AZERBAIJAN: Religious minorities want religious freedom

By Felix Corley ("Forum 18," August 14, 2006)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/22414/?&place=caucasus&section=legislation

Baku, Azerbaijan - As Azerbaijan prepares amendments to its Religion Law, religious communities have told Forum 18 News Service of their widely differing views on this. The state-approved Caucasian Muslim Board wants more restrictions, as the current Law "gives great possibilities to all kinds of destructive and totalitarian sects and pseudo-religions" – although its spokesman repeatedly could not name any such Azeri group. In sharp contrast, religious minorities Forum 18 has spoken to want religious freedom. The major changes they want are: the end of compulsory censorship of religious literature; the removal of practical and legal barriers, such as a requirement that non-Muslim communities have a centre abroad to which they are subject; and an end to the ban on foreigners conducting "missionary activity". They have also told Forum 18 that they want an end to officials' arbitrary powers to interpret the law to restrict religious freedom, or to invent restrictions without any foundation in law.

As Azerbaijan prepares amendments to the country's Religion Law, views among religious communities as to how the Law needs to be changed vary widely. The state-approved Caucasian Muslim Board, Azerbaijan's largest religious community, has told Forum 18 News Service it wants a more restrictive law.

In sharp contrast, all the religious minorities Forum 18 has spoken to say they want an end to restrictions on religious freedom, both within the Religion Law and in the way officials nationally and locally implement the law. The major changes they would like to see are the ending of compulsory prior censorship of all religious literature, the removal of provisions and practices that make registration of communities the government does not like impossible, and an end to the ban on foreigners conducting "missionary activity".

Rabiyyat Aslanova, a deputy of the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) who chairs the working group preparing the amendments, told Forum 18 that she expects the draft to be completed by September, opened up to public discussion and then presented to the Milli Mejlis. She would not explain what changes are being planned, or clearly explain why she considers that the Religion Law needs changing.

Haji Akif Agaev, who speaks for the state-approved Caucasian Muslim Board, insists that the current law needs "correction". "Law is such a thing that it constantly needs rewriting in accordance with the needs of the times," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 8 August. "The Religion Law should reflect current realities and should ensure that everyone can fulfil his or her religious needs. But religion should not be used for other purposes – or against others. The Religion Law should meet the demands of the people and the country."

Both Deputy Aslanova and Agil Hajiev, of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, made similarly vague statements about why changes are being planned.

Although Haji Akif said that the Board could not give concrete recommendations on any changes until it sees the draft amendments, he insisted that the Law must be tightened. "Today's law gives great possibilities to all kinds of destructive and totalitarian sects and pseudo-religions," he claimed. "There's no mechanism in the current law to tackle them, as exist in other European laws." He could not name any countries which have such mechanisms, and repeatedly refused to name any destructive sects that he believes function in Azerbaijan.

Given his repeated refusal to name the groups he had in mind, Forum 18 asked if he meant Muslim or non-Muslim groups, to which he responded: "Both." On the tenth request to name such groups, he would only specify Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult responsible for the fatal attack on Japan's Tokyo Metro in 1995. Forum 18 is unaware that this or any similar group has any adherents in Azerbaijan.

Like Deputy Aslanova and Agil Hajiev of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, Haji Akif of the Caucasian Muslim Board rejected the description of the mandatory prior approval of religious literature as censorship. "It is a normal procedure to examine what literature is being produced or brought into the country".

Religious minorities Forum 18 has spoken to are unequivocal in calling for an end to discrimination in the Law and in practice. Although the current Law specifies that all religions are equal and that citizens have equal rights regardless of their religious affiliation, Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union, insists this must be strengthened in the new Law. "Islam is considered the national faith," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 8 August. "Rafik Aliev, the former head of the State Committee, used to regard Azerbaijan as an Islamic state. He wrote a book on religion and more than 95 percent was devoted to Islam. Only two pages covered Christianity, with Judaism getting only slightly more space."

Zenchenko called for an end, in the registration process, to the requirement that non-Muslim communities have a centre abroad to which they are subject. "This is a very strange provision. Baptists are an international brotherhood, and this is good. But we're not subordinate to anyone," he insisted. Ramazan Askarov, secretary of Baku's Baha'i community, shares this view. "If you want to establish a centre, why not? But this should be a decision for the religious community itself," he told Forum 18 on 9 August. "It's not logical for the state to require this."

Another Protestant pastor - who asked not to be identified as he was speaking in his own name, not in that of his church - agreed. "You can't get registration until you get a denomination, but you can't get a denomination until you have a centre abroad," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 8 August. "Why not? What if you don't have a centre abroad that you're subject to? What if you're just a few people getting together to worship?"

The Baku-based pastor also complained about the way registration is implemented. The regulations setting out the procedure require a "religious centre" to apply for any individual community's registration, as well as requiring that the ten founding members need to present a document from their place of work. "It's funny: all ten founders need to get a special paper from where they live and where they work," the pastor told Forum 18. "This means you have to tell your employer that you are a founder of a religious organisation. As well as potentially bringing problems for you, it violates the Constitution as your religious affiliation is confidential. This must be corrected."

Askarov of the Baha'i community complained that one Deputy had declared, in Parliament this summer (2006), that in the new Law registration should be made more difficult, not less. He attributed registration denials and bans on activity – as for the Baha'i community in the exclave of Nakhichevan [Naxçivan], where no religious minority communities are allowed to function or register – to the initiative of local officials, rather than national laws. "The Religion Law says we can have registration in Nakhichevan, but local officials don't allow it," he explained.

Nakhichevan, an exclave between Armenia, Turkey and Iran, has long had the reputation as the area with the most repressive authorities in Azerbiajan.

All religious minorities Forum 18 spoke to were unanimous that prior compulsory censorship of all religious literature produced in Azerbaijan or imported into the country must be abolished as part of the amendments. "We have to ask permission from the State Committee for any literature – we would like that removed," Askarov of the Baha'i community told Forum 18.

