by chasson 2 Replies latest jw friends
In a recent discussion, the french's sociologist Eric Dericquebourg has said that "some religious movement has decided to make known their difficulty to ONG associated with th ONU."
He talked about the cult and their freedom of speech.
In a note, he precised that it was the ONG, "the friend of the UN" which have as president, M. Snarnoff, and the meeting took place in March, 2-3, 2000.
Have you some information about this meeting ? Were the jehovah's witnesses, here ?
Bye
Charles
Charles:
Irving Sarnoff is Executive Vice president of "Friends of the UN", a US based UNDPI associate.
The March 2000 Conference in Paris appears to have been primarily organized by Scientology, and I found no evidence that WTS participated.
I'm surprised you don't already know the answers to your questions, or about this evidently well-publicized Paris Conference, since there are several French anti-cult webpages containing this info. Since I don't read French, you yourself should sort through these for any reference to the WTS.
< http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=March+2%2c+2000+Irving+Sarnoff+United+Nations&hc=0&hs=0
One of several "hits" contained in above search:
< http://myweb.worldnet.net/~gonnet/experts-eng.htm
(a portion from this url:
as numerous "experts", we have M. Dericquebourg, a french apologist for cults, linked to Liliane Voyé, belgian president of the WW association of sociologists of religions; Gast, a journalist known for his positions toward cults; and some members of various cults such as the Raelian "priestess" Nayah, a singer; or Maité Castano, french guru of a dismantled group having caused deaths and sentenced before the courts, plus the unavoidable Danièle Gounord, president of french scientology paris branch.]) Also:
Sarnoff:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/Author%3DSarnoff/ref%3Dsim%5Fartist%5Fdetail/002-9716541-2405060
His "organisation"
http://www.fotun.org/geninfo.htm
http://www.freedommarch.org/fr/page00.htm
=========================================
And from this search:
Two "hits":
http://myweb.worldnet.net/~gonnet/23oct.htm
a portion as you scroll(in english):
texte anglais originaux:
>>> August 13, 2000
>>> From: Joava M. Good, Executive Director
>>>
>>> Foundation for Religious Tolerance
>>>
>>> RE: "Call to Arms" from President Heber Jentzsch
>>>
>>> In our entire history, very few "Calls to Arms" have been issued. I
>>> am sending you one of these just issued by President Heber Jentzsch.
>>>
>>> The Church of Scientology, your Church, is leading the fight for
>>> religious liberty in Europe. You need to be there. Failing that, you
>>> need to sponsor someone who can go.
To answer this Call to Arms:
>>>
>>> 1) Read this Call very carefully
>>>
>>> 2) Fax or email it to every Scientologist you know.
>>>
>>> 3) Call 323-xxx-xxxx for additional information or to make
>>> arrangements to answer The Call to Arms and join your fellow Freedom
>>> Fighters there.
>>>
>>> On October 23, we join the Ambassadors of Peace in Paris where we
>>> will show the French Government and the world what we think of the
>>> French restrictions on religious liberty.
If you absolutely cannot go, you can sponsor someone. Call
>>> 323-xxx-xxxx, 818-xxx-xxxx, or fax at 323-xxx-xxxx or you can reach
>>> us via email at [email protected]. Check out our website for
>>> updated information now. www.religioustolerance.net
>>>
>>> Sincerely, Joava M. Good Executive Director
>>>
>>> A Call to Arms!
>>>
>>> European Religious Freedom Events 2000
>>> by
>>>
>>> Reverend Heber Jentzsch President Church of Scientology
>>>
>>> Fifty-five years ago American soldiers returned victorious from
>>> Europe, having driven the Germans from the occupied countries.
>>>
>>> The proud country of France had become a theater of war and had
>>> fallen in six weeks. The British had been forced to evacuate
>>> Dunkirk.
>>>
>>> The prospects for freedom in Europe were grim. But four years later
>>> American troops crossed the Channel. They drove inland from the
>>> beaches of Normandy and liberated France.
Today France is under siege again. Not from armies, but from a
>>> cadre of SPs who are seeking to turn back the clock and once again
>>> snuff out the light of Freedom.
