Religious Speech

2021 ◽  
pp. 498-517
Author(s):  
Gautam Bhatia
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Moral Beliefs ◽  
Religious Speech ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Normative Value

This chapter examines religious speech, and the tensions between religion and freedom of expression. As a wide-ranging system of moral beliefs and commitments, religion, by its very nature, assigns to the freedom of expression a particular place in its hierarchical order of values. In non-theocratic States, this may clash with the (higher) normative value accorded to the freedom of expression under the secular order. Religious claims themselves will often be made from within the constitutional system: that is, the State’s own constitutional commitment to protect religious freedom will be invoked to argue that, in certain domains, the secular order must defer to religion’s hierarchy of values. This may include the subordination of religious expression to revealed religious truth. Disputes will often also involve contestation over a constellation of other constitutional norms, such as the commitment to maintaining diversity and pluralism, the right to equality and cultural dissent, and not least, the imperatives of public order. Consequently, such disputes raise a host of complex issues. The State’s adjudicatory authorities must decide whether to attempt an accommodation between the conflicting claims of religion and free speech, or privilege one over the other. The chapter then discusses the role of religion in censorship.

scholarly journals What Constitutions Can Do (but Courts Sometimes Don’t): Property, Speech, and the Influence of Constitutional Norms on Private Law

2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Gerstenberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
Recent Attempt ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
The Right ◽  
Higher Law

In this paper I want to address, against the background of the ECtHR’s recent attempt to resolve the clash between property rights and the right to freedom of expression in its decision in Appleby v. UK, two questions, both of which I take to be related to the overarching theme of “social democracy”. First, there is the problem of the influence of “higher law”-of human rights norms and constitutional norms-on private law norms; second, the question of the role of adjudication in “constitutionalizing” private law, in other words, the question of the “judicial cognizability” of constitutional norms within private law.

scholarly journals The Concept of Politics in Semitic Religions

2017 ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Mr. Sami Ullah ◽  
Mr. Muhammad Jamsheed
Keyword(s):  
Religion And Politics ◽  
The West ◽  
Politics And Religion ◽  
Thought Pattern ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The Doors

There is a thought pattern rampant in the west that there is no concept of politics in Divine Religions and this thought is continuously been propagated and given strength. Politics and religion are two different things and this view has seriously kept apart from religion and politics for centuries distorting the role of religion. Consequently this misconception has opened the doors for oppression and exploitation. It is therefore, necessary to dismiss this misconception and set the records straight. The purpose of this article is to present the right concept of politics in divine religions. The article further explains the relation between religion and politics in the light of Qur’an and Sunn’ah. Keywords: Qur’an, Politics, Ibn e Khuldun, Semitic, Christianity

Innate Cosmopolitan Dialectics at the ICJ: Changing Perceptions of International Community, the Role of the Court, and the Legacy of Judge Álvarez

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-330
Author(s):  
GEOFFREY GORDON
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Public Order ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Dialectical Process ◽  
The Right

AbstractTraditional conceptions of the international community have come under stress in a time of expanding international public order. Various initiatives purport to observe a reconceived international community from a variety of perspectives: transnational, administrative, pluralist, constitutional, etc. The perspectives on this changing dynamic evidenced by the International Court of Justice, however, have been largely neglected. But as the principal judicial institution tasked with representing the diversity of legal perspectives in the world, the Court represents an important forum by which to understand the changing appreciation of international community. While decisions of the Court have been restrained, an active discourse has been carried forward among individual judges. I look at part of that discourse, organized around one perspective, which I refer to as innate cosmopolitanism, introduced to the forum of the ICJ by the opinions of Judge Álvarez. The innate cosmopolitan perspective reflects an idea of the international community as an autonomous collectivity, enjoying a will, interests, or ends of its own, independent of constituent states. The application of that perspective under international law is put most to test in matters of international security, in particular where the interest in a discrete, global public order runs up against the right to self-defence vested in states. The innate cosmopolitan perspective has not, in these cases, achieved a controlling position – but, over time, it has been part of a dialectical process showing a change in the appreciation of international community before the Court, and a changing perception from the bench of the role of the Court in that community.

