http://raelianews.org/ Raelianews - official news of the Raelian Movement en-gb editor@nospam.com (Raelianews Editor) editor@nospam.com (Raelianews Editor) Wed, 22 May 2013 19:05:48 -0500 Wed, 22 May 2013 19:05:48 -0500 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) hourly 1 60 http://raelianews.org/e107_images/logo.png http://raelianews.org/ 88 31 Raelianews - official news of the Raelian Movement http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.498.9

A recent decree by Germany's Catholic bishops states that people who opt out of a "church tax" should not be given sacraments and religious burials.
About 200,000 German people per year choose to not pay their religious tax anymore. The Catholic church didn't know what to do with them until last week when they decided, in agreement with the pope, that those who do not pay their duty to the Church should be denied all services from the church, they cannot be married in a church anymore nor buried.
We certainly understand the logic behind this decision, when we apply the current commercial system. One has to pay for a service. But should trade be a part of the equation when considering a religious group, a philosophical entity that preaches love and compassion? Our answer is clearly no.

The Raelian Movement is built and managed only by volunteers and no one is or will ever be paid for being a Raelian Guide, this is one of the tenets of our philosophy.

According to official statistics the German catholic church receives 5 billion euros per year from the church taxes collected by the government. Are these 5 billion euros only used for burials and marriages across the country or are they used to feed more acquisitions of German companies like the many owned by the Catholic church?.
As an example the company "Weltbild," Germany’s largest media company which sells books, DVDs, music and more also happens to belong 100% to the Catholic Church. One can find 2,500 erotic books in their catalog. The Church also owns a 50% share in publishing company Droemer Knaur which produces pornographic books, and so indirectly is also a publisher of pornographic material, titles including “Nimm mich hier und nimm mich jetzt!” (Take Me Here, Take Me Now!), and “Sag Luder zu mir!” (Call Me Slut!).
Is it a way to push more people to ask for their confession services? Can anyone find a more hypocritical situation?
The German Catholic Church is clearly one of the biggest German enterprises and no one should be fooled by their philosophical messages. They shouldn't be allowed to talk about their prophet Jesus as their leader and deny help to people in need of comfort just because they haven't paid their taxes. This is insane.
Hopefully more German people will see the reality and overcome their fear of hell and have the strength to leave the church, to leave this trading company as it is all about trade: “Give me your tax and I will guarantee your passage to heaven and make a few cross signs over your wedding rings and your coffin, and hide carefully the pedophile priests and the porn business we are in'... This is what the Catholic Church is all about.
]]>

A recent decree by Germany's Catholic bishops states that people who opt out of a "church tax" should not be given sacraments and religious burials.
About 200,000 German people per year choose to not pay their religious tax anymore. The Catholic church didn't know what to do with them until last week when they decided, in agreement with the pope, that those who do not pay their duty to the Church should be denied all services from the church, they cannot be married in a church anymore nor buried.
We certainly understand the logic behind this decision, when we apply the current commercial system. One has to pay for a service. But should trade be a part of the equation when considering a religious group, a philosophical entity that preaches love and compassion? Our answer is clearly no.

The Raelian Movement is built and managed only by volunteers and no one is or will ever be paid for being a Raelian Guide, this is one of the tenets of our philosophy.

According to official statistics the German catholic church receives 5 billion euros per year from the church taxes collected by the government. Are these 5 billion euros only used for burials and marriages across the country or are they used to feed more acquisitions of German companies like the many owned by the Catholic church?.
As an example the company "Weltbild," Germany’s largest media company which sells books, DVDs, music and more also happens to belong 100% to the Catholic Church. One can find 2,500 erotic books in their catalog. The Church also owns a 50% share in publishing company Droemer Knaur which produces pornographic books, and so indirectly is also a publisher of pornographic material, titles including “Nimm mich hier und nimm mich jetzt!” (Take Me Here, Take Me Now!), and “Sag Luder zu mir!” (Call Me Slut!).
Is it a way to push more people to ask for their confession services? Can anyone find a more hypocritical situation?
The German Catholic Church is clearly one of the biggest German enterprises and no one should be fooled by their philosophical messages. They shouldn't be allowed to talk about their prophet Jesus as their leader and deny help to people in need of comfort just because they haven't paid their taxes. This is insane.
Hopefully more German people will see the reality and overcome their fear of hell and have the strength to leave the church, to leave this trading company as it is all about trade: “Give me your tax and I will guarantee your passage to heaven and make a few cross signs over your wedding rings and your coffin, and hide carefully the pedophile priests and the porn business we are in'... This is what the Catholic Church is all about.
]]> Europe brigitte Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:08:53 -0500 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.498.9 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.439.9 My name is Emma, I am a Raelian Guide in the UK and I am probably among the millions of women who have been raped and never reported it. When I read the raelscience (a free subscription in which you are sent all the latest scientific and political news) about a protest in the US named the Slut Walk I found myself wanting to have been part of it. The Slut Walk was created because on 24th January 2011 a representative of the Toronto Police gave shocking insight into the Force’s view of sexual assault by stating: “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized”.

