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In Reply to: Re: Also focus on LJR issues posted by sarafina on October 01, 2006 at 06:20:32:
Thanks for the clarificaitons and additional information about this case, Sarafina.
It is sad to see a second and third generation caught up in the sins of the first, which in this case is a concern with what's best for the cult and the mother's own interests rather than what's in the best interests of the child. But that is TF's worldview: the individual doesn't count for nearly as much as the survival of the group as a whole.
When presenting Family doctrine, I think it would be important to focus on the fact that as a church, TFI DOES NOT have a good track record of putting the best interests of the child first; even with the Charter and reforms, it is clear that the Family's communitarian way of life puts the survival of the group over the best interests of individual children. Not reporting known molesters to the police is a good example of what I mean.
I think a very powerful presentation of the religious issues at stake would be to pose Family teachings about "selfishness" and the Charter's lack of sufficient protections for children against the principles outlined in the International Rights of Children. I would hope that the people at Safe Passage could be of help to you and others involved in this case.
There is a legal movement afoot that's being lead by Dr. Marci Hamilton, a legal scholar from New York. She is setting up a Congress hearing. Her legal case is that the First Amendement protection of religious freedom does usurp rule of law in the protection of individual rights. I have a close SG friend involved in this effort who may be testifying, and it's important that certain legal arguments be raised in this case, even if case law in the U.S. up to this point has not been well-established to protect the child's right to choose his own religious faith.
Whoever the father's lawyer is, s/he might want to be familiar with Hamilton's book, "God versus the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law." My SG friend is a good friend of Don Irwin's, if that helps you to identify who I'm talking about. Her efforts on this issue may be of interest to the father's lawyer.
