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“ … And Liberty will be proclaimed throughout all the land.”

A court in Mary Region jailed 18-year-old Myrat Orazgeldiyev for one year on 3 September, the 24th Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector to military service to be imprisoned since January 2018. Eleven – including Orazgeldiyev – are now jailed, eight of them at the harsh Seydi Labour Camp, where a former prisoner of conscience described conditions as "inhuman". All 24 young men offered to do an alternative civilian service, but none exists. A court in Mary Region of eastern Turkmenistan handed down a one-year jail term to 18-year-old Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector to military service Myrat Orazgeldiyev on 3 September. He had told the Military Conscription Office he was ready to do an alternative civilian service, but Turkmenistan has rejected repeated United Nations calls to introduce such a service. He is appealing against his conviction to Mary Regional Court. Myrat Orazgeldiyev Jehovah's Witnesses Orazgeldiyev's jailing brings to five the number of conscientious objectors to military service, all Jehovah's Witnesses, known to have been imprisoned so far in 2020. It also brings to 24 the number of known criminal convictions and jailings for conscientious objection since January 2018 (see below). Jehovah's Witnesses are conscientious objectors to military service and do not undertake any kind of activity supporting any country's military. But they are willing to undertake an alternative, totally civilian form of service, as is the right of all conscientious objectors to military service under international human rights law. The sentences handed down to Orazgeldiyev brings to 11 the number of conscientious objectors to compulsory military service known - as of 11 September 2020 - to be serving sentences. All of them are Jehovah's Witnesses. Three of them are serving second sentences (see full list below). On 1 September, Dashoguz Regional Court rejected the appeals by two brothers – 26-year-old Sanjarbek Saburov and 21-year-old brother Eldor Saburov – against their two-year jail sentences for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience, handed down on 6 August (see below). Including Eziz Dovletmuradovich Atabayev (born 15 March 1998), who has been serving a jail term since 2018, 11 Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors are serving jail terms of between one and four years. Eight of them are imprisoned in Seydi Labour Camp in the eastern Lebap Region, and the two Saburov brothers and Orazgeldiyev are expected to be transferred to the same labour camp (see full list below). Turkmenistan has ignored repeated international calls, for example by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, to introduce a genuine civilian alternative to compulsory military service, to stop prosecuting and punishing conscientious objectors, and to compensate those it has punished. http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2600

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-delivers-promise-advance-religious-freedom-abroad-opinion-1508263 Don't know if this is exactly new news. but it 'sort of' sounds interesting. Trump Delivers on Promise to Advance Religious Freedom Abroad This week, President Trump issued a historic executive order that ensures international religious freedom will be a major piece of his legacy. The new directive gives the U.S. government more tools than ever before to advance religious freedom globally and to penalize foreign nations that perpetrate or allow religious persecution. Link to article at top.

JW Public Talk J Rutherford Historic Talk Freedom 1938.mp4 More from 1938: More about Joseph "Judge" Rutherford: Â

LET JEHOVAH LEAD YOU TO TRUE FREEDOM "[Peer] into the perfect law that belongs to freedom."—Jas. 1:25 To prepare his servants for that future freedom, Jehovah gave us what James called “the perfect law that belongs to freedom.” (Read James 1:25.) Other Bibles call it “the law that makes us free” (The New English Bible) and “the perfect law of freedom” (The New American Bible). When people think of law, they usually think of being controlled, not of having freedom. Then, what is “the perfect law that belongs to freedom”? And how does that law make us free? “The perfect law” is different from the laws of many countries. It is made up of simple commandments and basic principles that are not too difficult to understand or to follow. (1 John 5:3) Jesus said: “My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” (Matthew 11:29, 30) Also, “the perfect law” has no need for a long list of rules. It is based on love and is written on the minds and hearts of people, not on tablets of stone.—Read Hebrews 8:6, 10. HOW “THE PERFECT LAW” SETS US FREE Those who obey God’s law of freedom choose to be controlled by God’s spirit, and the result is that they are set free and can have “life and peace.” (Romans 8:5, 6) At James 1:25, we read that “he who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it” will be “happy in his doing it.” The Greek word translated “peers” means to bend down to have a closer look at something. This takes effort. So if we want the law of freedom to influence our mind and heart, we must make an effort to study the Bible carefully and regularly and to meditate deeply on what we read.—1 Timothy 4:15. At the same time, we must persist, or endure, in applying God’s Word. We must make the truth our way of life. Jesus said something similar to some who believed in him: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31, 32)

