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February 15, 2007
Exclusive Brethren thanked minister over schools
The Age - Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/news/
national/sect-thanked-minister-
over-schools/2007/02/14/
1171405295312.html
Michael Bachelard
February 15, 2007
MORE evidence has emerged of the power of the Exclusive Brethren's lobbying in Canberra, with the sect's world leader giving thanks for the "unexpected recognition" from former federal education minister Brendan Nelson.
The Age has obtained a 2004 passage of Brethren "ministry" — transcribed words of Sydney-based world leader Bruce D. Hales and other sect figures — in which they discuss their schools.
"(The schools were) set up to deliver the young people from the world," Mr Hales told followers on July 24, 2004.
"We don't want to go back to it, we don't want to be stupid enough to go back to the world, otherwise the Lord might take away our liberties, might take away what the Government has given us. The Government is very favourable; been favourable to us this week, hasn't it, Mr David?"
Another senior Brethren man, David Stewart, replies: "Yes, very clearly. … Very ready support from the Minister for Education."
Mr Hales: "Yes, well, we need to be thankful for it. You get the unexpected recognition of what the saints (the Brethren) represent. You don't expect it, and then they give it to you, they're compelled to give it to you."
Mr Hales' words make it clear that Brethren lobbyists, including Mr Stewart, had met then education minister Dr Nelson in the preceding days.
The Education Department has confirmed that, during 2004, Dr Nelson had representations from the Brethren, and agreed to give them an exemption from testing the computer literacy of year 6 and year 10 students.
That year, computer literacy was made a condition of Federal Government funding of private schools, but at the time the Brethren shunned computers, believing them to be instruments of the devil.
Brethren spokesman Tony McCorkell said yesterday that the ministry reference merely recognised the responsive hearing given to the delegation by Dr Nelson at the 2004 meeting.
He said the Brethren's concern at the time had been that paperwork associated with its private schools would need to be lodged with the department electronically. Dr Nelson assured them they could still lodge returns on paper.
Brethren are now allowed to use computers on a restricted basis.
Dr Nelson did not respond to queries yesterday.
The Brethren received $6.6 million in federal school funding in 2005.
Meanwhile, a Brethren elder, Phillip McNaughton, has suggested on Sydney radio that the sect is relaxing its insistence that those who have left the sect have no contact with their families.
"I would have thought they would be able to speak to them," he said.
But Ron Fawkes, a former Australian leader of the sect, who has not seen any of his six children for 22 years, said Mr McNaughton was being "very, very casual with the truth".
"Parents right around the world haven't been able to see their families," he said.
Posted by Perry at 04:49 PM
February 13, 2007
Lipetsk parents sue sect, demand compensation
ITAR-TASS News Agency - Russia
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/
level2.html?NewsID=
11247138&PageNum=0
February 13, 2007
LIPETSK, February 13 (Itar-Tass) - Parents of the children in Russia's Lipetsk region have sued adepts of the Sovereign Mother of God sect, also known as Bogorodichny Center, demanding a compensation for moral damage, a teacher told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
On Monday, Lipetsk Levoberezhny court ruled on a 800-rouble fine to be paid by Bogorodichny Centerfor for administrative offense, Olga Zolotaryova, a teach of Lipetsk school # 38 said.
Several children were questioned at the hearing. Zolotaryova said the "schoolchildren who suffered from the sect are not only witnesses, but also the injured parties."
"They remain in a state of depression even now, two months after the incident," she said.
In December 2006, the sect adepts, as "mysteries anointed sovereigns of Graal," invited schoolchildren to the exhibition titled Solovki - Second Calvary. Instead of historic narratives, they began a sermon calling for creating "a new true church."
During "the lecture," one of the students felt ill, and the teacher called an ambulance. Another 17 schoolchildren later complained of headache, high temperature and general indisposition.
"The sect should be held responsible for it," Zolotaryova said.
In the course of an investigation, agents from the regional Federal Security Service department ascertained that the Bogorodichny Center missionaries had run this event, under the guise of an educational lesson.
Their organization, according to experts of the Russian Academy of Civil Service under the Russian president, is a destructive religious sect of pseudo Christian nature.
Law-enforcement personnel seized from sect adepts cult literatures, videos, posters, and leaflets during the probe. But the regional prosecutor’s office refused to open a criminal case, ruling that the incident was an administrative offense.
Posted by Perry at 05:42 PM
January 27, 2007
Lecturer: Past stint with group doesn't affect his instruction
The Modesto Bee
http://www.modbee.com/local/
story/13233079p-13869801c.html
Students, experts mixed over teacher
By MICHELLE HATFIELD
BEE STAFF WRITER
January 26, 2007
Students and experts are divided over how a California State University, Stanislaus, lecturer's religious past might influence his teaching.
Barry Gerard-Prendergast acknowledged this week he was a member of The Family International, a controversial group formerly known as the Children of God. Some ex-members say it's a cult.
The sociology lecturer denies that his experience with The Family affects his teaching.
"No past group influences," he wrote in an e-mail to The Bee on Wednesday. "I teach using my academic knowledge and study of sociology which I have attained at graduate school."
He was replying to questions The Bee had e-mailed to his attorney.
Some experts believe membership in a controversial religious group does not necessarily affect teaching ability; others say students can provide a pool of potential converts.
Students have said they know little, if anything, about Gerard-Prendergast's personal life or religious beliefs.
