USA Today reports:
"Russia's Supreme Court formally banned Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization Thursday and ordered the state to seize its property in Russia, according to Russian news media."
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Russian Court Bans Jehovah's Witnesses
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(Score: 5, Informative) by julian on Friday April 21 2017, @10:35PM (45 children)
They are an abusive cult that practices psychological and emotional child abuse [patheos.com]. Almost all religions do, to some extent, but this one seems egregious enough to be worth doing something about it.
But if you just want them to stop ringing your doorbell, you can tell them you *used* to be a JW, but got "disfellowshipped". They're not allowed to talk to people who have been kicked out of the cult--that's one of the things that defines a cult.
(Score: 5, Informative) by deadstick on Friday April 21 2017, @10:56PM (1 child)
Cult: A small, unpopular religion.
Religion: A large, popular cult.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:15AM
Exactly!
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21 2017, @11:12PM (37 children)
If you leave the faith, they aren't supposed to speak to you. (same with Scientology) Muslims are supposed to kill you.
They don't seem to sexually mutilate their children.
If you are not in the faith, they are supposed to preach to you. (annoyingly, same as the Mormons do) Muslims are supposed to kill you.
(Score: 4, Informative) by julian on Friday April 21 2017, @11:25PM (36 children)
I dunno man, Christians are supposed to kill you for all sorts of reasons. But I've never been stoned for working on the Sabbath.
And no Muslim has ever rung my doorbell during dinner.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:07AM (1 child)
But I've never been stoned for working on the Sabbath.
I've been stoned while working on the Sabbath ... and just about every other day, too.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:17AM
You may try working on the Black one too.
(leaves singing "...son, son you've gone too far,/'Cause smokin' an...")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:15AM (33 children)
Um, you obviously know nothing about Christianity. When asked how many times one should forgive his neighbor, Christ said 70 times 7 times per day. Christ was the one who coined the phrase "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." All that death sentence stuff was from the old testament law. Christ brought grace which to you means forgiveness and loving your enemies. Christians strive for perfection while all the while knowing they can never be perfect. We pray that we are forgiven as we forgive others, knowing that we will be judged as we judge. No one is perfect and every organization has bad actors, but the true leader of the church is our risen saviour. The antics of us imperfect followers often must be forgive.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:20AM (15 children)
Sure, and then if you don't kiss his ass he forgives you zero times seventy times and tortures you for eternity. Nice try.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:23AM (2 children)
Your choice.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:25AM (1 child)
Having been dead, and dating a woman who has also been dead and remembers between lives...no. Fuck you. You can go to Hell, as she did, and you can stay there a shitload longer than she did. Fuck you, fuck your demonic God-concept, fuck your devil-worshiping religion, and if I didn't say "fuck you" yet, fuck you. The early church fathers were Universalists, you theologically-illiterate moron. Latin doesn't know how to parse Koine's distinctions between aionios and aidios.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:42PM
Don't mind the hypocrites, they were brainwashed from birth and are just happy to be part of a community. So they follow the little rules everyone e talks about, pretend their virtuous, and pay zero attention to facts and care nothing about their own hypocrisy. Letting them upset you is like letting a 5 year old get to you, sure its annoying but just detach and view them from a more mature viewpoint and pity them. Smile and nod, encourage the good stuff. "Yes forgiveness is a very important thing, so forgive those poor terrorists misled to do such bad things!" Oh wait, that is child-like humor to make them see their hypocrisy, damnit I was so close!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:37AM (11 children)
Heh - for once we see things similarly. You get one chance at life. You get twenty, maybe thirty, possibly 60, if you're REALLY LUCKY, you might get 100 years to get life "right". And, if you don't manage to do it right that one time around, you get to burn in fire for eternity?
Yeah, that is pretty fucked up.
The Hindus have a more appealing system. If you really suck ass at life, you get to come back as a cockroach or something. If you do things almost perfectly throughout your life, then you're rewarded by becoming a king or emperor in your next life. Karma isn't a bad system. In effect, you punish yourself for being a complete ass.
