Estados Unidos preocupado por la libertad religiosa en la Unión Europea de 2023

La libertad religiosa es un derecho humano fundamental y, si bien la Unión Europea (UE) es conocida por sus esfuerzos para promover esta libertad a nivel internacional, algunos de sus estados miembros aún se enfrentan a políticas discriminatorias que afectan a los grupos religiosos minoritarios. Mollie Blum, una…

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La ONU insta a Turquía a no deportar a la minoría religiosa ahmadi perseguida

GINEBRA (5 de julio de 2023) – Los expertos en derechos humanos de la ONU* pidieron a Turkiye el martes pasado que no deportara a más de 100 miembros de una minoría religiosa perseguida que fueron secuestrados el mes pasado en la frontera turco-búlgara. También instaron al gobierno a realizar una evaluación precisa del riesgo de su situación en…

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La ONU insta a Türkiye a detener la deportación de la minoría religiosa ahmadi perseguida

GINEBRA (5 de julio de 2023) – Los expertos en derechos humanos de la ONU* pidieron a Turkiye el martes pasado que no deportara a más de 100 miembros de una minoría religiosa perseguida que fueron secuestrados el mes pasado en la frontera turco-búlgara. También instaron al gobierno a realizar una evaluación precisa del riesgo de su situación en…

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Poutine: la Suède a encore brûlé le Coran, Pierre le Grand n’a pas été une leçon pour eux

Il y a quelques jours, il a noté que la Russie ne peut pas “empiéter sur le Coran”. Le président russe Vladimir Poutine a condamné l’acte récent de brûler le Coran à Stockholm, rappelant la victoire de l’armée russe dirigée par Pierre le Grand sur les Suédois pendant la guerre du Nord, TASSE…

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Turquie, Violence physique et sexuelle par la police contre plus de 100 demandeurs d’asile ahmadis

Le 24 mai, plus de 100 membres de la religion ahmadie – femmes, enfants et personnes âgées – de sept pays à majorité musulmane, où ils sont considérés comme hérétiques, se sont présentés à la frontière turco-bulgare pour déposer une demande d’asile auprès de la frontière bulgare. La police, mais ils étaient…

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Turquie, Violence physique et sexuelle par la police contre plus de 100 demandeurs d’asile ahmadis

Le 24 mai, plus de 100 membres de la religion ahmadie – femmes, enfants et personnes âgées – de sept pays à majorité musulmane, où ils sont considérés comme hérétiques, se sont présentés à la frontière turco-bulgare pour déposer une demande d’asile auprès de la frontière bulgare. La police, mais ils étaient…

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Exploring Padova’s Religious Diversity: A Journey with a special focus on Scientology

A documentary explores the Church of Scientology Padova and its activities while covering the rich diversity of the city.

PADOVA, PADOVA, ITALY, June 1, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Padova, a contemporary centre of culture and commerce, has remained faithful to its past as a medieval hub of…

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Trafalgar Square celebró el Iftar musulmán más grande de Europa – europeantimes.news

Ayer, un colega y yo asistimos al Iftar público abierto más grande de Europa en Trafalgar Square. Asistieron miles de personas. Para aquellos que no lo saben, Iftar es la comida de ruptura del ayuno al final de cada día durante el Ramadán, cuando se ayuna desde el amanecer hasta el anochecer. Es una tradición espiritual…

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Sufism
Sufism

Islam is a distinct religion of revelation, although it does not end its specificity. It is a prophetic religion, ie a religion created by a prophet – a man who is convinced that he preaches from above, that God himself speaks with his mouth, whose messenger (rasul) he is in particular. There is no concept of the priesthood in Islam, as in the Christian church. Therefore, there is no authority to claim the last word on any issue and to bind all Muslims to their views.

One prophetic and mystical current in Islam is Sufism. The beginning of the first Sufism in the form of pietism, emphasized piety and asceticism, dates back to the 8th century. Over the centuries, a harmonious system of Sufi psychotechnics was built to achieve a lived union with God and a higher form of knowledge of God. Typical of Sufis was religious tolerance. A spirit of religious tolerance combined with a search for the delight of knowing the truth – this is the true spirit of Sufism. Sufism is characterized by an understanding of the priority of psychotechnical religious experience in terms of its description and expression in words and concepts. It is at the level of expression of religious experience that insurmountable differences between religions most often arise.

In the verses of Jalal ad-Din Rumi there is a parable that perfectly illustrates this worldview: “Once four friends (Greek, Persian, Turkish Arab) found a coin and decided to buy something that each of them would like. Their opinions did not coincide: the Greek wanted to buy “stafil”, the Persian – “engur”, the Arab – “einab”, and the Turk – “uzyum”, for which they quarreled. Then a stranger offered to buy something that everyone would like. They agreed and received a bunch of grapes – it was stafil, and einab, and engur, and uzyum. Such is the truth which the saints of all religions reach, and which different peoples call differently, and which, because of misunderstanding, leads to enmity and war.

In Sufism, there is a popular legend about a pious woman, Rabia Basri, recognized as a Sufi saint, who beautifully illustrates this worldview. She walked once, carrying a jug of water in one hand and a lighted torch in the other. When asked why she carried water in one hand and fire in the other, she replied that she wanted to put out the hellfire in hell so that people would not worship Allah for fear of the flames of hell, and he carries the torch to ignite paradise, so that people do not worship Allah at the expense of the expected bliss of paradise. Her message was that Allah should be worshiped out of pure love and not for any other reason.