As the city’s major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of ‘the slut’, and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given even less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they could be blamed. Being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it’s okay to blame the victim.

Maitreya Rael was massively supportive of this new movement and after my own personal experience I was hoping that we in the UK might also have a chance to protest and support this amazing cause. To my delight I found out that it was due to take place on the 11th June so I set about putting the wheels in motion for us, The UK Raelian Movement to be there. Initially I was not sure how good the turn out would be but we were a happy group of 10 in the end, which I was very happy about. We met at Green Park station at 12.00 and once we were all present we made our way to the starting point outside The Hard Rock Cafe. This was a great opportunity for us to do some diffusing we had a number of people come and ask us about our symbol and what our philosophy was about so that was great. We always seem to find very passionate and strong minded people at these kinds of events so that also makes the conversations very interesting too. It took a while for the march to start I think we waited for about an hour an a half but it was nice to read all the other signs and to be in the thick of that action. When we got started things seemed to move quite smoothly and before we knew it we were in Trafalgar square.

I was so proud of the group, proud to be Raelian but also proud to not be scared to say this happened to me and to stand with others who had experienced this too.
With lots of love from our small Island
Emma
]]> My name is Emma, I am a Raelian Guide in the UK and I am probably among the millions of women who have been raped and never reported it. When I read the raelscience (a free subscription in which you are sent all the latest scientific and political news) about a protest in the US named the Slut Walk I found myself wanting to have been part of it. The Slut Walk was created because on 24th January 2011 a representative of the Toronto Police gave shocking insight into the Force’s view of sexual assault by stating: “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized”.

As the city’s major protective service, the Toronto Police have perpetuated the myth and stereotype of ‘the slut’, and in doing so have failed us. With sexual assault already a significantly under-reported crime, survivors have now been given even less of a reason to go to the Police, for fear that they could be blamed. Being assaulted isn’t about what you wear; it’s not even about sex; but using a pejorative term to rationalize inexcusable behaviour creates an environment in which it’s okay to blame the victim.

Maitreya Rael was massively supportive of this new movement and after my own personal experience I was hoping that we in the UK might also have a chance to protest and support this amazing cause. To my delight I found out that it was due to take place on the 11th June so I set about putting the wheels in motion for us, The UK Raelian Movement to be there. Initially I was not sure how good the turn out would be but we were a happy group of 10 in the end, which I was very happy about. We met at Green Park station at 12.00 and once we were all present we made our way to the starting point outside The Hard Rock Cafe. This was a great opportunity for us to do some diffusing we had a number of people come and ask us about our symbol and what our philosophy was about so that was great. We always seem to find very passionate and strong minded people at these kinds of events so that also makes the conversations very interesting too. It took a while for the march to start I think we waited for about an hour an a half but it was nice to read all the other signs and to be in the thick of that action. When we got started things seemed to move quite smoothly and before we knew it we were in Trafalgar square.

I was so proud of the group, proud to be Raelian but also proud to not be scared to say this happened to me and to stand with others who had experienced this too.
With lots of love from our small Island
Emma
]]> Europe brigitte Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:41:34 -0500 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.439.9 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.431.9 15 days into his hunger strike, French government admits his access to a nuclear plant was denied because of his religion

Fifteen days into his protest hunger strike in Metz, France, Kimbangu Piffer, leader of the Raelians in France, has finally received an explanation from the French government as to why he could no longer access the nuclear plant at Cattenom in 2006 following a full decade of access.

