scholarly journals Religious Tolerance, Freedom of Conscience, Freedom of Religion and Belief in the period of Establishment of Christianity

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Babii
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
Evolution Of Ideas ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Spiritual Freedom

The author examines the process of establishment of Christian understanding of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion and tolerance. In doing so, he draws on the achievements of the Greek and Greek-Roman traditions of interpreting freedom of conscience. The time of late antiquity accounts for the time of organizational establishment and strengthening of the new religion - Christianity. Describing this period, the author notes the presence of a variety of cults and sects in which foreign gods (in particular, Egyptian and Iranian) were worshiped. In this situation, individuals were free to choose their faith and satisfy their personal need for spiritual connection with God or gods. Against the background of the fall of the authority of ancient religions, the emergence and strengthening of the Emperor cult Christians seek recognition by the authorities, the equation of rights. After all, Christianity becomes a state religion. At this time, a new religious paradigm was emerging that could be a factor in the multi-ethnic, multi-tribal, or multilingual unity of the Roman Empire. The tendency of growing interest in monotheistic, in particular Jewish, religion became noticeable: the idea of one and all-pervading God was opposed to ancient polytheism. The article reveals the peculiarities of the Christian understanding of freedom, which underlies the inner personal spiritual freedom bestowed by God. Christianity the first formulated the idea of freedom of religious conscience as freedom to choose religion. In addition to the individual dimension of freedom of conscience, Christianity has actualized the community's right to freedom of religion, freedom of outside religion, and worship. At the same time, it theoretically substantiated these rights and practically required its observance by the authorities. The legitimacy of the affirmation of the principle of freedom of religious conscience is the Milan edict of 313, which opened the union of the Christian church and the state, as well as the constitutionalization of the Christian church as a state church. This provoked persecution on religious grounds and the struggle of different movements, both within Christianity and beyond, for the right to freedom of religion, the free expression of their religious beliefs. Christianity significantly influenced the evolution of ideas about freedom of conscience, becoming the semantic nucleus of its modern understanding. However, early Christianity proved to be a force that, in the struggle for its claim, was repeatedly harassed, but also resorted to persecution of dissenters, showing intolerance to other worldviews and religions.

A Veiled Threat: Belcacemi and Oussar v Belgium

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-200
Author(s):  
Jasper Doomen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Unequal Treatment ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Full Face ◽  
The Right

The freedom of the individual can easily come into conflict with his or her obligation to integrate in society. The case of Belcacemi and Oussar v Belgium provides a good example. It is evident that some restrictions of citizens’ freedoms must be accepted for a state to function and, more basically, persist; as a consequence, it is acceptable that certain demands, incorporated in criminal law, are made of citizens. The issue of the extent to which such restrictions are justified has increasingly become a topic of discussion. The present case raises a number of important questions with respect to the right to wear a full-face veil in public if the societal norm is that the face should be visible, the most salient of which are whether women should be ‘protected’ from unequal treatment against their will and to what extent society may impose values on the individual. I will argue that Belgian law places unwarranted restrictions on citizens and that the values behind it testify to an outlook that is difficult to reconcile with the freedom of conscience and religion.

scholarly journals Theory and Practice of the Realization of the Right to Freedom of Religion: All-Ukrainian and Regional Contexts

2013 ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Liudmyla O. Fylypovych
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine on Freedom of Conscience and religious organizations. Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine states that this right includes the freedom to profess any religion or not to profess any, to freely send individually or collectively religious ceremonies, to conduct religious activities.

Part 1 Freedom of Religion or Belief, 1.3.1 Freedom to Worship

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bielefeldt Heiner, Prof ◽  
Ghanea Nazila, Dr ◽  
Wiener Michael, Dr
Keyword(s):  
Public Debate ◽  
The Other ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Individual Freedom ◽  
Dietary Practices ◽  
Education Services ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

This chapter addresses issues concerning the individual freedom to worship. Given the crucial significance of worship for the understanding and practice of religion, the texts of some national constitutions reduce the right to freedom of religion or belief to the element of worship by replacing it with the term ‘freedom to worship’. However, this narrow or even exclusive emphasis on worship can become an excuse for marginalizing or simply ignoring other important aspects of freedom of religion or belief, such as running charity institutions, offering education services or participating in public debate. It is therefore advisable not to isolate the element of worship, but to see it in conjunction with the other elements of the right to manifest one’s religion or belief through observance, practice, and teaching. The chapter also discusses issues of interpretation such as the ceremonial use of plants and drugs, as well as ritual slaughter and observance of dietary practices.

