The international leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses says in a December Governing Body Update video #8 that they will never be pressured into changing their biblical stance.
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ rules regarding the exclusion of members have been severely cracked down on by the Norwegian authorities. Not only are they denied state subsidies for 2021 as recently confirmed by the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs, but they are also in danger of losing their registration as a religious community.
So far, only the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses for Scandinavia has spoken out about the government’s decision to deny support—a decision they believe is a violation of, among other things, religious freedom. Now, the international leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses is also raising its voice. This is done in a video for members that was published on their official website.
May lose registration as a religious community: – A symbolic decision
Final decision
The backdrop for denying government subsidies to Jehovah’s Witnesses came after the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs last year received notifications from former members of the exclusion and expulsion of members. The Ministry therefore asked the County Governor of Oslo and Viken to review Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own accounts and publications.
In this review, the County Governor believes to have uncovered several violations of the Religious Communities Act and therefore denied them support for 2021, wrote Vårt Land in January this year.
But Jehovah’s Witnesses did not agree with the decision and appealed. They believe, among other things, that “higher courts around the world” have repeatedly concluded that exclusion is a “perfectly legal religious procedure protected by freedom of religion and assembly.”
After a review of the appeal, the County Governor concluded that they uphold the decision. Thus, the case ended up on the table of the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs, where the appeal was once again rejected. The decision is final and cannot be appealed.
Has been given an extended deadline
In the wake of the Ministry’s decision, the County Governor will consider whether Jehovah’s Witnesses should also lose their registration as a religious community. They will then consider whether the circumstances that led to the denial of support may also have an impact on the registration, the County Governor wrote in his notice to Jehovah’s Witnesses in October.
The religious community was given four weeks to rectify the circumstances that led to the denial of grants, and was asked to send documentation that this has happened.
The Scandinavian Communications Department of the religious community states that they will send a written response to the County Governor by the deadline, which they have been extended to 20 December.
Should Jehovah’s Witnesses lose their registration as a religious community, they lose the right to claim state subsidies. In addition, their right to marry ceases. However, they are free to practice their religion and activities independently of a public registration, according to the County Governor.
– Basic law
Our Country has asked Jehovah’s Witnesses if they will “correct” their exclusion practices in light of the statements of the Governing Body.
To expect Jehovah’s Witnesses to change their religious teachings and practices in Norway, or anywhere else in the world, is to ignore the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief. During the Nazi occupation, Jehovah’s Witnesses were brutally persecuted for sticking to their religious beliefs by refusing to bear arms and saying “Heil Hitler,” writes Fabian Fond of the religious community’s Scandinavian communications department to Vårt Land.
He points out that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “well known in over 200 countries as law-abiding citizens who have deep respect for the authorities.”
“All Jehovah’s Witnesses want to do is peacefully continue to practice their faith in Norway, as they have done for the past 130 years,” he wrote.
Jehovah’s Witnesses
- Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious denomination. They teach that the Bible was written by God (Jehovah), with the help of authors who were under God’s direction. Therefore, the Bible is understood as the infallible and reliable word of God and the only necessary guide in all questions of life.
- Jehovah’s Witnesses were established in the United States in the 1870s, initially as a Bible study group. Eventually, it developed into a denomination under the leadership of Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916).
- According to their own statistics, Jehovah’s Witnesses were active in 240 countries in 2020 and had 8,424,185 members (active publishers) in 120,387 congregations. Children and others who are not active preachers are additional.
On December 2, 2022, the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken received this letter from the law office of Anders Ryssdal stating the following:
“Jehovah’s Witnesses will shortly file a lawsuit in the district court claiming that the Ministry of Children and Families’ decision on state aid is invalid and unlawful.”