>>>
>>> This attack on religion is taking place in a country with 14,000
>>> psychiatrists and one of the highest rates of involuntary commitment
>>> in Europe. In Paris alone, psychiatrists commit more people to
>>> institutions involuntarily than in the entire United Kingdom.
>>> Consumption of psychotropics in France is highest in the world.
>>>
>>> Seeking to divert attention from the suicides, drugs and
>>> criminality they have created, the SPs have blacklisted 173
>>> religions-including Baptists (the religion of the U.S. President and
>>> Vice President), Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day
>>> Adventists and Scientologists.
>>> The next phase of their plan is to destroy those religions
>>> completely. On June 22, the French National Assembly passed a
>>> suppressive bill that seeks to "dissolve" undesirable "sects." Only
>>> 18 members of Parliament were present in the Assembly when this
>>> legislation was rushed through.
>>>
>>> The bill comes before the French Senate later this year. It is so
>>> extreme that French Catholic and Protestant leaders have condemned
>>> it.
>>>
France is once again a battlefield!
>>>
>>> Therefore, we are calling all Scientologists to arms to turn back
>>> this tide of oppression and restore religious freedom to France.
>>>
>>> On September 20, the Torch of Freedom will be lit once again,
>>> outside the European Parliament in Brussels. The 2000 Torch of
>>> Freedom Marathon will then begin.
>>>
>>> A team of dedicated Scientologists, Ambassadors of Peace, will
>>> cross into France. They will carry the Torch and its message of
>>> truth over thousands of kilometers of French soil. Every day they
>>> will meet with government, community, human rights and religious
>>> leaders. They will alert them to the dangerous legislation brewing
>>> and urge their commitment to publicly condemn it in the name of a
>>> free France.
On October 23, directly following the IAS event at Saint Hill,they
>>> will arrive in Paris. A huge March and Rally will take place.
>>> Thousands of Scientologists and others representing an impressive
>>> array of religious denominations will converge in the city in a
>>> demonstration of solidarity, announcing to the government that they
>>> will not tolerate a new inquisition.
>>>
>>> The next day a Religious Hate Crimes Tribunal will be held. Targets
>>> of religious discrimination will testify before a panel of expert
>>> scholars and religious leaders to expose the key perpetrators
>>> creating a climate of hate against religion in France.
>>>
You have a responsibility to be there. Take a stand for religious
>>> freedom. Participate in the weekend of events, starting with the IAS
>>> event on Friday October 20, and ending with the Paris Religious
>>> Unity March and Rally on Monday October 23.
>>>
>>> Americans! We must again rekindle that flame of freedom in a nation
>>> that over two centuries ago helped forge our freedom.
>>>
>>> And when the roll call is heard in another time and place, you will
>>> be able to respond: "I was there! I answered the Call to Arms. And
>>> we changed the tide that day in the streets of Paris and helped
>>> restore freedom to the heart of France."
2000 Torch of Freedom Marathon
Thousands Expected in Paris
for October Multi-faith Rally
Against Intolerance in France
To the Friends of Religious Freedom!
In 1966, a French parliamentary report isolated a list of so-called "dangerous sects," placing 173 religious movements on a virtual blacklist. The list includes the Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Scientologists.
Last June 22, the French National Assembly (the lower house of the French parliament) unanimously passed a repressive law that seeks to "dissolve" undesireable "sects" that they abritrarily deem as "dangeroius" to the state. It is so extreme that French Catholic and Protestant leaders have come out against it. The bill will come before the French Senate (the upper house) later this year to decide if they should vote it into law.
On September 20, the 2000 Torch of Freedom Marathon, coordinated by the Church of Scientology, will begin in Brussels, Belgium. On this day the Torch will be lit outside the European Parliament.
For the next four weeks, a team of dedicated volunteers of different faiths, as Ambassadors of Peace, will carry the Torch and their message of truth over thousands of kilometers within France. Every day they will meet with government, community, human rights, and religious leaders.They will warn them of the dangers of this legislation and encourage their commitment to help defeat it.
Most importantly, they will spread the word about a multi-faith March and Rally that will take place in Paris on Monday, October 23, to protest against the French government's promotion of a "religious caste system."
