This is a real shame. Again, it is not my intent to defend
the Watchtower Society and yet their persecution resonates with me in a
particular way because of their apolitical stance.
Why do they face such ire? Well, in Russia and the former
Soviet Union there is a hostility to 'sects' which are viewed as both Western
and detrimental to traditional values and social stability.
The West is the land of decadence and while the Jehovah's
Witnesses do not represent that decadence, the Islamic and Orthodox
traditionalists in Eurasia don't quite see it that way. They fear any group
that teaches dissent.
Additionally (and with good reason) they fear groups with
Western connections, or groups that are extensions of Western bureaucracies.
Once again, the Jehovah's Witnesses represent no such threat. They do not
collaborate with US Imperialism and most Evangelicals don't either.
But some do.
And as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear, the CIA
attempts to utilise these organisations.
And thus these Western 'Sects' are viewed as potential threats.
I won't go so far as to say that Watchtower suppression is
Christian persecution but genuine Biblical Christianity would be (and perhaps
is) persecuted for the very same reasons.
Tajikistan is still ruled by Emomali Rahmon, one of several
ex-Communist bosses that took over in the wake of the USSR's collapse. These
figures rule over states that were more or less created out of thin air, states
and societies that have no connection to Enlightenment values. In other words
they have no basis for a pluralistic society and democratic institutions.
Tajikistan faced civil war in the early 1990's and there's
always been a fear of Islamic insurgency and 'spillover' from neighboring
Afghanistan. Remember the Tajiks are one of the larger ethnic groups within Afghanistan.
Culturally and linguistically the Tajiks are connected to Iran which makes
their position awkward at times in light of Sunni groups like the Taliban and
the growing forces of Salafism. Their neighbourhood is difficult and like their
other Central Asian neighbours they are trying to avoid being a pawn in the New
Great Game.
Joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) made
sense and yet the Dushanbe leadership has no desire to fall prey to the whims
of Beijing or Moscow either.
Tajik society is in one sense fragile and must be Islamic to
be viewed as legitimate. But they fear radical Islam and the Deobandi and
Salafi extremists. Likewise they fear Westernisation and the instability it
would bring... and the vehicle it would create for Western geopolitical aims
and strategies.
The Tajik government wants its people to stay quiet, work and
be content. They don't want anything to come along that would rock the boat.
Sadly as Christians we cannot fully comply with those wishes,
though genuine Christianity presents little threat to the political order. One
wishes they could understand that plucking a few souls from their ranks will
hardly bring down their society but it's not a message rulers will hear,
especially when Western Evangelicals (and their theology of Dominion) belie
such assurances.
We must continue to pray for the Christians in Tajikistan and
the other nations of Central Asia. And we must be careful as Evangelical
reporting is often misleading and heavily skewed in favour of American state
policy.
See also:
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