In the paper the author discusses the issues related to the persecution of Jehovah’s
Witnesses by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic
Church, which enjoys the status of the national church. In Armenia Jehovah’s
Witnesses are commonly perceived as a „particularly negative sect”. Due to their
refusal to perform military service (which is important in the situation of the still
not resolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh) they are treated as traitors to their
own nation. The registration application of Jehovah’s Witnesses was rejected by
the authorities fifteen times and despite the & nal success with the registration they
still face numerous obstacles which makes it hard to exercise their faith openly.
The author’s intention is to raise awareness to the fact that Armenians still
demonstrate a negative attitude to all religious minorities, as the re{ ection of the
generally prevailing „fear of strangers”. The actions of local TV channels broadcasting
current affairs programs in which minorities are shown as enemies to
the country and the national unity, can also be blames. Social attitudes explicitly
indicate that for Armenians religious diversity constitutes a threat to the ethnic
unity. Papers devoted to the freedom of religion published before 2015 show that
Jehovah’s Witnesses were the ones particularly persecuted. The blame for such
a situation lies to a large extent with the clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
who encourage locals to defend the national church. The issue of religious minorities
is also used in the political struggle. According to some leading Armenian
politicians Jehovah’s Witnesses run the policy which is most destructive for Armenia.
The blame for the spread of sects in Armenia is put on Western European
countries and the United States of America which are believed to & nance sects
with the intention to destroy all Orthodox Christian churches that preserve national
identity. It is widely believed that America supports sects as it is interested
in destabilization of geopolitical situation in the regions close to Russia. The
author also tries to find an answer to the question why, despite such unfavorable
conditions, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia keep gaining more followers at an
increasing rate.
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