They just grab all of the weak/ desperate people and use them. It's actually hard to get away if you're in the wrong caste and a lot of younger people go through a period of spiritual awakening after a first crisis? so they are confused for a period. There's more to this world than what they know. All religion is a cult. It's the purpose that you have to look into. People just won't let it go. So much evidence out there, and they won't let go... Spirituality = good. Religion for a goat god = bad.

I hope that the Russian people are smarter than this. How about Leo Tolstoy? He would probably be put in jail under this law. Anyway in the USA we've had the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many others for years and it hasn't destroyed our society.

Jehovah's Witnesses defenders will highlight that they,"don't kill in war" none the less this is deceiving as they have just as much criminal activity as any other group maybe more because they cover it up. Thousands maybe tens of thousands of been 'martyred' for refusing whole blood transfusions all over a man made rule that is unfairly applied. They have virtually no public charities like food pantries,soup kitchens,hospitals or schools but billions dollars in worldwide real estate that is tax free. Other religions are also conscious objectors not just Jehovah's Witnesses they are not unique. - Danny Haszard

Who is to decide what is a cult and what is a religion? In the United States main stream (so called) religious leaders make millions of dollars by exploiting religion. They collect tons of money and somehow GOD'S MONEY gets mixed up with their own money and they come out very rich. These "criminals in the name of god" should lose their tax free status and have their ill gotten fortunes confiscated to feed and house the poor. It should be a crime to get rich by betraying {FLEECING THE FLOCK} religious people. They should be FEEDING THE FLOCK, NOT FLEECING THE FLOCK. The JIM JONES type VOODOO/FAKE religious control of low mental category people should be stoped in it's tracks. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it might just be a QUACK {PHONEY}.

YEs theres a lot of crazy cults, a lot of this rubbish comes from the USA, and then gos to europe....destroying family life !

The russian are intelligent enough to know what is a religion,and what is a cult,total riduclous to say,reconised religions are threathend.ps if people are ignorant and follow people who fleece them,in the name of religion,that is they own ignorance to blame.

Russia was a place where people were not allowed to practise religion at all for many decades, so many of them don't have a good idea what their mainstream religion is about. Therefore, they are an easy target for all sorts of sects and cults. That is why Russian state should be much more strict toward sects and cults, even if it means reducing the level of "human rights" of the sects' victims. In my opinion, it's much smaller sin toward human rights compared to American government's listening to it's citizens' phone calls and reading all the sms and e-mails.

Religions or cult have an important hold on many people's mind.It has always been tricky to deal with this feature of human nature.The best way to prevent extreme behaviours still seems to be education,education,and education again-a quality one,free and available to all.

Steve, you're a Scientologist,right? L Ron Hubbard can't be compared to Tolstoi, maybe Joseph Stalin, and that's probably why people feel concerned.

I guess I'm missing something. How is 29 people locking themselves into a bomb shelter a social problem that calls for new laws to be written? Was anybody hurt? I do agree about the Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusion. People need to temper their faith with common sense. Even Jesus said the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

The Jehovah's Witnesses on one hand fill their books and lectures with details about how evil and corrupt every other religion is, but then when theirs is exposed as corrupt they fall back on how it's "voluntary" to be a member, and how it's not nice to say nasty things about them, and how they're being "persecuted." Jehovah's Witnesses are unpopular for many reasons, none of which matched the early church except for non-political involvement, which is not exclusive to them at all. They are like carnival hucksters preaching the need to become a Jehovah's Witness or die at Armageddon.

Under these new laws, Jesus would have been a constant criminal, as would all of his followers (Luke 10:1). Doesn't that make any alarm bells start to ring?

Personally, I elaborated a very radical way to deal with religions, cults and even political organisations. They are all man made institutions used to brainwash, fanaticize and manipulate other humans. From that point of view, I reached the following conclusion: In all human relations, the main ingredient is SINCERITY... You will notice than cults address on priority weak peoples or those unhappy with their human condition. I do not blame religions for anything. Indirectly, their usefulness can be evident when teaching morale's values. In my case; my childhood was awful; the church was a refuge where I was popular. At eleven years old, I experienced my first church leadership hypocrisy. I did not say anything because in my dreams or as a psychological support, I imagined the Virgin Marie as my mother. In a certain way I used the church to fit my own purpose and in an other way her teaching avoid me to become a bad person. Government must protect the citizen but respect the freedom of religions unless unlawful acts or preaching are committed. The rules must be clearly set. That is all. Sincerely...Jean-Claude Meslin

