"Atlanta Constitution-Journal", 1/27/2001: Rights groups protest French anti-cult group
Bat Child (Sue M.)
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/today/news_a32747e3d4a390c500ea.html
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Rights groups protest French anti-cult bill
Religions put at risk, they say
Bert Roughton Jr. - Staff
Saturday, January 27, 2001
Paris --- French lawmakers next week are expected to approve a new
anti-cult law that mainstream church and civil liberties advocates are
afraid will diminish religious freedom in France and discourage
traditional evangelism.
[snip]
Opponents are particularly uncomfortable with a government report that
lists some 173 groups as dangerous cults. The list includes Mormons,
Unificationists (followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon), Jehovah's
Witnesses and the Church of Scientology. Despite widespread reports,
the list does not include the Southern Baptist Convention.
"This places these 173 groups on the list in a position to be direct
targets of the government," Grieboski said. "We're concerned about
their ability to exercise their religious freedom, but we're also
worried about the long-term extrapolation that could also target more
mainstream groups." Martin Weightman, a human rights monitor for the
Church of Scientology, said the legislation is a product of the
government's fear of upstart and unfamiliar religious groups.
"There is a hysteria, a psychosis, within the French Senate that holds
that these religions have infiltrated society with negative
intentions," he said.
The Scientologists are waging perhaps the most aggressive campaign
against the law. Some believe the legislation is a thinly veiled
attempt to strike out at the group, which has about 5,000 serious
adherents and another 40,000 to 50,000 people who have had some
interaction with it.
Last fall, thousands of Scientologists from the United States, Canada
and Europe staged a protest against the proposed anti-sect law in
France. Singer Isaac Hayes and actress Kirstie Alley, both
Scientologists, participated.
[snip]
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