Death and descent into Hell on the one hand, resurrection and ascension to Heaven on the other, are two opposite and complementary phases, the first of which is preparatory to the second and which, in addition to all traditional doctrines, we find in the description of the Great Work. hermeticism. We also find it in Islam, which tells us the episode with the “night journey” (“isra”) of Muhammad, containing descent into the infernal regions and ascension in the various levels in paradise or heavenly realms. Certain passages in this “night journey” and Dante’s poem have striking similarities. Don Miguel Asin Palasios (La Escatologia musulmana en la Divina Comedia, Madrid, 1919; also cf. Blochet, Les sources orientales de “La Divine Comedie”, Paris, 1901) reveals the numerous parallel places in the plot and in the form between “The Divine Comedy” and “Kitab al-Isra” (“Book of the Night Journey”) and “Futuhat al-Makkiya” (“Revelations from Mecca”) – works written by Mohiddin ibn Arabi eighty years earlier. Many researchers make analogies between Dante’s poem and the literature of other countries.

“In an adaptation of the Muslim legend (about the descent into Hell), a wolf and a lion block the way of the worshiper, as the panther, the lion and the lioness meet and return from the path of Dante … Virgil is sent to Dante and Gabriel (Gabriel) to Muhammad from Heaven, both of which, during the journey, will satisfy the curiosity of the worshiper.Hell is announced in both cases with similar signs: a fierce storm, a furnace of fire … The architecture of Dante’s Hell is built on that of Muslim Hell: both are gigantic, formed by a series of floors, steps, or winding steps that gradually descend to the bottom of the earth; each of them accepts a certain category of sinners, whose guilt and punishment are aggravated by each lower level. Each floor, in turn, is divided into sublevels according to the different characteristics of sinners ; finally, the two Hells are situated below the city of Jerusalem … In order to purify himself on the way out of Hell and to ascend to Heaven, Dante undergoes a triple dousing/affusion. Such a triple dousing purifies the souls in the Muslim legend: before entering Paradise, they are immersed in the waters of the three rivers that irrigate the garden of Abraham …

Iran has a new president
Iran has a new president

Sayyid Ebrahim Raisol-Sadati, commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi will be Iran’s new president, according to data from the partial counting of votes from yesterday’s presidential election in the country. He leads convincingly in front of the other three candidates, BNR writes.

Shiite cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who heads the judiciary, has ultra-conservative views. He is under US sanctions.

The president of Iran is the second highest-ranking official in the country, after the supreme leader. He has a significant influence on domestic policy and foreign affairs, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state issues.

Raisi’s three rivals and incumbent President Hassan Rohani congratulated him on his victory.

So far, Raisi has received 62 percent of the vote, or nearly 18 million of the 28 million ballots cast.

59 million Iranians had the right to vote. 600 people were registered to vote, but only seven received approval from the Board of Trustees.

Three of these candidates withdrew just a day before the vote.

Ebrahim Raisi, a 60-year-old cleric, has served as a prosecutor for most of his career. He was appointed head of the judiciary in 2019. Raisi declared himself the most suitable person to fight corruption and solve Iran’s economic problems.

However, many Iranians and human rights activists have expressed concern about his role in the mass executions of political prisoners in the 1980s.

The Unknown Dante and His Mystical Esotericism (2)
The Unknown Dante and His Mystical Esotericism (2)

In different traditions we have descriptions of travels outside the borders of the earth. Undoubtedly, if Dante accepts Virgil as his guide during the first two parts of his journey, the reason is in Song VI of the Aeneid; but we must note that in Virgil we have not only a rich poetic imagination, but also an indisputable knowledge of initiative.

Part 2 of 2 (Read PART 1 HERE)

Even in the Middle Ages there was a profanation and deformation of the legacy of the great ancient author, all the way to his connection with witchcraft. On the other hand, it is not difficult to find out who Virgil’s ancestors were among the ancient Greeks, recalling Odysseus ‘journey to the Cimmerian lands and Orpheus’ descent to Hell. But isn’t this just a series of subsequent literary imitations? The truth is that it has a direct connection with the ancient mysteries and this same reality is reflected in the various literary or legendary works: the golden willow, which Aeneas, led by Sybil, goes to cut down in the forest (the same “selva selvaggia” where Dante situates the beginning of his poem), is that willow carried by the initiates of the Eleusinian mysteries and reminiscent of the acacia of modern Freemasonry, in which is a “symbol of resurrection and immortality.” Even in Christianity we can find traces of such symbolism: with the Feast of the Willow (the Latin name of this holiday is Dominica in Palmis; the palm and the willow are not the same thing, but the palm as a symbol of martyrs has the same meaning as described in this case . The popular name of this holiday is “Palm Sunday” – “Easter”, which unequivocally indicates its connection with the resurrection) in most Christian denominations begins the holy (great) week, which commemorates the death of Christ and His descent into Hell, followed by from the resurrection, after which comes His glorious ascension. It is on Holy Monday that Dante’s story begins, after searching for the mysterious willow and getting lost, he finds Virgil and begins his journey through the worlds, which ends on Easter Sunday, ie until the resurrection.

Death and descent into Hell on the one hand, resurrection and ascension to Heaven on the other, are two opposite and complementary phases, the first of which is preparatory to the second and which, in addition to all traditional doctrines, we find in the description of the Great Work. hermeticism. We also find it in Islam, which tells us the episode with the “night journey” (“isra”) of Muhammad, containing descent into the infernal regions and ascension in the various levels in paradise or heavenly realms. Certain passages in this “night journey” and Dante’s poem have striking similarities. Don Miguel Asin Palasios (La Escatologia musulmana en la Divina Comedia, Madrid, 1919; also cf. Blochet, Les sources orientales de “La Divine Comedie”, Paris, 1901) reveals the numerous parallel places in the plot and in the form between “The Divine Comedy” and “Kitab al-Isra” (“Book of the Night Journey”) and “Futuhat al-Makkiya” (“Revelations from Mecca”) – works written by Mohiddin ibn Arabi eighty years earlier. Many researchers make analogies between Dante’s poem and the literature of other countries.

