scholarly journals Overview of the legal regulation of burials in Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
Andriy Fert

Legal regulation of funeral business and burials is able to clearly demonstrate the degree of religious freedom in a particular country. In this article, the author raises the question of how the normative field of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as the Crimean autonomy, ensures the human right to publicly practice their religion through burial.

Author(s):  
Daniel Philpott

Is Islam hospitable to religious freedom? The question is at the heart of a public controversy over Islam that has raged in the West over the past decade-and-a-half. Religious freedom is important because it promotes democracy and peace and reduces ills like civil war, terrorism, and violence. Religious freedom also is simply a matter of justice—not an exclusively Western principle but rather a universal human right rooted in human nature. The heart of the book confronts the question of Islam and religious freedom through an empirical examination of Muslim-majority countries. From a satellite view, looking at these countries in the aggregate, the book finds that the Muslim world is far less free than the rest of the world. Zooming in more closely on Muslim-majority countries, though, the picture looks more diverse. Some one-fourth of Muslim-majority countries are in fact religiously free. Among the unfree, 40% are repressive because they are governed by a hostile secularism imported from the West, and the other 60% are Islamist. The emergent picture is both honest and hopeful. Amplifying hope are two chapters that identify “seeds of freedom” in the Islamic tradition and that present the Catholic Church’s long road to religious freedom as a promising model for Islam. Another chapter looks at the Arab Uprisings of 2011, arguing that religious freedom explains much about both their broad failure and their isolated success. The book closes with lessons for expanding religious freedom in the Muslim world and the world at large.


Author(s):  
Daniel Philpott

This chapter makes the case for religious freedom as a universal human right. It argues that religion is a universal human phenomenon and a good that merits protection by the law. It argues against the “new critics,” who hold that there is no universal phenomenon called religion, that religion and religious freedom are inventions of the modern West and have deep Protestant roots, that the West has imposed religious freedom through its power in colonialist and imperialist fashion, particularly vis-à-vis Islam, and that religious freedom ought not to be exported through the foreign policies of Western states. To each of these assertions, the chapter offers counterarguments.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Marsden

The freedom to practice one’s religious belief is a fundamental human right and yet, for millions of people around the world, this right is denied. Yearly reports produced by the US State Department, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Open Doors International, Aid to the Church in Need and Release International reveal a disturbing picture of increased religious persecution across much of the world conducted at individual, community and state level conducted by secular, religious, terrorist and state actors. While religious actors both contribute to persecution of those of other faiths and beliefs and are involved in peace and reconciliation initiatives, the acceptance of the freedom to practice one’s faith, to disseminate that faith and to change one’s faith and belief is fundamental to considerations of the intersection of peace, politics and religion. In this article, I examine the political background of the United States’ promotion of international religious freedom, and current progress on advancing this under the Trump administration. International Religious Freedom (IRF) is contentious, and seen by many as the advancement of US national interests by other means. This article argues that through an examination of the accomplishments and various critiques of the IRF programme it is possible, and desirable, to discover what works, and where further progress needs to be made, in order to enable people around the world to enjoy freedom of thought, conscience and religion.


2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Van der Walt

Religious diversity, intolerance and freedom: A principial reflection (1) This essay as well as a following one attempts to address six interrelated problems – of vital importance for Christians – in contemporary societies: People today live in a world of growing religious diversity and contact in the same country and city. Apart from well-known world religions, this diversity includes different kinds of revived pre-Christian religions as well as brand-new cults. Does the secular model offer a solution for handling the great diversity and mutual contact/conflict among religions? People often do bad things in the name of their religious convictions. How could this kind of intolerance – even violence – be explained? The constitutions of most con- temporary countries guarantee religious freedom. Is this basic human right fully – also structurally – realised? In the follow-up article three issues, closely related to the three previous problems, will be discussed: If religions are legally equal, does it also imply that they are equal in nature, that every one of them can be regarded as true? If Christians reject the principial equality of all religions, in what sense can Christianity be regarded as unique? In the light of the danger of religious conflict, what should be the ground(s) for and the nature of religious tolerance?


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Baines

This article addresses a research gap by analysing the way the Australian legal system is balancing the right to religious autonomy of organisations and the right of lgbti individuals not to be discriminated against, and considers what ought to be the case. I argue that the Australian legal system recognises the value of religious freedom on the one hand, and on the other hand, does not place a high priority on protecting it as an existing human right. My findings reveal that the Australian legal system is not always defining the religion and society relationship in ways that reflect the lived reality of religion in society. The issue is compounded by the wording of religious exemptions under anti-discrimination law which is contested within faith communities. As a consequence, religious freedom can be unfairly restricted. I conclude with recommendations to improve the status quo.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-179
Author(s):  
Michael J. Perry

In this essay, I elaborate and defend the internationally recognized human right to religious freedom. I then pursue the implications of the right for government’s exclusion of same-sex couples from of civil marriage.


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