Garay, Alain
About the author: A lawyer at the bar of the Court of Appeal in Paris, France, Alain Garay has written numerous articles on civil liberties. He is also a former civil servant with the French income tax department where he specialized in tax law. His professional background has prompted him to take a close look at the religious movements described in France as "cult groups" or "sects" and the way pressure groups operate.
1999 0-7734-8291-1This work is presented as a non-partisan contribution to the subject of opposition to sects in contemporary France. The author is a law professional with extensive experience in the French fiscal Administration. The debate surrounding sects has been in the center of the public arena, subject to deep social and religious discussion. The book examines the National Union of Associations for the Defence of the Family and the Individual, and the Center Against Manipulation of the Mind, anti-sect movements who lobby heavily and are largely subsidized by the government. They have compiled a list of 173 movements that qualify as sects, and criminal prosecutors in general and fiscal agencies in particular have plagued many of these associations. In this era of political and religious correctness, few voices are heard in France denouncing the aberration of the anti-sect discourse. One of the problems is that there is no legal definition of the word "sect" in France. For example, the Jehovah's Witnesses are the largest "sect" in France, though they have been recognized as a religion in Italy. The author believes that the creation of some independent panel for critical thought and deliberation is urgently needed. In French throughout.
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