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Belarus puts clearer definition of 'sect' through enforcement

Police in Belarus have been scrutinizing religious activity from a house church in Minsk, reports MNN.

According to Forum 18, local police were sent to question a family about their religious faith.

Authorities said the Culture Department of Minsk City Executive Committee wanted to find out whether a church was active there or not. Forum 18 quotes the Deputy Chief of Minsk's Frunze District Police Dinas Linkus as saying, "We have Orthodox, Catholics and Muslims: these are the religions. All the others are sects."

Do those remarks cause concern for ministries? Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association says, "There is religious freedom, but traditionally in society, evangelical churches tend to be viewed with some suspicion."

That's a contrast against the backdrop of November 2002, when a new religion law went into effect. Voice of the Martyrs Canada noted that despite constitutional guarantees that "all religions and faiths shall be equal before the law," the law stipulates that all unregistered religious activity, communities with fewer than 20 members, and any religious activity in private homes (apart from occasional, small-scale meetings) are considered illegal.

Religious communities that do not have a registered umbrella body are not able to invite foreign citizens for religious work, and all religious literature is subject to censorship. Registration is often a difficult process, and many organizations, including some with thousands of members, have been unable to register.

Scrutiny this detailed comes with relentless pressure from the government, often including arrests, false charges and large fines. Griffith explains, "They [evangelical Christians] have to battle false rumors like this all the time that get spread around by various people. It definitely is a concern, but I also want to praise the Lord for the progress that's been made in spite of some of the opposition."

The church is growing, and SGA teams will continue working. Please hold them up in prayer. "It is a matter of concern, especially if it's going to signal any type of further crackdowns or further repression on evangelical churches. Evangelical churches have a difficult time, as it is, in Belarus right now."

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TAGS: Belarus religious activity house church religious freedom persecution repression

[11/16/2009]

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