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 | Attacks on the Jehovah's Witnesses: The government attempted to
disband a religious group using a provision of the law that allows the courts to terminate any organization that
incites hatred or intolerant behavior. A disbanded group would no longer have the right to
publicly express their beliefs, hold religious services, rent property or distribute
information. The Committee for the Rescue of Youth brought a case
against the Jehovah's Witnesses, who have been in Russia
for over a century. Charges include that the faith group:
Defense lawyers cited the Russian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, both of which guarantee religious freedom. The trial opened in 1998-SEP, but was delayed until 1999-FEB-9 because the prosecutors had not completed their preparation. The prosecutor said that Russian minds were not prepared for Jehovah's Witness literature. Spokesperson Judah Schroeder commented: "Who is to decide what Russian minds are allowed to read?" The court ruled in their favor on 1999-MAY-6; they now have official status. If they had lost, the Witnesses had planned to appeal their case to the European Court. | ||||||||||||
| Attacks on a Pentecostal Church: Officials in the city of Magadan in the far east of Russia are attempting to disband the Word of Life Church. Pastor Nickolay Voskoboynikov commented "This persecution is no different from those which were done under the communist regime." The city's first move was to have the church declared illegal under the 1997 law. This failed when it was shown that the church was a member of the Pentecostal Union, a government approved body. The police then resorted to terrorist tactics by raiding the church and the homes of its leaders. The pastor, assistant pastor and bookkeeper were rounded up in the middle of the night and taken in for questioning. Local media outlets appear to have been influenced by the anti-cult movement. They are accusing the church of hypnotizing believers and generating mental illness. Some members have received threats from their employers. 1 | ||||||||||||
| The Jesuits: Russia has refused to register the Society of Jesus, "one of the Catholic Church's most prestigious orders of priests." Ecumenical News International reported on 1999-MAY-3 that the Jesuits appealed the decision, and are partly basing their appeal on a letter written in 1800 CE by Tsar Paul 1. 2 |
Anti-Cult movement in Russia:
The Anti-Cult Movement, (ACM), started in the early 1970's in the United States, rose to a position of great influence, but is now in rapid decline in that country. Their claims that new religious movements (NRMs) entrap members and subject them to mind-control techniques have been widely discredited.
The ACM has since developed an international presence, particularly in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece and Russia. Some of the ACM groups in Russia are:
| The Committee for the Rescue of Youth: This is a loose network of adults, mostly parents, throughout Russia who "disseminate warnings about dangers of cults and to 'save victims of totalitarian sects.'" 3 |
| The Center for the Assistance to Victims of Totalitarian Sects: This group helps former members of NRMs to return to the Russian Orthodox Church. |
| The Russian Orthodox Church: The Missionary Department of the Moscow Patriarchate is also actively opposed to NRMs. |
| St. Irenaeus of Lyon Information and Consultation Center: Perhaps the leading ACM figure in Russia is Alexander L. Dvorkin. Since 1992-MAR, he has been on the staff of Department of Religious Education of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1993 he formed the St. Irenaeus of Lyon Information and Consultation Center which monitors and disseminates information about NRMs. "The Center works with the blessing of [Russian Orthodox] Church authorities." 4 The Center's belief is that new religious groups are secretive, and do not supply information to new members. "...thus their victim often finds himself in an organization he or she knows virtually nothing about." He has stated that "the cultists are victims of mind control techniques and must be treated with patience and compassion." |
Anti-Cult movement in Russia (cont'd):
In 1995, Dvorkin wrote a brochure called: "Questions to an Obtrusive Stranger, Or a Handbook for Those Who do not Want to be Recruited into a Destructive Cult." It was published by the Moscow Patriarchate. The Public Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience filed a lawsuit against Dvorkin. They have alleged that he incorrectly describes a number of legitimate religious organizations (including the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, the Unification Church, the Church of Scientology, the Mother of God Center, Aum Shinri Kyo, and others) as "totalitarian sects" and "destructive cults." The Public Committee further alleges that Dvorkin claims that:
| The Jehovah's Witnesses is also a cult. |
| NRMs take property from their members. |
| NRMs use violence towards their members |
| The goal of all totalitarian cults is to obtain power. |
Dvorkin apparently stated that:
"The totalitarian cults will not hesitate to lie, steal, cheat, or control the mind of its members, to slander the officials and the public figures who try to counteract them, and even to destroy physically a perceived enemy or a group of them. In fact, we are dealing with Mafia-like structures..."
The Public Committee claims that there has never been a single verdict by a Russian court against any of these five faith groups which would support Dvorkin's claims.
By early 1997, the lawsuit had expanded to include three co-defendants - Alexander Dvorkin, the Department of Religious Education and Catechism and the Publications Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. The number of plaintiffs also increased to total 28: the Public Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience, one member of the Hare Krishnas, and a number of members of the Church of Scientology.
On 1997-SEP- 21, Alexander Dvorkin gave a lecture on "cults" in Russia at a conference organized by the Enquete-Commission on Sects and Psychogroups of the German Parliament. Marat S. Shterin, a Senior research fellow at The State Library for Foreign Literature (Moscow) responded with a critique of the speech and of the CCM movement in Russia. 3
One NRM -- the Japanese group Aum Shinri Kyo -- certainly matches the definition of a destructive cult. Their leadership was found responsible for the spreading of a nerve gas in a Tokyo subway station on 1995-MAR-20. The gas killed 11 passengers and injured over 5000. The destructive cult did have an office and some membership in Russia. However, the other faith groups mentioned are widely regarded as simply "high-demand" religious groups who expect a major commitment from their memberships.
Public and government fear of "cults" can exist independently of evidence. A large percentage of the North American public during the 1980s and early 1990s believed in the existence of abusive Satanic Cults. A opinion survey during the 1990s in Utah showed that over 90% of adults believed that these cults exist, and are sexually and physically abusing children. This belief exists without the support of a single scrap of hard evidence. It has now almost completely faded from the scene.
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "Russia harasses, threatens Christians," Religion Today, 1999-JAN-14, at: http://www.religiontoday.com/
- Ecumenical News International news highlights for 1999-MAY-3
- Marat S. Shterin, "New Religions, Cults and Sects in Russia: A Critique and Brief Account of the Problems," at http://web.tin.it/
- Open letter from Alexander L. Dvorkin, at: http://www.factnet.org/
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Copyright © 1997 to 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-MAY-11
Author: B.A. Robinson
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