Remus Cernea (; born June 25, 1974) is a
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n activist against
discrimination based on faith and religion, an advocate of the
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
and the founder of the ''Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience Association''. From 2012 to 2016, he served as a member of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. He was also president of the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
(PV).
He ran in the
2009 Romanian presidential election, and was a candidate for
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
(PV), gaining over 60,000 votes, or a share of 0.62% of the votes. In October 2010, he left the Green Party over ideological differences and created the
Green Movement
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It be ...
( ro, Mișcarea Verzilor).
Biography
Born in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, he lived in
Hunedoara
Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș ...
for 14 years, where his father worked as a
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
, then moved back to Bucharest in 1988. In 1998, he founded the
Noesis Cultural Society The Noesis Cultural Society (Romanian ''Societatea Culturală Noesis'') is a Romanian organization that produces and markets CD-ROM-based works pertaining to Romanian culture and thought. They are based in Bucharest, Romania. "Noesis" is an Ancient ...
, an organization which edited the first
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
e-books
An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
and multimedia encyclopedias dedicated to subjects of the
Romanian culture
The culture of Romania is an umbrella term used to encapsulate the ideas, customs and social behaviours of the people of Romania that developed due to the country's distinct geopolitical history and evolution. It is theorized and speculated that ...
: a CD-ROM containing 50 e-books and encyclopedias about
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...
and
Constantin Brâncuși
Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian Sculpture, sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of ...
.
[Remus Cernea - repere biografice](_blank)
at tualegi.eu
''Adevărul'', March 24, 2003 These projects earned the Noesis Society the prize for the best educational product (2002 edition) given by the Presidency of Romania.
Cernea studied
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
(UB) but he did not graduate.
In 2003, he founded the Association "Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience", a
secularist
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
and
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
organization which militates for
freedom of thought
Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
Overview
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
, separation of church and state and against discrimination based on faith and religion.
Cernea published in 2007 a book of essays and articles named "Manifest împotriva becalizării României" (''A Manifest Against the Becalization of Romania''), in which he argues that the "Becalization" (derived from the name of
Gigi Becali
George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club.
Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...
, a nationalist politician who stresses his allegiance to the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
) is threatening the values of an
open society.
Views
Cernea argues that in Romania there is an "unacceptable collusion between the politicians and the Church",
["Les projets pharaoniques de l'Église orthodoxe à Bucarest"]
in ''Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'', February 1, 2008 and that although officially there is a separation of Church and state, practically, the
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...
and the state are "intimately linked".
["En Roumanie, l’Eglise reste en l’Etat"](_blank)
''Libération
''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
'', September 12, 2007 He considers himself a "
freethinker
Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...
", which he describes as being more encompassing than the term of "
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
", considering the term of atheist a bit too limited and wanting to retain an "area of speculation and openness".
His 2009 electoral platform was based on 10 points which he details on his blog and include: supporting conciliation and dialog within the Romanian society, supporting human rights and fight against discrimination, closer ties with Romania's neighbours, supporting
green technologies,
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
, and
green agriculture, increase in funding for education and research to 10% of the Romanian GDP, freer election system that is more fair to smaller parties, full
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
and a national dialog on social issues such as legalization of prostitution, the problem of drugs and the recognition of heterosexual and homosexual
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s.
Political activity
In 1997, as a protest toward the nationalism found in Romanian politics, Cernea joined the ethnic Hungarian party, the
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...
(UDMR/RMDSZ), despite being ethnically
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
.
["Anonimi la poarta Cotroceniului"](_blank)
, ''Evenimentul Zilei'', October 27, 2009
Cernea announced his intention to run as a Green Party candidate in the January 17, 2010
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
for the
Romanian Chamber of Deputies
); – Committee for Industries and Services ( ro, Comisia pentru industrii și servicii); – Committee for Transport and Infrastructure ( ro, Comisia pentru transporturi și infrastructură); – Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Food Indu ...
seat (in the Sector 1 of Bucharest), vacated after the appointment of
Bogdan Olteanu
Bogdan Olteanu (born 29 October 1971) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the president of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Romanian Parliament) between 2006 and 2008.
Olteanu had formerly been a member of the National L ...
as deputy governor of the National Bank, however, the Bucharest Central Municipal Bureau rejected his candidature, because he is not a member of a parliamentary party, as the law requires in case of a by-election. The appeal of the decision and of the constitutionality of the law were rejected and Cernea announced he wants to dispute the law at the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
.
2009 Presidential election
In August 2009, Cernea announced his intention of running for presidency as a candidate of the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
(PV). He and the Green Party gathered the needed 200,000 signatures and submitted them to Electoral Bureau on the last day before the beginning of the electoral campaign, October 23, 2008.
In an interview for ''
Evenimentul Zilei
''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name means "today's even (news)".
History and profile
''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu and Mihai Cârciog, an ...
'', Cernea said that he wants to offer an alternative to the mainstream politics and he tries to attract the 60-70% of the voters who are disappointed by the politicians and do not want to go to the polls. Although Cernea tried to obtain a debate, no candidate from the top three parties accepted a debate involving him.