But, what am I saying? Next, I'll be touting the benefits of communism!
Whatever - if there really is an afterlife, I think it's going to shock the shit out of most dogmatic people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:20AM
Quantum effects seem like the best chance for eternal life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_suicide_and_immortality [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:22AM (5 children)
Actually in the Dharmic religions, if you "really fuck up" you spend several quadrillion times the age of the known universe being roasted in a huge metal oven under the earth; look up "Avici" sometime. Hinduism and Buddhism love them some torture porn.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:36PM (2 children)
That's why I liked Dante so much. You might get yourself sent to hell, but even then, there was possible redemption.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:48PM (1 child)
Hell does not work that way. It's a state, not a place, and it seems to be tied about 1:1 with the pain you caused others, minus the good you did, though that good can only be applied to things you've been well and truly forgiven for by the ones you harmed. And if what my girlfriend says is any indication, even after your actual torture is over, if you haven't forgiven yourself, you're not getting out of that mode of existence.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:03PM
"if you haven't forgiven yourself"
That was part of Dante's story . . . .
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday April 24 2017, @10:10AM (1 child)
That's not quite how it works, you end up being reborn in avici until you've burned up your bad karma, then it's back onto the usual cycle. The length of each period in avici varies depending on interpretation, but about 1K years is a common figure. Apparently your occupation for the duration of your stay is something involving an old 486 laptop and a copy of systemd.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 24 2017, @05:33PM
I swear I'd heard something like 10^17 years, which is utterly ridiculous and unjust, but I can definitely accept something like 10^3 to 10^4 for someone like Adolf Hitler.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:32AM (3 children)
Most Christians forget about the only person who was promised heaven was a criminal getting crucified beside Christ.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:32PM (2 children)
So - you're going to make a case that we should all be criminals, so that we too can have a chance at paradise? Nahh - ignore that, I'm just being a smart ass.
But, you certainly can't be doing anything terribly wrong is you're only sending a saved man home to be with his Father in Heaven, can you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:32PM
> you certainly can't be doing anything terribly wrong is you're only sending a saved man home to be with his Father in Heaven, can you?
Look at that, derpaway is now justifying murder as being the christian thing to do.
Is anyone here actually surprised? Anyone? Bueller?
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday April 24 2017, @02:06AM
Well being a criminal does not mean being a bad person, think of the people prosecuted and convicted of helping slaves escape. Recently read about the first woman to be hung in on of the colonies of New England, her crime was preaching Quakerism.
The law only aligns with morals some of the time and other times it is at odds with morals.
And they were killing the man who became saved before he was saved.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by julian on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:21AM (1 child)
The Bible is a sprawling, hacked together, sparsly edited, iteratively translated, incomplete, multi-author, self-contradictory, work of fiction that can be used to justify almost any position you want to take.
But I'm happy you've taken the pacificsm and tolerance message from the Bible. Many Christians don't. And there's no way to adjudicate who is "correct" because it's all absolute nonsense.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:16PM
It's kind of like a textual Rorschach test.
The old testament is suddenly applicable when it comes to the gays.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:50AM (6 children)
Wait - who threw that "per day" in there? Did you do that, or do you read a version of the Bible with it in there?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:52AM (2 children)
Awwww! Isn't that cute?
Derpaway is trying to lawyer out the part of Christ's teaching that says to forgive.
Face it dipshit, you are an old-testament asshole through and through who only claims to be a christian but has no interest in behaving like a christian.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:21PM (1 child)
God, you're a dumbass. I'm the one who told you that I'm an asshole. I'm the asocial asshole, remember? Old Testament asshole? Nope - not even close. I've never slaughtered a lamb, or a gay, or my own son, or even a bull on an altar as sacrifice to God. Just how stupid can you possibly be?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:35PM
> God, you're a dumbass. I'm the one who told you that I'm an asshole.
And you don't just talk the talk, you walk the walk too. We see it here every day.
> Just how stupid can you possibly be?
