[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 11, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H5740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY IN FRANCE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the freedom to worship freely according to 
the dictates of one's conscience is one of the basic rights enshrined 
in the bill of rights and in similar documents around the world.
  The European Convention on Human Rights is another document that 
guarantees freedom of religion, but the powerful socialist party in 
France has compiled a list of 173 denominations that it considers 
dangerous; they call them cults.
  The socialist parliament is about to send legislation to President 
Chirac that would imprison any member of these denominations for up to 
2 years for proselytizing or evangelism.
  Who is on the list? Well, it includes the Jehovah's Witnesses, the 
Scientologists, but it also includes Baptists and other well-known 
evangelical denominations.
  Mr. Speaker, the President and Vice President of the United States 
are both Southern Baptists. Were they to live in France and invite 
friends to church, they might be imprisoned for that under this 
proposed law.
  The freedom of religion is threatened around the world, but not just 
in Third World countries.
  Mr. Speaker, we must stand against bigotry of every kind, including 
religious bigotry.




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