Making Amulets Christian

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore de Bruyn
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Location ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
The People ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

This book examines Greek amulets with Christian elements from late antique Egypt in order to discern the processes whereby a customary practice—the writing of incantations on amulets—changed in an increasingly Christian context. It addresses three questions. First, how did the formulation of incantations and amulets change as the Christian church became the prevailing religious institution in Egypt in the last centuries of the Roman Empire? Second, what can we learn from incantations and amulets containing Christian elements about the cultural and social location of the people who wrote them? Finally, how were incantations and amulets indebted to the rituals or ritualizing behaviour of Christians? The book analyses amulets according to types of amulets and the ways in which they incorporate Christian elements. By comparing the formulation and writing of individual amulets that are similar to one another, one can observe differences in the culture of the scribes of these materials. The book argues for ‘conditioned individuality’ in the production of amulets. On the one hand, amulets manifest qualities that reflect the training and culture of the individual writer. On the other hand, amulets reveal that individual writers were shaped, whether consciously or inadvertently, by the resources they drew upon—by what is called ‘tradition’ in the field of religious studies.

scholarly journals On freedom of religion and belief in the Republic of Tajikistan

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 84-98
Author(s):  
Muatar Khaidarova
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Administrative Control ◽  
The Past ◽  
Liberal Attitude ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Right

Over the past 25 years in Tajikistan, attitudes toward religion and the right to freedom of conscience have changed from time to time - from a liberal attitude to this issue to a rather rigid administrative control. Currently, 99.4% of the population in Tajikistan are Muslims, represented mainly by Sunni Hanafi sense (96.6%) and Shi'ism of the Ismaili trend (2.8%). Only 0.6% of the population of Tajikistan refers to Christianity and other religions, or are atheists.

scholarly journals Civic and legal provision of freedom of missionary activity

2013 ◽  
pp. 204-207
Author(s):  
Anatolii M. Kolodnyi
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Activity ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Legal Provision ◽  
Teaching Religion ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

Ukraine is a country of freedom of beliefs and beliefs. The Constitution of the country (Article 35) provides its citizens with not only the right to profess any religion, but also the freedom of religious activity, prohibits the binding of any one of the religions by recognizing it as a state. In the civil society of Ukraine, each of its citizens is sovereign. In accordance with the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations (Article 3), he is free to accept or change his religion of his choice. Every citizen has the right to express and freely distribute his religious beliefs. "No one can set obligatory beliefs and outlooks. No coercion is allowed in determining a citizen's attitude to religion ..., to participation or non-participation in worship, religious rites and ceremonies, teaching religion. " Thus, by proclaiming the right to freedom of religion, freedom of religion, the Ukrainian state, if it considers itself to be democratic and claims to join such a united Europe, is obliged to create conditions for the functioning of different religions in its territory.

scholarly journals Problematic Aspects of Measuring the Legal Status of Neo-Religions in Ukraine

2007 ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
Mykhailo Yu. Babiy
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Effective Mechanism ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Collective Levels ◽  
Scientific Reflection ◽  
The Individual

First of all, I consider it necessary to note that the full value of freedom of existence of religious organizations (all without exception) operating in the territory of our country, the realization of their tasks, goals depends first of all on the effective mechanism of their legal support and legal guarantees. It is clear that the legal norms fixed in the legislation of Ukraine, which relate to the sphere of freedom of religion, concern only the plane of realization of freedom of conscience - freedom of religious expression both at the individual and the collective levels. This is an extremely pressing issue that needs scientific reflection.

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.

Exemptions for Religion or Conscience under the Canopy of the Rule of Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rex Ahdar
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Default Position ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

This essay endeavours to restate the case for the right to freedom of conscience and religion. Specifically, it seeks to make the case for exemptions from the law of the land for religious believers and similarly-situated citizens who hold sincere conscientious beliefs. The rule of law is not something to be ignored, and carving out exemptions for conscience has been criticized as unfair, anomalous, potentially open-ended in scope, and difficult to administer. I attempt to assuage these legitimate concerns by underscoring the importance of the dignity of the individual and the virtue of protecting religious minorities (and dissenters of all stripes), who challenge the conventions of the day. If the default position is the rule of law, believers face an uphill task. Ultimately, only a truly liberal polity can offer protection to what, in every age, is a fragile liberty.

Case Note: Belcacemi and Oussar v Belgium App no 37798/13 (ECtHR, 11 July 2017)

ICL Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Doomen
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Case Note ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Unequal Treatment ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Full Face ◽  
The Right

Abstract The freedom of the individual can easily come into conflict with his or her obligation to integrate in society. The present case provides a good example. That some restrictions of citizens’ freedoms must be accepted for a state to function and, more basically, persist is evident and that, as a consequence, certain demands, incorporated in criminal law, are made from citizens is acceptable. The issue to what extent such restrictions are justified has increasingly become a topic of discussion. The present case raises a number of important questions with respect to the right to wear a full-face veil in public if the societal norm is that the face should be visible, the most salient of which are whether women should be ‘protected’ from unequal treatment against their will and to what extent society may impose values on the individual. I will argue that the Belgian law places unwarranted restrictions on citizens and that the values behind it testify to an outlook that is difficult to reconcile with the freedom of conscience and religion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document