I don't know. Your level of delusional stupidity is beyond measure.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:46AM (2 children)
Well, it's Saturday in my timezone now, the 7th day and day of rest, so let's get to know Jesus a little better. Personally, my friends and I believe that Jesus was a buddha who had reached enlightenment and tried his best to explain the dharma to a bunch of sand n... a bunch of filthy Je... to people who were without the dharma. I see I have many more incarnations to go and much work to be done. Until then!
Matthew 18:21–22 MSG (my preferred translation):
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven….”
Matthew 18:21–22 MSG (if you prefer):
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times….”
Let us hear the Message that he meant by that, where he goes on to say:
“The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
“The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
“The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’
“The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
“The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:51AM
Of course I forget to quote KVJ, which is likely the source of the misapprehension.
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
If we were to attempt to be lawyers about the dharma, we might be under the impression that the brother or neighbor sins against him daily, and that the deal is up after only seven days.
Lawyers will never find the dharma. They'll need to reincarnate and try again.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:38PM
Excellent job on that parable. You done great!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:34AM (5 children)
Oddly, Moslems also worship this Jesus guy.
Personally I think Mohammed is perfectly in line with the Old Testament.
I'm still scratching my head wondering how the heck Jesus fits into the Abrahamic religions. He seems more like a buddha.
Most Christians are not followers of Jesus. I'm not sure why they don't just admit that they like Mohammed better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:07AM (3 children)
You may want to educate yourself. Here is a good first step. [prophetofdoom.net]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @11:25AM (2 children)
Going to that site to learn about islam is like reading a pamphlet on democracy written by Putin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:55PM (1 child)
Judging a book by its cover, eh? Too bad you won't be able to point out any actual errors with the information presented from Prophet of Doom.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:49PM
Same reason I don't bother to try rebutting Putin's distortions about democracy.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:27PM
Uhhhhh - no. Muslims DO NOT worship Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and part of the entire Holy thing. Muslims believe that Jesus was just another prophet, and prophets are unworthy of worship. No Muslim worships Mohammed. They worship God, Allah, but they most certainly do not worship Mohammed.
Go back and try again. Try reading the Quran.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:57PM (1 child)
> All that death sentence stuff was from the old testament law.
I never got how christians square the difference between old testament and new testament. I mean, the concept is that morality change in AD 0? Or that God changed her mind in AD 0? Or what?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:46PM
It doesn't help that Jesus literally said that the old testament rules are still in force too:
“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:18-19
“It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:17)
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law” (John7:19)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday April 21 2017, @11:27PM
Yep, we had a few where I grew up, one of them was the drummer of the Metallica cover band I played in. We had to sneak practice times in when he knew his parents wouldn't find out (he had no drum set and learned to play at school, which was impressive since he could play Whiplash and One at full-speed). When the lead guitar player in our band won 4 tickets to a Metallica concert, our drummer asked his parents but was not allowed to go with us.
They're very weird about music in that they're not allowed to listen to non-Jehovah's Witnesses music. You get one in a school choir and you see them having to step off the bandstand every now and then because it's against their religion, or something, to listen to or participate in unsanctioned music.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:18AM (3 children)
That may not have been a good idea in my case.
Long time ago I was home in the afternoon lazily sitting on the couch watching TV after eating take out and smoking a joint. I had felt quite pleasant and relaxed, and had muted the commercials to stare at the ceiling. Was forgetting about the TV and becoming absorbed into the folds of plaster in the ceiling, when then the door bell rang.
No way I was getting up to get it, and nobody I knew would be knocking on my door without calling me. The window that overlooks where they would have absolutely must gone through to enter and leave was within reach, and I peeked out. I was a teeny bit paranoid so it became a waiting game, but after about a minute I started to wonder just who would wait that quietly for that long without ringing again? The suspense built for at least another 5 minutes till it rang again. I ignored it and stood utterly transfixed by the walk way. Where the fuck is this person?
