God, the Pencil, and the Judge: Exploring the Paradoxes Regarding Protection of Freedom of Religion and Expression in France

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Rim-Sarah Alouane
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Free Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Religious Minorities

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.

scholarly journals Religious Minorities of Ukraine in Socio-Cultural and Legal Aspects

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 85-88
Author(s):  
Mariana Tatarchuk
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Freedom Of Action

With the tendency towards the increasing globalization of the world from the 1970s-1980s to multiculturalism and pluralism in all its manifestations, it is not surprising that religious, ethnic, national, linguistic and other contradictions and conflicts arise between representatives of certain social groups Religious and national contradictions are the most characteristic and become the most acute forms of resolution in polyethnic and polyconfessional countries in the case of belonging of the majority of the population to one national, religious and other group, while the rest form a minority according to one or another criterion. Increasingly, you can hear about political, economic, and cultural pressure on representatives of different social groups that are not so-called "majority". Therefore, there is a need to protect the rights of individuals to freedom of conscience, freedom of expression in various aspects of life, including freedom of religion, freedom of action of religious communities and organizations, including religious minorities.

scholarly journals The situation of freedom of religion and belief in the South Caucasus

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
Shorena Kobaidze
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
The Past

Attitude towards freedom of religion and belief, tolerance and the concept of multiculturalism, as well as generally towards the protection of the rights of national, ethnic and religious minorities, remains extremely difficult in the South Caucasus region. Despite the declared strong tradition of public religious tolerance, the attitude of government agencies and institutions to religious freedom has worsened in both Azerbaijan and Georgia over the past few years. If in Azerbaijan the authorities in recent years continued to impose fines for violating the repressive law on religion of 2009, adopting new restrictions and further aggravating the general atmosphere, in Georgia since the establishment of the new state agency on religions in 2014, there are no effective mechanisms for resolving minority issues have not been taken.

scholarly journals Religious Freedom for the religious minorities in Bangladesh: A Critical Analysis of the insertion of state religion in the constitution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Didarul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The State ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Status

This research explores the status of religious freedom in Bangladesh for the religious minorities from a critical perspective. The main subject of this research is religious minorities in Bangladesh mainly the Hindus, the Buddhists and the Christians. As Islam is the state religion in Bangladesh constitution, religious minorities feel inferior to the Muslims. This research attempts to explore whether the insertion of ‘state religion’ in the Bangladesh constitution is a threat to freedom of religion in Bangladesh with special preference to religious minorities

scholarly journals Equal Liberty – Questioning the Right to Freedom of Religion?

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 283-301
Author(s):  
Irene Klissenbauer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
The Right ◽  
Judicial Systems

Abstract This paper tackles the question of how to handle the phenomenon of “religion” by widely secularized judicial systems by analyzing the “Equal Liberty”-concept from legal scholars Eisgruber and Sager. While they assume that everything worth protecting is already covered by existing anti-discrimination laws, freedom of expression and association, and judge the right to religious freedom as itself discriminatory, this paper considers how this right can be part of an emancipatory human rights approach, which helps us think beyond an antagonistic relationship between religious freedom and other human rights.

scholarly journals Freedom of religion and Protestantism: historical and contemporary context

2017 ◽  
pp. 122-127
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Babiy ◽  
Liudmyla O. Fylypovych
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
90Th Anniversary ◽  
Historical Origin ◽  
The Right ◽  
Contemporary Context

The problem of freedom of religion in the year of the 90th anniversary of the Reformation is relevant. It can not but attract the attention of researchers, experts, believers - Protestants and non-Protestants. Half a millennium of Europeans, and with them a part of Americans live in a new religious and ideological reality, which is fundamentally different from the previous one, mainly one-or two-culturally, with its diversity. And here a special role belongs to Protestantism as one of the consequences of the Reformation of 1517. By studying the Protestant foundations of faith, the life of his followers, the thoughts of his ideologues, you realize that freedom of conscience, freedom of religion is not an empty sound or abstraction, but values ​​that are chosen and endured by Protestants. The right to profess his faith, to honor God in his own way paid for thousands of killed, persecuted, imprisoned, robbed, who did not renounce faith, did not renounce freedom of conscience. Until now, Protestants are the most consistent defenders of religious freedom, since they remember the price that had to be paid for their own convictions and religious confidences in most of Europe and America. Although the vast majority of Protestants have long been historical, and somewhere even dominant churches, they generally consistently continue to defend not only their rights, where they are violated, but also the rights of other religious minorities in countries of their historical origin and spread.

scholarly journals Majorities and Minarets: Religious Freedom and Public Space

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Miller
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Public Expression ◽  
Treatment Principle

The problem raised when democratic majorities take decisions that impose restrictions on religious minorities may be avoided through ‘the strategy of privatization’, but not when the issue is the character of public space. This article considers a challenging case: the Swiss referendum decision to ban any future construction of Islamic minarets. It examines two grounds for opposition: the human right to freedom of religion, and the liberal principle of equal treatment of cultures. It argues that the human right is too limited, and that the equal treatment principle can be trumped by considerations of national identity when public space is involved. Nevertheless, the content of that identity and its public expression must remain open to democratic deliberation, and the Swiss decision can be faulted on those grounds.

Liberals used to love religious freedom

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Andrew Koppelman
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Gay Rights ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Core ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Federal Statute ◽  
The Right

The idea of religious liberty was, for a long time, uncontroversial common ground between right and left. The idea of a private sphere that government must respect—an idea at the core of the gay rights movement—has its roots in dissenting Protestantism. It became the basis for the practice of religious exemptions from generally applicable laws. As recently as 1993, Congress almost unanimously enacted a federal statute codifying that practice. That law continues to produce results that liberals admire, protecting prisoners from arbitrary treatment and religious minorities, notably Muslims, from discrimination. If you want to protect the right to be different, this is a good place to start.

Exercising Religious Freedom in the Public Space: A Comparative and European Convention Analysis of General Burqa Bans

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard van der Schyff ◽  
Adriaan Overbeeke
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Public Order ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Right

Analysis of the justifiability of general burqa bans in public – Comparative study of burqa bans in France, Belgium and concept legislation in the Netherlands – Evaluation of burqa bans in light of the Article 9 ECHR, the right to freedom of religion – Evaluation of grounds for introduction of bans, including public safety, public order and the protection of rights and freedoms of others – Conclusion: general burqa bans diffcult to justify in the light of ECHR standards

Religious Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Spain

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 209-225
Author(s):  
Santiago Cañamares Arribas
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Public Order

This article deals with the conflicts produced in the Spanish legal system between the exercise of religious freedom and freedom of expression, focusing on those cases in which certain expressions have been considered offensive to religious feelings and on those where the religious discourse has been considered contrary to public order. The Spanish case-law shows the difficulties in protecting the religious feelings by means of criminal law.

Accommodating Religious Identities in an Islamic State: International Law, Freedom of Religion and the Rights of Religious Minorities

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Subject

AbstractThis article examines the controversial and divisive issues of freedom of religion and the rights of religious minorities. A major stumbling-block in attaining a consensus on the subject has been the attitude of certain states which purport to follow the Sharia. The article however contends that in reality it is possible for Islamic states to find a great measure of compatibility with practices advocated by Western states on issues concerning the rights of religious minorities and religious freedom. Through an investigation of state practices, the paper concludes that the causes of the existing inconsistencies are embedded not in the Islamic system of governance (which these states are claiming to follow) but in domestic politics and constitutional inadequacies.

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