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Revision as of 12:02, 28 April 2007 editTilman (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers3,568 edits rv last edit per WP:WWIN 1.5 and 1.7 - lets not turn this into a link farm← Previous edit Revision as of 23:36, 28 April 2007 edit undoShutterbug (talk | contribs)1,972 edits →Controversy: POV spree removed. be warned, these are WP:BIAS, WP:NPOV You can put your viewpoint in the Scientology article, but stop mixing up organizations, messages and intentions.Next edit →
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The first stems from the repeated failure on the part of the group to clearly identify its ties to the Church of Scientology. YHRI was founded by, and is largely staffed and financed by, Scientologists, and its message is based to a large extent on L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The first stems from the repeated failure on the part of the group to clearly identify its ties to the Church of Scientology. YHRI was founded by, and is largely staffed and financed by, Scientologists, and its message is based to a large extent on L. Ron Hubbard's writings.


], the Commissioner for the ], was quoted by Die Welt as saying that YHRI was a Scientology cover-up tactic, or ], that was meant to attract and recruit the young. <ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.welt.de/print-welt/article707504/Form_des_politischen_Extremismus.html | title = A form of political extremism | | accessdate = 2007-04-17 | author = Thomas Klatt | date = ] | publisher = ]}}</ref> Germany considers Scientology to be a commercial organization and a form of political extremism that poses a threat to its democracy and constitution, themselves the basis of human rights in Germany. <ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/so/so_grunde.htm | title = Baden-Wuerttemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Scientology }}</ref> Other European governments have concerns regarding Scientology and human rights. After the 1988 suicide of a Scientologist and the subsequent conviction of several Scientologists for fraud and abuse of trust, France began to monitor Scientology as a sect. <ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.iht.com/articles/1996/10/02/sect.t.php | title = Scientology Is Fighting For Its Future in France | author = Barry James | publisher = The International Herald Tribune | date = 1996-10-02 | accessdate = 2007-04-28 }}</ref> <ref> {{cite web | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E00E7DE153DF930A15752C1A960958260 | title = French Scientologist Sentenced After Church Member's Suicide | author = Craig Whitney | date = 1996-11-23 | publisher = ] | accessdate = 2007-04-28}}</ref> ], the Commissioner for the ], was quoted by Die Welt as saying that YHRI was a Scientology cover-up tactic, or ], that was meant to attract and recruit the young. <ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.welt.de/print-welt/article707504/Form_des_politischen_Extremismus.html | title = A form of political extremism | | accessdate = 2007-04-17 | author = Thomas Klatt | date = ] | publisher = ]}}</ref> Germany considers Scientology to be a commercial organization and a form of political extremism that poses a threat to its democracy and constitution, themselves the basis of human rights in Germany. <ref> {{cite web | url = http://www.verfassungsschutz-bw.de/so/so_grunde.htm | title = Baden-Wuerttemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Scientology }}</ref>
A French human rights commission submitted to the Assemblee nationale in December 2006 a report including testimony of abuses on Scientology's part that harmed the physical and mental health of children. <ref name="Fenech">{{cite news | last = Fenech | first = Georges | coauthors = Philippe Vuilque | year = 2006 | title = Investigative commission on the influence of sects and the consequences of their practices on the mental and physical health of children | url = http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/pdf/rap-enq/r3507-rapport.pdf | accessdate = 2007-04-16 }}</ref>


⚫ YHRI's Scientology connection led to trouble with sponsors -- among them the Florida Holocaust Museum -- at a human rights march the group organized in ] in March 2007.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/07/Southpinellas/Tie_to_rights_march_w.shtml | title = Tie to rights march wasn't revealed | accessdate = 2007-04-14 | author = Meg Laughlin | coauthors = Rob Farley | date = ] | publisher = ]}}</ref> In another instance, the group was accused of luring unwitting high-schoolers to a forum run by Scientologists at the ] State ] in ].<ref>{{cite news | first = Anna | last = Patty | title = Unwitting high-schoolers lured to forum run by Scientologists | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/unwitting-highschoolers-lured-to-forum-run-by-scientologists/2007/03/27/1174761471748.html | publisher = ] | date = ] | accessdate = 2007-03-28 | quote = }}</ref>
In an FBI raid in 1977, Scientology was discovered to have founded and employed another front group that advanced the organization's interests under the flag of religious tolerance. <ref name="Kent">{{cite journal | last = Kent | first = Stephen A. | authorlink = Stephen A. Kent | coauthors = Krebs, Theresa | year = 1988 | title = When Scholars Know Sin: Alternative Religions and Their Academic Supporters | journal = Skeptic | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 36-44 | url = http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~skent/Linkedfiles/When%20Scholars%20Know%20Sin%20.htm | accessdate = 2006-06-06 }}</ref>

⚫ YHRI's failure to disclose its Scientology connection led to trouble with sponsors -- among them the Florida Holocaust Museum -- at a human rights march the group organized in ] in March 2007.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.sptimes.com/2007/04/07/Southpinellas/Tie_to_rights_march_w.shtml | title = Tie to rights march wasn't revealed | accessdate = 2007-04-14 | author = Meg Laughlin | coauthors = Rob Farley | date = ] | publisher = ]}}</ref> In another instance, the group was accused of luring unwitting high-schoolers to a forum run by Scientologists at the ] State ] in ].<ref>{{cite news | first = Anna | last = Patty | title = Unwitting high-schoolers lured to forum run by Scientologists | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/unwitting-highschoolers-lured-to-forum-run-by-scientologists/2007/03/27/1174761471748.html | publisher = ] | date = ] | accessdate = 2007-03-28 | quote = }}</ref>


In each of the above cases the YHRI organizer responded that, while the Church of Scientology supported their group, it was a YHRI event, not a Church event and the message was human rights, not Scientology. In each of the above cases the YHRI organizer responded that, while the Church of Scientology supported their group, it was a YHRI event, not a Church event and the message was human rights, not Scientology.