It took another 5 minutes at least before I saw the biggest biker girls walking down the path away from me. One blonde girl with a punk hair cut and this black girl with a short fro, both dressed all in black leather, spiked boots, chains from their back pockets (I'm not kidding), and spikes on their shoulders.
That was a bit of a surprise. Waited about a minute and then opened the door to go look around the corner and check them out. That's when the Jehovah's Witness letter fell on the ground. It could not have been there before, and nobody had come up the pathway in the meantime.
Jehovah's Witness Biker Girls. You can't make that up, and I'm still not sure it happened.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by Farmer Tim on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:34AM
Came for the news, stayed for the soap opera.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:53PM
Well being stoned you were more susceptible to tapping into shared consciousness so you saw them as they wished they could be ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:31PM
What was the joint laced with?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday April 21 2017, @10:37PM (5 children)
Maybe, they should ban all cults other than The Cult Of Putin.
The biggest problem would be the US congress instantly mandating an even bigger font for GOD on everything, first amendment be damned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21 2017, @10:44PM (4 children)
Yes. After they ban Scientology they should go after the Hari Krishnas and then the AT&T fuctards that keep knocking on my door trying to sell me Uverse. Apparently the large "No Solicitors" sign on the door doesn't mean anything to them, or... they can't read English.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 21 2017, @11:51PM
Put a infrared detector, electromagnetic valve and a spray hose at the door?
Luser Attitude Readjustment Tool :p
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:19AM (2 children)
I got interested in Scientology when I saw them with a display at the mall and they apparently could use a meter to measure how "clear" I was.
I was quite intrigued. I sat down, held his cans, and while he asked me questions, I just had to fiddle around with the cans to see what this thing was doing.
It seemed to work almost identical to a Metrigraph Psychogalvanometer. Measured skin resistance. With a bridge circuit. Design extrapolated from observing the operator use the thing.
I could do the same thing with a Triplett 260 set to the high resistance range.
I left, still quite dubious about the religion, but I sure as heck knew how to improve the design of the meter. It had a region it was pretty insensitive to.
Although I wanted to join Scientology to perfect the E-meter, I would have made a poor convert because I simply could not accept in any which way or form that what they were teaching had any basis in truth. To me, this was just another dog-and-pony show for technically illiterate people to believe in, with the E-meter a prop to lend scientific authenticity to the presentation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:38PM
They don't care what you think, they just want your money to share amongst the leadership and their celebrity bait characters.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:38AM
Resistance is measured by applying a voltage. That might have effects on the person whose resistance is being measured. At least one critic has speculated that there might be effects on someone's thoughts:
http://www.lermanet.com/e-metershort.htm [lermanet.com]
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Friday April 21 2017, @10:56PM
Russia's Supreme Court formally banned Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization
(Nod.)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dunbal on Friday April 21 2017, @11:33PM (5 children)
Having been personally connected with a case where a JW child received an emergency blood transfusion (next of kin could not be located in time) and seen how the family then walked away and shunned the child as if he was tainted goods, I applaud this. Religion and religious freedom should never be a justification for criminal behavior.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:19AM (4 children)
Religion and religious freedom should never be a justification for criminal behavior.
BTW what is Russia going to do with that property it has seized? Even if the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) are as bad as you say, there should be laws protecting them from arbitrary asset seizures by the state.
This reminds me of the Crimea annexation by Russia back a few years ago. People were claiming at the time that it was legitimate just because there was a vote - ignoring that Putin knows how to throw a vote and had ample manpower on the ground to do whatever vote manipulation needed to be done. Further, he set the vote's parameters (stay with Ukraine or go with Russia). No vote can be legitimate under those circumstances.
Then the Crimea annexation goes the way Putin wants it to go after the vote. No democratic process decided the vote and no democratic process decided what happened to Crimea after the vote.
This is why the rule of law is such a powerful concept. It prevents the powerful from just doing whatever they want. Here, perhaps there was a valid reason for the JW asset seizure - though I doubt it. But I consider it more likely that the JW had assets that someone with pull valued. They'll then get those assets at firesale prices. IMHO this is commonplace in the kleptocracy that Russia has evolved into. Such is the effectiveness of justice where one gets to make up rules as one goes.