A government representative in his town met with Piffer on May 5th and told him the reason he was refused access was linked to his religious beliefs. Piffer was also given access to the file pertaining to this matter.

In 2006, he received a note from the French government authority stating that he couldn't enter the plant. No explanation was given at the time, so Piffer sent numerous queries to French authorities asking the reason for the sudden change. In July 2010, Piffer was once again given access to the plant, but still had received no explanation of the denied access during the interim. In fact, until now, he had received no response whatsoever.

According to the file given to Piffer this week, “The decision [canceling access to Cattenom] was taken because Piffer was known by the security services as an important leader in the Raelian Church and close to guru Rael.” The file also states that, “These elements are an indication of vulnerability, defined as a fragility that lowers the guaranties of a person regarding protection against intelligence and malevolence as they could bring pressure of diverse kinds.”

“Thanks to Piffer’s determination, we now have written evidence that the French Government acts with discrimination against members of the Raelian Movement,” said Brigitte Boisselier, PhD, spokesperson of the Raelian Movement, in a statement released today. “They gave him back his access after La Halde, a French human rights organization, advised the French authorities that their decision violated Articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom, and that it was also against the principle of freedom of conscience. The government tried to bury the matter by refusing to answer Kimbangu’s queries, but his determination was stronger than their cowardice. Now, thanks to the file’s explicit confirmation of religious discrimination, we will sue the French government at the European Court of Human Rights.”




Boisselier added, “This is an important victory for the French Raelians. Over the last 20 years they have suffered from repeated acts of discrimination that forced many of them to leave the country. This acknowledgment from the French Government that it acted against basic human rights might open the door to fairer treatment in the future. It is a first step that the French Raelians will celebrate, and the French government can count on the fact that their leader will remind them about human rights whenever that reminder is needed. If there is someone ‘with vulnerability,’ it is clearly the French government; its policy against minorities is so out of synch with its both own constitution and that of Europe, that it surely cannot continue its discriminatory acts.”

]]> 15 days into his hunger strike, French government admits his access to a nuclear plant was denied because of his religion

Fifteen days into his protest hunger strike in Metz, France, Kimbangu Piffer, leader of the Raelians in France, has finally received an explanation from the French government as to why he could no longer access the nuclear plant at Cattenom in 2006 following a full decade of access.

A government representative in his town met with Piffer on May 5th and told him the reason he was refused access was linked to his religious beliefs. Piffer was also given access to the file pertaining to this matter.

In 2006, he received a note from the French government authority stating that he couldn't enter the plant. No explanation was given at the time, so Piffer sent numerous queries to French authorities asking the reason for the sudden change. In July 2010, Piffer was once again given access to the plant, but still had received no explanation of the denied access during the interim. In fact, until now, he had received no response whatsoever.

According to the file given to Piffer this week, “The decision [canceling access to Cattenom] was taken because Piffer was known by the security services as an important leader in the Raelian Church and close to guru Rael.” The file also states that, “These elements are an indication of vulnerability, defined as a fragility that lowers the guaranties of a person regarding protection against intelligence and malevolence as they could bring pressure of diverse kinds.”

“Thanks to Piffer’s determination, we now have written evidence that the French Government acts with discrimination against members of the Raelian Movement,” said Brigitte Boisselier, PhD, spokesperson of the Raelian Movement, in a statement released today. “They gave him back his access after La Halde, a French human rights organization, advised the French authorities that their decision violated Articles 9 and 14 of the European Convention for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom, and that it was also against the principle of freedom of conscience. The government tried to bury the matter by refusing to answer Kimbangu’s queries, but his determination was stronger than their cowardice. Now, thanks to the file’s explicit confirmation of religious discrimination, we will sue the French government at the European Court of Human Rights.”




Boisselier added, “This is an important victory for the French Raelians. Over the last 20 years they have suffered from repeated acts of discrimination that forced many of them to leave the country. This acknowledgment from the French Government that it acted against basic human rights might open the door to fairer treatment in the future. It is a first step that the French Raelians will celebrate, and the French government can count on the fact that their leader will remind them about human rights whenever that reminder is needed. If there is someone ‘with vulnerability,’ it is clearly the French government; its policy against minorities is so out of synch with its both own constitution and that of Europe, that it surely cannot continue its discriminatory acts.”

