Response of Fernando Fernández-Fígares to Claire Martin's testimony
Note: The authorship of the text has not been able to be verified. It is analyzed here as it was published under the identity it claims to be that of Fernando Fígares, without this implying any guarantee about its authenticity. Nevertheless, it is entirely consistent with his usual manner of expression and with his knowledge of the situation.
On our blog, dedicated to giving voice to former members of New Acropolis, we published Claire Martin's testimony about her experience in the organization. Recently, Fernando Fernández-Fígares, former National Command of Belgium, responded in Réponses Philosophiques, labeling the testimony as "defamation" and exercising a "right of reply."
Intimidation of former members through legal threats
From the blog administration we want to point out that the accusation and the legal threat that Fernando makes to Claire ("we will not hesitate to make things clear through legal channels") precisely reflect what we had already commented on in a recent article: the use of the legal apparatus and New Acropolis's economic resources to intimidate and silence testimonies, forcing anonymity. New Acropolis has a legal team financed with the organization's money, while former members lack the resources to defend themselves. Daniella Scuadroni, a former member from Uruguay, documented the complaint she received from New Acropolis ($100,000) for giving her testimony non-anonymously.
Fernando's reply
The facts that Fernando refutes are rather rhetorical lies and manipulations that are very common in New Acropolis. Here we will show it:
Text by Fernando: 1° It is totally false to claim that the family is a problem in our association and that it would be "an obstacle to the ideal," since each person is free to live their life as they wish and to make their own decisions; such has been the case not only with her ex-husband, but also with countless members and leaders with high responsibilities in Belgium and in the world who have family and children.
Here it can be clearly seen that the leaders of New Acropolis have no problem lying. They lie without any remorse, since for them defending New Acropolis is the first priority, without restriction. The issue of Not having children in New Acropolis is something irrefutable and that every acropolitan knows perfectly well. The main reasons instilled in disciples to prohibit them from having children are: • Overpopulation: This makes there be too many souls on Earth, which prevents them from resting in the "devachan" (a kind of "paradise" in Eastern philosophy). Therefore, souls are born contaminated, impure. In New Acropolis there is a colloquial term for this: it is said that they are born "bounced." Even if a child is very rough, it is contemptuously commented: "this is a 'bounced.'" • Instinct of procreation: The aim is not to let ourselves be carried away by it, because it does not represent our soul but only physical, not spiritual, survival.
Every acropolitan integrated into the "Living Forces" knows these doctrines perfectly. However, to really verify it no theory is needed: it is enough to approach any branch of New Acropolis in the world and you can verify that no woman of the "Women's Brigades" (women belonging to the "Internal Circle" of the organization) has children.
There are some exceptions: • If the woman discovers her pregnancy too late and cannot abort; in such a case, this is considered a misfortune for the disciple. • If the woman is a leader, that is, she occupies the top of the hierarchy and has no superior to tell her whether she must abort or not.
Example of the second exception: we can put, precisely, Fernando's sister as an example. She is Mrs. D.F.F., wife of the former Guardian of the Seals J.M.F.G., who decided to have a child. According to what she herself explains to some disciples, she placed the child in the arms of J.A.L. (founder) for him to accept it, since she had skipped the prohibition. Although here there would be more nuances, possibly economic: JAL prioritized and granted permissiveness to people with money and reputation.
Text by Fernando: 2° I strongly refute the accusations of machismo, misogyny, homophobia, made against the male leaders of New Acropolis, myself first among them.
On homophobia, we have collected some quotes from the founder Jorge Livraga (JAL). Now they accept homosexuals because they have no other choice. Otherwise, and if they made public their true ideas about homosexuals, they would be gunned down by society.
Text by Fernando: In perfect harmony with the objectives and actions of New Acropolis, I have dedicated my life to fighting ideologies of exclusion of all kinds (racial, sexual, religious, etc.) as my 48 years of action in Belgium demonstrate. That is why I also vehemently refute my alleged interest in Hitler or Franco, as well as that of Jorge Ángel Livraga, the founder of our movement.
Here it can be seen again how they make use of lies without any scruples. The neo-Nazi and neo-fascist inclinations of the founder, as well as his predilection for Franco and falangism, are fully known despite the concealment and camouflage that New Acropolis has been practicing since the 1980s. Various former members over time have extracted internal documents from the organization after their departure. This has made it possible to have evidence about all of this.