The multi-faith event is being organized by a committee of religious and human rights groups, including the Friends of the United Nations, the Institute of Religion and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., the Foundation for Religious Tolerance, and the Paris-based Coalition Against the New Inquisition. The Coalition includes many of the minority religions on the French government's blacklist.
Thousands of people of faith and conscience, representing a broad array of religious denominations, will converge on Paris on October 23 to let the government know that they will no longer tolerate religious bigotry.
The crowds will gather at the rally site at 2 pm on Monday, October 23. There will be speeches, freedom songs and music, and then the march will begin.
The following day, a Religious Hate Crimes Tribunal will be held in Paris. Victims of religious discrimination as well as religious experts will testify before a panel of human rights leaders. The hearing will provide a forum for the oppressed, and evidence will be heard against the key perpetrators responsible for creating this climate of hate against religion in France.
All people of faith in France, Europe, and beyond, are warmly invited to attend and take a stand against religious intolerance in France!
See related story: French Panel Hears Emotional Testimony
NEWS . . . NEWS . . .NEWS . . .
Paris Investigation Hears Emotional Testimony
Of Rights Violations By French Government Officials
"At the bar, witnesses speak of 'inquisition', of real 'ostracism', of 'persecution.' The only ones missing are the defendants. On empty chairs their names are shown in bold letters. They are Senator About, MP A. Vivien, and Paris Mayor Jean Tiberi." -- France Soir.
"One by one, the movements came to the bar to complain of 'sectarian harassment', of the 'new Inquisition,' some people bearing yellow stars symbolizing the discrimination." -- Le Monde.
The room was "electric," Liberation reported. For the first time in a public forum, international experts in human and religious rights were hearing dramatic testimonies from French citizens whose lives have been ruined solely because of their religious convictions.
The public hearing, organized by the Church of Scientology, attracted more than 300 people from 38 religious movements at the Forum of Grenelle on March 3, 2000. Twenty-nine victims, from all parts of France, testified about abuses suffered in their private and professional lives due to their religious beliefs.
Many more were prepared to testify, but time did not permit. They asked that more such forums be organized.
Officials Conspicuously Absent
Conspicuously absent were those summoned to respond to charges of human rights abuse against the 172 minority religions blacklisted by a 1996 parliamentary report. Their names: Alain Vivien, Senator Nicholas About, and Paris Mayor Jean Tiberi.
Vivien is head of the French government's International Mission to Fights Against Sects (MILS), the very existence of which contravenes the constitutional definition of France as a secular state. Sen. About is the author of oppressive, proposed legislation designed to enable the government to dissolve any organization with which it disagrees. And M. Tiberi? He wants "ghettos in reverse" -- so-called "exclusion zones" for members of minority religions.
Although they were invited, these architects of intolerance did not show. Had they done so, they would have been questioned by the expert panel to determine if their actions withstand scrutiny under the French constitution and international human rights conventions. Clearly, however, they had received the summons: MILS issued a press release. It was saturated with the arrogance for which MILS has become notorious even among its own cohorts.
A forum for free speech on behalf of those who have suffered religious discrimination "violates constitutional principles," claimed MILS. Many have wondered just what constitution Mr. Vivien referred to in the press release. The French constitution protects free speech and freedom of religion.
One is reminded of the Chinese government's elastic rhetoric explaining that religious freedom is alive and well in the People's Republic, while religious adherents are carted off to prison because they dare to meditate.
Distinguished Panel
The hearing was presided over by M. Joel Labruyere, President of the Omnium of Freedoms, a human rights group which defends organizations blacklisted by the 1996 report which led to the MILS.
M. Labruyere was joined by Reverend N.J. L'Heureux, Executive Director of the Queens Federation of Churches in New York and Secretary of the Committee on Religious Liberty of the National Council of Churches, one of the largest religious coalitions in the United States; M. Irving Sarnoff, Founder of Friends of the United Nations, and a prominent leader for social change during the civil rights movement in the U.S; Dr. Gabriele Yonan, a religious scholar at Berlin Free University; M. Daoud Rosser-Owen, President of the Association of British Muslims; Pastor Robert Hostetter, Protestant leader in Belgium; and French human rights lawyer, M. Philippe Gast.