Zenchenko of the Baptist Union pointed out the absurdity of the censorship system. He recounted how the Cathedral of Praise Protestant church had obtained permission from the State Committee to import copies of a book two years ago, but when the Baptists wanted to import the same book the Committee said they would have to submit a copy to it separately for a new expert analysis. "Such artificial obstructions have been introduced by the State Committee – they've introduced the strict controls that exist now. I can't even receive Bibles sent to me by post".

The current Religion Law appears to allow only registered religious centres to establish educational institutions - and even then a maximum of one per denomination. Only registered religious centres can apparently establish religious publishing houses – and all literature they produce must be subjected to prior censorship.

Some religious minorities demand the removal of the ban on foreigners from conducting "religious propaganda", though others seem less concerned by this, or by the fines or deportation prescribed in the Code of Administrative Offences for those violating this ban. "It's bad that foreigners are banned from conducting missionary activity," the Baku-based Protestant pastor told Forum 18. "We're moving towards democracy, so people – whether locals or foreigners – should be free to express their views."

Aja-Das, who leads Baku's Hare Krishna community, complained of the onerous system for inviting foreigners on a "normal working visit" to give lectures to the community. "We have to invite them through the State Committee and the Foreign Ministry," he told Forum 18 from Baku on 8 August. "There are a lot of checks and it takes a lot of effort. If only it could be easier".

But Zenchenko of the Baptists was less concerned. "I'm not too worried by this ban on foreigners involved in missionary activity – we're strong enough to do this on our own," he told Forum 18. Askarov of the Baha'is said his community has not suffered as a result of this ban.

Askarov also called for provisions in the law to ban incitement to attack people of other faiths. Some parts of the media in Azerbaijan have a record of participating in the state's intolerance of religious minorities.

Forum 18 was unable to get the views on the proposed new law of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Baku and the Caspian, which has six parishes within Azerbaijan. "Bishop Aleksandr is away from Azerbaijan at the moment and without his blessing no-one can comment," Fr Mefody, Diocesan Secretary, told Forum 18 from Baku on 11 August.

In addition to seeking changes to the religion law to end obstructions to religious practice, religious minorities would also like the authorities to end arbitrary powers of national and local officials to interpret the law in ways that restrict religious freedom or to invent restrictions which have no foundation in law.

Among such inventions are the restriction of religious communities that function without registration and restriction of the functioning of a religious community to the city or town where it is registered. "We can only get registration in Baku," Aja-Das of the Hare Krishna community told Forum 18. "We want to work in the whole country, not just in Baku." He cited continuing restrictions on Hare Krishna work outside the capital. "In some places we have been stopped from distributing literature. It wouldn't be bad if this was changed so that religious communities can work across the country."

Protestants and members of other faiths have encountered frequent similar bans in small towns and villages.

BELARUS: Renewed pressure on Baptists

By Geraldine Fagan ("Forum 18," February 8, 2008)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/27735/?&place=belarus-ukraine&section=church-state

Minsk, Belarus - Belarus has stepped up pressure on the Baptist Council of Churches, issuing a spate of fines for unregistered religious activity, Forum 18 News Service observes. The Council's congregations reject state registration in post-Soviet countries, believing that it leads to government interference. One of those recently prosecuted, Nikolai Varushin, told Forum 18: "This is our path; we are prepared to suffer for our faith. We just pray that our people will remain true to the Lord." In defiance of international human rights standards, Belarus is the only country in Europe to ban unregistered religious activity. While not including Baptists among their number, the judge in one of the recent cases, Aleksei Belotsky, told Forum 18 that the state regulates religious activity to protect citizens from "destructive sects". The increased pressure on Protestants coincides with a number of prominent public statements on the religious situation in Belarus by state officials. For example, Leonid Gulyako, Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, recently announced that in 2008 "measures will be activated to prevent the spread of neo-cults and pseudo-religions."



Belarus has stepped up pressure on congregations of the Baptist Council of Churches in recent months, Forum 18 News Service observes. "This is our path; we are prepared to suffer for our faith," explained one of those recently prosecuted for religious activity, Nikolai Varushin. "We just pray that our people will remain true to the Lord." The Baptist Council of Churches broke away from the Soviet-recognised Baptist Union in 1961. It continues to renounce state registration in post-Soviet countries, believing that it leads to government interference. In defiance of international human rights standards, Belarus is the only country in Europe to ban unregistered religious activity.

Other active Protestant churches - particularly prominent charismatic churches – are also experiencing increased state pressure. One of these churches, New Life Church in the capital Minsk, has voted to opt for civil disobedience as a response to state pressure (see F18News 7 February 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1084).

One Baptist, Viktor Yevtyukhov, faced charges at Lelchitsy District Court (Gomel [Homyel'] Region) on 6 February because "fellow believers (..) come to his house in order to pray to God." The local authorities also demanded the removal of a prayer house sign from the building, according to the Baptist Council of Churches. Yevtyukhov refuses to comply "because he wishes everyone to know that this house belongs to a believer and anyone who wishes may come here to talk about God and pray." Yevtyukhov has been fined for religious activity before (see F18News 3 February 2004http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=243).

Judge Aleksei Belotsky stressed to Forum 18 on 7 February that he had fined Yevtukhov the minimum possible sum of 350,000 Belarusian Roubles (880 Norwegian Kroner, 110 Euros or 163 US Dollars), or roughly half the average monthly wage. By not using his home according to its designation of living accommodation, he explained, Yevtukhov is breaching Article 21.16, Part 1 of the Administrative Violations Code. Although Yevtukhov appealed to constitutional religious freedom guarantees during the 6 February hearing, "no one is violating his religious freedom," the judge insisted. He said he had pointed out to Yevtukhov that, while religious rites may take place at home, the 2002 Religion Law stipulates that they cannot be systematic or large-scale unless in a designated place of worship. "Every state has its rules - and we have to follow them," Belotsky remarked to Forum 18.