]]> Europe brigitte Fri, 06 May 2011 13:32:23 -0500 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.431.9 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.427.9
to protest discrimination against minorities in France.

Civil servant of FT/Orange now three days without food in front of Moselle Prefecture

In a statement released on April 23rd, the International Raelian Movement announced a hunger strike by its national leader in France. The strike, now into its third day, was launched in front of the Moselle Prefecture on Thursday.
Kimbangu Mundele Piffer, technician for 32 years at FT / Orange (formerly France Telecom) said he had decided, as a last resort, to begin a hunger strike to protest discrimination against minorities in France, including Raelians. He cited 6 years of vain attempts to communicate with French administrative authorities and agencies of civil rights, including the Prefecture of Lorraine and HALDE.
“I tried everything with my employer, Halde, and with government agencies and even with the Elysee and the United Nations: correspondence, vigils, free hugs and complaints,” Piffer said. “But there was total disregard for those attempts. For six years I was an unwanted and despised citizen. The authorities will have to face up to their decision and either admit to the reason for their discrimination or watch me die, because I will not give up. The situation of the Raëlians I represent and of all religious minorities in general has become intolerable in France, and I see no other solution than to die to remind the French that human rights also apply to members of religious minorities.”
In 2005, Piffer was denied renewal of permits allowing him access to the EDF nuclear power plant of Cattenom in Lorraine, although he had previously worked in sensitive areas many times using his well-recognized professional skills. He immediately tried to learn the reasons for the non-renewal, taking multiple steps with the director and head of security at the plant, with the prefecture and with many other institutions, all to no avail. He is now convinced that he was evicted from Cattenom because of his membership in the Raelian Movement, which is a stigmatized religious minority in France.


Piffer said the French government has waged “a vile witch hunt against so-called cults for over 20 years.”
“Since the creation of the infamous blacklist of philosophical minorities established in 1995, many Raelians have suffered from assaults and some have had death threats,” Piffer said. “Others have been fired or lost custody of their children for the simple reason that they are Raelians. No media outlets and few philosophers are worried about this. Yet the only other state to have established such a blacklist was the Weimar Republic led by Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Through an enormous manipulation, an entire population believed in the merits of that list, which was established on Feb. 28, 1933.”

Piffer said French people are being manipulated today in the same way that the Germans of the 30s were manipulated, and with the same type of list.
“We will not let them reduce our freedoms any further,” he said, adding that a support committee has been formed between Raelians and members of other religious minorities, both in France and abroad, with the aim of mobilizing freedom defenders to express support for Piffer’s hunger strike.
“I thought for a long time about my decision,” Piffer said. “If my action helps to open the eyes of some of the French and can alert international authorities to the blatant disregard of human rights in France, then I will have accomplished my mission. Before sending the army to fix a supposed constitutional problem in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya, our government should ensure that it respects its own constitution, not just for the majority of people in France, but even more so for minorities. As rightly pointed out by Rael, my spiritual leader, human rights were not enacted to protect the majority. The majority is very well protected simply because it is the majority. Human rights laws were instead designed to ensure that each individual who thinks differently has the right to do so, and to share and thereby enjoy the same rights as those who follow the thoughts of the majority. I am now ready to die for my country to relearn the meaning of ‘human rights.’”]]>
to protest discrimination against minorities in France.

Civil servant of FT/Orange now three days without food in front of Moselle Prefecture