(Score: 4, Informative) by jelizondo on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:04AM (1 child)
You mean like taking people’s property without due process? Like in the US where they can seize your cash, home, car and/or equipment without charging you with any crime?
We are quite fast at seeing the speck of sawdust in our neighbor’s eye while not perceiving the plank in our own eye. Read the above quotation and tell me exactly how this is different from Russia’s behavior, please.
References:
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 22 2017, @10:53AM
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:22PM (1 child)
What does any government do with property it seizes? What to the police in the US do with property they seize under "Civil Asset Forfeiture" laws? At least here a law was passed and only official cult property is seized. I'm sure no one is taking anyone's personal residence away just because they're "witnesses".
This reminds me of the Crimea annexation by Russia
Crimea acceeded to Russia. Just like EU countries acceeded to the EU. Accession is not quite the same as annexation. As for your spewing official western propaganda about things going Putin's way the facts don't support you. Strange how there's no protest or outcry in Crimea itself. There are more protests in Paris or even the US than in Crimea. In fact, most people are exceedingly happy. They cut off Crimea's electricity and the residents stated they'd rather live without electricity than go back to Ukraine. You can hardly say this was all some evil plot on the part of Putin. If you think that Crimeans are constantly oppressed every day and that's why they don't protest, then I challenge you to actually go and visit.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:35PM
What does any government do with property it seizes? What to the police in the US do with property they seize under "Civil Asset Forfeiture" laws? At least here a law was passed and only official cult property is seized. I'm sure no one is taking anyone's personal residence away just because they're "witnesses".
My point here is that this is theft unless the assets are returned either to the "cult" or the members of the "cult".
Crimea acceeded to Russia. Just like EU countries acceeded to the EU.
More like Austria "acceeded" to Nazi Germany in 1938. The Anschluss was very much like Russia's move into the Crimea. I'll note the obvious. There was no democratic process for the "accession" or its aftermath. There was a rigged vote under the eye of Russian troops and no subsequent democratic or legal process to validate it. Putin did what he wanted.
Strange how there's no protest or outcry in Crimea itself.
How would you know? There was substantial protests in the beginning before the iron fist clamped down. Since there has been considerable suppression [amnesty.org] of people and the media in the Crimea. Readers will see the same pattern as with the Jehovah Witnesses (JW) being declared an extremist religious organization. Dissident groups are labeled as "extremist" or "terrorist", and subject to disbanding with dire legal consequences for the organizers of those groups. In addition, we have this observation from the introduction to the linked Amnesty International report:
Beyond the prosecution of individual activists that this briefing focuses on, the full weight of Russia’s repressive legislation has been employed to severely restrict the freedom of assembly and dramatically reduce media freedoms. Public protest has been virtually extinguished. Since the annexation of Crimea by Russia, independent political, cultural and other events have been disallowed by the local de facto authorities in Crimea. This has affected everything from street protests, to traditional commemorative and cultural events held by Crimean Tatars and gatherings to celebrate Ukrainian culture. There have been rare exceptions when such gatherings have been allowed, but this has typically been in remote locations and under very restricted conditions.
More recently, public protest in the Crimean capital, Simferopol, has been completely prohibited after the de facto Mayor of the Crimean capital Simferopol issued, on 7 March, a decree banning all mass public, cultural, entertainment and other events except those organized by the authorities.
Here's a similarity with the current abuses:
The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (hereafter, the Mejlis) is a body elected at an informal all-Crimean Tatar assembly, Kurultai, to represent the community vis-à-vis the local and central authorities. Mejlis members and particularly its current and former leaders, have been subjected to harassment, forcible exile and criminal prosecution, while the body itself was promptly deprived of its offices, formally warned not to engage in “extremist” activities (criticism of the new political realities on the peninsula), and more recently declared an illegal “extremist” organisation. Several activists associated with the Mejlis are currently facing persecution. Their cases are documented below.
