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Do We Need Freedom of Religion?
Examining an unpopular point of view.
States worldwide have declared that they acknowledge the 18th Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The article states that:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Many states have sought to enforce this human right with different legal, political, and administrative tools. Yet, there seems to be a fundamental controversy underlying all such attempts to enforce the 18th Article. This has to do with the fact that religion is more often than not understood differently by different people, scholars, officials, and legislature/administrative departments.
This problem is summarised by a simple question: what is or should be the official definition of religion? There are, of course, definitions of religion (note the plural), but what we need in a legal discussion is the definition. Nevertheless, to formulate such an unequivocal definition is difficult if not impossible. In this article, I explore the causes of this problem and the possible solution that some scholars have offered to this…