Students who took classes from Gerard-Prendergast last semester vary in their evaluation of his teaching style. The Bee interviewed a few of his students last semester and received e-mails from others after a Bee story about him appeared in December.
One student said he loved Gerard-Prendergast's boisterous lectures while another called him unprofessional, unqualified and chauvinistic.
Gerard-Prendergast's effectiveness as a teacher depends on whether he denounces the group's beliefs or is a cult apologist, according to Rick A. Ross, an international cult expert based in New Jersey. He has studied controversial groups and interviewed former members for 25 years.
"The question is, how is this teacher influencing his students?" Ross asked. "Is he in a role as a cult apologist, minimizing the damage they do, apologizing for their behavior, minimizing what the group has done?"
Cult experts say people can live normal lives once they leave the lifestyle. Several former cult members have landed jobs teaching at universities.
Ross called the group "one of the most destructive cults in the history of the United States."
Colleen Russell, a Mill Valley therapist who specializes in helping former cult members recover, said she'd be wary of teachers who are or were members of cultlike groups.
"I know from what former members have told me that often a teacher was responsible for getting them involved in a cult," Russell said. "The main focus of every cult I know of is to recruit more members."
Expert: Attracts the vulnerable
The groups attract people going through vulnerable times in their lives, such as going off to college or surviving personal losses, said Russell, who belonged to a new age cult in the 1970s.
Officials should keep track of a former or current member's research topics and where research grant money comes from, Ross said.
Ross is concerned about former members teaching sociology classes because some topics cover the emergence of cults.
"Sociology, unlike math or science, is a particularly relevant area of study," Ross said. "It may color the way in which he teaches his students in the manner of cults."
But Ross also said that depending on Gerard-Prendergast's detachment from The Family, his experience could be helpful to students.
"He's seen them from the inside out. He does have something he can share that is meaningful," Ross said.
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at 578-2339 or mhatfield@modbee.com.
Posted by Perry at 04:40 PM
Stan St. lecturer verifies his past with alleged cult
The Modesto Bee
http://www.modbee.com/local/
story/13233071p-13869778c.html
By MICHELLE HATFIELD
BEE STAFF WRITER
January 26, 2007
A California State University, Stanislaus, sociology lecturer confirmed that he was a member of a controversial religious group some refer to as a cult.
Barry Gerard-Prendergast, who has a slate of classes scheduled to start next month, said he left The Family International 15 years ago.
Ex-members of the Christian missionary group, formerly called the Children of God, say it's a cult. Some allege that members took part in prostitution, sexual acts between adults and children, and child pornography.
Gerard-Prendergast did not say how long he was associated with The Family or why he left the group. He said he would "love to come back" to the university next year.
Gerard-Prendergast has a one-year contract as a temporary lecturer. He taught six sociology classes in the fall semester and has five more when the spring semester starts Feb. 13.
He is teaching an introduction-to-sociology class during the university's monthlong winter term.
Gerard-Prendergast, who did not respond when The Bee reported on his ties to the group in December, replied this week to e-mail questions through his attorney, Steve Davis.
Gerard-Prendergast denied that his involvement in The Family influences his teaching.
"I teach using my academic knowledge and study of sociology which I have attained at graduate school," he wrote.
Gerard-Prendergast retained a lawyer out of an "abundance of caution," Davis said.
University officials won't comment on Gerard-Prendergast's past, citing confidentiality restrictions.
"Whenever a question or allegation arises, we feel we need to pursue it and do everything that we can do lawfully to check backgrounds to find out whether anything warrants further action," Provost Bill Covino said.
The Bee obtained a copy of Gerard-Prendergast's résumé, a public record at Stanislaus State. The résumé states that he earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences with a minor in human services in 2001 from Metro State College of Denver, then a master's degree from Exeter University in 2003.
The résumé says Gerard-Prendergast is working on his doctoral thesis, titled, "Changing cultures, changing identities — Symbols and structures."
After earning his master's, Gerard-Prendergast taught at colleges in Colorado until 2006.
From 1993 to 1999, he was co-director of a nonprofit agency in Colorado.
From 1985 to 1992, the résumé says, he was "teacher-administrator" at Evergreen Community School in Umbria, Italy. Former members of The Family contend that during that time, Gerard-Prendergast ran a "victor camp" in Italy, where they claim children were indoctrinated and physically abused.
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at 578-2339 or mhatfield@modbee.com.
Posted by Perry at 04:37 PM
January 08, 2007
Revealed: how Scientologists infiltrated Britain's schools
The Sunday Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
article/0,,2087-2535187,00.html
January 07, 2007
Insight: Drugs charity is front for ‘dangerous’ organisation
Devotees of the Church of Scientology have gained access to thousands of British children through a charity that visits schools to lecture on the dangers of drugs. A Sunday Times investigation has found that Marlborough College is one of more than 500 schools across Britain where the charity has taught.
Critics of the charity, Narconon, say it is a front to promote the teaching of Scientology — the controversial “religion” founded by L Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer.
Schools contacted last week said they knew nothing about the charity’s links with Scientology. There is no apparent reference to the church in its drugs education literature.
Narconon’s UK website states that its work is based on Hubbard’s “drug rehabilitation technology” and displays his photograph; but it refers to him as an author rather than the founder of Scientology.
Narconon promotes a number of unorthodox theories and treatments — based on Hubbard’s work — which experts say are not backed by scientific evidence. In California, where Narconon has its international headquarters, the state department of education has advised schools against using the charity.