“In an adaptation of the Muslim legend, a wolf and a lion block the way of the worshiper, as the panther, the lion and the lioness meet and return from the path of Dante … Virgil is sent to Dante and Gabriel (Gabriel) to Muhammad from Heaven; during the journey, they will satisfy the curiosity of the devotee.Hell is announced in both cases with similar signs: a fierce storm, a fiery furnace … The architecture of Dante’s Hell is built on that of Muslim Hell: both are gigantic, formed by a series of floors, steps, or twisted steps that gradually descend to the bottom of the earth; each of them accepts a certain category of sinners, whose guilt and punishment are aggravated by each lower level. Each floor, in turn, is divided into sublevels according to the different characteristics of sinners .; finally, the two Hells are situated below the city of Jerusalem … In order to purify himself on the way out of Hell and to ascend to Heaven, Dante undergoes a triple shower. Such a triple shower purifies the souls in the Muslim legend: before entering Paradise, they are immersed in the waters of the three rivers that irrigate the garden of Abraham …

The architecture of the celestial spheres through which the ascension takes place are identical in the two legends; in the nine heavens are located the blessed souls, who in the quay eventually gather in the Empire or the last sphere … Just as Beatrice disappears before St. Bernard to lead Dante in the final stages, so Gabriel abandons Muhammad near the throne of God, where he is led by a light-emitting garland … The final apotheosis of both ascensions is the same: the two travelers , ascended to the presence of God, describe God as an intense light, surrounded by nine concentric circles, formed by endless rows of angelic spirits sending radiant rays; the closest circle is that of the cherubim; each circle completely envelops its inner, and the nine are around the divine center … The infernal stages, the astronomical heavens, the circles of the mystical rose, the angelic choirs around the abode of divine light, the three circles – a symbol of the trinity of faces, the Florentine poet borrowed word for word from Mohiddin ibn Arabi. “” (A. Cabaton, La Divine Comedie “et l’Islam, -La Revue de l’Histoire des Religions, P., 1920, where the work of M. Palacios is summarized).

Such coincidences in precise detail lead us to conclude that Dante was indeed largely inspired by Mohiddin’s writings, but how did they arrive at him? A possible mediator could be Bruneto Latini, who resided in Spain, but this is an unsatisfactory hypothesis. Mohiddin was born in Murcia, whence his nickname El-Andalusi, but did not spend his life in Spain, but died in Damascus; his followers traveled throughout the Islamic world, but mostly in Syria and Egypt; in principle, his works were not publicly available, and some of them were not known at all. In fact, al-Arabi is not just a “poet-mystic,” because for Islamic mysticism he is known as Ash-Sheikh al-Akbar, i. the greatest of the spiritual Masters, Teacher par excellence, whose doctrine is essentially metaphysical, due to which the main initiating Islamic orders, incl. the most developed and closed, originate from it. These organizations in the 13th century (in the era of Mohiddin himself) were in contact with the Knights and probably along this line was the exchange of ideas. If Dante received information about al-Arabi and his writings in a “profane” way, why does he not mention among the esoteric Islamic philosophers (Hell, 4, 143-144) personalities such as Averoes and Avicenna?

Western contemporary critics view the legend of Muhammad’s “night journey” as not necessarily Arabic and Muslim, but as originated in Persia, as a similar narrative is found in a Mazdeist book, Arda Viraf Nameh (Livre d. ‘Arda Viraf’ by MA Barthelemy, 1887). Others send it even further, to India, where we do find many different symbolic descriptions of a hierarchically structured ensemble of organization of Heaven and Hell, from which they conclude that Dante was under direct Indian influence, e.g. For the Indian type of Lucifer in Dante (Angelo de Gubernatis, Dante e l’India, – le Giornale della Societa asiatica italiana, vol. III, 1889, pp. 3-19). Dante’s exposition is in line with Hindu theories of worlds and cosmic cycles, but it does not show the similarity in form found in comparison with the work of al-Arabi.

Like Christianity in its historical development, Islam has undergone a fundamental internal stratification – as early as the 7th century it split into two main currents – Sunni and Shiite Islam. Numerous religious orders were formed. “Pre-Islamic beliefs infiltrated the practices of these orders – as a result, their followers professed an all-encompassing pantheism and preached that the divine essence manifests itself everywhere in nature, and man is one of the divine manifestations.” (cf. Tsveta Raichevska, “Amulet associated with the Order of Bektashi in Bulgaria”, Bulletin of the National Museum of History – Sofia, Volume XVII, 2006, pp. 41-44). As Mozeiko writes, the central meaning of Dante’s poetics is the figure of Beatrice (beatrice – in Italian beatrice; in “New Life” passers-by at first sight noticed her divine beauty and dignity: “and not knowing what to say, – called her Beatrice “), whose real prototype is the daughter of Falco Portinari, who was the wife of banker Simone de’Bardi, cousin of Boccaccio’s stepmother. In fact, Beatrice’s beauty is understood by Dante as beauty in the substantial sense of the word, and belonging to it means moral perfection and spiritual flight.

Therefore, characterizing Beatrice’s beauty, Dante interprets it as an impulse to the divine ascension, axiologically equivalent to the revelation: “Let them reward the Creator with thanks // All who share in her ways.” This is also reflected in the color symbolism of Dante’s poetics: during the first meeting, Beatrice, a nine-year-old girl, is dressed in purple-red – the color of the coming passion; at the second meeting Beatrice is in the prime of her feminine beauty and wears dazzling white clothes – a symbol of innocence and purity (“New Life”); at the time of the third, final meeting, Beatrice, the queen of the world, stands before Dante in shining fiery robes (“Divine Comedy”), which within the ascending to the Neoplatonists Christian symbolism of light means wisdom, glory of God and perfection. A significant symbol in Dante is the personification of the “compassionate lady”, who is “the most worthy daughter of the Lord of the Universe, whom Pythagoras called Philosophy.” It is the “Madonna of Philosophy” that inspired the poet’s spiritual and intellectual pursuits, and in this sense “Madonna Beatrice” and “Madonna of Philosophy” turned out to be semantically equivalent.

