and that is why the separation of church and state is imperative as ever in greece

supposedly greece is the last THEOCRATIC state of goverment in the world
along with the ex-taliban. how much lower can you get,…HAPPY SCRUFFY,

of course there are economical reasons why it hasnt been done yet
THE FACT that the greek orthodox church owns 20 percent of all greek land
and 40 percent of the NATIONAL BANK OF GREECE were the whole banking system
rest on AND of course the whole countries and the goverments money .

so take that in mind.

and very well said it is protected constitutionally,…the church.

unlike the U.S. constitution which dosnt say anything about abu graib,guantanamo,
or even the 450,000 japanese-americans put in concentration camps duting world war II
when released , had all their money and land taken away.
on constitution themes i think scruffy you really have to take a good look.
noone is saying were in paradise,
but you and me didnt come from one either

by the way i did read mr kaplanis blog
and there was an incredible two piece article
on ‘HISTORY and HYSTERIA”
WHICH helps to explain many historical and political injustices
locally , internationally.
some i had trouble lettin thru my system , but he has a way with words
and he does sound like a more logic scruffy only writes in greek .
———-zardoz

It’s apparently not a verbatim quote, but assuming nothing has been taken out of context, what the hell does that mean? I’d like the lawyer to answer.

“2. By ‘proselytism’ is meant, in particular, any direct or indirect attempt to intrude on the religious beliefs of a person of a different religious persuasion (eterodoxos), with the aim of undermining those beliefs, either by any kind of inducement or promise of an inducement or moral support or material assistance, or by fraudulent means or by taking advantage of the other person’s inexperience, trust, need, low intellect or naivete.”

My understanding is that many religious persons usually promote their religions to a general audience or go at random to otheres to attempt to convert them, sometimes back to former members of their faith to get them back. How often should they be expected to be aware of the “inexperience, trust, need, low intellect or naivete” of those they are proselytizing, so as to know to cease doing so?

I’ll look through more of it later.

I do believe though, it is our job as citizens to question the actions of our governments.

I hear what you are saying, but I tend to be like your English friends toward criticism of the US government, but hey if I hang out on the blogs long enough, I’ll quit being the sensitive little buttercup that I am.

Ellasdevil, I will post any Amnesty action or update as soon as I find out.

Scruffy american, I think the world media did exaggerate but there was some truth behind the critisisms. Most countries like to downplay their own faults don’t you think? When I critisise England to my English friends they do get quite defensive. I do believe though, it is our job as citizens to question the actions of our governments. Who knows what they would get up to if we didn’t!

Again, as I’ve always said, the media plays a part in what is brought to the public. Anti-Greek topics don’t get much play in Greece.

I found it quite comical when the world media was criticizing the Greeks for their Olympic prep. Most of my Greek friends said, “The world media is exagerating”. I said, “Welcome to my world” and now you know what it feels like to be an American with all the bad press we receive.

I’m also grateful to BuruBuru for providing some more information about it on his new blog.

I think the last line of buruburu’s post basically says it for me too… “Today I’m ashamed to live in such a country”.

I’m actually ashamed of myself for not knowing anything about this imprisonment before today but I plan to take the action Amnesty requests.

The blog will be in greek only.

So welcome to ellanistan

For related greek blogs i’d strongly recommend Gazmend’s blog (greek)

Part of his bio I found online:
Gazmend Kapllani migrated from Albania to Greece in 1991, at the age of 18, and has since been residing legally as student. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Athens (1997). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Political Science and History of Panteion University, in Athens, with a state scholarship. His thesis topic is “Modernity and otherness: the image of Albanians in the Greek press and of Greeks in the Albanian press.” As a journalist, he has been working for the largest daily “Ta Nea,” the state radio NET 105.8, Albania’s daily Koha Jone, and the IWPR’s Balkan Crisis Report. He is also the founder of the NGO “Home of Albanian Culture,” a member of the extra-parliamentary center-left party AEKA, and has been the most vocal advocate on migrant issues in the Greek media.

You probably know of him already but in case you don’t the guy is really amazing and even though an albanian immigrant his greek is much better than mine. I have also found him to be very humble in his writings and resposes which has inspired in me a great respect for him.

Enjoy

You are right though. The church has no business doing this.

Did you know that Greece is also the only European Country that bans proselytism? (It generally describes attempts to convert a person from one point of view to another, usually in a religious context)

Greece has a long history of conflict, mostly with Jehovah’s Witnesses but also with some Pentecostals over its laws on proselytism. This situation stems from a law passed in the 1930s by the dictator Ioannis Metaxas. A Jehovah’s Witness, Minos Kokkinakis, won the equivalent of US $14,400 in damages from the Greek state after being arrested repeatedly for the ‘offence’ of preaching his faith from door to door. In another case, Larissis vs. Greece, a member of the Pentecostal church also won a case in the European Court of Human Rights.

If you are interested there is more on these past cases and others here and here