Communists and Jehovah’s Witnesses

Prejudice and misunderstanding for long did much to confuse the activities of Jehovah’s witnesses, an international group of Christian ministers, with those of communists. A forthright editorial in the Moline, Illinois, Daily Dispatch, of December 2, 1950, is to be appreciated for its contribution toward bringing to light the truth on the matter. The major part of the editorial named is herewith quoted:

“The sentence of life imprisonment for two members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect in East Germany should serve to reassure some Americans about the political pedigree of members of the sect in general. The two sentenced were leaders of a group of Witnesses who refused to pledge loyalty to communism, even under threat of death. So in the upside-down justice of the satellite Red courts, the two leaders were charged with treason and spying for the United States and Great Britain and clapped in jail. Jehovah’s Witnesses have undergone a measure of persecution in the United States, mostly from veterans’ organizations who resent the Witnesses’ refusals to pledge allegiance to the American flag. We also take a dim view of the Witnesses’ slight of our national emblem, but, on the other hand, we have found no justification for the violence and threats of violence against the members of the sect. We have found even less justification for rather carelessly worded labels which various American groups have tried to paste on the Witnesses, including the label ‘Communist’. We believe the conviction of the Witnesses by Communists indicates the impartiality of the sect in rejecting all forms of political nationalism. . . . There may be those in America who feel that jailing Witnesses for life is the proper treatment for them. If those persons abhor communism, they should not want to be identified with Communist practices.”