Law goes against freedom of conscience
"Religious and national unity are necessary for this country, but that doesn't mean dictatorship," clergyman of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Mikayel Ajapahyan said during a press conference devoted to te new RA draft law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations.
According to him, there are currently many sectarial communities that are controlling their members' personal lives. The bishop doesn't agree with the point of the draft law that places the Armenian Church on the same level of other religious organizations, but does accept the principle of rule of law.
The bishop's opponent, Head of Cooperation for Peace NGO Stepan Danielyan stated that to this day, there had been two attempts to make additions to and amendments in the law, but European organizations and the Venice Commission sharply criticized them.
The speakers touched upon a number of disputed points, particularly the provisions for not registering Religious Organizations, instilling hostility toward other religions and religious organizations, controlling the personal lives of members of the religious community and advocacy among adolescents without parental consent.
According to Stepan Danielyan, the subject "History of the Armenian Church" taught at schools according to the RA law "On Public Education" is mandatory for all children, and clergymen of the Armenian Church can speak freely about religion in schools according to the law that regulates church-state relations. However, according to him, the above mentioned law goes against the new draft law on freedom of conscience and religious organizations.