On Wednesday, 19 December 2007, a local police officer and town official entered a private home in Kostyukovka (Gomel Region) and took the names and addresses of the five women and one man holding a service there. The state representatives ordered them to remove an "Evangelical Christian Prayer House" sign from the building and to register the 18-strong church, the Baptist Council of Churches stated. On 15 January, Gomel's Railway District Court handed down a fine of 175,000 Belarusian Roubles (449 Norwegian Kroner, 56 Euros or 82 US Dollars) – almost the average weekly wage - to Nikolai Varushin of the congregation for leading an unregistered religious organisation.

Nikolai Varushin does not intend to pay the fine, "because we don't consider ourselves guilty of any crime," he told Forum 18 on 4 February. He was not surprised by it, however. "Our church functioned in the Soviet period and then we had a period of relative freedom," he explained. "Now we are still able to gather and preach, but things like this happen sometimes. We believe the Lord allows it, to keep us awake."

Another Baptist Council of Churches member, Lyudmila Yermalitskaya, stands accused of hosting "a religious event (a gathering of a group of believers, Bible reading)" at her home in Bobruisk [Babruysk] (Mogilev [Mahilyow] Region) and so breaching Article 9.9, Part 1 of the Administrative Violations Code (formation and leadership of a religious organisation without state registration). A court hearing has been set for 12 February. In the charges drawn up against Yermalitskaya, Irina Kot, the chief specialist at Bobruisk's Ideological Department notes Yermalitskaya's defence that she may not form or lead a religious organisation in line with Biblical teaching (Acts 6:3-6, which she takes to describe the founders of a new Christian community as all being male). Kot argues, however, that the fact of the violation was established by a "collective visit" to Yermalitskaya's home by seven state representatives on 19 December 2007, the Baptist Council of Churches stated on 7 February.

In a more positive development, the 24 August 2007 fine handed down to Viktor Orekhov for religious activity has been annulled (see F18News 14 September 2007 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1018). Brest Regional Court noted that the Baptist's "violation" took place on 22 June 2007, more than two months before the legal prosecution deadline, the Baptist Council of Churches stated on 6 February.

Lyudmila Yermalitskaya's is the fifth such case in two months. On 14 December three Council of Churches members in Baranovichi [Baranavichy] (Brest Region) were fined a total of 840,000 Belarusian Roubles (2,143 Norwegian Kroner, 169 Euros or 386 US Dollars), or over a month's average wages (see F18News 17 December 2007http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1063). On 21 December Pastor Yuri Kravchuk of the Council of Churches congregation in Grodno was fined 140,000 Belarusian Roubles (357 Norwegian Kroner, 45 Euros or 64 US Dollars) (see F18News 11 January 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1070).

Up until 2004, fines for unregistered religious activity were usually relatively low - equivalent to several days' average wages - and for the most part encountered by congregations of the Baptist Council of Churches. They and other unregistered independent Protestant churches stated 17 such fines in 2003 to 2004. While the analogous figure for 2005 to 2006 is 12, those fines were on several occasions significantly higher – ranging from the then equivalent of two weeks' to two months' average wages.

The increased pressure on Protestants comes at the same time as a number of prominent public statements on the religious situation in Belarus by government representatives. "Religious issues always lie within the field of activity of the KGB because they are very delicate issues," the secret police force's Chairman told journalists in Minsk on 19 December 2007. In the coming year, "measures will be activated to prevent the spread of neo-cults and pseudo-religions," Leonid Gulyako, Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, announced at a 22 January staff meeting, Interfax news agency reported.

A secret ruling by Gulyako's predecessor body, the State Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs, denies state registration to 12 "destructive sects", including Aum Shinrikyo and Satanists as well as Ahmadiya Muslims. While registered and not on this list, a March 2000 analysis of a Minsk-based charismatic church by an expert at the State Committee nevertheless concludes that it is a "neo-mystical religious-political destructive sect" whose growth poses "a significant threat to the individual, society and state" (see F18News 4 November 2003http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=186).

Aleksei Belotsky, the Lelchitsy District Court judge in the case of Viktor Yevtyukhov, stressed to Forum 18 that he did not regard the Baptist Council of Churches as a "destructive sect". However, Judge Belotsky did maintain that it is to protect citizens from "destructive sects" that the state regulates religious activity.

Belarusian state officials tend to regard Protestant communities generally as both ideologically and spiritually damaging (see 8 August 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=824) and as the major source of religious-political dissent (see 29 November 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=880). Dissent is not limited to Protestants, as Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants have joined together in a nationwide campaign to gather signatures calling for a change to Belarus' restrictive Religion Law (see F18News 16 May 2007http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=957).

China's Anti-Cult Campaign in Context

By Xu Mei ("Compass Direct," May 13, 2002)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/13191/?&place=china/taiwan&section=other-nrms

In late April, reports filtered out from China that about 100 leaders of the evangelical China Gospel Fellowship -- a major house church grouping that claims some four million members -- had been arrested by the police. Soon after, contradictory but more reliable reports said these key leaders had almost certainly been kidnapped by the sinister Lightning from the East (LFE) cult in a carefully orchestrated strategy.

This bizarre event shows how confusing the situation can be for Chinese Christians -- and even more so for overseas observers.

Some Western Christians who tend to always place blame on the Chinese authorities were brought up short. As the Chinese government's crackdown on cults continues and reports of both cultic activity and of persecution of genuine house church believers continue to emerge, it is necessary to stand back, take stock, and analyze the entire situation. It is crucial for Western Christians and those concerned for human rights not to jump to ill-informed conclusions but to see often confusing and contradictory events in their overall context.

The Reality of Cults in China Today
The vast revival of religion since the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) has spawned a bewildering variety of sects, cults and new religions. Maoist ideology has failed to satisfy Chinese spiritual aspirations. The void has filled with a plethora of religious sects, which the government has growing difficulty in categorizing.

If some 70 percent of the population are peasants, then over 800 million people are living in semi-literacy and poverty, prone to superstition, witchcraft and magic.

The five religions tolerated by the authorities -- Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism -- are like icebergs floating in a murky ocean that conceals depths of folk-religion, bizarre cults and outright fanaticism. Witches and shamans beat the spirits out of possessed or mentally ill patients. People die because of exorcisms and false promises of faith healing.

