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French Parliamentary Commission On Cult Activities
The French National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of France, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France (french: Commission parlementaire sur les sectes en France) on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members of the Order of the Solar Temple in late 1994 in the French region of Vercors, in Switzerland and in Canada. Chaired by deputy Alain Gest, a member of the Union for French Democracy conservative party, the commission had to determine what should constitute a cult. It came to categorize various groups according to their supposed threat or innocuity (towards members of the groups themselves or towards society and the state). The Commission reported back in December 1995. See drop-down essay on "Religious Freedom in France" Some non-French citizens and certain organizations, including the Church of Scientology and the United States Department of State, criticized its categorization-methodology. The Parliamentary Commission always bor ...
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French National Assembly
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known as (), meaning "delegate" or "envoy" in English; etymologically, it is a cognate of the English word ''deputy'', which is the standard term for legislators in many parliamentary systems). There are 577 , each elected by a single-member constituency (at least one per department) through a two-round system; thus, 289 seats are required for a majority. The president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, presides over the body. The officeholder is usually a member of the largest party represented, assisted by vice presidents from across the represented political spectrum. The National Assembly's term is five years; however, the President of France may dissolve the Assembly, thereby calling for new elections, unless it has been dissolv ...
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New Religious Movement
A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or they can be part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Some NRMs deal with the challenges which the modernizing world poses to them by embracing individualism, while other NRMs deal with them by embracing tightly knit collective means. Scholars have estimated that NRMs number in the tens of thousands worldwide, with most of their members living in Asia and Africa. Most NRMs only have a few members, some of them have thousands of members, and a few of them have more than a million members.Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", ''New Religious Movements: challenge and response'', Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, Routledge There is no single, a ...
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About-Picard Law
The 2001 About-Picard law bu pika:r officially Law No. 2001-504 of June 12, 2001, aimed at strengthening the prevention and repression of sectarian movements that undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms ( fr: loi n° 2001-504 du 12 juin 2001 tendant à renforcer la prévention et la répression des mouvements sectaires portant atteinte aux droits de l'homme et aux libertés fondamentales) is a controversial piece of French legislation, which broadly speaking, makes it possible to act against organisations when such organisations have become involved in certain crimes. The law is targeted at sects and movements deemed cultic (''mouvements sectaires'') that "undermine human rights and fundamental freedoms", as well as " mental manipulation". The law has caused controversy internationally, with some commentators alleging that it infringes on religious freedom while proponents contend that it reinforces religious freedom. Background on government and religion in France ...
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Mission Interministérielle De Lutte Contre Les Sectes
The MIVILUDES (''Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires''; Interministerial Mission of Vigilance and Combat against Sectarian Drifts) is a French government agency, created by presidential decree in 2002. It is charged with observing and analyzing the phenomenon of cult movements, coordinating the government response, informing the public about the risks arising from sectarian aberrations and facilitating the implementation of actions to aid the victims. Functions According to the first article of the Decree Number 2002–1392 of 28 November 2002, the MIVILUDES is charged with: # Observing and analyzing the phenomenon of sectarian movements whose practices are prejudicial to human rights and basic liberties, constitute a menace to public order, or are in conflict with existing laws and regulations; # Favoring, in the respect of public liberties, the coordination of preventive and repressive action by the authorities against such practic ...
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Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not the head of state, but rather the head of government, serving under either a monarch in a democratic constitutional monarchy or under a president in a republican form of government. In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head/owner of the executive power. In such systems, the head of state or their official representative (e.g., monarch, president, governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers. Under some presidential systems, such as South Korea and Peru, the prime minister is the leader or most senior member of the cabinet, not the head of government. In many systems, the prime minister ...
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Alain Vivien
Alain Vivien (born August 20, 1938) is a French Socialist Party (PS) politician, best known for chairing (1998–2002) the French '' Mission Interministérielle pour la Lutte contre les Sectes'', MILS, a ministerial organization designed to observe the activities of various religious organizations defined as "''Sectes''" (cults). Early career He was mayor of Combs-la-Ville in 1977–1983 and 1989–1992. In 1983 he was elected to the French National Assembly for Seine-et-Marne as a PS candidate. The author of a report on cults requested by Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy in 1982, he was Secretary of State under Édith Cresson in 1991–1992. From 1997 to 1998 he was president of the Centre contre les manipulations mentales. Awards *Leipzig Human Rights Award, May 11, 2002 See also * About-Picard law * Status of religious freedom in France * List of anti-cult organizations and individuals References *''Pourquoi la bataille anti-sectes a échoué ?'' ("Why did the fight against ...
