Zeugen Jehovas in Frankreich

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From: marin@ccr.jussieu.fr (Emmanuel MARIN)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.french,alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Re: French IRS vs. French Scientology : Scientology looses and vanishes
Date: 21 Apr 1995 14:34:53 +0200
Organization: CCR - Universites Paris VI/VII - Paris - France
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In article <3n86fn$3bi@linux5.ph.utexas.edu> dcook@linux5.ph.utexas.edu (David M. Cook) writes:
>How in the world did they justify denying the status of religion to 
>Jehovah's Witnesses?  
>
Because of their refusal to accept blood transfusions, a refusal which is
a part of their belief.
Then, when two Jehovah's Witnesses tried to adopt a child some years ago here
in France, the administration refused to let them adopt any child because
of their belief. In case the child had an accident that would require a blood
transfusion, there would have been two possibilities : - the parents refuse
and manage to withdraw their child from the hospital before the transfusion
is one -> the child dies. - the parents cannot withdraw their child from the
hospital and the transfusion is done -> the child is later abandonned by 
his parents.
So, in sum, health care considerations won vs. religious considerations.
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs can be at the origin of a legal discrimination,
so legally they are not a religion.
I must add that in France the health care system can be quite totalitarian
(and that's perfectly fine with me -- individual considerations have not
really their place in matters of epidemiological diseases). For instance,
lots of vaccination are obligatory for the young childs. The parents who
prefer to 'vaccinate' their childs with homeopathy or other nonsense can
have problems with the French courts.
Also, I can add that Jehovah's Witnesses have 'problems' with the Army, as
they even don't want to "do" their military duties as "conscentious objectors".
So they are put in jail (where there are all together and receive the
visits of their 'brothers' -- a kind of endoctrinement place paid by
the taxpayer, in fact). This is what Amnesty International means when it
writes that in France, there are some "conscentious objectors" who are
sent to jail -- in fact, a factual error... Amnesty International was even
once nearly fooled by the French CoS, but that's another story.

The French "Narconon" CoS also currently has BIG problems with the French
courts because of health care matters...

Emmanuel Marin
marin@ccr.jussieu.fr