Continue reading "Revealed: how Scientologists infiltrated Britain's schools"
Posted by Perry at 03:25 PM
December 16, 2006
Stan State prof suspected of cult link
Ex-members describe sexual crimes; instructor, school won't comment
By MICHELLE HATFIELD
BEE STAFF WRITER
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-dp_morning/
story/13104533p-13754085c.html
December 12, 2006
TURLOCK — Among the crop of tenure-track professors hired this fall at California State University, Stanislaus, is a sociology lecturer believed to have been part of a cult accused of abusing children and prostituting women.
Barry Gerard-Prendergast, 57, is teaching six classes in his first semester on campus as a temporary, full-time instructor.
University officials would not comment on Gerard-Prendergast's past, citing confidentially restrictions. Nor would they comment on whether they were reviewing his background.
The Bee began an investigation after an anonymous caller told the paper a student had found links on the Internet between Gerard-Prendergast and a group formerly known as the Children of God.
Now called The Family International, the group is described as a Christian missionary organization. But people who have left the group say it's a cult and have alleged that members have taken part in prostitution, sexual acts between adults and children, and child pornography.
According to stories in the Houston Chronicle, former members of the group allege GerardPrendergast ran a Family "victor camp," a children's indoctrination site in Italy in the 1980s. In 1999 newspaper stories from Texas and Colorado, Gerard-Prendergast denied any affiliation with The Family.
Gerard-Prendergast did not respond to repeated efforts by The Bee to talk with him:
He did not return calls to his office and home Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday.
A reporter went to his classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but he was not at any of them.
Visits to his home and office were unsuccessful; a woman who said she was his roommate at a house in Turlock said she had let him know The Bee wanted to speak with him. "He knows you're looking for him," the woman said Wednesday.
An attorney who contacted The Bee's editor Friday said GerardPrendergast did not want to speak with a reporter.
At Stanislaus State, sociology department office staff said GerardPrendergast had been on campus last week, which was the week before final exams.
Originally from England, GerardPrendergast has a master of arts degree from the University of Exeter, according to a Stanislaus State newsletter.
While declining to discuss Gerard-Prendergast specifically, a university official said faculty candidates undergo interviews, reference checks and passport review. Although fingerprinting is mandatory for some administrators, it is not required for faculty, said Kristin Olsen, director of public and institutional relations.
"The university conducts thorough and extensive background checks," Ol-sen said.
Internet searches have not been standard procedure, but she said "in the last six months to a year, it's beginning to take place more and more."
Academic departments usually conduct faculty searches, she said. Sociol-ogy department Chairman Paul O'Brien would not comment on GerardPrendergast.
In a Google search for "Barry Gerard-Prendergast," several links turn up between his name, The Family and the Children of God.
Searching public records, The Bee matched Gerard-Prendergast's birth date and other information to that of Zack Prendergast, who lived in Colorado from 1993 to this year.
Ex-members of The Family who knew Gerard-Prendergast connected him to the group, according to postings on XFamily.org, a collaboratively edited online encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia. The site said the man was known by several names, including Barry Gerard Prendergast, Zach, Zack or Zacchaeus Star.
The Bee compared a photo on XFamily.org of a man identified as Zack Prendergast with a photo of Gerard-Prendergast in an October newsletter from Stani-slaus State. There is a strong resemblance between the two men.
Before moving to Turlock, Gerard-Prendergast developed a parenting program for teen fathers in Colorado. Business records show the nonprofit business dissolved in 2002.
Under the name Zack Prendergast, he and his wife, Naomi, received the National Parent of the Year Award from the National Parents Day Foundation in 1999.
The couple have 10 girls and two boys — three of them adopted, according to the Houston Chronicle. Questions from the paper about Prendergast's involvement with The Family in the 1980s led him to return the award, a foundation spokesman told the Chronicle. Prendergast cited "some definite misunderstandings and distortions" that were unfounded, the paper said, but the couple did not deny membership in the group.
It is unclear whether Naomi Prendergast or any of their children moved to Turlock with Gerard-Prendergast.
The Bee found no information on his whereabouts immediately before he moved to Colorado. Nor did it find any evidence that he has ever been arrested or convicted of any crimes, or how long he was involved with The Family.
One of his students described him as a great teacher who is flexible. Stephanie Morris, a junior sociology major, said she knows little of his personal life. His religious beliefs have not been a factor in class, she said.
"It hasn't affected his teaching," she said.
Gerard-Prendergast's classes include introduction to sociology, research methods and classical theory, according to the Stanislaus State fall schedule. He's set to teach one introduction to sociology class next semester.
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at 578-2339 or mhatfield@modbee.com.
Posted by Perry at 03:44 PM
November 27, 2006
Controversy Over State Funded Hindu School in UK
By Prasun Sonwalkar
http://www.teluguportal.net/
modules/news/article.php?storyid=22902
London, Nov 27 (IANS) Plans to set up Britain's first state-funded Hindu school are mired in controversy following allegations of racism, threat to environment in Harrow and child abuse against a key member of an affiliated body.
The Department of Education and Skills had announced the faith school in November 2005 and earmarked 10 million pounds for the project. Britain has many faith schools for Muslims and Sikhs.
The Hindu faith school is to be set up in the London borough of Harrow, which has a 20 percent Hindu population. To be called the 'Krishna Avanti Primary School', it was expected to open in 2010.
