Offensive Speech, Religion, and the Limits of the Law

Author(s):  
Nicholas Hatzis

Is the government ever justified in restricting offensive speech? This question has become particularly important in relation to communications which offend the religious sensibilities of listeners. It is often argued that insulting a person’s beliefs is tantamount to disrespecting the believer; that insults are a form of hatred or intolerance; that the right to religious freedom includes a more specific right not to be insulted in one’s beliefs; that religious minorities have a particularly strong claim to be protected from offence; and that censorship of offensive speech is necessary for the prevention of social disorder and violence. None of those arguments is convincing. Offence is an unpleasant mental state caused when our expectations of being treated in a particular way are frustrated. Drawing on law and philosophy, the book argues that there is no moral right to be protected from offence and that, while freedom of religion is an important right which grounds negative and positive obligations for the state, it is unpersuasive to interpret constitutional and human rights provisions as including a right not to be caused offence. Rather, we have good reasons to think of public discourse as a space for the expression of all viewpoints about the ethical life, including those which some listeners will find offensive, as this is necessary to sustain a society’s capacity for self-reflection and change.

Author(s):  
Nicholas Hatzis

This chapter discusses whether there is a non-religious justification for limiting religiously offensive speech. The most commonly used argument is that the right to freedom of religion includes a more specific right to be protected from offence to one’s religious sensibilities. If this is correct, it provides a non-religious reason for censorship: even those who are hostile to religion can accept that religious freedom is an important right and that the government is justified in giving effect to rights. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly upheld restrictions on expression which insults religious feelings, reasoning that religious freedom, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, protects the religious sensibilities of believers from offence. I suggest that this interpretation is mistaken. After exploring how rights give rise to claims, I argue that there is no right-based claim to be protected from the unpleasant feelings caused by religious insults. Therefore, it is unpersuasive to describe cases of religious offence as involving the conflict of two fundamental rights—speech and religion—which require a balancing exercise to decide which one will prevail each time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Linda Evirianti

Everyone has the right of religious freedom or belief which becomes one of important parts of Human Rights (HAM/Hak Asasi Manusia). Thus, no one can be subjected to coercion that can interfere his freedom to adopt or embrace a religion or belief of his choice. The main characteristic of modern constitutional state is the guarantee of human rights in its constitution. In the Constitution NKRI 1945 has set human rights and the rights of citizens in the form of guarantees freedom for each citizen to embrace religion and worship according to their religion or belief. A state guarantees the freedom of each citizen to adopt a religion or belief, but the state (the government) must regulate the freedom in implementing and practicing a religion or belief so that the government can respect, protect, enforce and promote Human Right (HAM) and conserving security, order, health or public morals. Speaking of human rights in Islam is not an historical product arising from human ideology, a concept that has a theological dimension and will be accountable to God. Freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is part of the most important human rights, even have status as a right that should not be reduced and violated under any circumstances. On the other hand, religious freedom protects the phenomenon that can be controversial and dangerous for human existence, because religion and systems of ideological belief can be misused to trigger intolerance, discrimination, prejudice, hatred, and violence.[Setiap orang berhak atas kebebasan beragama atau kepercayaan yang menjadi salah satu bagian penting Hak Asasi Manusia. Dengan demikian, tidak ada yang bisa terkena paksaan yang bisa mengganggu kebebasannya untuk mengadopsi atau menganut agama atau kepercayaan pilihannya. Karakteristik utama negara konstitusional modern adalah jaminan hak asasi manusia dalam konstitusinya. Dalam Konstitusi NKRI 1945 telah menetapkan hak asasi manusia dan hak warga negara dalam bentuk jaminan kebebasan bagi setiap warga negara untuk merangkul agama dan ibadah sesuai agama atau kepercayaan mereka. Sebuah negara menjamin kebebasan setiap warga negara untuk mengadopsi agama atau kepercayaan, namun negara (pemerintah) harus mengatur kebebasan dalam melaksanakan dan mempraktikkan agama atau kepercayaan sehingga pemerintah dapat menghormati, melindungi, menerapkan dan mempromosikan Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM). Dan melestarikan keamanan, ketertiban, kesehatan atau moral publik. Berbicara tentang hak asasi manusia dalam Islam bukanlah produk historis yang muncul dari ideologi manusia, sebuah konsep yang memiliki dimensi teologis dan akan bertanggung jawab kepada Tuhan. Kebebasan berpikir, hati nurani, agama dan kepercayaan adalah bagian dari hak asasi manusia yang paling penting, bahkan memiliki status sebagai hak yang tidak boleh dikurangi dan dilanggar dalam kondisi apapun. Di sisi lain, kebebasan beragama melindungi fenomena yang bisa kontroversial dan berbahaya bagi eksistensi manusia, karena agama dan sistem kepercayaan ideologis dapat disalahgunakan untuk memicu intoleransi, diskriminasi, prasangka, kebencian, dan kekerasan.]