In a statement released on April 23rd, the International Raelian Movement announced a hunger strike by its national leader in France. The strike, now into its third day, was launched in front of the Moselle Prefecture on Thursday.
Kimbangu Mundele Piffer, technician for 32 years at FT / Orange (formerly France Telecom) said he had decided, as a last resort, to begin a hunger strike to protest discrimination against minorities in France, including Raelians. He cited 6 years of vain attempts to communicate with French administrative authorities and agencies of civil rights, including the Prefecture of Lorraine and HALDE.
“I tried everything with my employer, Halde, and with government agencies and even with the Elysee and the United Nations: correspondence, vigils, free hugs and complaints,” Piffer said. “But there was total disregard for those attempts. For six years I was an unwanted and despised citizen. The authorities will have to face up to their decision and either admit to the reason for their discrimination or watch me die, because I will not give up. The situation of the Raëlians I represent and of all religious minorities in general has become intolerable in France, and I see no other solution than to die to remind the French that human rights also apply to members of religious minorities.”
In 2005, Piffer was denied renewal of permits allowing him access to the EDF nuclear power plant of Cattenom in Lorraine, although he had previously worked in sensitive areas many times using his well-recognized professional skills. He immediately tried to learn the reasons for the non-renewal, taking multiple steps with the director and head of security at the plant, with the prefecture and with many other institutions, all to no avail. He is now convinced that he was evicted from Cattenom because of his membership in the Raelian Movement, which is a stigmatized religious minority in France.


Piffer said the French government has waged “a vile witch hunt against so-called cults for over 20 years.”
“Since the creation of the infamous blacklist of philosophical minorities established in 1995, many Raelians have suffered from assaults and some have had death threats,” Piffer said. “Others have been fired or lost custody of their children for the simple reason that they are Raelians. No media outlets and few philosophers are worried about this. Yet the only other state to have established such a blacklist was the Weimar Republic led by Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Through an enormous manipulation, an entire population believed in the merits of that list, which was established on Feb. 28, 1933.”

Piffer said French people are being manipulated today in the same way that the Germans of the 30s were manipulated, and with the same type of list.
“We will not let them reduce our freedoms any further,” he said, adding that a support committee has been formed between Raelians and members of other religious minorities, both in France and abroad, with the aim of mobilizing freedom defenders to express support for Piffer’s hunger strike.
“I thought for a long time about my decision,” Piffer said. “If my action helps to open the eyes of some of the French and can alert international authorities to the blatant disregard of human rights in France, then I will have accomplished my mission. Before sending the army to fix a supposed constitutional problem in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya, our government should ensure that it respects its own constitution, not just for the majority of people in France, but even more so for minorities. As rightly pointed out by Rael, my spiritual leader, human rights were not enacted to protect the majority. The majority is very well protected simply because it is the majority. Human rights laws were instead designed to ensure that each individual who thinks differently has the right to do so, and to share and thereby enjoy the same rights as those who follow the thoughts of the majority. I am now ready to die for my country to relearn the meaning of ‘human rights.’”]]> Europe brigitte Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:47:29 -0500 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.427.9 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.410.9 On March 29th 2001, the police department of Neuchatel refused to the Swiss Raelian movement the authorization to put posters from April 2th to April 13th 2001 on the public locations reserved for associations, on the ground that these “posters are threatening morals“. The poster, shown in the image here, simply depicted a few extraterrestrial faces, a pyramid and a UFO suggesting a link between today's UFO phenomenon and past civilizations which illustrates some of the background of the Raelian philosophy. Nothing immoral in there!
On April 22th 2005, the administrative tribunal of Neuchatel rejected the appeal from the movement. on the ground that the interdiction of these posters was necessary “in a democratic society for the protection of morals“.
On April 10th 2006, the movement filed a case with the ECHR arguing that the interdiction to display their posters was a violation of articles 9 and 10 of the Convention. On January 13th 2011, the ECHR ruled by 5 to 2 votes that there was no violation of article 10 of the Convention on the ground that the Swiss State benefits of a “margin of appreciation” about the use of its public space and the State has reasonable grounds to forbid the posters.
In their dissenting opinion Judges Rozakis and Vajic expressed that the movement was not forbidden in Switzerland and should be able to promote by posters its ideas and its non forbidden website.
Here is a summary of the statement of these 2 dissident judges, one of them being the President of the Court.
The concerned poster in itself doesn't show anything wrong or anything that could shock the public.”.”The Raelian association isn't forbidden and exists in Switzerland since 1977.” “An association is a legal entity which, when it functions in a legitimate manner in the society, has the possibility to spread freely its ideas and opinions in order to reach its objectives without obstacle, using the means that the society offers to all its members. The legal system of a state can refuse the creation of an association when it considers that it violates the moral, political or any other values of the society it represents. However from the moment that the state approves the goals of the association, one can assume that this association must be free to propagate the main ideas coming from the goals and objectives listed in its statutes to the society.
The Swiss Raelian Movement has naturally decided to bring the case to the High Chamber of the ECHR as it is an essential matter of principle. If the Raelian association is registered in Switzerland then it has the same rights and obligations as the any other association.