Notes:

“Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri), 1265-1321, Italian poet of European and world scale, thinker and politician of the late Middle Ages, humanist, founder of the Italian literary language. Dante wrote the grandiose philosophical poem” in fact it is an overview of all previous cultural traditions, the treatise “Feast” – the first precedent of scientific prose in Italian and the first pre-Renaissance work with an educational focus, devoted to the issues of physics, astronomy, ethics; the treatise “On Folk Eloquence”, written in Latin and dealing with the poetics and rhetoric of the Romance languages ​​(mainly Italian and Provençal); the socio-philosophical treatise “Monarchy”, representing a political-utopian model of social order; the lyrical poetic-prose work “New Life”; numerous letters, canzones, sextines, ballads, eclogues and sonnets, which are distinguished by exquisite stanzas. Born in Florence to the Roman family of the Elisha, who participated in the founding of Florence; great-grandson of Cachagvido, participant in the Crusades of Conrad III, grandson of the famous Guelph Belinchone. Student of Brunetto Latini, lawyer, writer and translator of Aristotle, Virgil, Ovid, Caesar, Juvenal. He belonged to the party of the White Guelphs and from 1295 actively participated in the political life of Florence, and from 1296 he was elected one of the six savas (sages) and a member of the Council of the Hundred (the main financial body of the republic), and from 1300 became one of the seven priors of Florence until the fall of the White Signoria in January 1302, when he was accused of abuse of power and convicted of other White leaders. of exile. In 1315 he was again sentenced to death by the seigneur of Florence together with his sons. He died in Ravenna, which refused to return his ashes to his native Florence even after the unification of Italy in the 19th century. ” (M.A. Mozheiko, Dante Alighieri, – ENCYCLOPEDIA HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, Compiled and chief scientific editor A. A. Gritsanov, Book House, Moscow, 2002).

The Unknown Dante and His Mystical Esotericism (1)
The Unknown Dante and His Mystical Esotericism (1)

Dante’s poetry played a huge role in shaping Renaissance humanism and in the development of European cultural tradition in general, having a significant impact on culture not only in poetic and artistic, but in philosophical terms (from Petrarch’s poetry to the sophiology of VS Solovyov) . Therefore, the study of Dante’s work today is formed in a special branch of medieval studies – Dantology.

In the field of philosophical thought, Dante was influenced by Aristotle, scholastic Aristotelianism and Averroism, and in part by Neoplatonism, Stoicism, and Arab philosophy. He systematically studied the texts of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, John Scott Eriugena, Bernard of Clairvaux, Alan Lilski and Siger of Brabant. The axiological system of Dante’s poetics genetically dates back to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (the final part of the Divine Comedy) and Peripateticism (the Feast). Dante’s political ideal, formed in the conditions of a permanent civil war, was a single secular state – a guarantor of peace and embodied legitimacy – in which separatism and private land ownership would be eliminated. The rule of this state is understood by Dante according to the Platonic model: the decisions of the monarch should be based on the advice of philosophers (“O you unfortunate ones who rule today! Oh you, the most unhappy, through whom they rule! There is no philosophical authority to combine with your government). The optimal political system, from Dante’s point of view, is based, on the one hand, on the presumption of world unity and, on the other, presupposes the preservation of local self-government and the guarantee of freedom. The development of both tendencies must reach the “fullness of times”, ie. to universal prosperity. The denial of the so-called “Constantine’s gift” (or the transmission at the time by Emperor Constantine of a large territory from Italy under the pope’s jurisdiction) provoked a sharp reaction from the church to the point that Cardinal Beltrando del Podiseto ordered the burning of the monarch’s manuscript. , and in 1329 called for an autodafe of Dante’s remains. Dante’s semantic social model is open to interpretations from the standpoint of the ideal of global civilization with its presumption of ethnic polycentrism.

Dante himself in his “Hell” IX, 61-63 indisputably indicates that in his work there is a hidden, secret meaning, whose doctrinal and external meaning is only a veil and should be explored by one who is able to penetrate in him. The Divine Comedy has been studied mainly literally as a literary work, the philosophical meaning has been studied, or rather the philosophical-theoretical as well as the political-social meaning, but Dante himself instructs us to look for another – a fourth meaning. This is essentially the purely initiative, metaphysical meaning, giving an esoteric character to the messages in this work. Some researchers ask the question: Was Dante a Catholic or an Albigensian? Was he a Christian or a pagan at all? (Cf. Arturo Reghini, L’Alegoria esoterica di Dante, – Nuovo Patto, Sept.-Nov. 1921, pp. 541-548). True esotericism is radically different from external religions. The ancient members of initiating societies took part in all external cults, following the customs established in the countries where they resided, as they found behind external differences the essential doctrinal and fundamental unity between religions, without turning it into an artificially created “syncretism”. We find religious syncretism and eclecticism in many Roman emperors. At imp. Elagabalus / Varius Avitus Bassianus /, in 218, Trimontium (now Plovdiv) received the status of a city-neocor and became the center of the cult of Apollo Kendriziiski, the god of the sun (cf. Gramatikov, hierod. Peter, “Arian Council in Philippopolis – 343 “, KAMA Publishing House / French Cultural Institute, Sofia, 2006, p. 8):” He (Elagabalus) consecrated his god Elagabalus on the Palatine Hill just opposite the Imperial Palace and dedicated a temple to him. He said that the cult of the Jews and the Samaritans, as well as the Christian religion, must be transferred there in order for the service of the god Elagabalus to possess the secrets of all religions “(From: History of the Augustus / Elagabalus, 3), – quoted in Nomo L. , Les Empereures Romains et le Christisnisme, Paris, 1931) Emperor Alexander the Great (222-235) was a religious eclectic in his prayer room, next to the busts of Apollonius of Thebes, the magician of Greco-Latin antiquity, 2nd century AD. BC) and Orpheus, stood the busts of Christ and Abraham, and his mother, Julia Mameia, called in her palace Origen, who is the most prominent Neoplatonist in antiquity (cf. Bolotov, Lectures on the History of the Ancient Church, vol. 2, pp. 112).

