RELIGION SOCIETY ACT: Jehovah’s Witnesses have made changes to their exclusion practices, and believe they may be entitled to state subsidies again. But neither the state nor ex-members are convinced.
Rakel Lima Fjelltvedt is a former Jehovah’s Witness. She was excluded from the religious community after she chose to withdraw from it. Today she has minimal contact with her family.
By Caroline Teinum Gilje
December 3, 2024
She is a former Jehovah’s Witness and was among the ex-Witnesses who spoke in Oslo District Court earlier this year about their experiences with the exclusion practice of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The backdrop for the trial is that the state has denied Jehovah’s Witnesses state subsidies for the years 2021 to 2023, as well as registration as a religious community. As the state sees it, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ exclusion practice involves the exercise of negative social control of children in the religious community, and prevents the right to free withdrawal. This is in violation of the Religious Communities Act.
Jehovah’s Witnesses disagree with this and have sued the state. Earlier this year, however, they lost the case in the district court, but appealed the verdict. The case will therefore be heard by the Court of Appeal in February next year.
However, recently there have been changes in the religious community’s practice. These may have implications for the entire basis of the case, believe Jehovah’s Witnesses. This fall, they have therefore asked the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs to reconsider the decisions.
But they are not being supported by the ministry, writes Dagen, which first reported the case.
Can invite to a congregation meeting
Vårt Land has seen the letter in which Jehovah’s Witnesses ask the state to consider the decisions to deny grants and registration. Among other things, they point to the following changes in their religious practices:
Members of the congregation can now choose “whether to invite a person who has been disfellowshipped or has withdrawn from the congregation to a congregation meeting,” they write. “They may also choose to greet the person and welcome him or her to the meeting.”
Regarding minors baptized, the following is stated:
“If a baptized minor commits a serious sin, two elders will have a conversation with the minor and his Christian parents or guardians, to determine what the parents have already done to help their child make the necessary changes and repent,” they write.
“If the minor has a fine attitude and the parents are able to reach him, the two elders may conclude that no further action is necessary in the matter. It is the parents who have the Scriptural responsibility to correct their children in a loving way. For this reason, it will be even rarer that a baptized minor who has committed a serious sin will be able to be removed from the congregation,” the letter states.
Believe the main features remain
But the state is not convinced.
On the contrary, they believe that the content of the above-mentioned quotes “is suitable to confirm” that the state administrator and the ministry have based their decisions on a correct understanding of the exclusionary practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“The main features of the practice remain,” states the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs in its response letter, which is dated November 11.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have also sent the ministry a so-called expert opinion from Jean Zermatten, former head of the UN Children’s Committee. This believes that the religious community substantiates that “the relevant religious practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses are in accordance with, and protected by, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”.
The Ministry, for its part, believes that Zermatt’s statement “bears the mark that he places little emphasis on the significance of the psychological stress associated” with the exclusionary practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“In our opinion, it is not very accurate to describe the consequences for a child of being excluded from Jehovah’s Witnesses as ‘less pleasant'”, they write.
– Very minor changes
Former Jehovah’s Witness Rakel Fjelltvedt has read the correspondence between the Ministry and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses want to present this as significant changes, but as I see it, very minor changes have been made”, she says, and points out that the exclusionary practices remain with the new changes.
” It is only opened to invite excluded members to meetings. It is also worth noting that it is not about having a longer conversation with them there, but greeting them”, she says.
Jan Frode Nilsen is also a former member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Like Fjelltvedt, he also believes that the changes in the practice are small.
As Nilsen understands it, Jehovah’s Witnesses should now stop making judgmental decisions directly against children, which he thinks is positive.
“Now they should instead deal with their parents. It sounds like the least you would expect, but it wasn’t like that before. This means that 16-year-old girls around the world will no longer have to tell three old men about their sexual debut.”
“However, this has no bearing on the points for which they have lost state support”, he points out.