http://www.cesnur.org/2005/pa_brown.htm
CESNUR
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Anti-cult Movement: A Human Rights Perspective
John B. BROWN, II (Social educator, Tucson, Arizona)
Human Rights Issues and Religious Freedom
The issues created by anticult fervor can be recapitulated in the following points. The US Constitution and international human rights documents guarantee a person’s right to join any faith community of choice. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights[xxxviii] was accepted in 1948. Articles 18 and 19 of the 1948 Declaration affirm that freedom of religion is a human right, and that freedom to hold beliefs and opinions without interference is also a human right. In 1966 two binding human rights treaties were drafted and submitted for signing by U.N. members. The 1948 Declaration and the two 1966 treaties are commonly called the International Bill of Human Rights.[xxxix] One of these treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[xl] is a very important for religious freedom. Article 18 and 19 affirm verbatim what the 1948 Declaration states.
The 1966 Civil Rights Covenant also authorizes the formation of the Human Rights Committee. That Committee issued General Comment 22[xli] in 1993. General Comment 22 affirms that people have the right to profess or not profess a religion, to choose a religion or choose no religion at all and the right to choose theistic, non-theistic, or atheistic traditions.
General Comment 22 continues by stating that article 18 “bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to their religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert.” The concern that human rights advocates have is concerning deprogramming, exit counseling, cult interventions, and other similar therapies. These therapies aim at getting the “cultist” to recant his or her beliefs through confrontational and deceptive means.
In 1981 the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief was created.[xlii] The 1981 Declaration defines discrimination as “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on religion or belief” that attempts to abolish the rights freedoms and enjoyments of religious freedom.
Some state that “one person's cult is another's valid religion.”[xliii] Human rights documents state that everyone has the right to freedom of religious belief. The United States Supreme Court is of the same opinion as stated in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah[xliv]. Referring this faith community’s practice of animal sacrifice the Court said, “Although the practice of animal sacrifice may seem abhorrent to some, 'religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.”
Conclusion
In this article the following points have been made:
- The anticult movement’s position on Jehovah’s Witnesses and other faith community’s is considered discriminatory by human rights advocates.
- Most of the anticult and counter cult organizations have failed to provide credible research.
- Most anticult organizations have not mentioned the contribution Jehovah’s Witnesses have made to religious freedom in their research.
