My paper focuses on the formation and development of the Jehovah's Witness community in post-Soviet Armenia, detailing what accounts for changing state policies towards Witnesses compared to other religious minorities. My research focused on what personal, social, institutional, cultural, and contingency factors affected one's decision to become a member of the Witnesses' community or to leave it. I answer these questions based on materials collected during my fieldwork in Armenia from 2016 to 2022. The data include hundreds of interviews with Witnesses, state officials, journalists, anti-Jehovah's Witness activists, non-Jehovah's Witness Armenians, and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. I also draw on statistical data, media, and reports from international NGOs and government organizations on post-Soviet Armenia. Academic literature identifies the Armenian Church as the main driver of religious antagonism in post-Soviet Armenia. My analysis strongly suggests that while the dominant national Church plays a significant role in shaping religious freedom in Armenia, it is a directed rather than a directing power. Because of their conspicuous public proselytism, Jehovah's Witnesses were singled out as the most "harmful" non-traditional religious group in Armenia even during Soviet times. The animosity towards Witnesses quickly turned into a self-perpetuating cycle that required little external support. Individual state officials used the power of their office to push back against what they perceived as a threat to the country and nation. The overall liberalization of religious policies in contemporary Armenia has been contingent upon Armenia's relationship with the European Union.