![]() ![]() Russell and his followers looked forward to Jesus Christ establishing a “millennium” or a thousand-year period of peace on Earth. These students understood “ Jehovah,” a version of the Hebrew “ Yaweh,” to be the name of God the Father himself. The group was led by Charles Taze Russell, a religious seeker from a Presbyterian background. The story of Jehovah’s Witnesses begins in the late 19th century near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a group of students studying the Bible. ![]() Who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and why would the Russian, or any, government consider them to be a threat? Early history ![]() Russia, with a population of more than 150 million, has a total of 117,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses – one Jehovah’s Witness per 850 people. There are over eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses in 240 countries worldwide. The Russian government also has the legal authority to liquidate any property held by Jehovah’s Witnesses as an organization. But, as of now, Jehovah’s Witness gatherings and preaching are criminal offenses in Russia. As a last ditch effort, Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses intend to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Many followers are actively involved in recruiting more members and spreading the Jehovah's Witnesses' message that only true believers will be saved by God when the apocalypse comes.On Monday, July 17, the Russian Supreme Court rejected an appeal of an earlier ruling sanctioning Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist group. Jehovah's Witnesses have 1.2 million in the U.S. They said we'd look into this, we'll take care of it, we'll leave it in God's hands," he told the The National Investigative Unit. ![]() The headquarters did not do anything after his mother reported the abuse. Kameron Torres, one of the victims interviewed, told reporters that he was only 6 years old the first time he was sexually assaulted by a member of the group. "Internal documents and letters from headquarters going back 30 years directed its approximately 13,000 congregations across the United States to handle abuse internally, send copies of files to headquarters-not police-in 'special blue' envelopes, and destroy documents laying out past policy," the report found.
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