1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

1962, without their producing any evidence
that he was a Communist, he was released
without any charge being made against
him.
It is only due to gross misrepresentation
that Jehovah's witnesses are accused of
being Communists. They are Christian
footstep followers of Jesus Christ, and are,
therefore, in no way, shape or form con·
nected with anything communistic. In fact,
in antichristian lands the work of J eho·
vah's witnesses is banned, and they are
forced to carryon their activity under·
ground. Even the Didrio Da Manka (Morn·
ing Daily) of December 3, 1962, one of
Lisbon's leading morning newspapers, re·
ported on this mistreatment under the
headline "Religious Persecution in the
U.S.S.R." The article read:
"Moscow, 2-Some members of the sect
'Jehovah's Witnesses' were condemned to
prison after a five-day trial which took place
in Omsk, Siberia, announced the Tass agency.
This agency stated that the accused were
considered 'enemies of the Soviet state.'
"The trIal took place at the request of the
inhabitants of the city, the agency emphasized.
"The leader of the sect, one IVan Ossossov,
was sentenced to seven years in prison. In
his home were discovered many copies of
the Jehovah's Witnesses' journal published
in Brooklyn. Ossossov was accused of sending
information about the U.S.S.R. to the
headquarters of the movement in the United
States.-E.P."
Foreign Businessmen Expelled
When Artur Canaveira was released
from prison without any charges made
against him, it appeared that the authorities
were convinced that Jehovah's wit·
nesses were in no way connected with politics.
However, just four days later, on
January 26, 1962, three foreign businessmen
and their wives, Englishmen and
Americans, were called to the headquarters
of the secret police in Lisbon to present
their passports. These couples, Mr. and
12
Mrs. Britten, Piccone and Beveridge, had
been residents in Portugal for seven, four
and two years respectively. They were now
given just thirty days to pack up and leave
the country.
When inquiry was made as to the reason
for their expUlsion from Portugal, the
businessmen were told it was because of
talking to others about their religion. This
could no longer be tolerated, for, it was
claimed, Portuguese citizens would be influenced
by this preaching not to take up
arms to fight for their country. The authorities
referred to a recent incident
where a young Portuguese man had refused
military service, and asserted that
they were responsible for his actions. How·
ever, it was pointed out that each individual
is responsible before Almighty God to
act in accord with his Bible-trained conscience.
One person cannot be held ac·
countable for what another conscientiously
refuses to do.
Christian Conscience
At the same time it was shown that true
Christians crumot refrain from obeying
the Scriptural command to speak Bible
truth to others, regardless of the effect
that that message may have on hearers.
"I charge thee before God and Jesus
Christ," the Catholic Douay Bible reads at
2 Timothy 4:1, 2: "Preach the word."
Therefore, a nation that claims to be Christian
cannot properly prohibit the preaching
of the Word of God. Neither can it
properly suppress the freedom of its citizens
to worship God in accord with the
teachings of that inspired Word.
From the days when the Prince of
Peace Jesus Christ walked the earth,
there have been numerous Christians who
have refused to bear arms against their
fellowman. To carryon carnal warfare
against peoples of other races and nation·
alities, among whom lived some of their
AWAKE!