In late 1998, members of the pseudo-Christian cult Lightning from the East "armed with daggers, steel bars, and powdered lime lured their victims out of their villages under the pretext of praying for the relief of illness, but disfigured their victims, breaking their legs and cutting off their ears," a May 2000 Tianfeng article stated. LFE's belief that Christ has returned as a Chinese woman living in Henan province is completely heretical from a Christian standpoint, but not necessarily a punishable offense. However, any government would take action against those who rape, steal, injure and even murder under the cloak of sectarian religious activities.

The Historical Background
The Chinese have a long history -- and a long memory. The government is well aware that over the centuries most dynasties fell when impoverished and desperate peasants formed into religious cults and secret societies that sooner or later mutated into open rebellion. The Red Turbans and the White Lotus were examples of Daoist or Buddhist sects that rose up against the emperor.

However, the most recent rebellion came from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which seized Nanjing as its capital from the decadent Manchu Qing dynasty in 1853 and was only suppressed 11 years later at the cost of 20 million lives. The Taiping "emperor," Hong Xiuquan, was a failed Confucian scholar who had read a Christian tract and had visions that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, sent to this earth to destroy the "demon" Manchus.

Many missionaries were initially impressed by the Taiping fervor for the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath Day. Could this be God's means for the evangelization of China? But Hong's brutal slaughter of his opponents and his vast harem brought bitter disillusionment.

Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) no longer extols the Taipings as peasant revolutionaries as in the radical Maoist years. The CCP is poised to welcome capitalists and entrepreneurs into its ranks. Some Party cadres wear designer suits and hold lavish banquets costing more than 10 years' income of the average farmer.

China already has a huge number of rural unemployed. Urban unemployment is expected to triple over the next four years as reforms initiated by China's membership in the World Trade Organization bankrupt uncompetitive industries, according to an April 29 Reuters/China Daily report. Only three years ago, Beijing was rocked by the demonstrations of 10,000 Falun Gong supporters outside the CCP leadership compound.

Is it any wonder that the suppression of sects and cults, seen as the spawning ground of political disaffection and rebellion, is now a top priority for what has become an intensely conservative and reactive rather than proactive regime? "Unity and Stability" at all costs has become the CCP's mantra.

Defining Cults
In April 2000 the Ministry of Public Security defined a cult as any organization which:

Sets up an illegal organization in the false name of religion.

Deifies its leaders.

Fabricates and spreads superstition and heterodox beliefs to excite doubts and deceive the people and recruits and controls its members by these means.

Systematically disturbs social order and injures the lives and property of citizens.

This is a catch-all list of regulations that can be used to ban virtually any religious organization. Most house churches can be falsely labeled cults under the first, third and fourth points. All house churches that have not registered are illegal and members are potentially liable to arrests and fines. Those that spread the gospel vigorously can be accused of spreading heterodox beliefs and recruiting followers.

In practice, the CCP has so far listed 14 cults as illegal, in addition to Falun Gong. Of these, 12 are "Christian" and only two are Buddhist. Of the "Christian" cults, many are heretical by orthodox Christian standards.

For instance, the founder of the Lingling cult, Hua Xuehe, claimed he was the "Second Jesus." The founder of the Lord God cult, Liu Jiaguo, claimed to be the "Lord God," swindled believers out of 400,000 RMB and raped 19 women. Wu Yangming, the founder of the Established King cult, also claimed to be the Messiah and raped many women.

The Shouters or Local Church, based in California, was founded by Witness Lee, Watchman Nee's right-hand-man. Although on the fringes of the Christian world in that they hold a very narrow view of themselves as the only true church and Lee's views on the Trinity have been criticized, many consider them to be Bible-believing Christians. Viewed with suspicion by most evangelicals, for years they have operated freely in the U.S., Taiwan and other countries. However, in China they are banned -- probably because of Lee's strong anti-communist views.

The Total Scope Church, also known as the New Birth Church, was founded by Xu Yongze and has grown to many millions. This house church has been criticized both by the Three Self state church and by other more conservative house churches as being a cult.

There is certainly evidence of "sheep-stealing" and of high pressure on new converts, forcing them to weep and wail while confessing a whole list of sins. However, a fair assessment would be that the group is extreme in practice, rather than heretical in doctrine. Xu and many members have been imprisoned at different times and the church strongly persecuted.

Orthodox House Churches
Orthodox unregistered house churches are placed in a peculiarly difficult position at present. The mere fact of not being registered means they are technically illegal and may suffer the full weight of the law.

In practice, conditions vary considerably. In some areas, the authorities turn a blind eye. Many house churches operate semi-openly, their leaders and places of worship known to local police and officials, but meetings are relatively undisturbed. In other areas, they have to meet secretly or "underground."

The government relies to some extent on local official church leaders in the Three Self Patriotic Movement, China Christian Council or Patriotic Catholic Association to keep them informed of all religious activities. In areas where these "patriotic" religious leaders are sympathetic to their unregistered counterparts, a compromise ensues.

One patriotic Catholic bishop was even allowing his pro-Vatican underground counterpart to hold training seminars in his church. However, in areas where the local official clergy are hostile to house churches, they may spy, inform and encourage the police to arrest house church leaders, falsely labeling them as cults.

In many places, Religious Affairs Bureau officials may be knowledgeable about Christianity and the orthodoxy of unregistered house churches. However, in some rural areas they are incredibly ignorant. A few months ago, police arrested house church believers in western China because they were kneeling to pray. Police automatically labeled them as belonging to the Falun Gong cult.

Clear Distinctions
The Chinese government should not arbitrarily label groups "heretical," China watchers say. Government at all levels should allow full religious freedom, only intervening if criminal activity has been undertaken by a religious organization.

In China, the tradition of Confucian state orthodoxy has been overlaid by the orthodoxy of "Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong thought" that is basically hostile to all religions. Only mainstream religions as defined by the state are tolerated. The state wrongly arrogates to itself the right to label religious groups as orthodox or heterodox. It still regards "freedom of religious belief" as a privilege to be granted by the CCP rather than as a basic human right.

