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Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses

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Jehovah's Witnesses
Overview
Organizational structure
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Demographics
Literature
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Watch Tower presidents
Formative influences
Notable former members
Notable scholars
Criticism
Opposition

Throughout the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, their history, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have met controversy and opposition from the local governments, communities, or religious groups. Many Christian denominations consider their interpretation and doctrines to be heresy. Thus some religious leaders, have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of being a "cult". Although the term "cult" is problematic and generally carries strong negative connotations, conveying disdain and prejudice without having any valuable, substantive content, many persist in using it to label groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, perhaps for these very reasons but some end up not acquiring valid evidences to back up this ideology. Political and religious animosity against them has at times led to mob action and government oppression, including the targeting of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Holocaust.

On the milder side, there have been opposition by locals to the building of facilities (such as Kingdom Halls), and the holding of large conventions. In those circumstances, at times the reason is opposition to the religion, but at other times, they are more mundane, such as concerns about traffic congestion and noise.

Mob violence in the USA

Strong resentment and anger were sometimes directed at the group (then called Bible Students) in the 1910s and 1920s. At the time, this was largely due to the Watch Tower Society's outspoken manner; members carrying placards outside many churches and in the streets proclaiming the imminent destruction of church members, along with both church and government institutions if they did not flee from "false religion" was not an uncommon sight. Typical examples of the Watchtower's attitude are found in the Watch Tower Society's book publication The Finished Mystery (SS-7), 1917 edition: "Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of 'Christianity.'" (Page 485) "The people who are the strength of Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period beginning in 1918 A.D. A third part are 'burned with fire in the midst of the city.' Fire symbolizes destruction. . . .After 1918 the people supporting churchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents, by the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the Word of God among them." (Pages 398, 399) The Bible Students believed religion was a "racket and a snare" and refused to be identified as a 'religion' for some time.

In the United States in the late 1930s and into 1940, especially during wartime, mob violence against Jehovah's Witnesses became rampant. On June 16, 1940, the United States attorney general, Francis Biddle, made a radio broadcast over a coast-to-coast network in an effort to quiet the mob action, saying in part:

" . . . Jehovah's witnesses have been repeatedly set upon and beaten. They had committed no crime; but the mob adjudged they had, and meted out mob punishment. The Attorney General has ordered an immediate investigation of these outrages. The people must be alert and watchful, and above all cool and sane. Since mob violence will make the government's task infinitely more difficult, it will not be tolerated. We shall not defeat the Nazi evil by emulating its methods."

After wartime, violent actions against Jehovah's Witnesses subsided, but, they were viewed with continued suspicion especially due to their doctrine of "neutrality," and especially during the Red scare in the 50s were viewed as possibly communist. As legal battles were won to establish their rights to preach from "door to door" and abstain from patriotic activities in schools, and the US society increasingly became more tolerant of non-mainstream viewpoints in the 60s and 70s, general opposition to Jehovah's Witnesses further subsided.

Proselytizing

Jehovah's Witnesses base their practice of evangelism on scriptures, such as Matthew 28:18–20; they cite Acts 20:20 as scriptural support for the manner in which this activity is carried out, and receive additional encouragement in this activity from their literature and local congregations. The Supreme Courts of many lands have established their rights to proceed with this activity.

The installation of Kingdom Halls (the Witnesses' meeting places) is sometimes met by local opposition. As an example, in 1995 the inhabitants of the village of Remomeix (resp. Deyvillers) in the Vosges département of France opposed the installation of Kingdom Halls. Reasons given were the fear of aggressive prozelytizing of minors, and the large size of the installations. In both cases, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses attending the Hall would have well exceeded the total population of the village.

From other religious groups

Hostility from traditional, fundamentalist and evangelical Christians has been common, perhaps because of this group's rejection of many of the doctrines of mainstream Christian groups. For example, they teach that Jesus Christ is God's first creation rather than God Himself, and that the Holy Spirit is not a person but God's active force. Orthodox Christians believe this contradicts the translation of John 1:1 given in the King James Bible and other popular English translations; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15-16; Revelation 1:8, 1:11 & chapter 5, 22:13, Philippians 2:5-11; and also what orthodoxs believe to be the historical teaching of Christianity. While many versions of the Bible translate these verses differently, Jehovah's Witnesses consistently translate some of these verses differently. (as some of the aforementioned texts have been regarded as spurious or inaccuractly translated) Witnesses teach that orthodox Christianity has been fundamentally wrong for most of its history (see Restorationism). (See also New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures and Great Apostasy for more on these controversies.) Many have been critical of their opinion that our current time period is "the Last Days."

In Nazi Germany (1933-1945)

Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were persecuted between 1933 and 1945. They were scorned by the name Ernste Bibelforscher (Earnest Bible Students) at that time, because Jehovah's Witnesses would not give allegiance to the Nazi party, and refused to serve in the military, they were detained, put in concentration camps, or imprisoned during the Holocaust. Unlike Jews, homosexuals and Gypsies who were persecuted for racial, political and social reasons. Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted on religious ideological grounds. The Nazi government gave detained Jehovah's Witnesses the option if they were to renounce their faith, submit to the state authority, and support the German military they would be free to leave prison or the camps. Approximately 2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps where they were forced to wear a purple triangle that specifically identified them as Jehovah's Witnesses. In the end, 635 of their members who were incarcerated perished under the Nazi system. All lost their employment, many were sent to regular prisons.