Pure metaphysics, therefore, is neither pagan nor Christian, but universal. In the Middle Ages, there were societies, initiative and non-religious in nature, which, however, were based on Catholicism. It is very likely that Dante was a member of one of these organizations and was not declared a “heretic” because most of them did not create a conflict between the esoteric and the exoteric. There are exceptions, of course – some are tried as heretics (this was also the official accusation against the Order of the Templars as a pretext for political purposes).

In the world of Islam, esoteric schools do not encounter any hostility from the religious and legal authorities representing exotericism. But let us allude to the fate of the famous Al-Khalaj, who was killed in Baghdad in 309 by Hejira (921 AD), whose memory is revered to this day by the descendants of those who sentenced him to death. for “his offensive teachings.”

Eliphas Levy, in his History of Magic, writes of Dante’s connection to the ancient mysteries: “Comments and research on Dante’s work are increasing, but no one, at least to our knowledge, has discovered its true character. The work of the great Ghibelline is a declaration of war against the Papacy through the revelation of the mysteries. Dante’s epic is Ioanite (Note: The connection with Rosicrucianism is that St. John is associated as head, head of the inner Church, and opposes St. Peter as head of the outer Church. In the 14th century in France and Italy he gained strength one related to the knightly orders, a secret occult but not occult doctrine, later understood as the initiative direction of the Rosicrucians with an hermetic doctrine.

Their name was first given in 1374) and Gnostic; an application of the images and numbers of Kabbalah to Christian dogmas; and a secret denial of all that is contained in these dogmas. His journey to the supernatural worlds takes place like the Eleusinian and Theban mysteries. Virgil accompanies and protects him in the circles of the new Tartarus … Hell is an obstacle only for those who do not know how to return … “(cf. Rene Guenon,” L’Esoterisme de Dante “, Gallimard, Paris, 1957). Many contemporary authors easily imagine that they see a Kabbalistic teaching in anything that only smells of esotericism. It is difficult to accept a link between Kabbalah and chivalry in the Middle Ages because it is a Hebrew tradition and we have no data or facts that Dante had Jewish influence, although we have evidence that during his lifetime Dante had a long personal relationship with a Jewish scholar and poet, Immanuel ben Salomon ben Yekutiel (1270-1330). The fact that we find the science of numbers (numerology) in his work does not make him a Kabbalist in any way. Rather, we can seek a relationship with Pythagoras, and we cannot accuse Pythagoras of practicing Jewish Kabbalism.

Part 1 of 2 (Read PART 2 HERE)

Religious liberty endangered by French Draft Law Against “Separatism”
Religious liberty endangered by French Draft Law Against “Separatism”

France has a serious problem with radical Islam, but the draft law against “separatism” announced by President Macron may create more problems than it claims to solve. This is the conclusion of a “White Paper” co-authored or endorsed by well-known scholars of new religious movements Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist and managing director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) and Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, from the University of Bordeaux, French lecturer in law Frédéric-Jérôme Pansier, human rights activists Willy Fautré, of Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers, and Alessandro Amicarelli, human rights attorney in London and chairperson of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB).

Eradicating the social roots of terrorism is a laudable purpose“, say the members of the task force who is launching the White Paper, “and some provisions of the draft law make sense, but there are also serious problems.”

Screenshot 2020 11 02 Religious Liberty Issues
The White Paper can be downloaded as a FREE pdf at the website of CESNUR.ORG

First, the law is being proposed and publicized by some politicians and media with disturbing accents implying that only an “Islam des Lumières,” an Enlightenment-style Islam, is accepted in France, where all conservative Muslims, i.e, the majority of Muslims in France and Europe, are suspected of extremism if not terrorism. “This“, the report says, “risks to fuel extremism rather than containing it.

Second, the total ban on homeschooling punishes thousands of French parents who are not Muslim, and in most cases do not even decide to educate their children at home for religious reasons. Several sociological studies have concluded that homeschooling is a legitimate form of education and may give good results. “Islamic ultra-fundamentalism“, the authors state, “appears in homeschooling in a tiny minority of cases, and may be controlled or eliminated through adequate controls rather than by banning the practice altogether.”

Third, there is a speedy procedure for dissolving religious organizations deemed to operate against “human dignity” or use not only physical but also “psychological pressures.” This, the White Paper says, is standard jargon used against the so-called “cults” and in fact some French politicians have already announced that the law will be used to “dissolve hundreds of cults” (called in France sectes).

Rather than relying on the pseudo-scientific notions of “brainwashing” or “psychological control,” the White Paper suggests, the law should focus on the “criminal religious movements” (a label several scholars prefer to the elusive “cults” or sectes) that use physical violence or commit common crimes. And, the report adds, the defense of “human dignity” may not lead to violate the corporate freedom of religious bodies, for example when they decide whom to admit or to expel, or suggests that their current members do not associate with those who have been expelled. The White Paper quotes several court decisions stating that excommunication and “ostracism” are part of religious liberty, as religions have the right to take decisions about their own organizations.

Fourth, the reference to places of worship unduly used to spread “hostility to the laws of the Republic” should not mean that sermons should not be free to criticize laws they regard as unjust. Religion has always had the prophetic function of criticizing laws deemed as unfair, which is different from inciting to violence.

We understand“, the authors explain, “that France has its own tradition and history of laïcité, and our purpose is not to suggest that France should adopt the American model of religious liberty, or the Italian model of cooperation between religion and the state. On the contrary, our aim is to find ways to address, within rather than outside the French legal tradition, legitimate concerns about radicalization and terrorism, without infringing on the rights of religious minorities or breaching France’s international human rights obligations.”

https://www.cesnur.org/2020/separatism-religion-and-cults.htm

Macron gets a request from NGOs around the world to have his anti-separatism bill reviewed by Venice Commission
Macron gets a request from NGOs around the world to have his anti-separatism bill reviewed by Venice Commission

On October 28, a letter has been sent to Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, asking for review of the future French “law on separatism” by the Venice Commission and the Office for Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE.