Ms. Leisa Goodman, Human Rights Director of the Church of Scientology International, introduced the conference. "Those violating human rights and constitutional freedoms in France are working to marginalize and systematically destroy the rights of minority religious groups, one by one. By working together, we will end this totalitarian effort to end freedom of conscience, religion and democracy in France," she said.
'Second Class Citizens'
One after another, members of different groups came forward to testify about religious discrimination perpetrated by the MILS and those in its political circle.
Among them was Nayah, famous singer and member of the Raelian movement. After winning the prestigious French nomination for the Eurovision song contest, she was harassed and attempts made to destroy her career. The accomplished artist said she had been treated "as a second-class citizen, a criminal. It is necessary to mobilize against this witch-hunting which is typically French." Another member of the movement related, with tears in her eyes, how her daughter was taken from her, solely because of her adherence to the Raelians.
A representative for The Family, a Christian Evangelical movement, testified how in 1993, government authorities, acting on false allegations of child abuse made by the deceptively named Association for the Defense of the Family and the Individual (ADFI), raided the homes of Family members and took away their children. More than 200 officers brandishing axes and automatic weapons entered members' homes, taking 50 adults and 90 children into custody. Handcuffed parents were dragged down staircases and across a gravel driveway in full view of their children. A 15-year-old girl was handcuffed for four hours clad only in her underwear. While the parents were interrogated, the young people were taken to dungeon-like detention centers, given little food, and examined mercilessly.
One 21-year-old woman gave compelling testimony of the lies and discrimination she had endured growing up as a member of The Family. She blamed groups such as ADFI, and the support and encouragement they receive to pursue their agenda of persecution from politicians of M. Vivien's turn of mind.
In January 1999, the Justice Court of Aix-en-Provence finally exonerated The Family. There was never any substance to the charges. The members were acquitted, and the children reunited with their parents after nearly six years apart. Of course, those long years of separation can never be given back.
ADFI's reaction? They pronounced the court's ruing a "catastrophe" and appealed. On February 24, 2000, the Court of Aix-Provence threw the appeal out. Fortunately for France, the Court did not agree with the disregard for the Constitution and the basic principles of justice held by ADFI and MILS.
Extract from French Constitution
Following is an extract from the French Constitution of 1958:
"Preamble.
The French people solemnly proclaim their attachment to the Rights of Man and to the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789, reaffirmed and amplified by the Preamble to the Constitution of 1946.
"Article 1.
France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs."
(Emphasis added.)
Litany of Hatred
Others who testified spoke of loss of employment, tax harassment, loss of child custody, cancellation of bank accounts, blacklistings and contract breakages, all due to membership in minority religions.
Charges against Vivien, About and Tiberi for violations of human rights, directed against those three empty chairs, consisted of the following:
Inciting hatred against members of religious communities, leading to physical violence and destruction of personal properties
Advocating "exception" legislation against individuals on the basis of their membership in a religious movement
Using a government position to enforce a law on beliefs in violation of the French Constitution and international rules
Reinterpreting the Constitution and international treaties on human rights so as to exclude minority religions from their protection
Generating false allegations about spiritual minorities
Abusing an official position to interpret justice decisions in violation of the human rights principles
Abusing an official position to spread false information about spiritual minorities to different ministries under the guise of "inter-ministerial cooperation"
Spreading defamatory declarations about associations in the media, resulting in a list of discriminatory treatments.
In conclusion, M. Labruyere assured the attendees that, "We will draw the attention of international authorities to the threats to freedom of conscience in France."
All participants agreed to create a Coalition Against the New Inquisition to directly counter the threat of the MILS. Its delegates will collect and document new testimonies of abuses from throughout France for presentation to international human rights bodies, media and others concerned to bring an end to this "new inquisition."
Second "hit":
< http://alley.ethercat.com/pickets/sp910.htm
sKally,happiest trails to you
<
If man was supposedly created in gods image, then.....holy krap...we're all doomed.-sKallyWagger