The whole bureaucratic structure of control of religion by the CCP through the Religious Affairs Bureau and the compliant patriotic religious associations is inimical to genuine religious freedom and increasingly anachronistic as China continues to open up in so many other fields.

The CCP should recognize that genuine Christian faith makes good citizens. It should cease persecuting house church believers. It should also realize that religious heterodoxy is no excuse for the government to breach human rights.

On the other hand, Christians overseas need to recognize the reality of cults in China today. They should not demonize the Chinese authorities nor dismiss every report of cultic activity as disinformation. They need to recognize that unregistered groups cover a wide spectrum from perfectly orthodox Christians to the lunatic and criminal fringe.

Perhaps above all they need to distinguish wider human rights from purely Christian issues. They will rightly wish to support Christians wrongly imprisoned for their faith. But what about Tibetan Buddhist nuns tortured in prison? While assessing Falun Gong as a dangerous cult from a Christian perspective, will they nevertheless speak out against the reported death in Chinese police custody of over 100 Falun Gong followers?

To this end they may like to ask the following questions whenever a case of purported religious persecution is reported and action urged:

Is the report reliable? Is it exaggerated? Has it been confirmed? What is the motive behind spreading this report? (e.g.: Is it anti-communist propaganda with a political motivation?)

Is the Chinese government right in labeling a group as criminal or cultic?

Is the group or leader genuinely Christian and biblically-based?

If the group is "heretical," to what extent? Is it merely extreme in some aspects?

Even if it is heretical, does that justify government persecution? (We may regard some as heretical, but all operate freely in Western society. Should China be allowed a double standard in criminalizing many fringe religious groups?)

If a crime has been committed, does it justify fines, imprisonment, or even the death sentence?

If certain leaders or members of a group have been rightly found guilty of criminal activities, does this mean that all the members of the group are necessarily guilty and should also be outlawed or punished?

Is this a case which as a Christian: (a) I can wholeheartedly pray for and challenge the Chinese government about? If so, what is the wisest course of action that will most help the persecuted group or individual? (b) I have some reservations about, and need more information before I can wholeheartedly support. (c) I recognize is heretical or non-Christian but nevertheless is a gross miscarriage of justice.

10 years after Aum sarin attacks, pseudo-religions thriving in Japan

By Tim Hornyak ("Japan Today," March 13, 2005)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/15854/?&section=aum-aleph

Tokyo, Japan — Through the eight long years of his trial, former guru of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult Shoko Asahara said barely a word. As the court handed him the death sentence on Feb 27, 2004, he grinned and pulled faces. No apology, no admission of guilt, no explanation for what many considered Japan's crime of the century: the sarin nerve-gas attack on subway commuters nine years earlier.

At about 8 a.m. on March 20, 1995, a group of five teams of the Supreme Truth sect, which included graduates of Japan's top universities, punctured packages of liquid sarin in subway cars on multiple lines. As the colorless, odorless agent developed by Nazis spread, confused commuters began coughing and gasping for breath, their eyes and noses running, before fleeing panic-stricken through station exits. It was an invisible terror few Tokyoites can forget.

Twelve people died and more than 5,500 were injured in what was the worst peacetime attack in Japanese history. It shattered the country's image as a place free of violent crime.

Newspapers carried headlines on the cult and its investigation by police every day for months.

Asahara's punishment for the subway attack and other criminal cases involving the deaths of 27 people was a forgone conclusion: the hangman's noose. Prosecutors called him the most heinous criminal in Japanese history.

But even today, Aum and other fringe religious groups continue to make headlines while interest in Japan's traditional Shinto and Buddhist faiths continues to decline.

Founded in 1984 in Shibuya, Aum was a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist mysticism topped with millenarian teachings about the creation and destruction of the universe. For Asahara, born into a poor family in Kumamoto Prefecture and visually impaired, it was a means of controlling others and gaining wealth.

Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, had a miserable childhood and was shipped off to a school for the blind when he was 6, where he allegedly used his limited vision to bully sightless pupils. He dreamed of being a politician, but failed in his bid to enter Tokyo University and pursued massage and acupuncture instead.

At 27, he was arrested for running an illegal pharmacy and selling quack medicine. He opened his own yoga studio, where he focused on developing extrasensory abilities through ascetic training. He claimed a 1986 trip to the Himalayas awakened special powers within him such as levitation and the capability to pass through walls.

Despite stories about demands of absolute loyalty to Asahara and harsh initiation rites at Aum compounds, his sect became one of the fastest-growing new religions in the country. Asahara's ability to lure young people who were rejected by or disillusioned with modern Japanese society was extraordinary.

Aum claimed 10,000 believers in Japan at its peak and tens of thousands more in the United States, Russia and elsewhere. But after the pajama-clad guru's attempt to enter national politics through elections in 1990 failed, Aum turned inward and focused on the coming Armageddon: Japan would suffer a devastating nuclear attack in 1997 and become a wasteland.

"Aum's history coincided with Japan's bubble economy and could be considered a by-product of that bubble," says nonfiction writer Mark Schreiber, adding that one senior Aum member estimated the cult's assets reached $1.5 billion. "Having the funds to buy property and operate ashrams gave Aum respectability, and made its pitch more convincing to potential converts. So its remarkable ability to shake the money tree gave it a spectacular growth trajectory. It seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and the public security agencies whose job is to watch extremist groups were probably caught off guard for this reason. They didn't have time to get information from former cultists or infiltrate the group until it was too late."

By the time Asahara was arrested in May 1995 at the sect's compound in sleepy Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi Prefecture, in the foothills of Mt Fuji, his cult reportedly had a sarin production capacity to kill millions and, according to testimony by former members, could also make anthrax and VX nerve agent.

Japan's horrified public demonstrated against Aum and pushed for controls on religious groups; the government enacted laws to place the group under strict surveillance. But Japan's flirtation with so-called "new religions," both homegrown and foreign, has continued. Regarded as a phenomenon dating to the Meiji Restoration period, Japan's new religions are contrasted with traditional Buddhist sects and shrine Shinto. The largest are Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai and Tenrikyo.

