Religious Apartheid 1997 – Continuing Official Repression of Minority Religious Rights in Germany
he freedom to create and communicate an artist’s vision free from state interference is the most cherished of all freedoms and the most fundamental of human rights. Yet, the German government continues its policy to blacklist artists who happen to be Scientologists in violation of these rights.
In August 1996, the CDU Young Union launched a national boycott campaign against the film Mission: Impossible simply because the star of the film, Tom Cruise, is a Scientologist.52 Likewise, in August and September 1996, CDU and SPD officials called for a ban of the film Phenomenon because the star of the film, John Travolta, is a Scientologist. The SPD spokesperson on these matters, Renate Rennebach, urged the government to declare that the Church was “anticonstitutional” so that the film could also be banned. The CDU’s media spokesperson also urged the German cinema’s self regulating committee to ban the film.53
It was also announced that the German Ministry for Family Affairs would closely “scrutinize” the film for references to Scientology—references which do not exist as noted by the film’s screenwriter, Gerald DiPego, who has no connection to Scientology and wrote the screenplay before Mr. Travolta was cast in the film.54
In April 1996, German officials in Bavaria took steps to prohibit pianist Armando Anthony (Chick) Corea from performing any future concerts subsidized by the Bavarian government. This discriminatory action has been taken against Mr. Corea, an internationally acclaimed and respected musical artist, simply due to his private beliefs and association.
Mr. Corea accepted an invitation to perform as the star attraction at the 27th Annual Jazz Week Festival in March 1996 in Burghausen, Bavaria. The Burghausen Jazz Festival is an internationally renowned festival and the most prestigious jazz event in Bavaria. Prior to Mr. Corea’s performance on March 21, 1996, the “sect-expert” for the Christian Socialistic Union (CSU), Markus Sackmann, publicly called for a boycott of Mr. Corea’s performance and protested the Bavarian Ministry of Culture’s financial support of the festival due to Mr. Corea’s religious association with Scientology.
Mr. Sackmann also demanded that the festival organizer cancel Mr. Corea’s concert.55
The organizer refused to cancel the concert and the Minister of Culture, Hans Zehetmair, responded that Bavaria does “not need a cultural police.” The Minister also stated that “Chick Corea does not perform as a preacher but a musician. Should we demand from each musician a written declaration that he only belongs to a renowned religion?” Due to the position of the Ministry and the organizer, and despite the efforts to cancel the performance, Mr. Corea’s performance successfully went forward without further incident before a full house.56
Artistic Discrimination Continued...
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