Revision as of 23:36, 28 April 2007

Template:ScientologySeries Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California at 1332 L. Ron Hubbard Way, whose stated mission is "To teach youth around the globe about human rights, thus helping them to become valuable advocates for the promotion of tolerance and peace." Specifically, it promotes L. Ron Hubbard's thought and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Leadership

YHRI's president and founder is Mary Shuttleworth (formerly Mary Untiedt), former president of YHRI's parent organization International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance. She also founded the Applied Scholastics schools "Shuttleworth Academy" and "Mary's Schoolhouse". Shuttleworth holds an executive position at TXL Films the company who created the music video UNITED with YHRI. She is a Scientologist.

According to the newsletter Church of Scientology International, YHRI's Executive Director is Tim Bowles, former law partner of Moxon & Bowles, serving as general legal council for the Church of Scientology. Bowles also acts as an advisor to Scientology's Citizens Commission on Human Rights.

Lynsey Bartilson, who appears on the television series "Grounded for Life," is YHRI's most visible spokesperson. She was raised and remains a Scientologist. In her online biography, she states that she worked as creative director and choreographer for the Scientology Celebrity Center’s “Kids on Stage for A Better World.”

Programs

YHRI has collaborated with other organizations to produce youth-oriented multimedia content for the purpose of teaching human rights. In 2004, they teamed with TXL Films to create the award-winning music video, "UNITED." In June 2006, they released 30 public service announcements for TV, illustrating each of the 30 rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights., which were created by the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International for YHRI.

Controversy

Controversy over Youth for Human Rights International is twofold.

The first stems from the repeated failure on the part of the group to clearly identify its ties to the Church of Scientology. YHRI was founded by, and is largely staffed and financed by, Scientologists, and its message is based to a large extent on L. Ron Hubbard's writings.

Ursula Caberta, the Commissioner for the Scientology Workgroup of the Hamburg Interior Authority, was quoted by Die Welt as saying that YHRI was a Scientology cover-up tactic, or front group, that was meant to attract and recruit the young. Germany considers Scientology to be a commercial organization and a form of political extremism that poses a threat to its democracy and constitution, themselves the basis of human rights in Germany.

YHRI's Scientology connection led to trouble with sponsors -- among them the Florida Holocaust Museum -- at a human rights march the group organized in St. Petersburg, Florida in March 2007. In another instance, the group was accused of luring unwitting high-schoolers to a forum run by Scientologists at the New South Wales State Parliament House in Sydney.

In each of the above cases the YHRI organizer responded that, while the Church of Scientology supported their group, it was a YHRI event, not a Church event and the message was human rights, not Scientology.

Nevertheless, on the materials handed out at the event in Australia, L.Ron Hubbard's image and quotes figured more prominently than those of such activists as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, serving as much as an introduction to Hubbard as they did to thought on human rights. In 2005, administrators at a Los Angeles high school required students have their parents' permission before attending a YHRI event, after discovering the group's ties to Scientology.

The second controversy stems from the problematic nature of Scientology's relationship to human rights in Europe. The Church of Scientology's Human Rights Department is concerned with religious tolerance there, and YHRI is part of its overall campaign. YHRI, known in German as "Jugend fuer Menshcenrechte," is active in both Switzerland and Germany, organizing human rights conferences for youth to promote religious tolerance. Referring to the campaign, Antje Blumenthal, a member of the German parliament, expressed concern that the good intentions of the young were being misused.

Scientology sees the stance of these countries as discrimination, and is presently conducting a campaign through the Church of Scientology International European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights, and with the help of YHRI, in Europe. In Brussels last year, Julie Barreau, a reporter for Le Soir magazine, recorded the speaker of a Scientology meeting as saying: "We must take control of Belgium. Their intentions are the same as the Nazis. We have to educate the forces of the fourth Reich about human rights."

See also

References

  1. (n.d.) About YHRI
  2. (n.d.) About Mary Shuttleworth
  3. (n.d.)Mary Shuttleworth
  4. (n.d.) About United
  5. International Youth Delegates Spark Human Rights Initiative at David Starr Jordan High School, Church of Scientology International, Human Rights News, October 7, 2005
  6. Youth For Human Rights International - Ghana Human Rights Tour, Church of Scientology International, Human Rights News Forum, June 3, 2006
  7. (n.d.)About Tim Bowles
  8. (n.d.) About "United"
  9. (n.d.) Watch Ads
  10. http://www.theta.com/human-rights-education/20070314_hre_1.php
  11. Thomas Klatt (2007-01-09). "A form of political extremism". Die Welt. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. "Baden-Wuerttemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Scientology".
  13. Meg Laughlin (2007-04-07). "Tie to rights march wasn't revealed". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-04-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. Patty, Anna (2007-03-27). "Unwitting high-schoolers lured to forum run by Scientologists". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2007-03-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. "Scientology group sponsors school event". UPI Newstrack. 2005-10-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. CoS Human Rights web site: Actions for Human Rights in Washington, D.C. http://www.scientology.org/humanrights/photo/washington-dc/index.htm
  17. Stamm, Hugo. "Scientologists tempt the young". Tages Anzeiger.
  18. Ibid.
  19. CoS HR Dept: Documenting and Exposing Government Discrimination http://www.scientology.org/humanrights/photo/government-discrimination/index.htm
  20. Church of Scientology International European Office for Public Affairs and Human Rights, News http://www.scientology-europe.org/
  21. Barreau, Julie (2006-05-17). "Scientology takes aim at Brussels". Le Soir Magazine. Retrieved 2007-04-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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