International Religious Freedom Report 2004

[onnig]

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35437.htm

 

The link above is the "International Religious Freedom Report 2004" of Armenia. It is a very interesting read. This section was the most interesting part for me:

 

Under Section III. Societal Attitudes:

 

"There was no officially sponsored violence reported against minority religious groups during the period. Yezidi children on occasion reported hazing by teachers and classmates. Some observers reported increasingly unfavorable attitudes toward members of Jehovah's Witnesses among the general population, both because they are seen as "unpatriotic" for refusing military service and because of a widespread but unsubstantiated belief that they pay money to the desperately poor for conversions. The press reported a number of complaints lodged by citizens against members of Jehovah's Witnesses for alleged illegal proselytizing. Representatives of the Jehovah's Witnesses reported a few cases during the year in which the Procurator General's office sent official warnings to individual members regarding their proselytizing activities, and the group was at times the focus of verbal religious attacks and hostile preaching by some Armenian Apostolic Church clerics. In September 2003, teenagers in the town of Aparan physically assaulted four Jehovah's Witnesses. According to a Helsinki Committee report citing eye-witness accounts, a local priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church appeared to have encouraged the attack"

 

Before anyone gets any idea that I am pro Jehovah's Witness, let me say from the start that the JW sect is really a cult, a false religious system with a false view of Christ and a false view of salvation. That said, let me continue on with the referenced paragraph. If the eye-witness account is true then the religious persecution of JWs is completely unchristian. Am I pointing out that only those from the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) are guilty of the persecution of JWs in Armenia, no, there may have been incidences of non AAC members persecuting other persons from other religions. So why did I point this out? I have been seeing the complete neglect of the commandments of Christ from the AAC leaders, not just members, in regard to religious practice and religious life. The fight at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is yet another example of the condition of the leadership of the AAC. This is just a symptom of the core issue which is a religion wrought with false doctrine and mixed with nationalistic furvor. What can this lead to? It can lead to greater persecutions and not just to JWs but to all who do not hold to the religious views of the AAC in Armenia since the AAC is the national church of Armenia.

 

Under "Legal/Policy Framework" it states:

 

"The constitution, as amended on December 8, 2005, provides for freedom of religion and "the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as a national church in the spiritual life, development of the national culture and preservation of the national identity of the people of Armenia." The law stipulates some restrictions on the religious freedom of adherents of faiths other than the Armenian Apostolic Church. The constitution also provides for freedom of conscience, including the right either to believe or to adhere to atheism. The 1991 Law on Freedom of Conscience, amended in 1997 and again in 2001, establishes the separation of church and state but grants the Armenian Apostolic Church official status as the national church."

 

And two paragraphs down it further states the conditions of registering a formal religion in Armenia:

 

"The law requires all religious denominations and organizations to register in order to operate without restrictions. There were no reports of the Government refusing registration to religious groups that were qualified for registration under the law. The Department of Religious Affairs and National Minorities, which replaced the former Council on Religious Affairs (CRA), oversees religious affairs and coordinates activities with the cabinet's chief of staff. A high-ranking official from the former CRA serves as the prime minister's advisor on religious affairs. The Office of the State Registrar registers religious entities, and the Department of Religious Affairs and National Minorities performs a consultative role in the registration process. To qualify for registration, petitioning organizations must "be free from materialism and of a purely spiritual nature," and must subscribe to a doctrine based on "historically recognized holy scriptures." A religious organization must have at least 200 adult members. Religious groups are not required to register, but unregistered religious organizations may not publish newspapers or magazines, rent meeting places, broadcast programs on television or radio, or officially sponsor the visas of visitors. By the end of the period covered by this report, the Government had registered fifty-six religious organizations, some of which were individual congregations within the same denomination."

 

That is why the Mormon Church cannot legally register within Armenia since it holds to the book of Mormon as their sacred scriptures and Muslims due to the Koran. Then we read:

 

"On July 13, 2005, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) officials reported that police officers briefly detained, harassed, and threatened two foreign missionaries. The missionaries said that one of the officers, after warning them to leave the country, placed the barrel of his unloaded gun against one missionary's head and pulled the trigger. Church officials filed a police report, and the Government opened an investigation. According to the Department of Religious Affairs and National Minorities, Armenian Apostolic Church officials filed a counter-complaint against the Mormons within a week of the incident, alleging the missionaries were illegally proselytizing on church grounds. Police officials claimed the officers questioned the missionaries and asked them to stay away from the church but denied that the questioning constituted harassment. On October 4, 2005, a police inspector sent Mormon representatives a letter informing members that the national police intended to drop the investigation and leave the incident unresolved. Other religious groups reported isolated events involving police officials questioning missionaries and their acquaintances about their activities."

 

Once again, to be clear on this matter, the Mormon Church is a false church with a false view of Christ and of salvation. With that out of the way, I have to ask; what is there to prevent a rewriting of the law to include groups who do not just hold to but who also reject certain "historically recognized holy scriptures" as the apocryphal books accepted by the AAC and the Roman Church? There is nothing to prevent it and if it does occur what will be the outcome? Every evangelical Armenian will suffer similar persecutions. Read what the definition of 'proselytizing' is in Armenia:

 

"During the period covered by this report, most registered religious groups reported no serious legal impediments to their activities. However, the 1991 freedom of conscience law prohibits "proselytizing" (undefined in the law) and restricts unregistered groups from publishing, broadcasting, or inviting official visitors to the country. The prohibition on proselytizing applies to all groups, including the Armenian Apostolic Church; however, the term used for proselytizing implies that someone has been taken away from a "true" faith, and the prohibition effectively restricts only minority religious groups."

 

Who defines the "true" faith? The AAC defines the "true" faith and although there is legally a separation of church and state there is, in practicality, no real separation. But God is sovereign and His truth will never be silenced.

Edited August 18, 2009 by onnig