For awhile now, Russia has constantly been having problems with heretical cults, whether they are local or imported from USA. Thankfully, Russia is very strong in affirming her stance against cults and is reaffirming her Orthodox Faith that built Russia many centuries ago from the time of St. Olga and St. Prince Vladimir, who subsequently had the whole nation baptized into the Faith of the Apostles and Saints. As has always been the case, Satan always seeks to undo the good work of Christ through various evil doctrines and parties, be it Islam via invasion from both Mongol and Turkish hordes, or whether it be the godless atheistic doctrines of Marx, Engels, Bakunin and Lenin that brought forth Communism in Russia for 8 decades. Whilst the Church has always triumphed against these external threats, there is a more subtle threat that has been used by Satan and his devils to attack the Church. It is through pseudo-Christian cults, whether it is imported from USA such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Scientology, etc. or some more local cults that aim to target Orthodox Christians in particular, such as the Vissarion cult and others such as the so called “True Orthodox Church”, etc. In the face of all this, our Lord Jesus Christ promised St. Peter and the rest of the Apostolic Church: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

Of late, there has not only been a resurgence of these heretical cults and sects, but in particular, the Watchtower Society from USA, better known to many as Jehovah’s Witnesses, has been a peculiar thorn in the side for Russia. It not only forbids their followers from performing in military service as well as partaking in government, but also denied medical blood transfusions to their children in cases of medical emergency and not to mention their ban placed on their followers from observing birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. But worst of all above all else, are their heretical doctrines that deny the Holy Trinity, deny everlasting reward and everlasting damnation along with a whole range of heresies, which I shall post at the end. In addition, should anyone disagree in the slightest with the leaders or teachings in the Watchtower Society, they are automatically “disfellowshipped” which not only means being cast out of the congregation, but also any family members that are part of it are forbidden to have anything to do with them. It is just as bad as the Islamic consequences for being a “murtad” or apostate from Islam, whereby everyone is commanded to turn against you even kill you. I have encountered many horror stories with people who were disfellowshipped by the Watchtower Society and some even received death threats too! Is it no wonder that Russia is now intent on having stronger laws against “cults” and various heretical groups that claim to be Christian? They are equally as dangerous as Islam and in fact, Russia has also been stringent in dealing with Muslim terrorists and their sympathisers too.

Russia has rightly assessed through her Ministry of Justice, that not only is this cult “extremist” on account of their practices of denying their followers medical blood transfusions in emergencies as well as other practices already mentioned, but also for their literature, that is not only heretical, but constantly promotes hatred towards other genuine Christian churches, particularly Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. The fullness of the article with more details in question can be found here:

“Russia court considers Jehovah’s Witnesses ban” http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39500648?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=facebook

In addition, they have experienced numerous bans in 1991 (Soviet period ending), in 2004 and in other times, often because of their attacks on Orthodoxy as well as their debilitating practices. The worst part is that a number of “Evangelicals” in USA and even to a lesser extent in Russia, have been expressing sympathy towards these heretics as found in Christianity Today (the most left-wing magazine amongst American Evangelicals). Although the Russian government acknowledges the Baptists and Evangelicals officially amongst the 5 religious groups protected by the law, yet some Russian Evangelicals are seeking to side with these heretics despite the obvious consequences of bringing heresy and damnation on Russia. Can we honestly blame Russia for having an “anti-missionary” law based on this? Here is the pathetic article from Christianity Today:

“Russia’s Ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses Puts Evangelicals in a Tight Spot” http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2017/march/russia-liquidate-jehovahs-witnesses-evangelicals.html

Thankfully, Russia’s law on cults also covers the Hare Krishna sect too. It is obvious that Hinduism is dark and evil, but a sect such as the Hare Krishna has also been known for abuse of their followers not to mention their evil doctrines, that even mainstream Hinduism does not consider them authentic! I will leave a video later. But may I point out that, Russia has also included yoga and even the Japanese cult of Aum Shinrikyo, which was responsible for subway attacks in Japan in 1995, on the list of banned cults. May God bless Russia and show us in Western Christian Churches what should be done about the cults.

Here are some articles confirming the above:

“Officials in Central Russia Have Banned Yoga Because They Think It’s an Evil Cult”  by Joanna Plucinska http://time.com/3942725/russian-yoga-ban-religious-cults-nizhnevartovsk/

“Russia’s High Court Bans Japanese Doomsday Cult Group” http://www.rferl.org/a/russia-court-bans-japanese-doomsday-cult-group/28002879.html

In 2008, Hare Krishna sect was opposed strongly by Orthodox Christians in Moscow. Here is an article confirming this:

“Residents Protest Building of Temple in Moscow” June 5, 2008 https://iskconnews.org/residents-protest-building-of-temple-in-moscow,548/

I will now conclude this article with an article I wrote in 2014 regarding the Jehovah’s Witnesses heretical cult as well as some videos of Russia’s vigilance in fighting heresy as promised earlier.

Here is my article on the Jehovah’s Witnesses: http://shoebat.org/2014/09/21/every-christian-needs-know-jehovahs-witnesses-cult/

And now here are some videos:

“Orthodoxy or Death” in both Russian and Greek.

God Bless Russia! Slava Russiya! Slava Pravoslaviye! Slava Gospod Yesus Hristos!