{"title":"Who Is Afraid of Religious Freedom? The Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief and Its Critics","authors":"S. Ferrari","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341304","url":null,"abstract":"This article answers the claim that it is impossible to implement the right to religious freedom in a coherent, non-discriminatory way. It relies on the notions of “embedded evenhandedness” and “particular universalities” to build a two-pronged approach to freedom of religion. On the one hand, this approach accepts that history and culture provide the particular framework within which the right of freedom of religion is embedded. On the other, it recognizes that the claim of evenhandedness that is inbuilt in this right can overcome the limitations of a specific context and open it to new ways to understand and implement the right itself. This tension between the universal dimension of the right to freedom of religion and its particular implementations allows affirming the possibility of religious freedoms, whose different manifestations are better protected by collecting them under the umbrella of the same legal category than by apportioning them between different rights.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121778266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exporting Freedom: Religious Liberty and American Power, written by Anna Su","authors":"Linde Lindkvist","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341307","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341307","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"347 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134161022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fraternalism as a Limitation on Religious Freedom: The Case of S.A.S. v. France","authors":"E. Daly","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341302","url":null,"abstract":"In upholding France’s ban on public face coverings, the European Court of Human Rights accepted that the manifestation of religious beliefs could legitimately be restricted in the interests of ‘vivre ensemble’—literally, ‘living together’—or what I label ‘fraternalism’. I will argue that fraternalism, in the French setting, is closely linked to the idea of a duty of civility in political theory: it is understood as a duty to practice a certain kind of fraternal sociability. This paper relates the Court’s judgment to France’s justificatory, ‘republican’ discourse. It argues that civility must be understood as a habitus—a set of learned orientations and bodily techniques—rather than as a set of discursive or speech constraints. In turn, this demonstrates the danger in the idea of civility (or fraternalism) as limiting religious liberties: far from simply fostering republican virtues, it will reinforce cultural and social power dynamics.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134579259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Secularist Suspicion and Legal Pluralism at the United Nations","authors":"Helge Årsheim","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341303","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on a secularist view of religion as primarily a private matter for individuals, the international discourse on human rights has historically considered alternative bodies of law and legal reasoning to be inherently suspect. This ‘secularist suspicion’ has been particularly pronounced towards religious and customary forms of law, which are commonly seen as challenges to the sovereignty and hegemony of human rights law. Through a close reading of the practice of United Nations committees monitoring racism and women’s rights from 1993 to 2010, the development of a gradual divergence in their views of legal pluralism is explored. It is suggested that these views stem from different understandings of what religion is and should be in law, politics and society. Left unattended, this divergence may threaten the conceptual unity and holism of the human rights enterprise.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114258016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conscientious objection to same-sex marriages: beyond the limits of toleration","authors":"Stijn Smet","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341301","url":null,"abstract":"When civil servants conscientiously refuse to register same-sex marriages, a clash arises between freedom of religion and same-sex equality. The scholarly world is divided on the optimal way to tackle this human rights clash. States, however, are not. Courts and legislators in the US, the UK and the Netherlands—among others—have decisively and unequivocally sided with same-sex equality. This article contributes to the debate by presenting an alternative to existing scholarly analyses, which the author finds wanting. The primary aim is to offer a coherent account of the relevant practice in the UK and the Netherlands. The article’s core argument is that this practice is best understood in terms of the limits of toleration in liberal States. The author argues, in particular, that the UK courts and Dutch legislators have drawn those limits at the point where civil servants cause same-sex couples expressive harm.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130330117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When Is the Right to Justice Undermined? Identifying and Applying International and Islamic Human Rights Law Standards for Domestic Judicial Processes: The Case of the Seven Bahá’í Leaders and Iran’s Revolutionary Courts","authors":"G. Ghahraman","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341300","url":null,"abstract":"Section one of this article is divided in two parts, defining a ‘competent tribunal established by law’, and secondly independence and impartiality, including both structural and substantive standards for assessment. The second section provides an assessment of the legitimacy of the process in terms of minimum standards of due process. This part consists of three sub-sections, addressing three aspects of the right to due process that most gravely risk political manipulation of trials. These are: the principle of legality; procedural transparency; and the right to be represented by competent defence counsel. Both these sections also apply the components identified to the general operation of Iran’s Revolutionary Courts. Finally, section three will analyse the conduct of Iran’s Revolutionary Courts in the particular trials of the seven Baha’i leaders (known as the ‘Yaran’ or ‘friends’) in Iran in 2010.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121853663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom, written by Steven D. Smith","authors":"S. Ferrari","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341298","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122552036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"God, the Pencil, and the Judge: Exploring the Paradoxes Regarding Protection of Freedom of Religion and Expression in France","authors":"R. Alouane","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341296","url":null,"abstract":"The clash between religious freedom and freedom of expression has created social turbulence, political discord, and marginalisation of religious minorities, the latter of which is seen by many as having security implications. The author explores the possibility of a framework that reconciles freedom of religion and freedom of expression within a very unique French context. Recent events show that the issue continues to be unresolved; courts are frequently seized by those who argue that their beliefs were harmed and seek reparation, and proponents of free (and sometimes hostile) expression are fighting back. The author will discuss methods used by French judges to determine offense to religious sentiment—sometimes in very tricky and arbitrary ways—as broadly defined as violations of beliefs, symbols and religious rites, and will seek common ground with generally accepted norms of free expression that can exist within a framework of public order that respects all citizens.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121703505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fighting Religious Intolerance and Discrimination: The un Account","authors":"M. Limon, Nazila Ghanea, H. Power","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341295","url":null,"abstract":"The main United Nations (UN) global policy framework for combating religious intolerance, stigmatisation, discrimination, incitement to violence and violence against persons based on religion or belief is set down in UN Human Rights Council resolution 16/18. Adopted in March 2011, this resolution was hailed by stakeholders from all regions as a turning point in international efforts to confront religious intolerance. After more than five decades, UN member states had, it was hoped, at last come together to agree a common, consensus-based approach and practical plan of action. Some four years on, and against the backdrop of heightened religious hostility, UN consensus around the ‘16/18 framework’ continues to be contested. Rather than working together to implement the 16/18 action plan, states have returned to pre-2011 arguments over the nature of the problem. These divisions have re-emerged in large part because of conceptual confusion among policymakers about what implementation of resolution 16/18 means and what it entails. Linked to (and indeed flowing from) this conceptual opacity, states—especially states from the Western Group (WEOG) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—contend over whether resolution 16/18 is being effectively implemented or not and, if not, why this is so. This article offers an assessment of levels of implementation of resolution 16/18 as well as recommendations for strengthened compliance in the future.","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125576594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Defending American Religious Neutrality, written by Andrew Koppelman","authors":"S. Ferrari","doi":"10.1163/18710328-12341297","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/18710328-12341297","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":168375,"journal":{"name":"Religion and Human Rights","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130421957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}