We were raised as JW's and it took us considerable effort to leave. JW's have had a destructive influence on our family live for most of our youth. When we stopped going to their 'kingdom hal' and left, our lives improved. When our mother was admitted to an nursing home, elders tried to make her sign a 4 page document that ordered her to forgo any blood transfusion and it also gave the witnesses the right to check her medical record to see if she had broken their "law". That 4 page document can also be used to sign away responsibility for the care of this person. It means that relatives no longer have anything to say about their family member. The cults elders/members will have the "legal" right to decide for them. Luckily our mum did not trust them that much but she warned often to sign. When she finally passed away, she died in fear of their so-called "Armageddon" and what would happen to us since we left. I hope they are banned, because their religion is dangerous. JW's have done enough damage to family lives and society as a whole.

You guys all do realize all this is being orchestrated by the Russian Orthodox Church don't you? The JW's are no more a cult than the early Christian congregation was and they said a simular thing about them. They base their beliefs in the Bible (ask one to defend why they don't take blood etc and ask to show in your Bible) And as far as blood, (speaking from experience) There are better ways , like the cell salvage machine or hemo dilution or Erythropoietin (EPO) (goolge them) And here in the US about 5-10 die from supposed no transfusions a year (which is subjective in itself) but around 400 die directly from transfusions. (Way the odds) They also help people be BETTER husbands, wifes ,children etc from studing the Bible. By the way most "cult experts" are self appointed as such and have there own extreme bias and it shows, and they group anyone they don't like into that group.YES cults are dangerous but the JW's are probably the most open religious group out there. People that can't stand up to Bible standards or simply reject them, then in turn go back and attack those very standards to try and defend their own conduct. Look at the bottom line. They are a happy and good moral people. They do not force their ideas, they only offer them and if you reject it they go to the next door. The RO church on the other hand.... Well that , you can answer for yourself. I found it quite interesting on Russian TV news that they often show cults and people beating them selfs and all kinds of ridiculous behavior in the back ground while the talk about JW's trying to make people think that the background video is JW's when it could not be further from the truth. Some videos or in fact most do show conventions and meetings just as they really are, peaceful intelligent Bible talks and dramas. If they are so bad why can't people just tell the truth about them and let it stand on it 's own instead of making up things? Well thats my perspective anyway.

I had to laugh when people who are descibed as being easy prey to faith groups are those in hospital or mental hospitals and are on par with the military and so cant be spoken to by anyone with a bible in there hand. I understand the first 2 groups but not the military, maybe they are not as sure of there convictions as maybe the Jehovahs Witnesses are and thats why you cant talk to susceptable militay personel..what a joke this future law is

How does one classify an International religion which has legal standing all over the world and then in one country it is called a cult!? This is a matter of someone putting up a false label to attack a belief that is all this is. Jehovah's Witnesses are no more a cult than Jesus' early followers were. Well one thing about this if they can prohibit one belief than they will and should prohibit all others as well.. Pssst! of which it is prophesied to happen.. So I am not too surprised.. The Russian Greek Orthodox church does not realize this may all collapse upon them as well.. This shows the problem with human evil it does not think out the whole picture.. ;-)

Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult!! I may not agree with the restrictions applied to sects but more education is needed and maybe guidelines for those who recruit.  Example with Watchtower recruiters is they don't tell those who they speak with that they preached Jesus returned in 1874 for some 50 years before they changed it to 1914.  They don't tell their newly interested ones that they preached the end was going to occur in 1914,1925 and 1975.  They don't tell their newly interested ones that they're the only ones that support destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonians in 607BC while the entire world and piles of evidence point to 586BC.  They don't tell the newly interested ones that once they're baptized and have their opinion on scriptures they can not speak these opinions openly or they cannot disagree openly with teachings of the Watchtower or they will be kicked out and shunned.  Their shunning is so extreme with some families that sons will not acknowledge fathers and vice verse.  Just as other cults they try to control information through discouraging higher education, limit internet searches and they paint those that have left as evil.   The old, changed doctrines are dismissed as "old understanding".  They hold many people through fear and guilt of losing friends and family.  Anyone studying with witnesses should do diligent investigation of their history.
Watchtower packages an appealing idea while at the same time hiding it's history as irrelevant and omitting facts in their new publications.  It's a cult and people should be warned about them but I don't belief they should be banned.