Jehovah's Witnesses and Censorship
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that emerged in the late 19th century, founded by Charles Taze Russell. The group is known for its strong advocacy for religious freedom, actively promoting the rights to worship, speak, and publish their beliefs. Throughout their history, Jehovah's Witnesses have faced significant censorship, primarily from governments and other religious groups, particularly during periods of conflict and societal upheaval, such as World War I and the rise of Nazi Germany.
In Canada and the United States, the early 20th century saw harsh measures against the group, including bans on their publications and the imprisonment of church leaders. The persecution continued in various forms across the globe, with thousands of Witnesses arrested and even executed in Nazi concentration camps. In response to these challenges, Jehovah's Witnesses have engaged in extensive legal battles to secure their rights, leading to landmark Supreme Court rulings in the United States that upheld their freedoms.
The group also sought international legal recourse post-World War II, addressing human rights violations in European courts. This ongoing struggle against censorship highlights their commitment to uphold their beliefs in the face of significant adversity.
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Jehovah's Witnesses and Censorship
Founded: 1881
Type of organization: Church
Significance:Jehovah’s Witnesses worked for over a century to secure for its members full freedom of worship, speech, and press
Organized in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by Charles Taze Russell, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, in pursuit of the right to proselytize, engaged in a century-long advocacy of the constitutional rights of freedom of worship, speech, and press. In 1891, the society became active on the international level. Initially through the distribution of print materials, especially The Watchtower, and later radio and electronic devices, Witnesses pioneers conducted religious activities that were severely censored by other religious groups, fraternal organizations, and governments.
Reaction against the Jehovah’s Witnesses was especially pronounced during years of global conflict and economic depression. In 1918, in Canada and the United States, various groups demanded that governmental action be taken against the society for what were called its seditious activities. On February 12, 1918, the Canadian government placed a ban on the society and imposed press censorship regulations on its publications. That same year government officials in the United States invaded the Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California, headquarters and halls of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Eight leaders, including the church’s president, J. F. Rutherford, were convicted and imprisoned on conspiracy charges against the U.S. government. An attempt was made to try Rutherford under the Espionage Act of 1917, but such action failed. Other Witnesses were tarred and feathered, beaten, forced to relocate, and imprisoned for refusing to be inducted into military service. Persecution lessened during the next decade; meanwhile, in May, 1920, Rutherford and his colleagues were cleared of any judgment against them.
During the 1930s persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses again intensified in the Western Hemisphere, Asia, and Europe. Italian and German Witness headquarters and halls were closed, printing presses seized, and distribution of literature banned. In 1933 nearly six thousand Witnesses in Nazi Germany were arrested and sent to concentration camps, where two thousand were executed. In 1941, the Australian government banned the Jehovah's Witness movement in the country. In the United States, clergy and special interest groups employed boycotts and intimidation to prevent the society from having access to the air waves. Appeals for assistance from the newly created Federal Communications Commission (FCC) were ineffective. The Witnesses again entered the legal arena to obtain their full civil liberties. The US Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) that Jehovah's Witness children had the right to refuse to salute the US flag in school.
Witness refusals to salute the flag, accept service in the military, and—by the 1950s—accept blood transfusions as a therapeutic measure, were among the issues that led to censorship and litigation in the United States. Using the First and Fourteenth amendments as the baseline of their legal defense, the Witnesses turned to the Supreme Court to redress their grievances. On the international level after World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses went before the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights to obtain civil and human rights.
Bibliography
Baran, Emily B. Dissent on the Margins: How Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses Defied Communism and Lived to Preach About It. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.
Beneke, Chris, and Christopher S. Grenda. The Lively Experiment: Religious Toleration in America from Roger Williams to the Present. New York: Rowman, 2015. Print.
Buckingham, Janet Epp. Fighting Over God: A Legal and Political History of Religious Freedom in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 2014. Print.
Penton, James. Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2015. Print.
Rabinowitz, Harold, and Greg Tobin. Religion in America: A Comprehensive Guide to Faith, History, and Tradition. New York: Sterling, 2011. Print.