The Midnight Adoption of Europe's Most Restrictive Religion Law

[rug]

July 12, the Hungarian parliament procured for the country the title of Worst Religion Law in Europe when it rushed after midnight to adopt its new "Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on Churches, Religions and Religious Communities."

The passage of such a draconian religion law in Hungary is both saddening and disappointing. This law stands at odds with the newly drafted Hungarian Constitution this author openly applauded just months prior. Unfortunately, the law is a danger to all Hungarian society and a terrible indication of the state of democracy in the country.

More than three hundred currently registered religious organizations will be retroactively stripped of their status as religious communities and "de-registered" as religious organizations, losing key rights and privileges provided to favored Churches. Only 14 religious organizations will retain their registration status, while all others will be forced to "re-register."

Religious organizations that have been "de-registered" are prohibited from holding themselves out as a "church." Worse, they will also lose their status as a religious organization if they are not re-registered through burdensome and discriminatory administrative and legislative proceedings. Re-registration can only occur if a minority religious community meets onerous duration levels designed to suppress minority religious freedom in complete contravention of European Human Rights Court's and OSCE's standards.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-k-grieboski/hungarian-parliament-resu_b_902567.html

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Easy solution to all dilemas of this kind

Lose this "officially a religion" crap. Treat freedom of religion as nothing more than the natural consequence of freedom of speech, thought, and assembly. No specific laws needed.

[rug]

3. I agree with that.

Strip corporations of personhood as well.

[Adsos Letter]

14. Amen to both.

[sudopod]

17. yep! nt

[valerief]

2. The fewer the better, I say. nt

[provis99]

4. you know how I read this article?

Religious wacko is mad at Hungary for cracking down on the stupidity of religion. I'd like this law even better if they applied it to the 14 registered religions, also. People can have freedom of religious beliefs if they want, but as far as I am concerned, a religious organization is no different than a corporation: they are not people, and are entitled to no rights.

[MNBrewer]

5. Hungary is fucked up

Hungarian government agrees to forced labor for the unemployed

<http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/hung-j21.shtml>

Based on its two-thirds majority, the ruling Fidesz party led by Prime Minister Victor Orban passed a law in the Hungarian Parliament on 11 July requiring the unemployed to undertake forced labor. Those who refuse to carry out such compulsory forms of work will lose all entitlement to benefits. This so-called "Hungarian labor plan" is the latest in a new round of brutal attacks on the Hungarian population carried out by Orban, and accompanied by a further strengthening of authoritarian state structures.

[trotsky]

6. Catholics make up a majority of Hungary's population.

I wonder why they would support such a thing.

[rug]

7. A majority of Catholics voted for Obama.

Here, this may help you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

[trotsky]

8. Ha ha

I *knew* that would get your attention.

You might do well to read that link yourself, given some of your recent threads.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. So what?

Here, this may help you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_%28logic%29

[rug]

11. This is fun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_many_questions

It's the Battle of Midway fought with Wikipedia instead of planes.

[ZombieHorde]

10. I would not want to see that passed in the US.

I think Hungry is making a mistake.

[humblebum]

12. I would like to read the entire law. Just from the title of the law it

appears to be a law that protects freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. I see little threat from that. Unless I am misreading what is in the article, something hardly sounds right.

[humblebum]

13. More on the law:

"Over the weekend American and European civic organizations published a statement in which they objected to the bill which would discriminate against smaller churches. They pointed out that the bill doesn't meet human rights standards. Moreover, the Hungarian thinking behind the bill--that "de-registered" religious organizations could continue to operate as "civil associations performing religious activities"--doesn't pass human rights scrutiny and ignores precedent from the European Court of Human Rights that ruled that "a tiered system offering an inferior religious status to minority faiths violates the right to religious freedom and the right to be free from religious discrimination." They mentioned the case of Jehovah's Witnesses v. Austria (2008) where the state argued that their tiered law didn't offend religious freedom. This argument was emphatically rejected by the Human Rights Court on the grounds that the status of a "registered religious community" was inferior to that of a "religious society."

http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2011/07/cardinal-laws-law-on-religions-and-religious-communities.html?cid=6a00e009865ae58833015433b8f97c970c

[Ron Goetz]

15. Valuable link, humblebum. Thanks!

I'm glad I live in a republic, where the rights of all groups, large and small, have at least a theoretical chance of being respected. Call me naive, but it's still astonishing how some people seem so willing to support the restriction of free speech and freedom of assembly to people with whom they disagree.

[edhopper]

16. Except if you are a Muslim

There are many on the right in this country who do not think Muslims should have freedom of religion. Among them Peter King, Michelle Bachman, Herman Caine.
Sad but true.