On 15 February 2016, the de facto Prosecutor of Crimea initiated a case against the Mejlis alleging that it was an “extremist” organization on the basis of its leaders’ non-violent defiance of the Russian occupation and annexation of Crimea. Prior to this, the Mejlis’ leader Refat Chubarov had been forcibly exiled from Crimea, as was his predecessor, Mustafa Dzhemiliev, a Crimean Tatar veteran human rights activist and informal leader, and another vocal opponent of the occupation. The Mejlis had earlier been forced out of its building in the capital Simferopol after a court ruled that the building’s owner, the charitable Foundation Crimea, had no right to rent it out, and ordered the historic building to be vacated, and then seized the property on account of the owner’s failing to evict its tenants.
It's worth noting here that this is pretty much the same accusations and punishments as with the JW case.
Despite that, there are little protests [euromaidanpress.com] here and there.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by its_gonna_be_yuge! on Friday April 21 2017, @11:43PM (2 children)
I'm not keen on JW's, but I'm less keen on persecution.
There's only one "E" in the middle differentiating the JW's and the other favourite religious target of dictators trying to whip up a violent frenzy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:16AM
There's only one "S" differentiating SJWs and JWs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @03:55AM
> Who's next?
The JW's were the next.
Russia already banned proselytizing any religion other than the russian orthodox church [washingtonpost.com] (which Putin controls, his control of the church is what Pussy Riot was protesting that got them thrown into the gulag).
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday April 21 2017, @11:52PM (4 children)
You say potato, i say "here's a pamphlet: sorry for taking you away from what you were doing... i'm sure it wasn't as important as me gospelling on a Dog you don't believe in and never will, but hey, let me go on......"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by charon on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:51AM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:39AM (1 child)
My Mom used to just say she was Jewish, worked wonders.
(Score: 2) by riT-k0MA on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:27AM
Some friends used to go with the "We're Satanists!" line.
Worked especially well on a Sunday morning when there'd been a massive party and the front lawn was littered with bottles, articles of clothing, and other, um, objects.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday April 22 2017, @08:47PM
I would love to do this, but couldn't waste my time. Maybe when I'm reallllll old, lol.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by srobert on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:20AM (2 children)
What exactly was Jehovah charged with and why were his witnesses banned? It doesn't sound like the Russian court judges are impartial.
(Score: 4, Funny) by HiThere on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:47AM
Well, if you believe that the Bible is the word of God, then he's an accomplice in multiple murders. And runs a criminal organization of con-men, protection artists, and murderers. If you don't, of course, this is all hear-say.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Scrutinizer on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:55AM
Haven't you heard? Witness-banning is all the rage now.
We've got this going on in the USA right now, in Nevada, by federal judge Gloria Navarro [redoubtnews.com]. Five weeks for the prosecution, a few days for the defense. Dozens of witnesses for the prosecution, but only one witness (aside from the accused) not banned from the defense.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:04AM (8 children)
Russia doesn't waste time and effort on all the various fuck-tard groups, while giving lip service to inclusiveness, equal opportunity, diversity, and tons of other horse shit. Here, in the US, we tie ourselves in knots catering to special interest groups, pretending that those groups actually improve our way of life, or quality of life, or something or other.
JW's are notable, in my experience, in that they preach one thing, and do another. Honesty? It's alright to lie and cheat someone who is NOT a JW. I've met Mormons who share that characteristic. They are as honest as honest can be, with other members of their cult. But, it's perfectly alright to lie and cheat to some apostate, like myself. Oh yeah, Muslims do that as well. The difference is, the Quran spells this conduct out for Muslims.
Among the minority religions, my best experience has been with Jews, and the Amish and/or Mennonites. I've never been misled, lied to, or cheated by members of either of those groups.
YMMV, I only know what I have experienced. It must be noted that honesty varies widely among members of my own faith - hell, even in my own family.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:44AM
FWIW, you must live around different Amish than me. The Mennonites around here seem to be good people, and certainly no more untrustworthy than people in general. A lot of the local Amish, on the other hand, have the same exact belief about dishonesty only being a sin when it's directed to another Amish.
