NATIONALISM AND THE VULNERABILITY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES IN GEORGIA
Igor Kotler
The contemporary position of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia must be understood within the broader historical relationship among Georgian national identity, Orthodox Christianity, state institutions, and religious minorities.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Georgian Orthodox Church has acquired an exceptionally prominent position in the country’s social and political life. Georgian Orthodoxy is widely associated not merely with personal religious belief but with the historical survival of the Georgian nation, the preservation of Georgian language and culture, and resistance to foreign domination. This close association between religion and national identity has contributed to an environment in which religious communities existing outside the dominant Orthodox tradition may be perceived not simply as theologically different, but as alien to Georgian history, culture, and national interests. Jehovah’s Witnesses are particularly vulnerable within this environment because their distinctive religious practices, international organizational identity, political neutrality, and conscientious objections to military service may conflict with nationalist conceptions that associate patriotism with adherence to Orthodox Christianity and loyalty to traditional institutions.