Pseudo-religions grabbing headlines

The arrests of charismatic gurus in recent years for swindling followers or other crimes have underlined the appeal such figures have for some Japanese and fueled public distrust in new pseudo-religions. Ho-no-hana Sampogyo sect leader Hogen Fukunaga was indicted in 2000 on charges of milking 150 million yen out of people through bogus seminars and predictions based on reading the soles of their feet. Prosecutors demanded a 13-year prison sentence in February this year.

In the spring of 2003, a mysterious apocalyptic cult called Pana Wave Laboratory drew headlines and a standoff with police when members camped out on a mountain road in a huge caravan of white vehicles. Claiming to be fleeing electromagnetic waves harming their leader Yuko Chino, the white-clad devotees and the intense media attention they generated were a reminder that eight years after the Aum sarin attack, such sects remain a grave public concern.

Some groups inspire more curiosity than fear. Japan is home to the largest chapter among 60,000 followers around the world claimed by the Raelian group. The Quebec-based Raelians are a media-savvy, publicity-hungry organization based on the beliefs of Frenchman Claude Vorilhon, a former motor racing writer who calls himself Rael. He says aliens created all life on Earth and told him this in a visit during the 1970s. The group has courted international controversy following claims that Clonaid, a firm run by Raelian biologist Brigitte Boisellier, produced the first cloned human baby.

The movement's appeal here is not limited to the fringes of Japanese society. "Buddhism and Shinto have no meaning for me," Tetsuya Ohshima, a web designer in his 30s, said in an interview in 2001. "Japanese don't actively take part in religion. It's just a custom now. Most families have Buddhist and Shinto altars, and on Dec 25 they celebrate Christmas."

Ohshima, who studied biotechnology in college, became a Raelian when he was thinking about how to solve problems like war, famine and poverty. "The Japanese education system doesn't teach about spirituality," he added. "I'm sure that many young people are searching for how to live their lives better. I'm lucky to be able to have found that answer."

Young Japanese apathetic toward religion

Most young Japanese feel apathetic toward religion, with little knowledge of the mainstream Buddhist and Shinto faiths and no interaction with monks and priests. Shinto shrines are visited en masse at New Year's and on other established occasions, but generally as a social custom and not for genuine religious purposes. The enshrining of secular government and religious freedom in the 1947 constitution prompted a decline in organized religion, and the role of the temple is now mainly relegated to providing funeral services.

To fill the void, groups such as Shinrankai, Kenshokai and Worldmate have attracted young Japanese in the competitive belief market, according to Tokyo University religion professor Susumu Shimazono. Loosely organized spirituality and New Age movements, have gained many adherents through distribution channels such as books and seminars.

Nobutaka Inoue, a professor of religious studies at Kokugakuin University, described part of this effect in a 2003 summary of surveys on attitudes toward religion held by young Japanese as the "scenerization of traditional religion" — shrines and temples are still familiar religious establishments but are no longer visited for religious purposes.

"In Japan, there is no dominant religion now," says Inoue, "so young people tend to establish relatively freer religious ideas. Certainly the teachings of the Raelians are quite strange for most Japanese. However, younger generations have less ability to judge whether a religious group is strange or not."

Many of the new followings are closely affiliated with established orders. Shinnyoen is a new Buddhist movement founded by a priest from the traditional Shingon sect in 1936 that now claims some 800,000 followers across Japan. Believers venerate the historical Buddha as well as the Nirvana, and emphasize compassion while practicing sesshin meditation.

Joined while going through depression

Noriko, a Shinnyoen adherent in her 30s, says she joined the movement while going through severe depression, from which she was saved by a visit to group's temple in Tachikawa. She describes the movement as "true blue Buddhism," and distinguishes it from Soka Gakkai, the giant lay Buddhist group founded in 1930 that is behind the ruling bloc's New Komeito party.

"I cannot even remember my mental pain in those times," Noriko says. "I would have committed suicide if I hadn't found this teaching. The deep loneliness I had from childhood completely disappeared."

Noriko says she respects Shinto because it is the "heart of the Japanese people," but is focused on practicing Shinnyoen meditation twice a month to remove bad karma in her life. "Now, every morning I wake up with a peaceful heart like a silent lake without ripples," she says. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."

Meanwhile, Aum returns as Aleph

In 2000, Aum renamed itself Aleph to try and shed its blood-soaked image. Aleph admitted Aum's responsibility in the subway attack, apologized and promised compensation. But its efforts to distance itself from Asahara brought only limited success.

That same year, Aleph leader Fumihiro Joyu, a Waseda University graduate once considered a heartthrob by Japanese women, wrote: "We could say that former Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara was a kind of genius in meditation, but at the same time we cannot approve of the incidents his organization caused. While inheriting the superior practices of yoga and Buddhism, and the meditation method his yoga talent has left, we'd like to clearly disapprove of the incidents."

Aleph's membership was recently estimated at as high as 2,000 and monitoring of the group by the Public Security Intelligence Agency continues — as does the controversy surrounding the group. In January, a senior Aum member who had been imprisoned for participating in a deadly 1994 Aum sarin attack on Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, was found dead after undergoing "thermal training," which involved bathing in 50ºC water for long periods of time.

Ten years after the subway attack, Asahara is appealing his death sentence, and silence continues to be his strategy. In January, the Tokyo High Court allowed Asahara's lawyers to delay their submission of appeal documents until August because the 49-year-old has kept his mouth shut since 1996. He would not communicate with them and refused to answer questions at the Tokyo Detention House during more than 30 interviews since July. The case is expected to drag on for another 10 years, and some doubt whether he will ever go to the gallows.

For the victims of the gas attacks — many of whom still suffer after-effects including headaches, breathing difficulties and dizziness — some of the pain stems from not understanding why it happened. One senior Aum official testified that it was an attempt to distract police and avoid a raid on the group's headquarters, something that is surely of little comfort.

In researching his book Underground: "The Tokyo Gas Attacks and the Japanese Psyche," Haruki Murakami interviewed Aum followers and asked them whether, given the events of March 20, 1995, they regretted joining the cult. Almost all of them said they had no regrets.