Of course, the Amish strictly eschew any central organization (going back to a bad experience being persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants), with each congregation's own bishop being the highest religious authority they recognize. As a result, it's not really surprising that the rot I see in a few congregations here doesn't extend to wherever you are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:53AM (5 children)
Jews are supposed to be nice to each other and lie and cheat the goy (cattle). It is in their religion.
1. Talmud Encourages Jews To Deceive [rense.com]
2. Jewish Hatred for Non Jews (Goyim) [youtube.com]
3. Jews (orthodox) terrorizing Christian Women (HORRIBLE) [youtube.com]
4. Zionist Jews, CIA, MI6 & Mossad (ISIS) responsible for Paris false flag murders - New World Order [youtube.com]
You seem like a friend of the jews. Friends of jews are no friends of ours.
Are you a crypto-jew?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:19PM (4 children)
No, I'm most definitely non-Jewish. But, that's beside the point. I specified, very clearly, that in my own experience, the Jews that I have known personally have all been honest men and women, who always dealt with me fairly. If that happens to trigger you, not one fuck will I give.
As much as I am chastised by SJW's here, for being a "racist", when I meet a person, I don't judge them by their religion, their language, their color, their gender, or whatever else you might use to judge character. I work with that person, or ride with that person (motorcycles) or go about whatever interest brought us together. I listen, I learn, I evaluate THAT PERSON. If he's a good person, he's a good person, and I don't give one flying fuck that he is Jewish, Black, or whatever. I will take the opportunity to learn more about that person's ethnic, cultural, religious, or whatever other background. As a result of my attitude, I have been fortunate enough to have had one Jew, and one Apache, and one Moro to be my mentors. Not so much academic mentors, but mentors all the same. I learned a lot from each of them.
If I may suggest something to you: The next time you meet some off-the-wall unusual minority person, GET TO KNOW HIM!! Show him the respect necessary to get him to maybe respect you a little. Induce him to share his outlook on life with you. You might find that you are a better person for the experience. You certainly can't become a worse person.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @05:58PM (2 children)
As much as I am chastised by SJW's here, for being a "racist", when I meet a person, I don't judge them by their religion, their language, their color, their gender, or whatever else you might use to judge character.
That's the stand bigot's apologia — "I treat the people I know like actual people, funny it turns out that the people I know are all "good ones." Its the rest of them that are bad people."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:12PM
Eh, I think Runaway is one of those people brought up with serious amounts of racism and he's fighting against his upbringing. A lot better than the conscious racist, just keep fighting against their bullshit when it starts leaking out.
(Score: 1) by charon on Saturday April 22 2017, @09:36PM
(Score: 2) by tfried on Saturday April 22 2017, @08:51PM
Russia doesn't waste time and effort on all the various fuck-tard groups, while giving lip service to inclusiveness, equal opportunity, diversity, and tons of other horse shit. Here, in the US, we tie ourselves in knots catering to special interest groups, pretending that those groups actually improve our way of life, or quality of life, or something or other.
If I may suggest something to you: The next time you meet some off-the-wall unusual minority person, GET TO KNOW HIM!! Show him the respect necessary to get him to maybe respect you a little. Induce him to share his outlook on life with you. You might find that you are a better person for the experience. You certainly can't become a worse person.
Correct on both counts, dear runaway, correct on both counts...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @11:30AM
> Russia doesn't waste time and effort on all the various fuck-tard groups, while giving lip service to inclusiveness, equal opportunity, diversity, and tons of other horse shit
Hey, here's an idea, why don't you move to Russia?
You'd be in jail right quick, evangelicals are on their list of fuck-tard groups too. [christianitytoday.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @06:19AM (1 child)
Wait here I hate both parties! Haha, please kill each others you stupid cultists and fascist fuckers!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:31PM
Which of the parties are Fascists? I don't think you Americana have ever had fascism ... or you wouldn't have jews running your institutions, your movies, your military, taking over your country, ....