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Direction Centrale Des Renseignements Généraux
The ''Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux'' (Central Directorate of General Intelligence), often called ''Renseignements Généraux'' (RG), was the intelligence service of the French National Police, answerable to the ''Direction Générale de la Police Nationale'' (DGPN), and, ultimately, the Ministry of the Interior. It was also in charge of the monitoring of gambling places and horse racing ranges. On July 1, 2008, it was merged with the ''Direction de la surveillance du territoire'' into the new ''Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur''. Organisation The RG was subdivided into four sub-directorates: * Research * Analysis, prospective and society facts * Resources and methods * Games and casinos The RG employed 3 850 public servants of the Police. They were not covered by the defence classification (of their name, for instance), though some of them had access to have security clearance (some of the files are classified information). Members of the ...
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Cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This sense of the term is controversial and weakly defined—having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia—and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. Richardson, James T. 1993. "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative." ''Review of Religious Research'' 34(4):348–56. . . An older sense of the word involves a set of religious devotional practices that are conventional within their culture, related to a particular figure, and often associated with a particular place. References to the "cult" of a particular Catholic saint, or the imperial cult of ancient Rome, for example, use this sense of the word. While the literal and original sense of ...
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MIVILUDES
The MIVILUDES (''Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires''; Interministerial Mission of Vigilance and Combat against Sectarian Drifts) is a French government agency, created by presidential decree in 2002. It is charged with observing and analyzing the phenomenon of cult movements, coordinating the government response, informing the public about the risks arising from sectarian aberrations and facilitating the implementation of actions to aid the victims. Functions According to the first article of the Decree Number 2002–1392 of 28 November 2002, the MIVILUDES is charged with: # Observing and analyzing the phenomenon of sectarian movements whose practices are prejudicial to human rights and basic liberties, constitute a menace to public order, or are in conflict with existing laws and regulations; # Favoring, in the respect of public liberties, the coordination of preventive and repressive action by the authorities against such pract ...
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Prime Minister Of France
The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister is the holder of the second-highest office in France, after the president of France. The president, who appoints but cannot dismiss the prime minister, can ask for their resignation. The Government of France, including the prime minister, can be dismissed by the National Assembly. Upon appointment, the prime minister proposes a list of ministers to the president. Decrees and decisions signed by the prime minister, like almost all executive decisions, are subject to the oversight of the administrative court system. Some decrees are taken after advice from the Council of State (french: link=no, Conseil d'État), over which the prime minister is entitled to preside. Ministers defend the programmes of their ministries to the prime minister, wh ...
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Circulaire
In France, Italy, Belgium, and some other civil law countries, a circulaire (French), circolare ( Italian) or omzendbrief ( Dutch) consists of a text intended for the members of a service, of an enterprise, or of an administration. Within the French and Belgian civil service, a ''circulaire'' originates from a ministry with the aim of giving an interpretation of a legal text or of a regulation (a decree, ''arrêté'' or Royal Order), with a view to applying such a regulation consistently. As such, a ''circulaire'' depends on the general principles of law, but carries more weight than mere administrative acts. ''Circulaires'' provide recommendations: they apply only to employees of the civil service. In certain cases, ''circulaires'' introduce new rules (''circulaires réglementaires''); such that under certain conditions one can appeal against abuse of power. The body of jurisprudence relating to ''circulaires'' has developed extensively. In principle, ''circulaires'' e ...
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Governmental Lists Of Cults And Sects
The application of the labels "cults" or "sects" to (for example) religious movements in government documents usually signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in several European languages. Government reports which have used these words include ones from Austria, International Religious Freedom Report 2006 - Austria, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State."The vast majority of groups termed "sects" by the Government were small organizations with fewer than 100 members. Among the larger groups was the Church of Scientology, with between 5,000 and 6,000 members, and the Unification Church, with approximately 700 adherents throughout the country. Other groups found in the country included Divine Light Mission, Eckankar, Hare Krishna, the Holosophic community, the Osho movement, Sahaja Yoga, Sai Baba, Sri Chinmoy, Transcendental Meditation, ...
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