Some other speakers will speak of the good practices that exist in Europe regarding the treatment of religious minorities but I will have the difficult task of describing a country with a system which is known for its discriminatory and bad practices. Unfortunately, I know this country pretty well, as it is mine: France.
Falun Gong (FLG) is a Chinese exercise and spiritual discipline emerging from Buddhist and Daoist
traditions. The practice is widely recognized as nonviolent. Its moral teachings centered on the tenets of
truth, compassion, and tolerance carry benefits to adherents and their communities. By the late 1990s, FLG
was estimated to have tens of millions of adherents in China.
For years, France has had a policy of stigmatization and negative stereotyping of minorities of religion or belief it has labeled as “sects” or, more recently as “sectarian movements”. This derogatory classification corresponds to the improper assessment of religion or beliefs and the consideration that some of them, new or minority ones not belonging to traditional Churches or Institutions, are “deviant” and constitute “sectarian drifts”.
being a vice-president of FECRIS (Federation of European Centers for Research and Information on Sects). This article gives an idea of the real results of Dvorkin‟s activities. It calls your attention to facts that are not apparent and are often ignored. The subject matter concerns every believer, no matter what religion he or she belongs to.