The other judges argued that the fact that a link to the Clonaid website could be found on the advertised rael.org website, and cloning being illegal in Switzerland, this is sufficient to refuse the posters. Well, if it is the case, let's examine the Christian, Jewish and Muslim philosophies. Anyone can open their scriptures and see that slavery, murder, child mutilation, obligation for women to be submissive, death sentence for homosexuals and a whole bunch of other horrible behaviors are taught as perfectly normal. Will the Swiss government keep on advertising these crimes by accepting their posters? What about the crucifix along the roads of Switzerland on public domain? Aren't they a clear advertizing tool of the criminal ideas of the Catholic church? Aren't they an insult for all the Swiss people who have been abused by local priests? An insult to all those who die from Aids following the pope recommendations? And an insult to all those who have been tortured in the past in the name of god...
If the ECHR follows this denial path and establish a jurisprudence with our case, we will have a lot of fun using this jurisprudence to clean up the European landscape of all this middle aged signs.
But let's have a look at what is bothering them in our philosophy.
They don't like our support for human cloning. Back in 2001 cloning was still a shock in the public mind but today it isn't anymore and many are thinking along the Raelians that it is the only way to become eternal and that allowing some parents to have a clone child if they are infertile doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.
They say that our philosophy could lead to pedophilia. Rael, our spiritual leader has repeatedly said that pedophilia is a mental disease and this can be found on all our sites. He also initiated the association called Nopedo to help the victims of Catholic Priests. Raelians are encouraged to have a free sexuality between consenting adults, why would they have pedophile tendencies? Only those who are denied a harmonious sexual life can have this mental disease developed and it is easy to find what philosophy counts the most pedophiles!
- They are concerned about the fact that we say that we need to elect only bright people. For the Raelians, to have intelligent people in charge is as obvious as choosing the best doctor when one is sick. Do you prefer to go to the local doctor assigned to you or would you rather choose the best known doctor? Would you like to keep being governed by those who had the most money to pay for his or her campaign or would you rather have someone who has a clear idea of where the world is heading and how to make it more harmonious and safer? Is it eugenics to wish for a bright leader? No, it is pure common sense...
- Finally they think that the slogan « Finally science replaces religion » could be offending. In the past, people were going to church and praying god to get better when they were ill. Today they go to hospital. Science does replace religion in many aspects of our life. Internet is the best religious experience as religion is the mean to link people and internet does that better than any local church. Is this offending? No it is simply our reality. Science replaces religion and for the atheists Raelians it is the best that can happen to our planet.
We will keep you posted on the results of our file at the ECHR as it is a major event for Human Rights lovers. Can a legitimate association advocating love and peace be denied basic expression rights by its government? Hopefully the next judges in charge of the file will contemplate the consequences of their decision before denying us our rights. But whatever they decide, the Raelians will rejoyce as if they win, Human Rights have gone a step further, if they don't win, they will have so much fun illustrating the incoherence of the situation.
]]> On March 29th 2001, the police department of Neuchatel refused to the Swiss Raelian movement the authorization to put posters from April 2th to April 13th 2001 on the public locations reserved for associations, on the ground that these “posters are threatening morals“. The poster, shown in the image here, simply depicted a few extraterrestrial faces, a pyramid and a UFO suggesting a link between today's UFO phenomenon and past civilizations which illustrates some of the background of the Raelian philosophy. Nothing immoral in there!
On April 22th 2005, the administrative tribunal of Neuchatel rejected the appeal from the movement. on the ground that the interdiction of these posters was necessary “in a democratic society for the protection of morals“.
On April 10th 2006, the movement filed a case with the ECHR arguing that the interdiction to display their posters was a violation of articles 9 and 10 of the Convention. On January 13th 2011, the ECHR ruled by 5 to 2 votes that there was no violation of article 10 of the Convention on the ground that the Swiss State benefits of a “margin of appreciation” about the use of its public space and the State has reasonable grounds to forbid the posters.
In their dissenting opinion Judges Rozakis and Vajic expressed that the movement was not forbidden in Switzerland and should be able to promote by posters its ideas and its non forbidden website.
Here is a summary of the statement of these 2 dissident judges, one of them being the President of the Court.
The concerned poster in itself doesn't show anything wrong or anything that could shock the public.”.”The Raelian association isn't forbidden and exists in Switzerland since 1977.” “An association is a legal entity which, when it functions in a legitimate manner in the society, has the possibility to spread freely its ideas and opinions in order to reach its objectives without obstacle, using the means that the society offers to all its members. The legal system of a state can refuse the creation of an association when it considers that it violates the moral, political or any other values of the society it represents. However from the moment that the state approves the goals of the association, one can assume that this association must be free to propagate the main ideas coming from the goals and objectives listed in its statutes to the society.
The Swiss Raelian Movement has naturally decided to bring the case to the High Chamber of the ECHR as it is an essential matter of principle. If the Raelian association is registered in Switzerland then it has the same rights and obligations as the any other association.

The other judges argued that the fact that a link to the Clonaid website could be found on the advertised rael.org website, and cloning being illegal in Switzerland, this is sufficient to refuse the posters. Well, if it is the case, let's examine the Christian, Jewish and Muslim philosophies. Anyone can open their scriptures and see that slavery, murder, child mutilation, obligation for women to be submissive, death sentence for homosexuals and a whole bunch of other horrible behaviors are taught as perfectly normal. Will the Swiss government keep on advertising these crimes by accepting their posters? What about the crucifix along the roads of Switzerland on public domain? Aren't they a clear advertizing tool of the criminal ideas of the Catholic church? Aren't they an insult for all the Swiss people who have been abused by local priests? An insult to all those who die from Aids following the pope recommendations? And an insult to all those who have been tortured in the past in the name of god...
If the ECHR follows this denial path and establish a jurisprudence with our case, we will have a lot of fun using this jurisprudence to clean up the European landscape of all this middle aged signs.
But let's have a look at what is bothering them in our philosophy.
They don't like our support for human cloning. Back in 2001 cloning was still a shock in the public mind but today it isn't anymore and many are thinking along the Raelians that it is the only way to become eternal and that allowing some parents to have a clone child if they are infertile doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.
They say that our philosophy could lead to pedophilia. Rael, our spiritual leader has repeatedly said that pedophilia is a mental disease and this can be found on all our sites. He also initiated the association called Nopedo to help the victims of Catholic Priests. Raelians are encouraged to have a free sexuality between consenting adults, why would they have pedophile tendencies? Only those who are denied a harmonious sexual life can have this mental disease developed and it is easy to find what philosophy counts the most pedophiles!
- They are concerned about the fact that we say that we need to elect only bright people. For the Raelians, to have intelligent people in charge is as obvious as choosing the best doctor when one is sick. Do you prefer to go to the local doctor assigned to you or would you rather choose the best known doctor? Would you like to keep being governed by those who had the most money to pay for his or her campaign or would you rather have someone who has a clear idea of where the world is heading and how to make it more harmonious and safer? Is it eugenics to wish for a bright leader? No, it is pure common sense...
- Finally they think that the slogan « Finally science replaces religion » could be offending. In the past, people were going to church and praying god to get better when they were ill. Today they go to hospital. Science does replace religion in many aspects of our life. Internet is the best religious experience as religion is the mean to link people and internet does that better than any local church. Is this offending? No it is simply our reality. Science replaces religion and for the atheists Raelians it is the best that can happen to our planet.
We will keep you posted on the results of our file at the ECHR as it is a major event for Human Rights lovers. Can a legitimate association advocating love and peace be denied basic expression rights by its government? Hopefully the next judges in charge of the file will contemplate the consequences of their decision before denying us our rights. But whatever they decide, the Raelians will rejoyce as if they win, Human Rights have gone a step further, if they don't win, they will have so much fun illustrating the incoherence of the situation.
]]> Europe brigitte Sat, 15 Jan 2011 22:00:04 -0600 http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.410.9