The letter was signed by several NGOs and individuals from all over the world, including the well-known Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, after it had been circulated by the Freedom of Religion or Belief Roundtable Brussels-EU, an informal group of individuals and organizations from civil society who gather regularly to discuss FoRB (Freedom of Religion or Belief ) issues. Writers raise several concerns about the law after the announcements made by Macron and members of his government.

See full letter here:

To:Mr Emmanuel Macron

President of the French Republic

Brussels, the 28th October 2020

Copies to:

  • Kishan Manocha, Head, Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
  • Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
  • Mr Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission
  • Mr Eric Dupont-Moretti, French Minister of Justice

Re: The announcements on the “Law on separatism”

Dear Mr President,

We write as an informal group of organizations and individuals who are scholars, religious leaders and human rights advocates. We are from many faiths or acting in a secular capacity, representing a high degree of diversity. While there is very little we agree on theologically, or politically, we all agree on the importance of religious freedom for all faiths and none.

We write to you following the announcements that you and members of your government have made regarding the bill on “separatism” that you plan to approve in the Council of Ministers meeting on December 9. While no draft of the bill has yet been circulated, to our knowledge, we have some concerns which have been highlighted by the announcements that have been made.

We acknowledge the cautious approach that you have taken during your official speech. We have noted your insistence on the fact that you are targeting radical Islam, and not Muslims, as well as the fact that you intend to respect freedom of religion or belief. We agree that terrorism is a real issue that needs to be tackled and that a strong response needs to be taken with regards to the dangers that are posed to the French Republic, and we deeply share the traumatisms that result from the recent tragic terrorist events which hit France.

Nevertheless, we are concerned that some of the proposals may lead to the opposite of what you intend. Furthermore, taking into account the statements made by members of your government after your speech, those statements reinforce the conviction that the measures being proposed will violate France’s international commitments towards freedom of religion or belief.

For example, you announced that you plan to ban home-schooling in order to protect children from illegal schools “often administered by religious extremists”. While we understand that these schools pose a threat, a global ban on home-schooling will affect the majority of parents that for many different reasons are using this freedom with satisfying results, regardless of their faith, or none. There is certainly sufficient provision in French law to organize controls and make sure that the children are effectively educated according to established educational programmes.

The “general concept” of the law was unveiled by your Minister of Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on Twitter. It explained that places of worship will be placed under increasing surveillance and “preserved […] from the diffusion of ideas and statements hostile to the laws of the Republic.” However, how will that apply to a priest or pastor criticizing abortion or same-sex marriage, which are part of the laws of the French Republic. What action will be taken against others who may speak out against certain “laws of the Republic” that penalize the poor and the immigrants? Or even if they criticize a law against blasphemy, as it existed still recently for Alsace-Moselle in France? Is anyone now criticising the law an enemy of the state?

Another announced provision that poses a problem is your statement and that of the Minister of Interior, where it is said that the law will allow religious and other associations to be dissolved directly by the Council of Ministers in the case of  an “affront on personal dignity” and “use of psychological or physical pressures.” These concepts are vague enough to allow the arbitrary targeting of groups that are acting quite legally and without any violent intent but are in ‘disfavour’ by the administrating body. Furthermore there is no guarantee of judicial process or oversight. 

The Minister of Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, also stated in an interview that, “We will use the same measures against the cults and against radical Islam.” This shows that there is already a clear intent to deviate from the fight against terrorism and enter the realm of prohibiting religious associations on the basis that they do not please someone, simply because they are categorised as “cults” (sectes, in French). 

Legislation aimed at terrorism is not surprising. It is a challenge that many countries face. However, States that have chosen to draft laws with such vague concepts as those cited above are States that have totalitarian tendencies (or are in fact totalitarian). Russia, for example, has passed an anti-extremism law that is now used to prosecute and jail political dissidents as well as members of peaceful religious movements such as the Jehovah Witnesses or followers of Said Nursi on the basis of their definition of “extremism”. 

When the Venice Commission gave its opinion on law of the Russian Federation on Combatting Extremist Activity, adopted at its 91st Plenary Session, it stated: 

7.  The broad interpretation of the notion of ‘extremism’ by the enforcement authorities, the increasing application of the Law in recent years and the pressure it exerts on various circles within civil society, as well as alleged human rights violations reported in this connection have raised concerns and drawn criticism both in Russia and on the international level

(…)

28.  The only definition of ‘extremism’ contained in an international treaty binding on the Russian Federation is to be found in the Shanghai Convention [on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism of 15 June 2001, ratified by Russia on 10 January 2003]. In Article 1.1.1.3) of the Extremism Law, ‘extremism’ is defined as ‘an act aimed at seizing or keeping power through the use of violence or changing violently the constitutional regime of a State, as well as a violent encroachment upon public security, including organization, for the above purposes, of illegal armed formations and participation in them, criminally prosecuted in conformity with the national laws of the Parties’. The latter clause allows signatory states to prosecute such ‘extremist’ actions according to their national laws.

It made clear that the only definitions of ‘terrorism’ and ‘separatism’ that could be used to take action against individuals or organizations require that violence is an essential element (incitement to, or encouragement of, violence or actual violence). 

The European Court of Human Rights has already applied this approach to Russia, regarding a case that involved the prosecution of followers of Said Nursi accused of extremist activities, in IBRAGIM IBRAGIMOV AND OTHERS v. RUSSIA, which became a final judgment on April 2, 2019.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion of Belief, in the unedited version of his last report on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious Intolerance (October 12, 2020), stated: 

17.    A concerning number of mandate communications highlight the use of inchoate terrorist offenses that are disproportionately applied to religious or belief minorities. Harassment measures broadly linked to countering terrorism and protecting national security illustrate that in almost every region of the world religious minorities appear to be at particular risk of being designated “terrorist groups” and of having members arrested under “extremism” or “illegal activity” charges. A number of communications addressed the use of national security imperatives as the stated objective by some governments in criminalizing membership in and/or activities of certain religious or belief groups.  Such an approach amounts to targeting, and ultimately criminalizing, the peaceful expression of a person’s identity. 

