{"id":262,"date":"2010-10-15T06:55:54","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T03:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/news\/2010\/10\/15\/deaths-result-in-religious-controversy-2\/"},"modified":"2022-12-19T21:32:36","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T18:32:36","slug":"deaths-result-in-religious-controversy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/deaths-result-in-religious-controversy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaths result in religious controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two tragic events have attracted public attention to the way the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses denomination operates in Russia. While members of the group allege discrimination by the government, many Russians, including religion experts, are hostile to the sect, believing it to be a totalitarian cult rather than a legitimate religious movement.<\/div>\n
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Last Sunday, a newborn died in central Moscow in the wake of a home birth gone wrong, RIA Novosti reported. Media reports claim that the mother, who was taken to hospital with severe bleeding, is a Jehovah\u2019s Witness. It has been suggested in the press that the mother\u2019s religious beliefs prevented her from calling for medical help in a timely manner.<\/div>\n
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Earlier this month, Interfax reported that criminal charges were brought against the mother of an 11-year old boy, Ilya, who died this August following a traffic accident. The mother, a Jehovah\u2019s Witness, allegedly refused to allow a blood transfusion for her son.<\/div>\n
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\u201cBased on the diagnosis, [Ilya] Orlukovich needed a blood transfusion,\u201d Sergei Markov, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee at the Prosecutor\u2019s Office, told Interfax. \u201cBut his mother repeatedly refused blood transfusion despite a deadly threat to the child.\u201d The boy eventually died of blood loss, Markov added.<\/div>\n
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Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses famously follow a religious doctrine that prohibits blood transfusion. Willing acceptance of a transfusion can result in expulsion from the sect.<\/div>\n
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Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses deny any connection to the home birth case. \u201cThe woman in question [in the home birth situation] had nothing to do with Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses,\u201d Grigory Martynov, press secretary of the administrative centre of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Russia, told The Moscow News, adding that the organisation has called on media outlets to reconsider their reports of the home birth.<\/div>\n
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Commenting on Ilya\u2019s death, Martynov played down the issue of blood transfusion, saying that Ilya\u2019s mother Luydmila \u201cdemanded the best and most up-to-date treatment\u201d for her son when he was brought to the hospital, but nothing could be done to save his life.<\/div>\n
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Some experts say that Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are still responsible for the tragedy. \u201cThe deaths of children occurred because of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses religion, which with its destructive practices forces people to refuse medical assistance in the form of blood transfusion,\u201d Alexanxder Korelov, head of the legal committee at the Russian Association of Centres for Religion and Sect Studies, told The Moscow News.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is especially dangerous when it concerns children,\u201d he went on to say. \u201cThe \u2018no blood\u2019 principle propagated by the sect is not only based on a false and distorted interpretation of Holy Scripture, but also severely contradicts existing law that guarantees each person the right to full medical assistance.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Over the last few years Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses have found themselves under pressure from Russian authorities. In several Russian cities,\u00a0<\/div>\n
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including Moscow, Taganrog and Arkhangelsk, local divisions of their organisation have been shut down by court orders on grounds of instigation of religious hatred and extremism.<\/div>\n
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Last summer the European Court of Human Rights upheld the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses\u2019 complaint about the closure of their Moscow branch and ruled that a compensation of 70,000 Euros be paid. Russian authorities have appealed the verdict.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAs far as court persecution of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses and accusations of extremism are concerned, this, unfortunately, is beginning to look like the persecution the Witnesses faced under the Soviets,\u201d Martynov said.<\/div>\n
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Korelov strongly disagreed. \u201cThe Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses sect was rightly labelled an extremist organisation because in its activities \u2013 all the signs of extremism are present,\u201d he said. \u201cThe children\u2019s deaths are just the most blatant example of the organisation\u2019s destructive nature.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Source: http:\/\/www.mn.ru\/society\/20101014\/188127166.html<\/div>\n
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