{"id":29183,"date":"2016-07-05T14:46:30","date_gmt":"2016-07-05T12:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=29183"},"modified":"2016-07-05T14:46:30","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T12:46:30","slug":"new-law-in-russia-threatens-the-sankirtan-movement-in-that-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=29183","title":{"rendered":"New law in Russia threatens the Sankirtan movement in that country"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vrindavanlila Dasi: We are praying to Lord Jagannath to resolve difficulties presented to the preaching in Russia by a new law about ‘missionary activity’ (which isn’t finalized yet). Please join us in Kirtan-prayer for the Lord’s mercy to resolve this situation in a mutually beneficial way – so the government can prevent terrorism, and devotees can carry on with Harinamas, book distribution, namahattas – our usual preaching work.<\/p>\n

This law affects all religious organizations in Russia. If law gets passed in the way it’s written now it will not be possible to preach anywhere outside registered premises (temple), not even in personal apartment… also can’t invite more than one foreign preacher at a time, with permission; can’t preach in public places – this can be interpreted as tightly as if you great your friend in ‘religious way’… if found ‘guilty’ of that – must pay huge fine, really heavy…<\/p>\n

Devotees in Russia started Kirtan-prayer for resolution of this horrible situation. Please join in Kirtan campaign, make kirtans everywhere, in support of Russian devotee’s right to preach.
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/IQnBdTGxTcE<\/a>
\n——<\/p>\n

Now only special people in special places will be allowed to preach, and it will be illegal to preach certain ideas.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are eager to place new restrictions on Russia’s religious sphere, amending the legal definition of \u201cmissionary activity\u201d as defined under the Constitution’s article on the freedom of conscience and religion. Yarovaya’s legislation defines as \u201cmissionary activity\u201d any kind of religious practice that takes place outside special establishments, cemeteries, houses of worship, or religious schools. This applies to acts of worship, ceremonies, the distribution of literature, and preaching. \u201cThe dissemination of beliefs and religious convictions\u201d through the mass media and the Internet is also considered to be \u201cmissionary activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the legislation is passed, missionary activity would be off limits to anyone but the representatives of registered organizations and groups, and individuals who have entered into formal agreements with such bodies. When preaching, every missionary must carry documents with specific information proving their connection to a registered religious group. Lawmakers want to ban any kind of missionary activity in residential areas, except prayer services, ceremonies, and sacramental rites. Foreign missionaries will only be able to operate in the regions where their inviting organizations are registered.<\/p>\n

The authorities want to ban the dissemination of certain religious concepts, too, such as ideas believed to promote extremism, discourage receiving medical care, encourage surrendering property to religious organizations, and so on. Violating these prohibitions would risk steep administration fines as high as a million rubles (more than $15,000).<\/p>\n

The human rights center \u201cSova\u201d says the amendments to Russian laws about missionary work threaten not only unregistered religious groups, but also the organizations that are already registered (namely, churches belonging to Protestants and newer Christian sects). Even some Russian Orthodox missionaries could encounter problems, Sova warns.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/meduza.io\/en\/feature\/2016\/06\/22\/irina-yarovaya-s-anti-terrorist-war-on-civil-rights<\/a><\/p>\n

——-<\/p>\n

Proposed law in Russia would ban proselytizing<\/p>\n

Legislation which passed the Russian legislature and awaits President Vladimir Putin\u2019s signature could ban private citizens from sharing their faith with others, Christianity Today reported on Wednesday.
\nShould the new law go into effect, citizens wishing to share their faith will have to \u201csecure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites,\u201d according to the evangelical Christian magazine. \u201cThe restrictions even apply to activity in private residences and online.\u201d
\n\u201cIf passed, the anti-evangelism law carries fines up to US $780 for an individual and $15,500 for an organization,\u201d Christianity Today said. \u201cForeign visitors who violate the law face deportation.\u201d
\n\u201cSoviet history shows us how many people of different faiths have been persecuted for spreading the Word of God. This law brings us back to a shameful past,\u201d evangelical leaders warned Mr. Putin in a letter according to Christianity Today. The magazine noted that a mere 1 percent of Russia\u2019s population is believed to be Protestant Christian.<\/p>\n

To read more: http:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2016\/jun\/29\/proposed-law-russia-would-ban-proselytizing\/<\/a><\/p>\n