Cernea's political campaign was especially visible on the Internet, having the most
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
supporters of all the candidates. He says that unlike the top candidates' campaigns, his campaign was exclusively based on the enthusiasm of some young volunteers who helped him purely through
pro-bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
work.
["Remus Cernea: Candidatura mea a lasat o urma"](_blank)
''România Liberă'', November 22, 2009
Cernea was the 8th out of 12 candidates, gaining 60,539 votes, or a share of 0.62%. The highest percentages were in the Bucharest sectors 3 (1.13%) and 6 (1.04%), Cluj County (0.9%) and among the voters abroad (1.0%).
Member of Parliament
Cernea ran in the
2012 Romanian legislative election on the
center-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
Social Liberal Union
The Social Liberal Union ( ro, Uniunea Social Liberală, USL) was a grand coalition of several political parties in Romania. The alliance contained two major centre-left and centre-right parties, more specifically the Social Democratic Party (PSD ...
(USL) ticket in a constituency in
Constanța County
Constanța () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța.
Demographics
In 2011, it had a population of 684,082 and the population density was 96/km2. The deg ...
, being one of the three candidates of the Green Party (PV) in the elections. He won the district, having 20,565 votes (57.23%).
Law proposals
Church financing reform
In April 2013, Cernea announced that he is preparing a law proposal that would cut the state financing of churches from the state budget and institute a
church tax
A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some religious denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church.
The constitution of a number o ...
similar to the one in Germany.
Prime Minister Ponta announced that the USL coalition does not support his proposal
and his proposal was met with opposition. Mayor of Constanța,
Radu Mazăre, called him "an idiot" and said that he'll "break his legs" if Cernea comes to Constanța.
Gigi Becali
George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club.
Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...
called him a "satanist" and argued that Cernea should be sent to an
insane asylum
The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital.
The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...
or to prison.
The Romanian Orthodox Church reacted to Cernea's proposal through a press release in which they argued that the state assumed an obligation in 1863 following the
Secularization of monastery estates and that the proposal is "unrealistic and inadequate for today's Romania" and that it would create a "crisis in the relationship between the state and religious organizations".
Same-sex civil unions
Also in April 2013, Cernea announced that he intends to propose the legalization of
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Cernea introduced a bill for same-sex civil unions, which was defeated in Parliament on 17 December 2015.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
Campaigns as activist
Church in the University courtyard
In 1998, the Philosophy and Law departments of the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
(UB) shared a building and in its courtyard, it was decided to build a church. After the place was hallowed, Cernea, who was studying philosophy at the University, together with three other students, wrote a letter of protest, organized a conference about the subject and gathered 150 signatures against the building of the church. The Association of Christian Orthodox students gathered a list of 3,000 signatures supporting the building of the church.
[Cristian Ghinea]
Ateii iconoclaşti cu care aş muri de gît
''Dilema Veche
''Dilema veche'' (English: "Old Dilemma") is a Romanian weekly magazine that covers culture, social topics, and politics. It was founded in 2004 as the successor to the magazine ''Dilema'', which was founded in 1993. Both magazines were founded by ...
'', February 16, 2007
As the scandal was booming, the rector decided to defuse it by banning any conference on the subject. The project of the building of the church was cancelled and the Orthodox icons in the University classrooms were removed.
Icons in schools
According to Cernea, following the fall of
Nicolae Ceauşescu Nicolae may refer to:
* Nicolae (name), a Romanian name
* ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel
See also
*Nicolai (disambiguation)
*Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following:
Given name
*Nicolao Civitali ...
, in schools, his portraits were replaced with Romanian Orthodox icons.
In 2005, Emil Moise, a philosophy teacher from
Buzău
The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...
began a campaign against the display of religious items in schools.
["Câteva ONG-uri cer retragerea icoanelor şi crucilor din şcoli"](_blank)
''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', November 14, 2006 Cernea's association supported his case for the removal of icons from schools, arguing that the religious symbols represent a discrimination against non-Orthodox children and an infringement against the neutrality of the state.
Additionally, as 90% of the schools held religious services, Cernea argued that this practice was also illegal, as the Romanian penal code bans forcing anyone to participate to any religious ceremony.
The movement against icons in schools generated a large debate in the Romanian society and media. In
ruled that the display of religious icons was discriminatory. However, the Ministry of Education argued that it cannot remove the icons because they were not the ones who put them there in the first place
and that local communities should decide whether to keep the icons or not.
is a large-scale cathedral construction project envisioned by the Romanian Orthodox Church. The government of Romania originally wanted the cathedral to be built it in the place of
, but following protests, including those organized by the Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience Association, it changed the plans.
Finally, in 2007, the state gave the Orthodox Church about 11 hectares of land in central Bucharest, next to the
and it promised it will pay partly the construction costs. Cernea argued that both the donation of the terrain and giving the additional funds represent a misuse of state funds and is illegal.