EDITORIAL l Sunday, March 12, 2017
First Published January 25, 2017
LAGOS, Nigeria – President of the Russian Federation, HE Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, HE Dimitri Medvedev. We write to bring to your notice development in Russia as it concerns activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
We are forced to write based on the dire situation currently facing them as a result of recent court judgment that has placed their fate in your lovely federation in jeopardy.
We refer to the Appeal Court in Moscow that has granted Russian Prosecutor the leave to liquidate activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) in the Russian Federation after branding them ‘extremist group’.
Your Excellencies, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia had appealed the decision and tried to prove that the accusations of “extremist activity” are based on fabricated evidence and false statements that have been manufactured by local authorities to portray what they classified as sincere worship a criminal activity.
In the October 12, 2016, hearing, Judge M. S. Moskalenko of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow did not allow the witnesses to testify via video recording of their meetings, which are held in the open to convince the Russian Federation that they are not extremist but sincere worshippers of their God, Jehovah, Psalm 83:18.
However, on January 16, 2017, the Moscow City Court dismissed their appeal. Specifically, the three-judge panel rejected all arguments filed by the Witnesses’ attorneys and rendered its decision after a 10-minutes recess.
They upheld the October 12, 2016, Tverskoy District Court decision that ruled in favor of the Prosecutor General’s Office, indicating that the warning, dated March 2, 2016, is now enforceable.
This leaves the only earthly hope the Jehovah’s Witnesses have in your hands. Your Excellencies, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe and respect governments wherever they live. Their belief and respect for constituted authorities is anchored on Romans 18: 1, 5, which makes it clear that such authorities, elected or not, stand placed in their relative position by God.
Consequently, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are very obedient to laws that govern the federation. They obey all laws. And when it comes to payment of taxes, they are among those who take the lead. And this is based on the commands of their mentor, Jesus Christ found at Mathew 22:21, which urged them to pay Caesars’ things to Caesar and God’s things to God.
When it comes to worship, it is done in the open. We say so because we have been privileged to attend their Kingdom Halls on several occasions where they hold meetings. Your Excellencies, a visit to their place of worship in disguise will place you in better perspective as to their ways of worship and beliefs.
Your Excellencies, You may have been told that they do not accept blood transfusion. It is true. But they do so for reasons. The first point is that it is anchored on the Bible, which urges them to abstain from blood. You find this at Acts 15: 28 and 29. Your Excellencies, The Jehovah’s Witnesses love to live as long as life could take them. However, they are of the view that their belief on this Biblical injunction has been very rewarding.
It has saved them from diseases associated with blood transfusions such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, Hepatitis B and others. Besides, advancement in medical science seems to have justified this and vindicated the superior argument of the Bible.
Today, most medical doctors carryout even complex surgical operations like Open Heart Surgery and many others without the use of blood. They make use of blood expanders which Jehovah’s Witnesses make available to cooperative doctors and by this, so many lives have been saved.
“Volume replacement can be accomplished without using whole blood or blood plasma. Various nonblood fluids are effective volume expanders. The simplest is saline (salt) solution, which is both inexpensive and compatible with our blood. There are also fluids with special properties, such as dextran, Haemaccel, and lactated Ringer’s solution. Hetastarch (HES) is a newer volume expander, and “it can be safely recommended for those [burn] patients who object to blood products.” (Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, January/February 1989)
“Such fluids have definite advantages. “Crystalloid solutions [such as normal saline and lactated Ringer’s solution], Dextran and HES are relatively nontoxic and inexpensive, readily available, can be stored at room temperature, require no compatibility testing and are free of the risk of transfusion-transmitted disease.” —Blood Transfusion Therapy —A Physician’s Handbook, 1989”.
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We are not ruling out cases of death of for willful refusal to take blood. But we have been informed that they are putting in place measures to minimize loss of lives when surgeries are involved.
Your may have been informed that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are averse to warfare. They would rather die than take up arms against another fellow human no matter how cruel the attacker might be. This is because they have already beaten their swords into ploughshares and the spears into pruning shares. You can find this admonition at Micah 4:3.
It is on this basis that it appears that the religious group, Jehovah’s Witnesses are among the most peaceful people you can find wherever they live. We gathered that they are trained to be friendly even in the heat of the most severe provocation in anticipation of Paradise, which is their ultimate goal. Rev: 21, 3, 4, Isaiah 65, 21-23, Isaiah 33: 24, Isaiah 35, 5 and 6 among other scriptures.
As regards their way of life, the Late Indian Leader, Mohandas K Gandhi has been quoted as saying at his ashram (religious retreat) to Lord Irwin:
“When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world.” This sermon, which partly defines the lifestyle of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is found at Mathew chapters 5, 6 and 7.
It is on this basis that we appeal to you to use your prerogative to stop imminent destruction of this group who will never be a threat to any government. We are very well aware that Russians love you the way some of us in other parts of the world do based on your soaring popularity world over. Your acting in favour of the Jehovah’s Witnesses will not only improve on your Global Ratings but will bring you abundant blessing from Jehovah, the Almighty God.
Please share this message all over the social media.
Tweet this message to
HE, Russian President @ VladimirP
He, Russian PM @
HE, President of the United States @realDonaldTrump
HE, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel @ Queen_Europe
HE, British PM @
HE, French President @
HE, Assad of Syria
HE, President of China
And all those you know that are influential to Russian Governments to persuade HE, President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister, HE Dimitri Medvedev.
A very kind and considerate appeal on our behalf, to the gentlemen in power in Russia! Thank you very much!
In the end, Jehovah will deal with all persistent opposers, as He has dealt with opposers in the past.
One of these was the Pharaoh of Egypt, who thought he was a ‘god’. Another was Nebuchadnezzar .
What happened to both? (Isiah 54:17).
Meanwhile, even if Jehovah allows prophecy to be fulfilled, may be, allowing Russia to have their way, He will give His name people all over the world the strength to endure persecution (Mat. 24:13; Php. 4:13).
Kind greetings, Gunter Piontek jw.org