Judicializing Religion

2020 ◽  
pp. 157-188
Author(s):  
Yvonne Tew
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Malaysian Politics ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Civil Courts

Religion has become one of the great fault lines of modern Malaysian politics and adjudication. This chapter focuses on the role of religion and religious freedom in the contemporary Malaysian state. It outlines the constitution-making process to locate the place of Islam and religious liberty within the Constitution’s generally secular original framework. Over the past quarter century, the politicization and judicialization of religion has led to an expansion of Islam’s role, fueling polarizing debate over the Malaysian state’s identity as secular or Islamic. Courts have contributed to elevating Islam’s position by deferring jurisdiction to the Sharia courts and expansively interpreting Islam’s constitutional position. The chapter then turns from the descriptive to the prescriptive. It discusses how courts can draw on the constitutional basic structure doctrine to entrench the judicial power of the civil courts to reclaim jurisdictional areas that engage constitutional rights which in the past they have ceded to the religious courts, such as apostasy. It also outlines how courts can use a purposive interpretive approach in line with the Constitution’s framework of protection for religious minorities and individual rights. Finally, it shows how the court can operationalize a proportionality analysis to closely scrutinize government regulations that restrict religious freedom or freedom of expression.

THE RIGHT TO RITUAL SLAUGHTER IN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 470-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enyinna S. Nwauche
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Religion

AbstractUsing examples of ritual slaughter recognized by different religions in Africa, this paper examines the regulated and unregulated exercise of the right to ritual slaughter as a manifestation of the right to freedom of religion in three constitutional traditions in Africa.This article commences with an evaluation of the existence of the right to ritual slaughter either as a freestanding right or a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion in the bills of rights of African constitutions. The article argues that the ritual slaughter at this stage of constitutional development in Africa is at best a derivative right partly anchored on the communal dimensions of the right to freedom of religion. The article closely examines the bearers and content of the right to ritual slaughter through a brief overview of the practices of ritual slaughter recognized by African traditional religion and Islam. In addition, the syncretic nature of religious practice in Africa identified as the multiple or concurrent witness to different faiths is also considered to provide a realistic account of ritual slaughter in Africa.Since the right to ritual slaughter is identified as a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion, the article examines different constitutional traditions in Africa to determine how religion is conceived in constitutional governance that in turn affects the feasibility of the right to ritual slaughter within constitutional designs and capacity of other public interests such as animal welfare to limit the exercise of the right to ritual slaughter.Three constitutional designs of the role of religion in constitutional governance are identified in this regard. The article concludes on a number of points, including the recognition of the importance of the articulation of the human rights that underpin animal welfare concerns and the fact that a regulated right to ritual slaughter appears feasible in a number of African countries.

Part III, 12 Religious Expression

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahdar Rex ◽  
Leigh Ian
Keyword(s):  
Free Speech ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Open Society ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Religious Speech

This chapter begins with discussions of the importance of the freedom of religious expression and how religious liberty can conflict with free speech. It then considers protections for religious speech, restrictions on anti-religious speech, and limitations on religious expression. It argues that free speech is the best defence for a tolerant open society in which diversity of religious expression flourishes. There are clear signs, however, that these values are under threat, both for reasons concerned ostensibly with protecting public order, non-discrimination and, paradoxically, religious liberty itself.

The Right to Political Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-161
Author(s):  
Christof Heyns ◽  
Charles Fombad ◽  
Pansy Tlakula ◽  
Jimmy Kainja
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
The People ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right

The effective realisation of the right to political participation is essential for the legitimacy of political systems and for enabling the people to shape, and assume responsibility for, their lives. Although the right to political participation is recognised in article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as in other international treaties, its realisation in practice is often partial, it depends on the extent to which numerous interrelated rights, such as those to freedom of expression, access to information and peaceful protest, have been secured. Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, this article examines the right to political participation as set out in national constitutions and in the instruments of the United Nations, the African Union and sub-regional bodies. It also considers the role of social media in this context. The article concludes by suggesting how this crucial right could be implemented more effectively in Africa.

