The following article is quoted from Russia Religion News (original here). It summarises the highly disquieting actions now being taken to persecute the religion in Russia. “DO NOT DIG A PIT FOR ANOTHER. . .” [“. . . lest you fall into it”] Ban of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia has become symbol of senseless discrimination…
Reported by the BBC and others, Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered the disbanding of the Jehovah’s Witnesses on Russian territory. The ban came into effect after the court rejected an appeal by the religious group against a ruling in April which declared it to be extremist. The justice ministry had argued that the group distributed…
Please would you consider adding you signature to the attached letter. The All Faiths Network has been asked to circulate the letter by the Interfaith Round Table Washington – a collection of many religions in the USA as you will see from some of the existing signatories. It concerns religious discrimination in Russia and I…
The Manchester attack is a most horrible and insane incursion into our society and highlights that there are a small number of people in this world whose lives are dominated by destructive intentions which they justify by some twisted purpose and inner turmoil. That such individuals can harbour such a world view is an aberration…
The Parlementary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Rapporteur Valeriu Ghiletchi recently proposed a resolution and a recommendation for “The Protection of the rights of parents and children belonging to religious minorities” to the members of the Assembly coming from 47 countries. After intense debates, both the resolution and the recommandation have been approved…
Dear Friend It is our pleasure to write in relation to a fun interfaith Star Wars video to mark the 40th anniversary of the first Star Wars film. This has just gone online with the petition to recognise the role Star Wars has had on bringing together diverse families and communities. Please check out our…
A YouGov poll on attitudes to the causes of Islamic and Christian terrorism shows a significant differences of views between younger and older respondents. While “religious views” is thought to be the main cause of terrorist acts, in neither Christian or Islamic cases is terrorism thought to reveal anything about the faith. Asked “Generally speaking,…
The Russian News Agency TASS reports that the vice-chair of the Federation Council’s Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, Elena Mizulina, has called for a package of draft laws aimed at combating destructive public associations and religious sects. “I propose discussing the possibility of creating a working group which would conduct work on improving…
Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia has reported that law enforcement agencies in Petrovpavlovsk-Kamchatsky broke out a window in a building where a Jehovah’s Witnesses worship service was being conducted, interrupted the service, and conducted a search. Two armed operatives in masks smashed a window in a residential building where about 100 persons were…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the so-called “Yarovaya package” of laws which substantially toughen criminal accountability for a number of crimes and introduce new forms of violations of law, including “failure to report a crime”. The package also forbids unregistered organizations [chiefly religious groups] to engage in missionary activity, while any missionary activity by…
