be invited, supposedly, to the evening of the presentation of some product.
One of these actions took place in the House of Culture of the Rostselmash plant, where a hall was rented for several days. To get through this evening, you had to buy tickets, the price of one ticket is about 300 rubles. Then all the newcomers were seated in the center of the hall. Experienced ministers were placed in the front rows, and several people were also seated in the last rows, who vigilantly watched that everyone performed certain ritual actions. You need to get up, bow, sit down, get up again, bow. And so - several times. Then an amazing thing began - music sounded and everyone began to sing, clapping their palms together.
Such efforts are aimed at only one thing - to break the will and force a person to join the harmonious obedient ranks. If this succeeds, then the sectarians who brought the new recruits are promoted in "service".
But the most common is standing on the street.
In Rostov, two representatives of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, without permission, decided to organize their own picket on the Railway Station Square. They stood in the main pedestrian alley, where the largest number of people pass. It seemed, at first glance, that they did not commit any violations.
There was a stand on which books were laid out and there were two women who actively tried to impose books included in the federal list of extremist materials.
As follows from the materials of the prosecutor's check, on February 15, 2015 on the Privokzalnaya Square activists of the extremist organization Churkina M. S. and Svetlakova Yu. S. without filing a notice of public events in the prescribed manner, they organized and in violation of administrative legislation held picketing using a mobile information stand, propaganda literature and other means of visual campaigning. The extremist website of this organization, which was banned in Russia at the end of last year, was actively promoted there. In their defense, they wrote a letter to the head of the district, in which they informed about "holding a religious service, during which biblical literature will be used." Which one, the representatives of the organization did not indicate.
As it was subsequently established by the prosecutor's office of the Zheleznodorozhny district of the city of Rostov-on-Don, during the unauthorized public event, prohibited printed information materials and links to the official Internet resource "Jehovah's Witnesses" were used, which was entered by Roskomnadzor of the Russian Federation into the register of domain names, page indexes of the sites of the network " Internet”and network addresses containing information, the distribution of which is prohibited in the Russian Federation.
In addition, the organizers of the picket made calls for an unlimited number of citizens to take part in the creation of these information materials, as well as in their subsequent distribution. This contradicts the provisions of Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation (“propaganda or agitation inciting religious hatred or enmity is not allowed”), as well as Federal Law No. 114-FZ “On Counteracting Extremist Activity”.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Zheleznodorozhny District of Rostov-on-Don issued two official warnings about the inadmissibility of violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of countering extremist activities: this is part 2 of article 20.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of the established procedure for holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, march or picketing"). Subsequently, the Zheleznodorozhny district court confirmed the correctness of the conclusion of the prosecutor's office and imposed an administrative penalty on two citizens of the illegal picket in the form of an administrative fine in the amount of 20 thousand rubles each.
Similar trials are taking place in a number of other cities of the Rostov region: Novocherkassk, Shakhty, Novoshakhtinsk. However, only ordinary members of the sects appear in them - the organizers, as usually happens, go unpunished. Only in isolated cases can they be brought to justice.
In 2013, the leader of the Tobolsk organization was convicted of extremism.
Also, the "witnesses" are charged with a ban on blood transfusions, a ban on the provision of urgent medical care, unclear sources of funding - this is not a complete list of crimes committed by adepts who have an extensive network in many countries, the number of members of the sect has exceeded 7 million (data from 2014).
In other Russian cities, for example, Abinsk (Krasnodar Territory), the branch of this extremist organization was closed by a court decision.
In total, by the beginning of 2013, the courts of the Rostov Oblast, the Altai Republic, the Kemerovo Oblast and the Krasnodar Territory had declared 68 titles of publications of “witnesses” extremist.
According to Father Vladimir, rector of the Rostov Orthodox church, the principle of freedom of religion in 1991 was enshrined in the Constitution. This led to the fact that a stream of overseas preachers literally poured into our country from outside, and each of them proved the correctness of their faith. Ignorance of the dogmas of the Orthodox faith contributed to the fact that many of our compatriots joined all kinds of sects and religious groups. The Lord, foreseeing this time, said to his disciples: “Then, if someone says to you: behold, Christ is here, or there, - do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and give great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect”(Matthew 24; 23).
According to Father Vladimir, the main danger of religious sects for Orthodox Christians today is the lack of religious education, as well as insufficient knowledge of the glorious history of our Russian fatherland.
“We must clearly and clearly understand and realize where the truth is, remember and know how and who created our Holy Russia, and it is thanks to this that we do not fall under the influence of various religious sects. and baptize the whole of Russia in the holy font of the Dnieper. This is the "Battle on the Ice" with the preachers of the "true" faith from the West - the holy noble Prince Alexander Nevsky. These are the glorious heroes of our Fatherland - the Orthodox commander Alexander Suvorov and the righteous admiral Theodor Ushakov.
A religious sect will cease to exist and be dangerous when there are no people willing to join.
What should every Orthodox Christian do in order to increase his religious literacy and not be in a sect? After all, if every baptized Orthodox Christian knows the symbol of his faith, knows the dogmas and foundations of Christian morality, then the field for the activities of religious sects, including Jehovah's Witnesses, will simply cease to exist. Today, both the church and the state strive to ensure that the citizens of our Fatherland from an early age learn as much as possible about the traditional Russian Orthodox culture.
According to Fr. Vladimir, over the 17 years of his pastoral ministry, cases of transition from sects to the Orthodox Church are extremely rare. “I remember only four people who returned to Orthodoxy from a religious sect,” he says. The methods of influencing the mind and will of a person in religious sects are very different - from increased benevolence to a new adept (a member of a religious sect) to the use of various means that suppress the will of a person. A person who has returned from a religious sect to the Orthodox Church for a very long time is not able to lead a full life as a family man and a member of society.
