PARIS, France — Southern Baptist missionaries and laypersons who share their faith in Jesus could be imprisoned for up to two years under a proposed French law that accuses religious “proselytizers” of “mental manipulation” of the public.
Southern Baptists are just one of 173 religious groups labeled “dangerous sects” by members of France’s Socialist party. The proposed bill aims to limit the spread of what French officials have called the mental manipulation of the public by evangelical and other religious groups.
Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, said he was concerned about the proposed legislation.
The proposed crime, which critics say could cover many religious, advertising and interest groups, is to “exercise serious and repeated pressure on a person in order to create or exploit a state of dependence.”
The bill would allow the French government to shut down a religious group when two representatives are found guilty of at least one legal infraction.
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