Öz
The concept of new religious movements (NRM) is generally used to express religious groups that have emerged with different beliefs, worship, lifestyles and ideologies since the 1950s. These formations, which emerged for various reasons and purposes, especially in a period when it was thought that the function of religion in social life was over, He succeeded in making his influence felt in social and religious life not only in the societies he came from, but also in many countries of the world. In the post-modern world, it is seen that the New Religious Movements, which also contain the sanctities of the modern and pre-modern era, aim to satisfy the spiritual pleasures of individuals by taking into account the tastes and concerns of the secular world. In recent years, new religious movements, which have managed to attract the attention of sociologists and theologians, are among the subjects that many researchers are working on.
One of these formations, Jehovah's Witnesses is a religious group that emerged from the Adventist movement in the United States towards the end of the 19th century, claiming that Jesus Christ would be reborn. It is seen that the basic features of Jehovah's Witnesses both in their organizational structure and in their belief system differ from the established teachings of Christianity For this reason, researchers have evaluated Jehovah's Witnesses in the category of new religious movements.Witnesses, who have a hierarchical structure and ultimately receive strict orders from the Governing Body, perceive the orders coming from it as God's orders and try to implement these orders all over the world and carry out their activities accordingly. Jehovah's Witnesses do not recognize the authority of any state, as they advocate a model of a theocratic state in which God will rule the earth. The Organization considers the slightest positive feeling its members show towards the founding values and persons of the nations they belong to as idolatry and rebellion. It is known that these new and alternative formations, which are discussed in various aspects all over the world, also have activities in our country.
One of the cities where Jehovah's Witnesses are active in our country is Antalya. The main reason why Jehovah's Witnesses are active in this region is that Antalya is a tourism center and foreign nationals also prefer this region. In addition, his acquittal from the lawsuits brought against him due to his activities in the recent past has provided the organization with a more comfortable movement.