The Limits of Religious Liberty in France

After the suicides or murders committed by the Solar Temple in 1994 in Switzerland and Quebec and in 1995 in France, a strong wave of anti-cult sentiment, not free of hysterical elements, moved through the French Republic. The parliament established a Commission of Enquiry on Cults that published a controversial report in 1996, entitled Les sectes en France. The parliamentary report made a clear distinction between "religions" and "cults." Religions served the common good and enjoy religious liberty, while cults are obstacles to the common good and do not deserve the support of the public. The report published a list of 172 "dangerous cults," that included spiritual movements respected in other European countries.
The parliamentary report has been widely criticized. (See M. Introvigne, "The Campaign Against the Aumist Religion in France," Social Justice Research 12/4[1999]365-375.) Sociologist do not accept a clear-cut distinction between religion and cult, nor - incidentally- between church and sect. These concepts overlap: the boundaries among are ever shifting. Christians are keenly aware that they were something of a cult within 1st century Judaism, something of a sect during the early centuries, and only assumed the character of a church after the Constantinian Peace. It is no wonder that the Catholic bishops of France were not pleased with the parliamentary report. If the characteristics of cults are indoctrination, withdrawal from society, distinctive clothes, special diet regulations, restrictions on free movement, and separation from the family, then they apply perfectly to the novitiates of Catholic religious orders.
The parliamentary report fuelled the anti-cult sentiment in France, made people suspicious of all spiritual movements apart from the traditional religions, and encouraged the press to pursue and investigate the groups designated as dangerous. One of the victims of the anti-cult campaign was a small monastic community, the Mandarom, located in Southern France, that practised the Religion of Unity or Aumism. Aum is the sacred syllable recited in Asian religions, expressing worship and surrender to the Divine, related to the biblical Amen. Aumism was founded in 1967 by Gilbert Bourdin, a Catholic contemplative from Martinique, who had over many years received spiritual training from experienced Indian gurus. Aumism has about a thousand followers in France. The monastic community of the same faith in Ste-Lucie, Quebec, has no organizational tie to the French mother house, the Mandarom.
The Aumist faith is expressed in liturgical prayers and an original spirituality that reflect the urgent concerns of contemporary society. Aumism embraces the spiritual truth contained in the world religions and venerates their founders and their saints. Since Aumism respects these religions, it does not intend to convert people initiated into contemplation in their own tradition. Aumism offers an entry into an intense prayer life to people who have not found contemplation elsewhere. The Aumist faith also has an ecological or cosmic dimension. Because humans are divinely destined to be reconciled to the animal world and the natural environment, believers want to live close to nature, honour animals and eat vegetarian food. Aumism is opposed to violence in any of its forms. It stands for peace in today's pluralistic world, including peace among religions.
This new religion, tuned in to contemporary issues, has chosen a curiously triumphalist language. Gilbert Bourdin called his monastery first the Association of the Knights of the Golden Lotus and later the Association of the Triumphant Vajra. He called himself Lord Hamsah Manarah and eventually saw himself as a messianic figure for today's world. His monastic community, the Mandarom, erected several giant statues, including one of Jesus, and intended to shelter them in an enormous temple to be built at a later time.
Perhaps it was the non-contemporary character of these manifestations that attracted the malevolent interest of the mass media. Several television programmes created a negative image of this "cult" in all parts of France. People began to look upon its members as potential evil-doers. A number of individuals made it their special task to attack the monastic community, presented it as a sinister cult and accused the founder Gilbert Bourdin of sexual transgressions based on problematic evidence. The monastery was raided more than once by the police, the giant statues were damaged, permission for building the temple was withdrawn, and the founder was prosecuted in court. The public pressure upon the group of faithful was so heavy that Gilbert Bourdin fell ill and died in March 1998, before he could clear his name.
This peace-loving, contemplative community has been the victim of anti-cult hysteria. France has been unwilling to protect their right to religious freedom. Why did the suicides of the Solar Temple bring forth the persecution of this monastery in France while nothing of the kind occurred in Quebec? For historical reasons North American democracy includes a strong affirmation of religious liberty and respect for non-conformist religious movements. By contrast, France has inherited from the Revolution a rationalist tradition which claims universal validity, an intellectual legacy that creates little sympathy for cultural and religious pluralism.

Dr Gregory Baum, Theologian and Professor 
   McGill University, Montreal (Quebec) Canada