Dear Time Mag-By J.Marshal

03-21-2003, 11:46 AM

Dear Time,

This is a disgrace.

I just read your article
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...71,1101030324-
433208,00.html

Post-Trauma: Reclaiming a Child
By JEFFREY KLUGER

Sunday, Mar. 16, 2003
Was Elizabeth Smart brainwashed, as her father insists? Does she need
to be deprogrammed like some runaway Moonie or Hare Krishna?

--------

This is a blatant case of religious discrimination. I am a registered
Minister of Religion for the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness, recognized by the New Zealand Justice Dept.
http://www.hknet.org.nz/jtcdbio.htm

Please check with The 1993 Human Rights Act as it prohibits
discrimination on grounds of sex, marital status, religious belief,
ethical belief, color, race, ethnic or national origins, disability,
age, political opinion, employment status, and family status, before
you allow your staff to slander in writing for public distribution
one of the recognized religions, ethnic groups, cultures or minority
groups of the world.

We believe that we are being mistreated, victimized and greatly
singled out. ( PROVISIONS FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE
RIGHTS OF PERSONS BELONGING TO MINORITIES
http://193.194.138.190/html/menu6/2/fs18.htm )

"Discrimination has been prohibited in a number of international
instruments that deal with most, if not all, situations in which
minority groups and their individual members may be denied equality
of treatment. Discrimination is prohibited on the grounds of, inter
alia, race, language, religion, national or social origin, and birth
or other status. Important safeguards from which individual members
of minorities stand to benefit include recognition as a person before
the law, equality before the courts, equality before the law, and
equal protection of the law, in addition to the important rights of
freedom of religion, _expression and association."

Article 27:
The Declaration grants to persons belonging to minorities:
- Protection, by States, of their existence and their national or
ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identify (art. 1);
- the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their
own religion and to use their own language in private and in public
(art. 2.1);
- the right to participate in cultural, religious, social, economic
and public life (art. 2.2);
- the right to participate in decisions which affect them on the
national and regional levels (art. 2.3);
- the right to establish and maintain their own associations (art.
2.4);
- the right to establish and maintain peaceful contacts with other
members of their group and with persons belonging to other
minorities, both within their own country and across state borders
(art. 2.5); and
- the freedom to exercise their rights, individually as well as in
community with other members of their group, without discrimination
(art. 3).
States are to protect and promote the rights of persons belonging to
minorities by taking measures:
- to create favourable conditions to enable them to express their
characteristics and to develop their culture, language, religion,
traditions and customs (art. 4.2);
- to allow them adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue
or to have instruction in their mother tongue (art. 4.3);
- to encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and
culture of minorities existing within their territory and ensure that
members of such minorities have adequate opportunities to gain
knowledge of the society as a whole (art. 4.4);
- to allow their participation in economic progress and development
(art. 4.5);

Hare Krishna has been accepted EVEN by the US Supreme court amongst
others recognizing that the Hare Krishnas are an authentic branch of
Hinduism, the world's most ancient, largest and ongoing cultural
tradition. Time Mag should apologize and retract its statement.

Surely as well as being against all the Human Rights Act laws to pick
on a section of society like this (section 5, 13 -20 ) it is really
in BAD taste. Makes one wonder if we have digressed into some Nazi
state that we have to tolerate such comments singling out sections of
society. I really thought your magazine was better than that. I
strongly suggest that the writer be reprimanded and made to keep
his/her bigoted opinions to themselves. If you are not VERY careful
you may find yourselves in a big law suit.

We demand a retraction and an apology immediately.

Trusting this finds you well in every respect.

Yours sincerely

Rt Rev John Marshall a.k.a. Pt. Jaya Tirtha Charan dasa
http://www.hknet.org.nz/jtcdbio.html