——
\nhttp:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/gleanings\/2016\/june\/no-evangelizing-outside-of-church-russia-proposes.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Christians in Russia won\u2019t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes if Russia\u2019s newest set of surveillance and anti-terrorism laws are enacted.
\nThe proposed laws, considered the country\u2019s most restrictive measures in post-Soviet history, place broad limitations on missionary work, including preaching, teaching, and engaging in any activity designed to recruit people into a religious group.
\nTo share their faith, citizens must secure a government permit through a registered religious organization, and they cannot evangelize anywhere besides churches and other religious sites. The restrictions even apply to activity in private residences and online.
\nThis week, Russia\u2019s Protestant minority\u2014estimated around 1 percent of the population\u2014prayed, fasted, and sent petitions to President Vladimir Putin, who will have to approve the measures before they become official.
\n\u201cMost evangelicals\u2014leaders from all seven denominations\u2014have expressed concerns,\u201d Sergey Rakhuba, president of Mission Eurasia and a former Moscow church-planter, told CT. \u201cThey\u2019re calling on the global Christian community to pray that Putin can intervene and God can miraculously work in this process.\u201d
\nFollowing a wave of Russian nationalist propaganda, the laws passed almost unanimously in the Duma, the upper house, on Friday and in the Federation Council, the lower house, today.
\n\u201cIf this legislation is approved, the religious situation in the country will grow considerably more complicated and many believers will find themselves in exile and subjected to reprisals because of our faith,\u201d wrote Oleg Goncharov, spokesman for the Seventh-day Adventists\u2019 Euro-Asia division, in an open letter.
\nProposed by United Russia party lawmaker Irina Yarovaya, the law appears to target religious groups outside the Russian Orthodox church. Because it defines missionary activities as religious practices to spread a faith beyond its members, \u201cif that is interpreted as the Moscow Patriarchate is likely to, it will mean the Orthodox Church can go after ethnic Russians but that no other church will be allowed to,\u201d according to Frank Goble, an expert on religious and ethnic issues in the region.
\nRussian nationalist identity remains tied up with the Russian Orthodox church.
\n\u201cThe Russian Orthodox church is part of a bulwark of Russian nationalism stirred up by Vladimir Putin,\u201d David Aikman, history professor and foreign affairs expert, told CT. \u201cEverything that undermines that action is a real threat, whether that\u2019s evangelical Protestant missionaries or anything else.\u201d
\nSergei Ryakhovsky, head of the Protestant Churches of Russia, and several other evangelical leaders called the law a violation of religious freedom and personal conscience in a letter to Putin posted on the Russian site Portal-Credo. The letter reads, in part:
\nThe obligation on every believer to have a special permit to spread his or her beliefs, as well as hand out religious literature and material outside of places of worship and used structures is not only absurd and offensive, but also creates the basis for mass persecution of believers for violating these provisions.
\nSoviet history shows us how many people of different faiths have been persecuted for spreading the Word of God. This law brings us back to a shameful past.”
\nStalin-era religious restrictions\u2014including outlawing religious activity outside of Sunday services in registered churches and banning parents from teaching faith to their kids\u2014remained on the books until the collapse of the Soviet Union, though the government enforced them only selectively.
\nSome have questioned whether the government could or would monitor religious activity in private Christian homes.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think you can overestimate the Russian government\u2019s willingess to exert control,\u201d Aikman told CT. If history is any indication, the proposed regulations reveal a pattern of \u201ccreeping totalitarianism\u201d in the country, he said.
\nThe so-called Big Brother laws also introduce widespread surveillance of online activity, including requiring encrypted apps to give the government the power to decode them, and assigning stronger punishments for extremism and terrorism.
\nThe proposal is an \u201cattack on freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and the right to privacy that gives law enforcement unreasonably broad powers,\u201d the humanitarian group Human Rights Watch told The Guardian.
\nIf passed, the anti-evangelism law carries fines up to US $780 for an individual and $15,500 for an organization. Foreign visitors who violate the law face deportation.
\nRussia has already moved to contain foreign missionaries. The \u201cforeign agent\u201d law, adopted in 2012, requires groups from abroad to file detailed paperwork and be subject to government audits and raids. Since then, the NGO sector has shrunk by a third, according to government statistics.
\n\u201cIn Moscow, we shared an office with 24 organizations. Not a single foreign expatriate mission is there now,\u201d Rakhuba previously told CT. \u201cThey could not re-register. Missionaries could not return to Russia because they could not renew their visas. It is next to impossible to get registration as a foreign organization today.\u201d
\nWhile Russia\u2019s evangelicals pray that the proposed regulations are amended or vetoed, they have gone underground before, and they\u2019ll be willing to do it again, Rakhuba said.
\n\u201cThey say, \u2018If it will come to it, it\u2019s not going to stop us from worshiping and sharing our faith,\u2019\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe Great Commission isn\u2019t just for a time of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"HareBy various media<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawmakers are eager to place new restrictions on Russia’s religious sphere, amending the legal definition of \u201cmissionary activity\u201d as defined under the Constitution’s article on the freedom of conscience and religion. Yarovaya’s legislation defines as \u201cmissionary activity\u201d any kind of religious practice that takes place outside special establishments, cemeteries, houses of worship, or religious schools. This applies to acts of worship, ceremonies, the distribution of literature, and preaching. \u201cThe dissemination of beliefs and religious convictions\u201d through the mass media and the Internet is also considered to be \u201cmissionary activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29185,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29183\/revisions\/29185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}