The Media and Power in Postliberal Venezuela

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Sapiezynska
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Negative Freedom ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Freedom ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Hugo Chavez ◽  
The Right

Two narratives dominate the literature about the state of freedom of expression in postliberal Venezuela, and they have few points in common, since they depend on different conceptualizations of the notion of freedom of expression. While the traditional liberal narrative focuses on the negative freedom that prohibits state interference, the postliberal narrative is based on positive freedom that encompasses the collective right of self-realization, particularly for the previously marginalized. During the government of Hugo Chávez, the discourse of freedom of expression was renewed, placing it in the context of power relations, accentuating positive freedom, and emphasizing the role of the public and community media. The establishment of the international public channel TeleSUR has revived the 1970s debate about the right to communication and contributed to the creation of a new Latin American-ness. En la literatura predominan dos narrativas acerca del estado de la libertad de expresión en la Venezuela posliberal las que tienen pocos puntos en común porque parten de visiones distintas del concepto de la libertad de expresión. Mientras la narrativa liberal tradicional enfoca sólo en la libertad negativa que previene la injerencia estatal, la narrativa posliberal se centra en la libertad positiva que abarca la autorrealización del derecho colectivo, también de los previamente marginalizados. Durante el gobierno de Hugo Chávez el discurso acerca de la libertad de expresión se renueva, insertando el concepto en el contexto de las relaciones de poder, acentuando la libertad positiva y enfatizando el rol de los medios públicos y comunitarios. El establecimiento del medio público internacional TeleSUR revive los debates sobre el derecho a la comunicación de la década de los 70 y aporta a la creación de una nueva Latinoamericanidad.

scholarly journals The Reckoning of Pluralism

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 128-131
Author(s):  
Kimberly Hart
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Ottoman History ◽  
National Memory ◽  
Turkish Government ◽  
Turkish Nationalism ◽  
National Imaginary

At the time Tambar wrote The Reckoning of Pluralism, there was a briefopening in Turkish political life during which ethnic and sectarian pluralitywas both imaginable and debatable. This opening, initiated by the ruling AKP,attempted to create an official conversation about the Alevis and the Kurds.This move indicated that those who have state power were willing to acceptthe suggestion that Turkish nationalism could encompass sectarian and ethnicdiversity. The opening, however, was brutally closed via the violent attackson peaceful protestors during the Gezi Park events of 2013. Turkishpolitics changes rapidly, and what was a moment of optimism among thosewho hope for a greater freedom of expression in Turkey may be revived.This means that Tambar conducted his research when Turks were beginningto discuss religious and ethnic difference, the ongoing war with the Kurdsand possible solutions, and a troubled national memory avoided by nationalisthistorians. Only further research can tell us if the Alevi community feelsthere is a possibility of greater religious expression. But even within thecontext of this brief opening, Tambar’s work contributes to the question ofhow the Turkish government locates, defines, and confines religion, in thiscase Alevism, in the national imaginary via nationalist historians.Tambar’s work contributes to a growing body of ethnographic and sociologicalliterature on Turkey’s powerful if obviously constructed ideologicalworldview, in which the state ushers into existence self-evident “truths” forits citizens. In this case the truth is the origin, meaning, and role of the nation’sAlevis. The author describes how their history has been domesticated (chap.3), how public performances of religiosity are self-contained by the Alevis,who are now burdened with the need to perform national unity and forget aspectsof ritual that appear “irrelevant” to contemporary, urban, political, andideological issues (chaps. 2 and 4), and how ritual has become intellectualizedand historicized (chap. 5). Chapter 6, the final chapter, discusses a non-stateAlevi mosque run by imams trained in Iran.The book will be useful for specialists, for whom lingering questionsabout this group’s oft-repeated “shamanistic” origin is a puzzle. Tambar forcefullyilluminates the origins of this nationalist fiction and the related denial ofany possible connection with Shi‘i Islam. Naturally, for those with some backgroundin Ottoman history, the denial of the Alevis’ sectarian connections to ...

scholarly journals Freedom of expression -The Clash of Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 516-521
Author(s):  
Andhika Yahya Santiago Baramuli
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Negative Role ◽  
The Right

This article will examine the shift in the role of freedom of expression based on recent events, observing how the right to freedom guaranteed by law has shifted into a coercive political tool in modern democracy. The results of this article show that, freedom of expression has been melted and shaped into a shield into a sword. This has changed from what was traditionally a negative role to guarantee people's freedom from arbitrary exercise of power, to a positive role in which people can exercise their liberties against their own rights.

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