In considering why this is so, Murakami's conclusion also could also be read as a warning: "In Aum they found a purity of purpose they could not find in ordinary society. Even if in the end it became something monstrous, the radiant, warm memory of the peace they originally found remains inside them, and nothing else can easily replace it."

Israeli Ministry Targeting So-Called 'Sects' and 'Cults'

By Joseph K. Grieboski ("The Huffington Post," May 31, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/35536/

Jerusalem, Israel - On May 23, 2011, the Israeli Special Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs Task Force on minority religious groups presented its report to the Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs, Moshe Kahlon. The Report derogatorily grouped together as so-called "cults" or "sects" approximately 80 belief systems and contains a blueprint for systematic, government-fueled intolerance directed at minority religious communities throughout Israel.

Ironically, the Report was released one day before Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress and stated, "As for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected freedom of worship for all faiths in the city." If the Report's recommendations are implemented, this will no longer be the case.

No democracy would admit to being intolerant of minority faiths or opposed to religious liberty. The tactic used to discriminate against targeted minority faiths in some countries is to redefine the notion of "religion" to exclude disfavored minority groups by labeling them as so-called "cults" or "sects". This is the tactic embraced by the Task Force in the Report.

Although the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Religious Freedom, the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, human rights groups, scholars, and experts in the field have all called for a broad definition of religion consistent with notions of pluralism, minority rights, freedom of conscience, and religious liberty as mandated by human rights instruments, the Report adopts a restrictive classification system designed to marginalise targeted minority faiths.

Classifying religious groups into "religions" and "sects" violates religious human rights standards. It is impermissible and arbitrary for the government to confer benefits on groups it classifies as "religions" while denying benefits and enacting oppressive measures against groups it classifies as "sects".

Israel has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other international human rights instruments guaranteeing the right to freedom of religion and the principles of non-discrimination and equality. It is therefore bound to uphold these standards as a member of the international community.

The Human Rights Committee has found freedom of religion is not limited in its application to traditional religions and any tendency to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reason -- including the fact that they are newly-established or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community -- contravenes Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

Article 18 protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief. The terms "belief" and "religion" are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practices analogous to those of traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reason, including the fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community.

General Comment No. 22 on Art. 18 (Para 2).

Moreover, the 1996 Annual Report by the Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom to the United Nations Human Rights Commission provides the Rapporteur's opinion on the broad scope of the term religion and the need for equal treatment of all religions, including so called "sects." The Special Rapporteur notes:

Religions cannot be distinguished from sects on the basis of quantitative considerations saying that a sect, unlike a religion, has a small number of followers. This is in fact not always the case. It runs absolutely counter to the principle of respect and protection of minorities, which is upheld by domestic and international law and morality. Besides, following this line of argument, what are the major religions if not successful sects?

*** *** *** ***

Again, one cannot say that sects should not benefit from the protection given to religion just because they have no chance to demonstrate their durability. History contains many examples of dissident movements, schisms, heresies and reforms that have suddenly given birth to religions or religious movements. As to governmental efforts to distinguish between religions and sects, the Rapporteur concludes that: "All in all, the distinction between a religion and a sect is too contrived to be acceptable. A sect that goes beyond simple belief and appeals to a divinity, or at the very least, to the supernatural the transcendent, the absolute, or the sacred, enters into the religious sphere and should enjoy the protection afforded to religions.

Most countries do not consider the issue of "sects" a national problem or a threat for the State. The Dutch, Swedish, and Swiss governments have taken up the issue and found there is no need for concerted government action, and many other countries like the United States have determined that this is simply not an issue necessitating government action.

The attempt to define a "cult" in the Report is so vague that it could just as easily be applied to all religions. It is also based on almost uniformly biased sources.

Laws that are excessively vague, discriminate in intent and application, and allow for the imposition of draconian measures on religious communities and their parishioners are incompatible with the rule of law in a democratic society and thus violate fundamental rights protected by all major international human rights treaties.

The Report impermissibly presumes that certain faiths classified as "cults" are "dangerous" and should be "fought against" through specific and widespread administrative and legislative measures. No State is entitled to declare that some beliefs are "pseudo-religious" or pathological.

As an international court that embraces universal human rights principles, the European Court of Human Rights decisions are instructive on this matter and bear heeding. The Human Rights Court's 10 June 2010 decision in Jehovah's Witnesses of Moscow v. Russia articulates the State's duty of neutrality in religious matters.

119. The Court further reiterates that the State's duty of neutrality and impartiality prohibits it from assessing the legitimacy of religious beliefs or the ways in which those beliefs are expressed or manifested. Accordingly, the State has a narrow margin of appreciation and must advance serious and compelling reasons for an interference with the choices that people may make in pursuance of the religious standard of behaviour within the sphere of their personal autonomy.

The Report considers some beliefs to be acceptable while others are not, assessing their legitimacy in total violation of the duty of neutrality. This is clear from the Report's recommendation regarding government sponsored "public awareness campaigns" to "warn" the public about certain belief systems that have been classified in the Report as "cults".

Likewise, the Report classifies all consenting adults who choose to join a minority faith because they sincerely believe in the faith's tenets as "victims". This biased approach ignores the fundamental human right of personal religious autonomy that allows an individual to freely choose to adopt a religious belief.

Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights not only protects the right to freedom of religion, it also states this right "shall include freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice ... " This right to change one's religion is emphasized by the UN Human Rights Committee in its General Comment 22 on the scope and interpretation of Article 18:

The Committee observes that the freedom to "have or to adopt" a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views, as well as the right to retain one's religion or belief. Article 18.2 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.

Proselytism and the decision of an individual to convert to a new faith is a manifestation of religion or belief encompassed within the right to freedom of religion or belief under international human rights law.

International and legal standards mandate that religious minorities be treated fairly and without discrimination in the same way as other religions. These standards also mandate strict impartiality by government officials and entities.

The Report also classifies individuals who have decided of their own free will to join these faiths as "victims" who, despite their protestations to the contrary, are under "thought control" and "mind control".