However, initial plans have been marred by allegations of child abuse against Gauri Dasa, who will be the 'spiritual head' of the school.
He is currently the president of the Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford - a large temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISCKON).
The school is to be opened by I-Foundation, a charity associated with ISCKON. I-Foundation is reported to be awaiting approval from the School Organisations Committee before beginning construction of the school in Edgware.
Das is alleged to have beaten children while running an ashram in India years ago.
According to Arjun Malik, spokesman of Hindu Human Rights: "We have received email for a while, expressing concerns about allegations that Gauri Dasa used to beat children.
"We do not wish to defame any organisation, but parents will obviously not feel safe sending their children to a school which has such a man involved."
Dasa, however, claimed that corporal punishment was part of the disciplinary structure of ISKCON schools in 1970s and 80s.
He said: "All these allegations stem from an anonymous email sent out to some website. Its contents are full of half-truths.
"In the 1970s and 1980s corporal punishment was part of the disciplinary plans of ISKCON schools in India and the US. It was stopped over a decade ago."
Jay Dilip Lakhani, coordinator of the Vivekananda Centre, said: "None of the allegations against Gauri Dasa have been proven but ISKCON has a poor reputation due to the child-abuse lawsuits filed against it in the past."
But Ramesh Kallidai, secretary-general of the Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) and described as an initiated member of ISKCON, said: "Gauri Dasa is our spiritual ambassador. We are yet to see any hard evidence against him. We are glad ISKCON is associated with the first faith school."
Nitesh Gor, spokesman for I-Foundation, said: "As for child abuse allegations against ISKCON in the US, there have been child abuse charges against the Roman Catholic Church as well but that doesn't mean the entire institution must be boycotted."
Meanwhile, residents around the proposed site have opposed the school due to the threat it posed to environment and the increase in traffic it would bring. Anonymous leaflets have been circulating in the area.
Residents have warned that the school could also generate racial tension. Recently, councillor Chris Mote faced tough questions at a public meeting to discuss plans to locate the school in the William Ellis playing fields.
Ravi Saran, who lives near the playing fields, told the local media: "I am not against a Hindu school. I have been living in this area for 40 years and enjoy a happy life but we Asians have already started getting dirty looks from white people.
"I fear what is going to happen when the bulldozers start. Does the council want to have riots? Why is Harrow Council ... destroying the environment and segregating the community?"
However, Yuvraj Rana, who supports the school, said: "Everyone has come in here with their own concept and ideas. This was a process by which local residents are involved before it even goes to planning.
"Quite frankly, I think this is racism. These people are very greedy and they should be ashamed of themselves. We are being given the chance to have the first Hindu school in the whole country and they want a better view from their back garden."
Dilip Patel, who is opposed to the school, said: "Already the thought of the school is causing tension in the community but because it is called a Hindu school it is a target for resentment. I think the community is strong enough to overcome it.
"The consequences of the development are more noise and more pollution. The first thing our religion teaches about is to protect the environment we live in."
Posted by Perry at 03:46 PM
Dawkins takes fight against religion into the classroom
Professor Dawkins believes that "it is immoral to brand young children with the religion of their parents".
By Sarah Cassidy
The Independent
http://education.independent.co.uk/
news/article2018755.ece
Published: 27 November 2006
Richard Dawkins, the Oxford geneticist, best-selling author and campaigning atheist, is to take his battle against God into Britain's schools after setting up a foundation to counter the religious indoctrination of young people.
The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason will subsidise books, pamphlets and DVDs for teachers to fight the "educational scandal" that has seen the growth in popularity of "pseudo science" and "irrational" ideas.
The foundation will also conduct research into what makes some people more susceptible to religious ideas than others and whether young people are particularly vulnerable. And it will aim to "raise public consciousness" to make it unacceptable to refer to a "Catholic child" or a "Muslim child"; Professor Dawkins believes that "it is immoral to brand young children with the religion of their parents".
Continue reading " Dawkins takes fight against religion into the classroom"
Posted by Perry at 03:38 PM
November 10, 2006
Pastor will shut down controversial kids camp
By Religion News Service and The Associated Press
The Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/
nationworld/2003365311_jesuscamp08.html
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
The summer camp featured in the documentary "Jesus Camp," which includes scenes with disgraced preacher Ted Haggard, will shut down for at least several years because of negative reaction sparked by the film, according to the camp's director.
"Right now we're just not a safe ministry," Becky Fischer, the fiery Pentecostal pastor featured in "Jesus Camp," said Tuesday.
The documentary, which hit select U.S. theaters during the summer, portrays Fischer, 55, as drill instructor to a group of young evangelical children steeling themselves for spiritual and political warfare.
Led by Fischer, the children pray in tongues, as is common in charismatic strains of Pentecostalism; tearfully beg God to end abortion; and bless President Bush at a weeklong camp in Devils Lake, N.D.
Fischer has drawn fire from some corners for "brainwashing" the children. After vandals damaged the campground last month and critics besieged Fischer with negative e-mails, phone calls and letters, the pastor said she's shutting down the camp for at least several years.
"I don't think we'll be doing it for a while," she said.
Fischer lives in Bismarck, N.D., and is chief pastor at The Fire Center, a church devoted to children's ministry there. She has run the weeklong "Kids on Fire" summer camp, which is featured in the film, since 2002, with 75 to 100 children attending each year.
Continue reading "Pastor will shut down controversial kids camp"
Posted by Perry at 04:00 PM
Écoles illégales Et les droits des enfants, eux?/Illegal Schools & Children's Rights
[The English translation that follows was performed by Google Language. It is not 100% accurate and is only included to assist researchers.]
La Tribune (Sherbrooke, Qc)
Lorraine Derocher
Opinions, samedi 28 octobre 2006, p. W25
Plusieurs écoles illégales ont été dénoncées dernièrement dans les médias montréalais notamment: écoles juives, Mission de l'Esprit-Saint puis maintenant, une vingtaine d'écoles dites "parallèles" de l'Église Nouvelle Alliance.
Un pasteur de cette Église défend bien, au nom des croyances religieuses des parents, le fait de ne pas avoir de permis pour enseigner le créationnisme aux enfants.
Bien que les tenants de ces écoles soient probablement motivés par les meilleures intentions: celle entre autres de protéger leurs enfants des influences du "monde immoral" en leur transmettant une "meilleure éducation", il semble que ce choix comporte à la fois une part de risque.
Celui de former des enfants qui ne seront peut-être pas outillés pour faire face à ce monde - si "mauvais" soit-il - le jour où certains d'entre eux décideront de quitter leur groupe religieux.
Car à bien y penser, ces derniers seront-ils vraiment en mesure de faire un choix le jour où ils considéreront d'intégrer la société ? Qu'en est-il du droit des enfants dans toute cette histoire?
Née dans les années 70 lors de l'effervescence croissante de plusieurs nouveaux mouvements religieux, toute une génération a grandi au sein de groupes religieux ferméstels que: La Famille/Les enfants de Dieu, l'Église de l'Unification ou plus près de nous les Apôtres de l'Amour Infini.
Aujourd'hui adultes, plusieurs de ces enfants qui n'ont connu bien souvent que leur groupe religieux, décident de quitter volontairement leur "terre natale".
Ces enfants qui vivent en milieu hermétique subissent un processus de socialisation hyper religieuse qui risque dans certains cas, de devenir un abus de l'usage du droit des parents d'éduquer leurs enfants au sein de la religion de leur choix.
La Convention relative aux droits des enfants, signée notamment par le Canada, stipule que "La liberté de manifester sa religion ou ses convictions ne peut être soumise qu'aux seules restrictions qui sont prescrites par la loi" (Art. 14.3
D'ailleurs, un jugement de la Cour suprême (R. c. Jones, [1986] 2 R.C.S. 284), où les connaissances des enfants qui avaient été éduqués à la maison pour des raisons religieuses avaient été jugées insuffisantes, avait démontré clairement que l'argument du droit à la liberté fondamentale de conscience et de religion ne pouvait être invoqué pour éviter la fréquentation scolaire, si celle-ci n'est pas conforme aux dispositions de la Loi sur l'instruction publique.
Par ailleurs, de dispenser un enseignement scolaire biaisé, qui véhicule dans certains cas des utopies sur l'état des planètes ou sur la fin du monde, procure un bagage intellectuel à ces enfants qu'il sera extrêmement difficile de remplacer.
Plus encore, recevoir une formation digne des années 1800, comme c'est le cas chez certains groupes, ne laisse aucun choix au jeune adulte qui voudrait parfaire sa route - tant sur le plan social que professionnel - au sein de la société moderne.
Dans ce contexte, nous sommes enclins à nous poser la question si ces écoles n'enfreignent pas le droit de l'enfant à recevoir une éducation qui doit le "préparer [l'enfant] à assumer les responsabilités de la vie dans une société libre" (Art. 29, d, Convention relative aux droits des enfants). Lorsqu'on ose interroger ces jeunes sur les défis et les difficultés qu'ils ont rencontrés lors de leur processus d'intégration en société, leur liste est longue.
Les problèmes d'ordre logistique, relationnel et spirituel entrent bien entendu en ligne de compte, mais c'est sans contredit la vision du monde intériorisée qui constitue l'obstacle majeur à leur intégration.
Pas étonnant puisque dès leur plus jeune âge, ils ont appris que le monde était mauvais, satanique et/ou dangereux. Ne sont-ce pas là des éléments qui freinent d'abord leur désir de quitter le groupe, et sinon, qui les empêchent par après d'avoir accès à une vie relativement normale en société? Jamais le groupe religieux ou les parents n'ont considéré que cet être, un jour, pourrait faire face au choix de quitter ou d'adhérer aux croyances religieuses de son groupe. C'est là une réalité ignorée des groupes religieux fermés.
Ainsi, plus que le fait d'avoir enfreint la loi pour créer une école illégale, c'est l'atteinte à la liberté et aux droits fondamentaux des enfants qui est au centre du débat.
Lorraine Derocher
Professionnelle de recherche pour le Groupe de recherche Société, droits et religions de l'Université de Sherbrooke (SoDRUS). Directrice exécutive d'un organisme voué à la protection des droits des enfants en milieu sectaire, la Safe Passage Foundation.
Illegal Schools and Children's Rights
Several illegal schools were denounced lately in the Montreal media in particular: Jewish schools, Mission of the Holy Ghost then now, a score of schools known as “parallel” of the Church New Alliance. Pasteur of this Church defends well, in the name of the religious beliefs of the parents, the fact of not having a licence to teach the creationnism with the children. Although holding them of these schools are probably justified by the best intentions: that inter alia protecting their children from the influences of the “immoral world” in their transmitting a “better education”, it seems that this choice comprises at the same time a share of risk. That to train children who will perhaps not be equipped to face this world - so “bad” be-it - the day when some of them will decide to leave their religious group. Because with will good to think of it, the latter be really able to make a choice the day when they will consider to integrate into society? What happenhappen does right of the children in all this history? Born in the Seventies at the time of increasing effervescence several new religious movements, a whole generation grew within religious groups ferméstels that: The Family/children of God, the Church of the Unification or more close to us Apostles of the Infinite Love. Today adult, several of these children who knew very often only their religious group, decide to voluntarily leave their “native soil”. These children who live in closed societies undergo a process of religious socialization hyper which risks in certain cases, to become an abuse the use of the right of the parents to educate their children within the religion of their choice. The Convention on the rights of the children, signed in particular by Canada, stipulates that “freedom to express its religion or its convictions can be subjected only to the only restrictions which are prescribed by the law” (Art 14.3 Moreover, a judgement of the supreme Court (R.C. Jones, [1986] 2 R.C.S. 284), where knowledge of the children who had been educated at the house for religious reasons had been considered to be insufficient, had shown clearly that the argument of the right to fundamental freedom of conscience and religion could not be called upon to avoid the school attendance, if this one is not in conformity with the provisions of the Law on the state education. In addition, to exempt a skewed school teaching, which conveys in certain cases of the Utopias on the state of planets or the end of the world, a stock of general knowledge gets with these children who it will be extremely difficult to replace. More still, to receive a formation worthy of the years 1800, as it is the case at certain groups, does not leave any choice to the young adult who would like to perfect his road - as well as regards the social aspects as professional - within the modern society. In this context, we are inclined to ask us the question if these schools do not infringe the right of the child to receive an education which must “prepare it [the child] to assume the responsibilities for the life in a free company” (Art 29, D, Convention relating to the rights of the children). When one dares to question these young people on the challenges and the difficulties which they met during their process of integration in company, their list is long. The problems of a logistic, relational and spiritual nature take of course into consideration, but it is indisputably the interiorized vision of the world which constitutes the major obstacle with their integration. Not astonishing since as of their youth, they learned that the world was bad, satanic and/or dangerous. Aren't this there elements which slow down initially their desire to leave the group, and if not, which prevents them by after having access to a relatively normal life in company? Never the religious group or the parents considered only this being, one day, could face the choice to leave or to adhere to the religious beliefs of his group. It is there an ignored reality of the closed religious groups. Thus, more than the fact of having enfreint the law to create an illegal school, it is the infringement with the freedom and the basic rights of the children who is in the center of the debate.
Lorraine Derocher Professional of research for the Group of research Company, rights and religions of the University of Sherbrooke (SoDRUS). Executive director of an organization dedicated to the protection of the rights of the children in sectarian medium, Safe Foundation Passage.
Posted by Perry at 03:19 PM
November 05, 2006
'JESUS CAMP': For those not 'born again,' documentary may be the scariest movie of the year.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/November/04/style/stories/11style.htm
November 4, 2006
by CATHERINE GRAHAM
SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT
Forget "Saw 3" and "The Exorcist" franchise: The scariest movie of the year is "Jesus Camp."
It's a documentary about brainwashing children into the evangelical Christian movement. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, whose previous documentary "The Boys of Baraka" followed a group of at-risk Baltimore teenagers to Kenya, use their cameras as objective observers while kids as young as five are enlisted as dedicated soldiers into what their elders call "God's Army." The enemy is anyone who thinks differently than they do.
There's no narrator to interpret events; written titles intercede now and again to deliver such statistics as 43 percent of all evangelicals in the U.S. accepted Christ before age 13. Whether that fact is wonderful or horrifying simply depends on your point of view.
The parents featured in "Jesus Camp" cloister their children in the war against the godless. They homeschool their children with textbooks written from the point of view that the Bible is the literal word of God; televisions and radios are tuned solely to an astonishing variety of Christian-based programming and music.
According to statistics offered in the film, more than 100 million Americans identify themselves as evangelicals, and that evangelical Christianity is the fastest-growing religious movement in the world. As Americans, evangelicals have the right to believe that the soul of everyone not born again, from the cruelest pedophile to the peaceful Buddhist down the street, is condemned to an eternity of hell.
Where things get tricky is in the belief that it is OK to take rights away from others a woman's choice to choose or refuse an abortion comes to mind. Ever increasingly, conservative evangelicals believe it is their duty to influence culture and politics. The Christian Right is an enormous voting bloc; George W. Bush, himself a born again, has benefitted greatly from evangelical support. The movement leaders on the Christian-based television and radio programs rally voters to the polling booths and, hello, candidates supported by right-wing advocacy groups get voted in.
But the truly horrific aspect documented in "Jesus Camp" is in the brainwashing of young people, especially when the intensity and content borders on outright child abuse.
"Jesus Camp" takes us into the homes, churches, and SUVs of ultra-conservative evangelical Christians in Missouri. As the title suggests, the centerpiece is a summer camp held in — I kid you not — Devil's Lake, N.D. The "Kids on Fire" program is led by Pastor Becky Fischer, who has targeted young people for her ministry. She sees no irony in her smug, holier-than-thou comparison between what she does and what terrorists in the Middle East are doing to their children's minds.
One of the most memorable sequences in "Jesus Camp" arrives when a life-size cutout of Bush is carted out onto the pulpit and the youths in attendance are rallied into frenzied hallelujahs, an event bordering on the hilarious. But what is terrifying are other sequences depicting the young faces as they gaze zombie-like and mindless, their mouths aping the words drilled into them since birth. It would be fascinating if the filmmakers make a follow-up film in 20 years or so to hear what they have to say about their upbringing.
Posted by Perry at 04:15 PM
November 03, 2006
Bible clubs bring religion into 50 schools across U.S.
By Justin Juozapavicius
Associated Press
November 3, 2006
RYAL, Okla. -- As dozens of sleepy-eyed kids make their way to a rural public school, 20 of their peers are already in the gym for a Bible-study club, learning about the fall of Adam and Eve.
It's a Sunday-school lesson on a Tuesday, where the kids play a game in which two teams compete to burst red and blue balloons, each containing part of a Bible verse on a scrap of paper.
After 30 minutes, the before-school religious instruction ends with a bell for first-period at the Ryal School, 60 miles south of Tulsa.
Bob Heath dreams of having such a Bible-study club in every elementary school in America.
The 43-year-old former electronics salesman, who sometimes quotes evangelist Billy Graham, founded the non-profit Kids For Christ USA nearly six years ago. The Broken Arrow-based group sponsors about 50 clubs across the country, in states including California, Kansas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts, and it is looking to expand into New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Heath uses the federal Equal Access Act to get children in the door for weekly meetings. The Reagan-era law permits groups like Heath's to conduct meetings in public schools as long as students initiate and lead the club. Attendance must be voluntary, the school may not sponsor the club, and it must not interfere with regular classroom instruction.
To Heath and his supporters, the clubs are an antidote to school violence, a way to reach a troubled student before a tragedy happens.
But his methods have drawn criticism from those who question whether the children truly are initiating and leading the club.
Heath's critics said he and parents are the ones really pushing the clubs, using the children to violate separation of church and state protections found in a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared school-sponsored prayer unconstitutional.
They're "using the kids like puppets," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis. "A chronic complaint has been Christian kids who flaunt their religion, that they're better than other kids, going to class with Bibles under their arms trying to convert" classmates.
Continue reading "Bible clubs bring religion into 50 schools across U.S."
Posted by Perry at 04:35 PM
October 31, 2006
Evangelical schools fight Quebec curriculum rules
Dave Rogers, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=41306533-a07c-45e8-b52b-f1467ed0f0e5&k=79636
Published: Saturday, October 28, 2006
OTTAWA -- The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is fighting back against the Quebec Ministry of Education, which requires that unlicensed evangelical schools follow the provincial curriculum, including sex education and Darwin's theory of evolution.
That rule "squeezes religious freedom," says Janet Epp Buckingham, lawyer for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
Epp Buckingham argues there must be a balance between provincial standards for private schools and the religious rights of parents and students. She said the rights of evangelical schools to teach according to parents' religious beliefs has been an issue since 1997 when Quebec divided schools along language instead of religious lines. Twenty evangelical Christian schools will have to negotiate with the Quebec ministry about what they are required to teach.
"There has been a growth in the private school system in Quebec so parents can continue to have a religious component in their children's education," Epp Buckingham said. "But the question remains:who should have control over education and what is being taught?"
Roderick Cornell, vice-principal of the licensed Emmanuel Christian School in Montreal, said unlicensed "church basement" schools use the U.S.-based Accelerated Christian Education program that does not follow the Quebec curriculum.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day used the curriculum from 1979 to 1985 when he ran the Bentley Christian Training Centre, an independent school of 100 students near Red Deer, Alta.
An Alberta government report on the curriculum in 1985 found it contained "a degree of insensitivity towards blacks, Jews and natives" and wouldn't allow it in public schools. The ACE program was rooted in a literal interpretation of the Bible and taught creationism over evolution.
Cornell said licensed private schools in Quebec must have qualified staff and follow the provincial curriculum. "You can add to the program but you have to tell students what evolution is all about because that is on the curriculum," said. "I have my doubts about evolution, but we still have to teach it."
Pierre Daoust, director general of the Coeur-des-Vallees school board inThurso, Que., located across the Ottawa River from the nation's capital, lodged the complaint that sparked a provincewide investigation.
Daoust said the school board is concerned about the education of 15 students at a school operated by l'Eglise evangelique near Saint-Andre-Avellin, Que., because the board could be held legally responsible if graduates' diplomas were not recognized.
In addition to those 15 students, another 40 attend an unlicensed evangelical school in Gatineau, Que., and there is a third in Hull, Que. The other school boards haven't complained, said Daoust.
Education Ministry spokeswoman Marie-France Boulay said this week the province will negotiate for several weeks with an unspecified number of evangelical schools to determine whether they can meet provincial standards that include the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution.
Ottawa Citizen
Posted by Perry at 01:54 PM
October 20, 2006
Quebec schools put to the test
PHILIP AUTHIER
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=aa5883f0-9387-4b7f-b205-30dc7389dcbf&k=54559
The Gazette (Montreal)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Quebec is looking to improve the way religious, cultural and linguistic differences are integrated into its schools.
Education Minister Jean-Marc Fournier announced yesterday the creation of a committee to look into the principle of "reasonable accommodation," with a report due in June.
Bergman Fleury, an intercultural education consultant who worked for the Commission scolaire de Montreal, will head the panel of experts.
A key task will be to come up with a definition of "reasonable accommodation" that strikes a balance between personal convictions and the laws, values and traditions of Quebec.
"It's a matter of ensuring that all youth receive the education they are entitled to while respecting their convictions," Fournier told a news conference during a Liberal Party caucus meeting in Longueuil.
Continue reading "Quebec schools put to the test"
Posted by Perry at 06:46 PM
La Mission de l'Esprit-Saint/Mission of the Holy Spirit - The PQ presses Quebec to act
[The English translation that follows was performed by Google Language. It is not 100% accurate and is only included to assist researchers.]
Mise à jour le vendredi 29 septembre 2006 à 14 h 37
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2006/09/29/002-Bouchard-Esprit-Saint.shtml
Le PQ presse Québec d'agir
À la lumière de récents reportages de Radio-Canada, le porte-parole de l'opposition officielle en matière d'éducation, Camil Bouchard, craint que les enfants du groupe La Mission de l'Esprit-Saint, dans la région de Joliette, ne reçoivent pas l'enseignement auquel ils ont droit.
Selon ce qu'a appris Radio-Canada, quelque 144 enfants du groupe religieux sont éduqués à la maison par leurs parents depuis l'an dernier, au terme d'une entente avec le ministère de l'Éducation.
La condition posée était que ces derniers devaient suivre un programme approuvé par la Commission scolaire Des Samares. Or, a révélé Radio-Canada, les résultats scolaires de ces enfants sont désastreux.
Le député péquiste de Vachon demande au ministre de l'Éducation, Jean-Marc Fournier, ce qu'il entend faire pour que ces enfants aient à nouveau un enseignement conforme à la loi. Il s'inquiète aussi du discours religieux du groupe, qui semble favoriser un rejet sans nuance de la société. Il rappelle aussi au gouvernement son obligation de défendre la laïcité.
Posted by Perry at 06:33 PM
Mission de l'Esprit-Saint/Mission of the Holy Spirit - Minister Defends the School
[The English translation that follows was performed by Google Language. It is not 100% accurate and is only included to assist researchers.]
Mise à jour le vendredi 29 septembre 2006 à 21 h 30
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2006/09/29/006-reax-mission-esprit-saint.shtml
Le ministre défend l'école à la maison
Le ministre de l'Éducation du Québec, Jean-Marc Fournier, défend la stratégie de compromis qu'il a adoptée face à la Mission de l'Esprit-Saint, un groupe religieux de la région de Joliette dont les 144 enfants sont éduqués à la maison.
Jeudi, Radio-Canada révélait que le ministère de l'Éducation autorise La Mission de l'Esprit-Saint à faire l'école à la maison à ses enfants, mais qu'un an après le début de cette expérience, leurs résultats scolaires sont navrants. Aujourd'hui, beaucoup se demande si on a agit dans le meilleur intérêt des enfants.
Pour l'avocate Carole Tremblay, qui a réussi à faire sortir deux enfants du groupe religieux, le gouvernement aurait dû tenir compte de la nocivité de la doctrine de ce groupe hermétique. « Les enfants qui sont élevés dans la croyance de ce groupe-là sont entre autres exposés à considérer le monde extérieur comme étant mauvais, néfaste et à éviter », explique Me Tremblay, présidente d'Info-Secte.
Posted by Perry at 06:23 PM
La Mission de l'Esprit-Saint/Mission of the Holy Spirit - Disastrous School Results
[The English translation that follows was performed by Google Language. It is not 100% accurate and is only included to assist researchers.]
Mise à jour le vendredi 29 septembre 2006 à 11 h 30
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/societe/2006/09/28/004-mission-saint-esprit.shtml
Des résultats scolaires désastreux
Les enfants du groupe La Mission de l'Esprit-Saint, dans la région de Joliette, reçoivent leur éducation à la maison. Mais Radio-Canada a appris que leurs résultats scolaires étaient désastreux.
Depuis 30 ans, la Mission de l'Esprit-Saint souscrit à l'eugénisme et enseigne à ses 400 membres qu'ils font partie d'une race d'élite. La famille Francoeur, qui dirige ce groupe chrétien, refuse tout contact avec les médias.
« Les fondements mêmes de la pensée de la Mission de l'Esprit-Saint, c'est de détester la société. La société est perçue comme le mal et l'incarnation du mal, c'est Satan. Donc l'élu, l'enfant qui naît dans le groupe, doit apprendre à haïr tout ce qui est extérieur au groupe », explique Eugène Bérubé, président de RéalitéPlus et spécialiste des mouvements religieux fermés.
Posted by Perry at 05:54 PM
April 16, 2005
Yemen Warns of Secret Extremist Schools
SAN`A, Yemen - Underground religious schools that promote extremist forms of Islam are drawing more than 300,000 young students across Yemen, the country's prime minister said Saturday.
Continue reading "Yemen Warns of Secret Extremist Schools"
Posted by Julia at 07:12 PM
March 23, 2005
Top marks for sect schools that shun the modern world
A secretive religious sect that bans children from using computers or reading fiction has won praise from Ofsted for the quality of education provided by its schools.
Continue reading "Top marks for sect schools that shun the modern world"
Posted by Julia at 06:59 PM
March 13, 2005
Faith schools [in Iran] mean fewer rights for children
People who are against faith schools often say that it causes segregation, perpetrates a system of apartheid that it separates children of 'different religions' from each other. Would you agree or disagree with that?
Continue reading "Faith schools [in Iran] mean fewer rights for children"
Posted by Julia at 10:02 PM