"I do not understand what I am doing. For I do not practice what I wish, but I do what I hate."—Rom. 7:15. NWT jw.org In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote about a struggle he himself experienced—a conflict between his flesh and his mind. (Read Romans 7:21-23.) Paul was not indulging in self-justification or self-pity, as though he were so heavily laden with sin that he could not help himself. After all, he was a mature, spirit-anointed Christian, chosen to be “an apostle to the nations.” (Rom. 1:1;11:13) Why, then, did Paul write about his personal struggle? Paul was honestly acknowledging that on his own, he was incapable of doing God’s will to the extent that he himself desired. The reason? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” he said. (Rom. 3:23) As a descendant of Adam, Paul was subject to the effects of sin on the imperfect flesh. We can relate to him because all of us are imperfect and have to face similar struggles every day. Moreover, there are many distractions that could divert our attention and take us off ‘the cramped road leading into life.’ (Matt. 7:14) However, the situation was not hopeless for Paul, and it is not for us. Paul wrote: “Who will rescue me?Thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24, 25) Then, he addressed those “in union with Christ Jesus”—anointed Christians. (Read Romans 8:1, 2.) By means of his holy spirit, Jehovah adopts them as sons, calling them to be “joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom. 8:14-17) God’s spirit, coupled with their faith in Christ’s ransom sacrifice, enables them to come off victorious in the struggle that Paul described and thus “have no condemnation.” They are set free “from the law of sin and of death.” While Paul’s remarks were addressed to anointed Christians, what he said about God’s spirit and Christ’s ransom sacrifice can benefit all servants of Jehovah regardless of the hope they entertain. Although Paul was inspired to offer such counsel to anointed Christians, it is vital that all servants of God understand what he wrote and endeavor to benefit from it.

. . I have been a contributor to JW-Archive.ORG for somewhere around five years now, and made somewhere around 6,360 comments, and although I think it is important that the Truth be fought for, and deception and error exposed, especially when there are cover stories to keep it hidden, there is a time to lay down the "rifle" and rest ... especially when there are those who are emboldened enough to carry on the fight. I am completely worn out. The Elders in the Congregation I attend, have made it quite clear to me they consider my fight for Justice and Truth inconsistent with current policy, and do not view Freedom of Speech the same way that I do .... as a way to SOLVE problems ... and carve a pathway to true Freedom and Justice, and real and consistent Truth. If memory serves, in Shakespeare's play "Henry V" the King of England went among his men at night in disguise to find out what his men were thinking the night before a big battle in France, and as he stood in the dark listening to them around the campfire, he overheard one soldier say (paraphrased) " If what we do is wrong, the King will have to answer before God, our obligation is to obey the King..." I am stuck. I feel it is my obligation to obey the Elders and the Governing Body, as to the best of my knowledge and belief, Jehovah's Witnesses are the "only game in town", even when I do not personally approve of MANY things that are going on, or agree with MANY points of the operational philosophy, including the restriction of the exercise of Freedom of Speech. Besides .... if 6,360 comments are not enough to make necessary points ... nothing in this "System of Things" ever will. I would like to leave the Archive with a parting observation which I believe to be as much true as ANYTHING is: Fight for what is TRUE .... and everything else will take care of itself. Iron sharpens iron .... politically correctness sharpens NOTHING! ..... and creates a nation of cowards. Only with actual unvarnished Truth can you actually achieve REAL Justice ....... only with REAL Justice will you ever ACTUALLY be able to exercise REAL Love. Please, stick close to Jehovah's Witnesses, and put up with the silly crap, and the blatant, brazen error ... they are the ONLY GAME IN TOWN ! Such things are NORMAL among humans .... and always have been. It was true when God ONLY dealt with the Jews .... and it is true now. ONLY by doing so can we someday have TRUE Freedom, as the Sons and Daughters of Jehovah God. I wish you strength, and courage, and resolve, and that through Justice you may continue in brotherly love, and the approval of God and his Christ. James Thomas Rook, Jr. (JTR) Tom Rook "