The concept of Hitler in NA: he is considered a "historical incarnation," that is, a person who had been sent by the "teachers who guide humanity," a person who had a "special mission" on the planet. And that given his evolution, he was capable of channeling symbols and forces of the archetypal world.
The esoteric addition of New Acropolis states that Hitler "was wrong" and "failed in his mission to guide humanity," and that one of his errors was letting himself be influenced by people who led him to commit the Holocaust. According to this narrative, New Acropolis is not in favor of the Holocaust. Even so, in numerous writings, Livraga minimizes it and when he speaks of it he tries to compare it with other massacres that were worse. As if trying to justify the unfair treatment that has been historically made towards Hitler.
Text by Fernando: Undoubtedly struck by amnesia, Mrs. "Claire Martin" forgets to mention that Delia Steinberg, the former international director of New Acropolis, was Jewish, as were other eminent national and international leaders, not to mention the perfect integration of New Acropolis in Israel.
This argument is very common in New Acropolis and works as a kind of distraction fallacy. Fernando uses that conception typical of New Acropolis to distract from what Claire is really denouncing. In addition to having no shame or remorse about it, he also has none in trying to call Claire "crazy."
Text by Fernando: As for the question of volunteers, which is very developed on the blog of our detractor (...) Our volunteers come at most a few hours a week to attend their classes and seminars. Some members and most leaders add a few hours on certain Saturdays or weekends and do so completely voluntarily.
Here again he lies without scruples. It is well known that New Acropolis demands absolute dedication. Since in New Acropolis there is a considerable number of "external" volunteers (who are not part of the "Internal Circle"), there is a resort to disinformation by selective comparison, showing only the cases that suit to construct a manipulative rhetoric.
Text by Fernando: I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize that we are a school of philosophy and that we do not worship any god nor do we have any cult of personality. It is true that we have great respect for this lady, for her lucidity, her depth and for having devoted her life to working to develop philosophy in the world, to fight separatism, exclusion and violence.
Here they again make use of the distraction fallacy. They do not believe in gods. But they believe in the "Venusians," beings who live on the planet Venus, and who are on a higher evolutionary level than humans. They are "our elder brothers," the teachers who guide humanity.
About director Delia Steinberg: they believe she is a lady who was a princess in another incarnation. And that Jorge Livraga, the founder, was an initiate in Luxor (Egypt), who learned the mysteries of magic during that incarnation. They also believe that during his youth, Livraga received instruction from "invisible Tibetan Masters" who present themselves on his "astral plane" to contact and instruct Livraga.
Facts from the testimony that remain unanswered
• Coercive exercises: "slapping each other in the face with another companion, unable to turn away or show reaction," as an exercise in mastering emotions. • Hierarchical structure and symbolism: uniforms, hymns, marches, raised-arm salutes, kneeling before banners, military-style parades, reinterpretation of Nazi and fascist symbols. • Absolute surrender: oaths of obedience and total surrender, pressure to prioritize the Ideal over family or motherhood, fear of "disintegrating" from the movement if one questions the ideas. • Surveillance and control: obligation to hand in "monthly reports" where qualities such as generosity, sacrifice, devotion, mysticism were evaluated. Constant monitoring of members' behavior. • Social isolation: distancing from family and friends, belief that "people were not capable of understanding as much as I did, what I did, what I lived." • Verbal and misogynistic abuse by leaders: public humiliations of women, Fernando called his own wife "foolish" during lectures (Fernando refutes this saying he has been happily married for 34 years, but does not deny the insult itself). • Labor exploitation of members: long working days without pay, including putting up posters, distributing leaflets, cleaning headquarters and temples, studying, teaching classes and attending conferences. It was presented as volunteering, but in reality it amounted to full-time work without compensation. • Pressure on personal property: members were encouraged to cede assets to the organization, such as wills in the name of New Acropolis, including houses where branches were established. This generated economic and personal dependence. • Opaque funding of the directors: national and international directors benefited financially from members, through increasing fees and unpaid labor; furthermore, internal reports reflected directors' expenses, such as travel funded by members and mandatory donations for the opening of branches.