GoodNewsAtheism
12-06-2008, 16:12
Careful analysis generated by rigorous civil discourse within the relevant academic and political venues of GoodNewsAtheism,
NOTING the authoritarian ideology of certain small or young so-called 'religious groups,'
DRAWING YOUR ATTENTION TO the routine acts of coercion and forced world-rejection, community insularity, and even illegal kidnapping perpetrated by small religious sects,
RECOGNIZING that many small religious sects' leaders are demonstrably dishonest or insincere in stating their beliefs or aims,
ASTONISHED at the ability of certain charismatic individuals to dupe the wayward, the disenfranchised, the poor, the confused, and the indigent to abandon large sums of money in the name of corporate-style religious pyramid schemes,
CONCERNED that many of the victims of such groups are drawn into coercive religious sects completely unaware of the level of coercion being deployed, or otherwise unaware of coercive tactics until it is too late to withdraw membership,
HOPING to minimize the damage done to families, individuals, and economies by such coercive sects,
RESPECTING the freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience, which are inviolable foundational principles of civil society, but also recognizing that governments are fully entitled to regulate harmful religious practices without having to regulate beliefs,
DOES HEREBY SUBMIT the following appeals to the World Assembly:
-We call on national governments, through either public schools or through other, non-intrusive and non-sectarian means, educate young people on the dangers of such organizations and the caution individuals must take when committing large amounts of wealth to suspiciously disreputable individuals of great charisma and of the dangers of succumbing to the enticement of corporate religious pyramid schemes.
-We recommend that non-governmental organizations committed to such public awareness activities be at least nominally supported by all member states.
-We strongly urge health and social workers to be educated about the dangers of deferring to the judgment of coercive religious sects and their ideologies in the treatment, conduct, and education of children.
-We call on national governments to treat any organization that routinely defames, robs, kidnaps, or coerces individuals into certain extreme modes of behavior as they would treat any other criminal organization regardless of the de facto "religious" nature of such organizations.
This act is respectfully submitted for the furtherance of human rights, particularly of those individuals who can be led to believe that no other options will avail them of upward socioeconomic mobility than this or that coercive religious sect.
NOTING the authoritarian ideology of certain small or young so-called 'religious groups,'
DRAWING YOUR ATTENTION TO the routine acts of coercion and forced world-rejection, community insularity, and even illegal kidnapping perpetrated by small religious sects,
RECOGNIZING that many small religious sects' leaders are demonstrably dishonest or insincere in stating their beliefs or aims,
ASTONISHED at the ability of certain charismatic individuals to dupe the wayward, the disenfranchised, the poor, the confused, and the indigent to abandon large sums of money in the name of corporate-style religious pyramid schemes,
CONCERNED that many of the victims of such groups are drawn into coercive religious sects completely unaware of the level of coercion being deployed, or otherwise unaware of coercive tactics until it is too late to withdraw membership,
HOPING to minimize the damage done to families, individuals, and economies by such coercive sects,
RESPECTING the freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience, which are inviolable foundational principles of civil society, but also recognizing that governments are fully entitled to regulate harmful religious practices without having to regulate beliefs,
DOES HEREBY SUBMIT the following appeals to the World Assembly:
-We call on national governments, through either public schools or through other, non-intrusive and non-sectarian means, educate young people on the dangers of such organizations and the caution individuals must take when committing large amounts of wealth to suspiciously disreputable individuals of great charisma and of the dangers of succumbing to the enticement of corporate religious pyramid schemes.
-We recommend that non-governmental organizations committed to such public awareness activities be at least nominally supported by all member states.
-We strongly urge health and social workers to be educated about the dangers of deferring to the judgment of coercive religious sects and their ideologies in the treatment, conduct, and education of children.
-We call on national governments to treat any organization that routinely defames, robs, kidnaps, or coerces individuals into certain extreme modes of behavior as they would treat any other criminal organization regardless of the de facto "religious" nature of such organizations.
This act is respectfully submitted for the furtherance of human rights, particularly of those individuals who can be led to believe that no other options will avail them of upward socioeconomic mobility than this or that coercive religious sect.