GEORGIA SCIENTOLOGISTS AWARD OUTSTANDING HUMANITARIANS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2016

Part of an international movement spanning 192 countries, the Church of Scientology Atlanta is raising awareness of human rights in commemoration of the 68^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ATLANTA – Scientologists from Atlanta join Scientology Churches, Missions and groups across the world in carrying out the theme of International Human Rights Day 2016, “Stand up for someone’s rights today!”

The Church of Scientology of Atlanta organized and hosted a human rights awards ceremony honoring three exemplary individuals working in the Atlanta area who stand up for someone’s rights on a daily basis and have been doing so effectively for many years.  Among the awardees were; Georgia Senator Donzella James, Pamela Perkins Carn, coordinator for Interfaith Children’s Movement, and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam.

Senator James is a member of the Education and Youth, Special Judiciary, and Economic Development committees. She has worked to bring improvements in many areas including stronger human trafficking laws, supporting a newly Georgia law which will establish a  “Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund” that would get money through new $2,500 fines on convicted traffickers and an annual $5,000 fee on adult entertainment establishments. The money would then pay for health care, housing, education, job training, child care, legal help and other services for victims.

Pamela Perkins Carn, the Coordinator for the interfaith Children’s Movement, a state-wide advocacy movement dedicated to the well-being of Georgia’s children. Mrs. Carn engages the interfaith community in advocating for children both at both the services level and at the policy level on issues including the school to prison pipeline, child trafficking, foster care and a litany of other injustices involving children who are living on the margins of Georgia communities.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has long been a champion in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality for the black community. More recently, Minister Farrakhan has turned his attention to discoveries linking early childhood vaccinations with the ever-increasing incidence of a physically and emotionally debilitating condition known as “autism”, and is leading a nation-wide push for more transparency and education on the subject to protect the human rights of children of all ethnicities.

Human Rights day commemorates the United Nations adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights–the world’s premier human rights document.

Despite the best intentions of those who crafted the Declaration, 68 years later, the UN points out, “disrespect for basic human rights continues to be wide-spread in all parts of the globe. Extremist movements subject people to horrific violence. Messages of intolerance and hatred prey on our fears. Humane values are under attack.”

Human rights are an integral part of the Scientology religion. The Creed of the Church of Scientology, written in 1954 by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, begins: “We of the Church believe: That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights.” And the Code of a Scientologist calls on all Scientologists “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”

The Church of Scientology and Scientologists support United for Human Rights, the world’s largest nongovernmental human rights education campaign, active in 192 countries and partnering with 1,500 groups and organizations.  The initiative is inspired by Mr. Hubbard’s conviction that “It is vital that all thinking men urge upon their governments sweeping reforms in the field of human rights.”