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Duwi Handoko

The purpose of this study is to analyze the freedom to embrace religion and belief and fulfill the right to work in Indonesia. This type of research is normative legal research specifically discussing human rights in the field of religion and work. Regulation on the role and sanction for the government in the context of guaranteeing religious freedom, especially for Muslims, is very important. One form of legal vacuum in the regulation of religious freedom in Indonesia is in the context of the release of someone from Islam who aims to save humanity (of course also for other religions in Indonesia) and embrace other religions of his own free will. Regulations regarding the role and sanctions for the government in the context of guaranteed rights to obtain decent jobs, especially at productive age, are very important. Technically, it is clearly impossible for employers to recruit workers if there are no jobs in accordance with the capacity of the company's needs. From this, it can be said that the fulfillment of the right to work has a correlation with other types of rights so that a worker can have competence. The amount of unemployment that cannot be reduced by the Indonesian government and discriminatory treatment is a form of violation of the right to work.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Vereno Brugiatelli

Man's ethical fulfilment often faces objective obstacles in the deprivation of rights. The negation of the recognition of certain fundamental rights, or worse, the radical misrecognition of man, which translates into different forms of violence, often artfully disguised both on an individual and collective level, produces devastating consequences in the private life of a person upsetting all forms of positive self-esteem. The recognition of human qualities, accompanied by the right to express and extend them, is an integral part of the ethical life of each individual and, at the same time, constitutes a fundamental moment in the construction of a responsible civilized community. In this dissertation, I aim to analyse the connection between ethical life and human rights in order to draw attention to the repercussions that the recognition and misrecognition of liberty produce with regard to man's ethical fulfilment. From this perspective, I intend to highlight the importance of the existence of favourable juridical and institutional conditions to ensure ethical fulfilment. At this level, I will underline that the deprivation of capabilities is often the main cause of the profound sense of discontent affecting individuals in their desperate attempt to realise a type of existence which corresponds to their ambitions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang

Abstract Triggered by the sense of crisis, the Thai state and Thai Buddhism are renewing their traditional relationship kindled by the monarch-led reform over a century ago. Thai Buddhism is reviving its lost aura and hegemony while the political conservatives are looking for legitimacy and collective identity in a time of democratic regression. The result is the rise of the Buddhist-nationalistic movement, Buddhist-as-Thainess notion. The phenomenon has grown more mainstream in recent years. These extreme Buddhists pressure the government to adopt a new constitutional relationship that brings the two entities closer to a full establishment. They also target both religious minorities as well as non-mainstream Buddhists. The revival of Buddhist nationalism foretells rising tension as well as diminishing religious freedom.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53
Author(s):  
Kaushik Paul

In recent years, the wearing of Islamic dress in public spaces and elsewhere has generated widespread controversy all over Europe. The wearing of the hijab and other Islamic veils has been the subject of adjudication before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on many occasions. The most recent case before the ECtHR as to the prohibition on wearing the hijab is Lachiri v Belgium. In this case, the ECtHR held that a prohibition on wearing the hijab in the courtroom constitutes an infringement of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to freedom of religion or belief. From the perspective of religious freedom, the ruling of the Strasbourg Court in Lachiri is very significant for many reasons. The purpose of this comment is critically to analyse the ECtHR's decision in Lachiri from the standpoint of religious liberty.


2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori G. Beaman

Moreover, with the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to identify in the constant central core of Christian faith, despite the inquisition, despite anti-Semitism and despite the crusades, the principles of human dignity, tolerance and freedom, including religious freedom, and therefore, in the last analysis, the foundations of the secular State.A European court should not be called upon to bankrupt centuries of European tradition. No court, certainly not this Court, should rob the Italians of part of their cultural personality.In March, 2011, after five years of working its way through various levels of national and European courts, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights decided that a crucifix hanging at the front of a classroom did not violate the right to religious freedom under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Specifically, Ms. Soile Lautsi had complained that the presence of the crucifix violated her and her children's right to religious freedom and that its presence amounted to an enforced religious regime. The Grand Chamber, reversing the lower Chamber's decision, held that while admittedly a religious symbol, the crucifix also represented the cultural heritage of Italians.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiyoung Song

AbstractFor the past decade, the author has examined North Korean primary public documents and concludes that there have been changes of identities and ideas in the public discourse of human rights in the DPRK: from strong post-colonialism to Marxism-Leninism, from there to the creation of Juche as the state ideology and finally 'our style' socialism. This paper explains the background to Kim Jong Il's 'our style' human rights in North Korea: his broader framework, 'our style' socialism, with its two supporting ideational mechanisms, named 'virtuous politics' and 'military-first politics'. It analyses how some of these characteristics have disappeared while others have been reinforced over time. Marxism has significantly withered away since the end of the Cold War, and communism was finally deleted from the latest 2009 amended Socialist Constitution, whereas the concept of sovereignty has been strengthened and the language of duties has been actively employed by the authority almost as a relapse to the feudal Confucian tradition. The paper also includes some first-hand accounts from North Korean defectors interviewed in South Korea in October–December 2008. They show the perception of ordinary North Koreans on the ideas of human rights.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-178
Author(s):  
Muhammad Azzam Alfarizi

The inherent right of the individual is an affirmation that human beings must be treated properly and civilized and must be respected, as the sounding of the second precept is: "Just and Civilized Humanity". Human rights are manifestations of the third principle, namely: "Indonesian Unity". If all rights are fulfilled, reciprocally the unity and integrity will be created. Rights are also protected and upheld as is the agreement of the fourth precepts that reads: "Democracy Led by Wisdom in Consultation / Representation". Human Rights also recognizes the right of every person for the honor and protection of human dignity and dignity, which is in accordance with the fifth precepts which read: "Social Justice for All Indonesian People" PASTI Values ​​which are the core values ​​of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights which is an acronym of Professional, Accountable, Synergistic, Transparent and Innovative is an expression of the performance of the immigration apparatus in providing human rights based services. If these values ​​are in line with the values ​​contained in Pancasila, the criteria for evaluating human rights-based public services are based on the accessibility and availability of facilities; the availability of alert officers and compliance of officials, employees, and implementers of Service Standards for each service area will be easily achieved. It is fitting that immigration personnel in providing services must be in accordance with the principles of human rights-based services and in harmony with the Pancasila philosophy. This is as an endeavor in fulfilling service needs in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution, provisions of applicable laws and human rights principles for every citizen and population for services provided by the government in this case Immigration.  


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