These findings are truly remarkable in light of a host of scientific and academic studies unanimously finding that the theory of "mental manipulation" or "religious brainwashing" have no merit. Over the last two decades, the international academic community, including scholars from psychology, sociology, and religious studies, has articulated an almost unanimous consensus that "mental manipulation" and "brainwashing" theories as applied to religious communities are completely lacking in scientific merit. Brainwashing has never gained any scientific credibility.

Major studies by the leading authorities in the field and by organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Sociological Association debunk the myth of brainwashing as it applies to new religious movements. These studies echo the position taken by the Dutch government in 1984 in its Report on New Religious Movements that "new religious movements are no real threat to mental public health". The Swedish government reached a similar conclusion in its report.

These studies, and the vast majority of government reports on the subject, determine that any issues could be resolved by using the existing legal arsenal and be resorting to normal legal methods. Consequently, they did not recommend taking any political or legal measures that encroach upon international human rights norms. For example, in its Recommendation 1178 (1992), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that legislation on "sects" was undesirable on the grounds that such legislation might interfere with the right to freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Parliamentary Assembly's Recommendation 1412 (1999) encouraged member states to adopt an approach "which will bring about understanding, tolerance, dialogue and resolution of conflicts" and "to take firm steps against any action which is discriminatory or which marginalizes religious or spiritual minority groups".

Yet, this encouragement of tolerance and dialogue in government reports and the rejection of "religious brainwashing" in academic and scientific reports are ignored in the Report in an attempt to justify oppressive government measures around a scientifically debunked myth. As a United States Federal Court held in denying expert witness status to the major proponent of this discredited theory, Margaret Singer, "the (American Psychological Association) found that Dr. Singer's report lacked scientific merit and that the studies supporting its findings lacked methodological rigor."

The Report extensively relies upon Margaret Singer's discredited theories to further the myth of religious brainwashing as a scientific truth even though the APA and American courts rejected Singer as an expert over two decades ago.

Indeed, many of the "experts" relied upon in the Report are biased individuals who are completely unqualified to render credible opinions. For example, the Report relies on Steven Hassan who presents himself as an "expert" on religions, basing his theories on Singer whose work has been rejected by numerous U.S. Courts. In March of 1996, in the case of Kendall v. Kendall, the United States District Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts also rejected Hassan as an expert witness. Hassan's testimony in this case shows that he was charging $200 per hour for preparation and $1,500 per day for his "expert testimony" on new religions, yet he had never testified in court before and his only qualification was a night school degree in an unrelated field.

Likewise, the Report relies on Rick Ross who has no academic qualifications and who has been found liable for damaging an individual through forced "deprogramming". In 1994, Ross violently abducted, abused, and forcibly detained Mr. Jason Scott, a member of the United Pentecostal church. Ross held Mr. Scott at a remote Washington State location for almost a week to try to hammer him out of his religious convictions. Mr. Scott won a multi-million-dollar jury award against Ross, with the Court noting that the conduct of Ross was "oppressive".

The Report also relies on the Center for the Victims of Cults (CVC). On March 4, 2011, the Israeli paper, Yediot Ahronot, published an article detailing the close relationship between CVC and Yad L'Achim. The article noted that CVC was established in 2006 for the purpose of having a seemingly secular group attack targeted faiths because of Yad L'Achim's image. The article notes that Yad L'Achim "suffered a bad image" due to its religious coercion activities, and that "fighting cults under the guise of a secular center can give them in the eyes of many a legitimacy to attack organizations and groups".

The U.S. State Department has issued human rights reports for the last ten years regarding detailed instances of violence committed by Yad L'Achim including pressuring landlords, employers, and MOI officials to assist its campaign against groups it deems "dangerous cults".

The Jerusalem Institute of Justice filed a submission in February 2010 to the Attorney General in the Ministry of Justice requesting to dismantle Yad L'Achim due to its criminal activities, as well as classifying it as a terrorist group under the Terror Prevention Order. The submission to the Attorney General detailed Yad L'Achim's involvement in violent persecution of minorities, racism, violence and terror, and the distribution of inflammatory material.

The Report calls for oppressive legislative measures for groups designated as "cults". It recommends that its exceedingly vague definition of "cult" based on the one-sided "definitions of theorists, therapists and organizations in the field" be legislatively enacted. It also recommends that the definitions be used as a starting point to "serve as a basis for a bill against the leaders of cults or sects against the activity."

Religions are not above the law. However, any legitimate concerns are much more effectively addressed by the enforcement of existing laws on common criminal activities. Special laws against "sects", on the other hand, are discriminatory and endanger the religious liberty of every citizen.

What justifies intervention by Israel in this area? As a matter of law, restrictions on religious freedom, including the right of an individual to manifest one's belief through adopting the religion of one's choice and the right of a religious organization to manifest belief through proselytism, are only justified if Israel can demonstrate that such restrictions fall within the narrow limitation clauses of the relevant international instruments. Any attempt by the State to interfere with religion must be "strictly necessary" to fulfill a "pressing social need" that "is proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued."

Yet, the Report provides no factual foundation to justify State intervention and no legal justification whatsoever to restrict fundamental religious freedoms.

The Report also recommends that the government engage in "building a data base regarding" so-called "cults". This raises the concern that a government record repository will be created identifying individuals by their religious association and beliefs. Such a repository could easily be abused and transform these records into tools of persecution by those opposed to religious tolerance while further marginalizing religious minorities and creating an atmosphere of discrimination and fear.

International and legal standards mandate that new religions and religious minorities be treated fairly and in the same way as other religions. These standards also mandate a spirit of tolerance towards minority movements.

The Institute on Religion and Public Policy recommended that the Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs decline to implement the recommendations in the Report as many of them contravene fundamental rights and would initiate oppressive measures targeting all the faiths derogatorily designated as "cults" or "sects".

Implementation of the recommendations in the Report would undermine and tarnish Israel's reputation for religious tolerance, the foundation of its democracy, which, as Prime Minister Netanyahu stated before the US Congress, has allowed it to "shine like a bright star of freedom amid the despotisms of the East."