(Quoted from Jehovah's Witnesses--Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993), Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, p. 661. Original.)

As early as 1921, political and religious factions accused the Witnesses of being linked with the Jews in subversive political movements. Bible Students were branded as the dangerous, Bolshevik, "Jewish worm." In response, the April 15, 1930, German edition of The Golden Age (forerunner of Awake!) stated: "We have no reason to regard this false accusation as an insult as we are convinced that the Jew is at least as valuable a person as a nominal Christian; but we reject the above untruth of the church tabloid because it is aimed at deprecating our work, as if it were being done not for the sake of the Gospel but for the Jews." Swiss theologian Karl Barth later wrote: "The accusation that Jehovah's Witnesses are linked with the Communists can only be due to an involuntary or even intentional misunderstanding."

In May 1933 the Gestapo searched the house of Ewald Vorsteher, who had been disfellowshipped from the society in the 1920s for refusing to accept the new leadership following the crisis sparked by Pastor Russell's death in 1917. The writings found in his home were highly critical of Hitler's regime, and were used as a basis for condemning the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watchtower Society reacted by strongly rejecting Ewald Vorsteher and his opinions.

Declaration of facts

Because of the evident hostility of the Hitler regime, Jehovah's Witnesses organized a convention in Berlin, Germany, on June 25, 1933. Some 7,000 persons assembled. The Witnesses publicly made their intentions clear. The position in favor of the regime during those years is clearly explained in a Society formal letter to Hitler unanimously accepted by all Jehovah witnesses. This declaration is called “Declaration of Facts”

The society did not succeed in its try to show there was no society opposition to Nazis regime: "Our organization is not political in any sense. We only insist on teaching the Word of Jehovah God to the people, and that without hindrance. We do not object or try to hinder anyone's teaching or believing what he desires."and did not succeed in its try to show that the society shered the regime Ideals: "A careful examination of our books and literature will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held and promulgated by the present national government are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications". During World War II and the Nazis killed 2000 Jehovah witnesses.

An accurate research about this document and the facts in that period as been made by many researchers as Doctor M. James Penton a professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge. In his book "Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third Reich", drawing on his own Witness background and years of research on Witness history, Penton exams the facts during this dark period.

The 1934 Yearbook of Jehova Witnesses beginning on page 130 said: "In June, the president of the Society visited Germany to take some action to get the Society's property restored to our possession and to carry on the work further. Knowing that the enemy has misrepresented the facts to the government, a Declaration of Facts was prepared, and on the 25th day of June, 1933, more than 7,000 of Jehovah's witnesses assembled at Berlin and unanimously adopted the resolution, millions of which were printed and distributed throughout Germany. That resolution is as follows, to wit: " Declaration of Facts" ...

Citations from Declaration of Facts as reported in the 1934 Yearbook of Jehova Witnesses :

from page 134: "The greatest and the most oppressive empire on earth is the Anglo-American empire. By that is meant the British Empire, of which the United States of America forms a part. It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations. This fact particularly applies to the cities of London and New York, the stronghold of Big Business. This fact is so manifest in America that there is a proverb concerning the city of New York which says: 'The Jews own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans pay the bills.' We have no fight with any of these persons mentioned, but, as the witnesses for Jehovah and in obedience to his commandment set forth in the Scriptures, we are compelled to call attention to the truth concerning the same in order that the people may be enlightened concerning God and his purpose."...


from page 135: "The present government of Germany has declared emphatically against Big Business oppressors and in opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the political affairs of the nation. Such is exactly our position; and we further state in our literature the reason for the existence of oppressive Big Business and the wrongful political religious influence... "


from page 136: "To know Jehovah God and his gracious provision for humankind is of most vital importance to all persons, because God has declared in His Word that where there is no vision or understanding of his Word the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18) We have devoted our lives and our material substance to the work of enabling the people to gain a vision or understanding of God's Word, and therefore it is impossible for our literature and our work to be a menace to the peace and safety of the nation. Instead of being against the principles advocated by the government of Germany, we stand squarely for such principles, and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will bring about the full realization of these principles and will give to the people peace and prosperity and the greatest desire of every honest heart."


from page 137 ... "A careful examination of our books and literature will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held and promulgated by the present national government are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications, and show that Jehovah God will see to it that these high ideals in due time will be attained by all persons who love righteousness and who obey the Most High. Instead, therefore, of our literature and our work's being a menace to the principles of the present government we are the strongest supporters of such high ideals.”…

In 1934, in a document produced to clarify their neutral stance, they told Hitler that they "have no interest in political affairs, but are wholly devoted to God's Kingdom under Christ His King." After intensified persecution of this group, a world-wide body of Jehovah's Witnesses passed a resolution in 1936 again strongly condemning the Nazi regime. During the same time period this group was also persecuted in the United States and many other countries for similar reasons, mainly because they refused to serve in the military or help with war efforts. In Canada during that time, Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps along with political dissidents and people of Japanese and Chinese descent. In the United States, the Supreme Court issued a series of landmark First Amendment rulings that confirmed the Jehovah's Witnesses right to be excused from military service and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. (See also Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses.)

References

  1. The King James Version Debate DA Carson p. 64
  2. 1974 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, p. 212
  3. Declaration of Facts (English translation)

External links

See also

  • Knocking, a documentary on Jehovah's Witnesses featuring a Jewish concentration camp survivor, Joseph Kempler

Additional reading

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