19.    Numerous State authorities have arrested, detained (sometimes incommunicado) and sentenced members of religious and belief minorities for undefined charges such as intent to ‘disturb political, economic or social structures’ , to ‘disrupt state sovereignty’   or to  ‘overthrow the Government’.  Such vague provisions fail to fulfil the principle of legality as enshrined in article 15 of ICCPR and give worrying leeway to States to arbitrarily limit the exercise of freedom of religion or belief of certain groups.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) recently released a new document called “Freedom of Religion or Belief and Security: Policy Guidance”. It states in its introduction: 

While OSCE participating States have adopted different strategies to ensure that their own security measures are fully compliant with their international obligations and commitments pertaining to freedom of religion or belief, certain laws, security policies and practices have placed freedom of religion or belief and other universal human rights under significant pressure. Such measures, especially those that are very broad or applied arbitrarily, are often enacted in the name of “national”, “state” or “public” security, or in the interests of preserving or maintaining “peaceful coexistence”, “social stability” or “social harmony”. Experience shows that such limitations can worsen rather than improve security.

There are many more international human rights documents that deal with this delicate issue, but for reasons of brevity we are unable to carry out a full review in this letter.

We are at your disposal to meet and discuss this issue further. In any case, we respectfully but strongly recommend that you submit to both the Venice Commission and ODIHR the draft of the law when it is ready, in order to get considered international legal expertise as to how the law meets established human rights principles. 

We feel that there is a real risk that contrary to your intention, the proposed measures that have been announced will lead to the targeting of Muslims in general as well as other minority faiths, and that it may well lead to a series of human rights violations.

Respectfully yours,

Organizations

Advocates International, Advocates France, All Faiths Network, CAP Freedom of Conscience, CESNUR – Center for Studies on New Religions, EIFRF – European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom, FOREF – Forum for Religious Freedom Europe, HRWF – Human Rights Without Frontiers, International Christian Concern, Law and Liberty International, LDH – Ligue des Droits de l’Homme, LIREC – Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion, Belief and Conscience, ORLIR – International Observatory of Religious Liberty of Refugees, United Sikhs, UPF The Netherlands

Individuals

  • Régis Dericquebourg, Président, Observatoire Européen des Religions et de la Laïcité
  • Michael P. Donnelly, J.D., LL.M., Senior Counsel, Global Outreach
  • The Most Reverend Joseph K. Grieboski, Senior Fellow, The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute
  • Rimon Kasher, Prof. Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
  • Nancy Lefèvre, Chairwoman, Advocates France
  • Brent McBurney, President & CEO, Advocate International
  • Kareem P.A. McDonald, Program Associate, Religious Freedom Institute
  • Greg Mitchell, Chair, International Religious Freedom Roundtable 
  • Scott Morgan, President, Red Eagle Enterprise
  • Matias Perttula, Director of Advocacy, International Christian Concern
  • Malik Salemkour, President, Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH)
  • Frans de Wolff, Secretary, Dutch Network for Interfaith Dialogue

[you can read more about the initiative at https://www.forbroundtable.org/post/letter-in-support-of-having-the-french-anti-separatism-bill-reviewed-by-the-venice-commission]

France: The “Law Against Separatism” Targets “Cults” as well as Islam
France: The “Law Against Separatism” Targets “Cults” as well as Islam

Anti-cultism is back in France. Media around the world have covered President Macron’s announcement of a new law against “separatism,” explaining it as a measure against radical Islam. It is surely true that Islam is targeted but, not for the first time, a law introduced to fight Islamic radical groups is then used against other religious movements. The Russian law against extremism is an obvious example.

The “general concept” of the law has been unveiled by the French Minister of Internal Affairs, Gérald Darmanin, on Twitter, as it is now increasingly common on world politics. We publish the document tweeted by Darmanin, to make it more easily accessible.

The draft announces the “end of home schooling” in general, “except in cases justified by medical conditions.” Obviously, this provision will target a number of Christian communities and not the Muslims only.

The draft also explains that places of worship will be put under increasing surveillance and “preserved […] from the diffusion of ideas and statements hostile to the laws of the Republic.” Again, the law cannot target Muslims only for obvious constitutional reasons. What about a priest or pastor criticizing abortion or same-sex marriage, which are part of the laws of the French Republic, but also claiming that certain “laws of the Republic” penalize the poor and the immigrants?

Hidden in a law ostensibly aimed at Islamic radicalization is a provision that allows religious and other associations to be dissolved (the Russian word “liquidated” is not used, but the substance is very much the same) in case of  “attacks on personal dignity” and “use of psychological or physical pressures.”

When reading this, and considering the French anti-cult tradition, I immediately suspected that the provision will be used against groups labeled as “cults,” and “psychological pressures” is reminiscent of the old idea of “brainwashing.” In Darmanin’s tweet the Minister of Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, was copied.

On October 10, Schiappa gave an interview to Le Parisien confirming that “we will use the same measures against the cults and against radical Islam.” Last year, the official French anti-cult mission MIVILUDES was moved from being an independent structure under the Prime Minister to becoming a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ anti-radicalization system. Anti-cultists protested that this may lead to the demise of the MIVILUDES, but Schiappa now explains that with the new law it will be reinforced and move from mere “analysis” to a more active role. The former politician and anti-cult activist Georges Fenech and the president of the largest French anti-cult organization, UNADFI, Joséphine Lindgren-Cesbron, will become members of the MIVILUDES. Anti-cult propaganda will be further promoted. Among the main aims indicated by Schiappa is identifying the “cults” that could be legally dissolved and banned because of “attacks on personal dignity” and “use of psychological or physical pressures.”

