Religious Freedom in the Liberal State

Abstract

There is a growing recognition of the challenge that religions pose for pluralist, multicultural democracies. ‘Fundamentalist’ beliefs and practices test the limits of religious freedom, and seem to contradict the very basis on which liberal states protect religious liberty. Religions, moreover, are often associated with intolerance and persecution, yet insist upon religious liberty for themselves. This book inverts these stereotypes by presenting a sustained critique of how religious liberty ought to be understood in liberal legal systems and develops an alternative, Christian response. The prevailing liberal approach to religious freedom is compared with historic and contemporary understandings developed by Christian theorists, and an alternative principled basis for religious liberty, from a distinctively Christian position, is developed. The variety of stances the liberal state may take towards organised religions are analysed, and the nature of the guarantees for religious freedom in domestic and international law is explained. The difficult question of precisely when and how far religious liberty should be limited is also considered. This book also deals with concrete contemporary controversies involving the recognition and protection of religious beliefs and conduct, looking at issues such as family and parenting, medical treatment, education, employment, religious group autonomy, and freedom of expression and protest. Extensive reference is made throughout the analysis to UK law and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the laws of other jurisdictions such as the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use

“…This test has been epistemologically challenging for Rastafarians, as their movement lacks any formal membership and is additionally racial, political, and cultural in nature. Though some commentators advocate that the sincerity test should only be applicable in relation to a defendant's religion (Ahdar and Leigh 2005), Mhango (2008) has suggested that the test should protect Rastafarians irrespective of whether cultural, political or religious factors dominate their claims. Though some commentators advocate that the sincerity test should only be applicable in relation to a defendant's religion (Ahdar and Leigh 2005), Mhango (2008) has suggested that the test should protect Rastafarians irrespective of whether cultural, political or religious factors dominate their claims.…”

Freedom of Religion and Gender Equality: Inclusive or Exclusive?

“…They expressly state that patriarchal gender relations should be allowed to persist to enable the maximisation of liberty 65 . In some academic writings there is suggestion that human rights, particularly gender equality, might stifle liberty 66 . It is interesting however that, although liberty is presented as the favoured end point for society as a whole, liberty, in this context, is implicitly a purely male right.…”

Rights, social cohesion and identity: arguments for and against state‐funded Muslim schools in Britain

“…In brief, comprehensive liberalism is a philosophical doctrine or conception of the good life based on individual autonomy and choice, and therefore excludes doctrines that do not support these values. Political liberalism recognises the inevitable existence of differing conceptions of the good life and seeks to identify the terms under which people may live alongside one another while subscribing to different comprehensive doctrines, including those which are incompatible with the ideal of individual choice (Ahdar and Leigh 2004). Dagowitz uses this distinction to claim that faith schools that inhibit a child's freedom to choose their religion are still compatible with liberal values.…”