(SUBMISSION) Alert! Moscow Bans Jehovah's Witnesses (moved from ATSNN)

A Russian court has barred Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the capital, Moscow.

news.bbc.co.uk...

The court ruled that group's practices broke up families, encouraged suicide and threatened its members' health by not allowing blood transfusions.
Lawyers for the group said the ruling was a step back for democracy and was reminiscent of Soviet rule.

They said they would appeal the verdict both in Russia and to the European Court of Human Rights.

"Religious minorities are often a litmus test for where a society is going... this is an ominous signal," the group's lawyer, John Burns, said.

In an interview outside the courtroom, Vasiliy Kalin, a Jehovah's Witness official, expressed his disappointment at the ruling.

"In the Soviet time a Russian had to be an atheist," he said.

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It'll be interesting to see what happens, but more than likely that the ban will be overturned by the European Court of Human Right's...
It'll be interesting to see if this affects the actual ban though and how members of this group are treated in Moscow and Russia.

Good. The U.S. should ban them too. Annoying bastards, they practically shove "The Watchtower" down your throat.

Originally posted by browha

The court ruled that group's practices broke up families, encouraged suicide and threatened its members' health by not allowing blood transfusions.

Perfectly true. They certainly break up families by refusing to allow their congragations to deal with 'non-believers' in the same way as the Mormons do. And I've heard of quite a few of them refusing blood transfusions for their kids in accordance with their laws.

Don't EVEN get me started. I happened to be dating a person that was raised with this... uhh "religion" And to be fair I reserched it to the teeth. Come to find out i know more then he does now. They sure have some umm unusual beliefs... and i'm trying to be reeeal nice.

lol, maybe moscow ain't such a bad place to live

I live with an Egyptian Muslim , a Mexican Catholic , their multi ethnic children , and I am the token white guy in the cellar who is agnostic .

They don't stand a chance here , and I LOVE when they drop by .... I confuse them by flirting with them (man or woman) . Much fun , they leave even more bewildered looking then when they rang the bell .