Much in the new draft law is constitutionally problematic, not to mention possible interventions of the European Court of Human Rights. These developments confirm, however, that anti-cultism is alive and well in France and that, as in happened in other countries, what is introduced as “a law against radical Islam” may end up targeting a wide variety of religious organizations.

Source: https://www.cesnur.org/2020/law-against-separatism-in-france.htm

Greece short of friends in Europe as Erdogan steps up pressure
Greece short of friends in Europe as Erdogan steps up pressure

The decision to postpone the EU council meeting solved – for the time being – one thorny EU question, writes Denis MacShane. What to do about Turkey’s new Sultan Erdogan and his non-stop aggression against EU member states, and core EU values?

Denis MacShane is a former Minister for Europe for the UK.

Cyprus has been put in the EU’s naughty corner as the EPP-controlled government there refused to sign off on sanctions measures against Belarus’s Lukashenko.

In time-honoured EU fashion, Nicosia used its veto powers in protest at European Commission and Council inaction on Turkish irredentism in the East Mediterranean.

Cyprus, it should not be forgotten, was invaded and dismembered by Turkey in 1974. Many remain indignant about Putin’s dismemberment of Ukraine and his annexation of Crimea and sanctions are still in place against Moscow.

But Erdogan has sent Turkish naval vessels to protect an energy exploration ship operating in waters that both Greece and Cyprus consider part of their domain.

For millennia, the identity of Greece is based not just on its mainland but on its islands. 200 years ago in 1821, it was island Greeks who rose up to claim freedom and independence from their Ottoman colonisers.

England’s Lord Byron was one of many Europeans who threw himself into the struggle for Greek independence – dying from fever in Greece in 1824.

Now President Erdogan in the eyes of many Greeks and Cypriots wants to restore Ottoman splendour. At a conference in Athens earlier this month, the former French president, François Hollande, laid out the charge sheet against Erdogan.

The new Sultan Erdogan, he said, was seeking to militarise the Eastern Mediterranean; had breached Nato Treaty obligations by buying Russian missiles; had imprisoned hundreds of journalists and political opponents; is obsessed with Islamism, promoting Islam in Europe and has converted two of the finest Byzantine Christian cathedrals in Istanbul into mosques; he flagrantly interferes in the politics of European countries like France and Germany, holding giant political rallies and insisting that Turkish EU citizens owe loyalty only to Turkey; his adventurism in Syria and his war on the Kurds is dangerous; and his alliance with Libya was an act of aggression.

Yet Hollande was countered by Germany’s former SPD Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. He shrugged his shoulders and told Hollande and a number of Greek ministers that if Turkey was sanctioned for buying Russian S-400 air defence missiles in clear violation of Nato Treaty obligations or was made to leave Nato, Turkey would quickly become a nuclear power.

He added that if the EU showed solidarity with Greece and took any measures against Erdogan, Europe would have to build new walls on all its frontiers including internal ones in countries like Hungary, as Erdogan would send a million or more refugees into the EU.

For Gabriel, the main problem was that the United States was not ready to sanction Turkey and given the US controlled Nato, there would be no clear line on Turkish militarisation of the East Mediterranean.

For Gabriel, the answer was “strategic patience”. As Gabriel mockingly put it: “If the EU’s foreign policy is now vegetarian, German foreign policy is vegan”.

As keen meat eaters, the Greeks are more than disappointed with this policy from Berlin though as the UK’s former ambassador to Greece, John Kittmer, pointed out in a paper for London’s main defence policy think tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the Greeks need to improve their public diplomacy in smaller EU member states.

Paris is currently Greece’s number one supporter. When taxed with letting in an utterly reformed, corrupt Greece into the European Community in 1980, the then French president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, grandly replied: “Europe without Plato is unthinkable.”

Britain was one the most Hellenophile of Europe’s nations. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson is proud of his Turkish ancestry – his great grandfather, Kemal Ali, chose the wrong side after 1920 and was killed by his opponents – and since Brexit the UK is no longer a foreign policy player.

Now it is France which is Greece’s main champion though the French Europe Minister, Clément Beaune, has rebuked Cyprus for blocking action against Lukashenko.

Macron sent a French naval frigate to warn off Erdogan but the EU can only handle one foreign policy problem at a time and right now Belarus takes up all the bandwidth of the EU’s External Action Service..

Angela Merkel had a conference call with Erdogan and EU Council President Charles Michel this week and told Erdogan to enter into talks with Greece which the Sultan acceded to.

No-one holds up much hope for a new Turkey-Greece rapprochement such as happened during the so-called “earthquake diplomacy” era initiated by Greece’s then foreign minister, George Papandreou, in 1998. This led to moves to allow Turkey to be accepted as a candidate for the EU. As Tony Blair’s Europe minister at the time the UK and many on the centre-left supported Turkey’s turn to Europe.

But 20 years later Erdogan has made clear he has no interest in a European Turkey but wants an Islamised Ottoman Turkey back which holds sway once again over the Aegan region.

High Representative on behalf of E.U. on the announcement regarding relations between Israel and the UAE
High Representative on behalf of E.U. on the announcement regarding relations between Israel and the UAE

The EU welcomes the announcement on the normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and acknowledges the constructive role played by the US in this respect. The EU has for many years promoted the development of relations between Israel and the countries of the region. Israel and the United Arab Emirates are both important partners of the European Union. A normalisation of their bilateral relations will be beneficial to both countries and a fundamental step for the stabilisation of the region as a whole.  We remain committed to a comprehensive and lasting peace for the entire region and stand ready to work to this end together with our regional and international partners.

Israel’s commitment to suspend plans to unilaterally annex areas of the occupied Palestinian territory is a positive step. Any unilateral decision that undermines a lasting, agreed solution should be avoided. The EU remains firm in its commitment to a negotiated and viable two-state solution built upon the internationally agreed parameters and international law – and reaffirms its readiness to work towards the resumption of meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, building also on the commitment by the parties of the joint statement to engage diplomatically and continue efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace.