Many practices qualified as “religious psychological abuse” by the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare are just normal expressions of freedom of religion.
From the World
“Religious Abuse of Children”: Another Assault Against Freedom of Religion in Japan. 1. A New Notion of “Abuse”
Guidelines by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare substantially limit parents’ rights to pass religious faith to their children.
Norway: Why the European Court of Human Rights Rejected a Complaint from a Disfellowshipped Former Jehovah’s Witness
The case of a disfellowshipped woman who demanded that courts compel the Jehovah’s Witnesses to readmit her was widely misinterpreted by the media.
Japan’s Guidelines on Religious Donations: The Great Return of Brainwashing Pseudo-Science
If you donate to a movement that the society views with hostility, it is assumed you were a victim of “mind control.”
Pakistan: Catholic Girl, 15, Kidnapped and Forcibly Married to 60-Year-Old Muslim Man
Sitara Arif was kidnapped on December 15. It took two months to persuade the police to investigate the case.
A Second Letter by 80+ Ukrainian Academics Urges President Macron to Stop French Support to the Anti-Cult Federation FECRIS
The Ukrainian scholars also denounce the presence in the governmental anti-cult agency MIVILUDES of a politician who supported the Russian occupation of Crimea.
Norwegian Ahmadi Assassinated in Pakistan
The 75-year-old Dr. Rasheed Ahmad was the victim of a hate crime and of the climate of growing anti-Ahmadi intolerance.
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Sexual Abuse Allegations Unmasked as Groundless in Germany
An ex-member and a newspaper accused them of horrific abuses. They asked a State Prosecutor to investigate. No evidence of abuse was found.
Panj Tirath: Legal Battle Over a Sacred Hindu Site in Pakistan
The Peshawar site, connected with the Mahabharata, was given to a local amusement park, which now refuses to give it back.
Media: Friends or Foes of Religious Freedom?
Silence, misrepresentation, and fake news transform one the most important allies of religious freedom into a pervasive and obnoxious enemy.