Freedom of Religion in Europe: Finding the Golden Mean between Too Little and Too Much Protection

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Claire Foblets
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Golden Mean ◽  
The Past

Over the course of the past two decades, countless articles, monographs and collective volumes have been devoted to the return of religion to the forefront in contemporary secular democracies. Religion is ‘back in town’, so to speak. This ‘return’ raises the question, among others, of how to govern this new religious diversity, and more particularly whether the existing normative frameworks put into place – whether international, constitutional/domestic or otherwise – are still capable of appropriately addressing some of the intricacies that come with increasing religious diversity and with the unavoidable risk of clashes it entails.

An Incomplete Journey Away from the Past: The Life and Ideas of Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881)

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 318-338
Author(s):  
Anthony Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract This article recovers a dissonant voice from the nineteenth-century nahḍa. Antonius Ameuney (1821–1881) was a fervent Protestant and staunch Anglophile. Unlike his Ottoman Syrian contemporaries, who argued for religious diversity and the formation of a civil society based on a shared Arab past, he believed that the only geopolitical Syria viable in the future was one grounded in Protestant virtues and English values. This article examines Ameuney’s complicated journey to become a Protestant Englishman and his inescapable characterization as a son of Syria. It charts his personal life and intellectual career and explores how he interpreted the religious, cultural, political, and linguistic landscape of his birthplace to British audiences. As an English-speaking Ottoman Syrian intellectual residing permanently in London, the case of Antonius Ameuney illustrates England to have been a constitutive site of the nahḍa and underscores the role played by the British public in shaping nahḍa discourses.

The Place of Religious Freedom in the Structure of Peacebuilding

2015 ◽  
pp. 280-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Cole Durham ◽  
Elizabeth A. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
The Right

This chapter analyzes the role that the fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief plays in ending or averting religious warfare, and in providing necessary footings for crystallizing peace out of conflict. After stressing that there is a tendency to lay exaggerated blame for many conflicts on religion, the chapter explores the Lockean insight that under certain circumstances, religious pluralism can serve as a stabilizing factor in society if states protect the right to religious diversity instead of imposing homogeneity. International limitation clauses on the scope of religious liberty play an important filtering role in promoting the positive contributions religion makes to society, while constraining negative religious effects. The analysis argues that secularity, understood as a framework welcoming religious pluralism, rather than secularism, as an ideology advocating secularization as an end in itself, is most conducive to the peacebuilding potential of religious freedom.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the European Court of Human Rights to the Accommodation of Contemporary Religious Diversity

2017 ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Roberta Medda-Windischer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
European Court

The present article analyzes how main issues and dilemmas that religious minorities and groups pose and face in contemporary societies in which, in the terms of the European Court of Human Rights, several religions coexist within one and the same population, have been or may be addressed through the lens of the European Convention on Human Rights. Key words: freedom of religion; religious diversity; religious minorities; accommodation; European Convention on Human Rights.Published online: 11 December 2017

scholarly journals Continuity with the Past and Uncertainty for the Future

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-24
Author(s):  
Henrik Reintoft Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
International News ◽  
World Religions ◽  
News Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Quantitative Data Analysis ◽  
Longitudinal Part

The article examines the newspaper constructions of religion in Danishnewspapers in a quantitative longitudinal analysis from 1750 to 2000and a more qualitative analysis of recent news production from thelast forty years. For the longitudinal part, the database of the digitization of Danish newspapers project is used. Using the available toolsfor quantitative data analysis, the article shows that the category ofreligion and world religions has been visible in Danish newspaperssince 1750. The coverage of world religions is often related to thecoverage of international news. Overall, the article documents a remarkable continuity of the presence of religion. Examining the morerecent material qualitatively, the article shows that although manyreligions have been historically visible in the news, they have mostrecently become more frequent in the debate sections than in thenews sections. It is primarily Islam that is debated. This is connectedwith a shift from religious diversity as part of foreign news coverageto domestic news coverage, related to changes in the surroundingDanish society. Nevertheless, the coverage of Islam also displays aremarkable continuity.

Pluralism in Religion and American Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana L. Eck ◽  
Brendan Randall
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
American Education ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Established Fact ◽  
The Common

The United States is among the most religiously diverse countries in the world. Although such diversity is not a new phenomenon, its degree and visibility have increased dramatically in the past fifty years, reigniting the debate over a fundamental civic question: What is the common identity that binds us together? How we respond to religious diversity in the context of education has enormous implications for our democratic society. To the extent that previous frameworks such as exclusion or assimilation ever were desirable or effective, they no longer are. Increased religious diversity is an established fact and growing trend. The United States needs a more inclusive and robust civic framework for religious diversity in the twenty-first century—pluralism—and this framework should be an essential component of civic education.

Circling the Elephant

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Thatamanil
Keyword(s):  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Ultimate Reality ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Comparative Theology ◽  
Constructive Theology ◽  
Religious Truth ◽  
The Past ◽  
Religion And Race

Christian theologians have, for some decades, affirmed that they have no monopoly on encounter with God or ultimate reality; other religions also have access to religious truth and transformation. If so, the time has come for Christians not just to learn about but also from their religious neighbors. Circling the Elephant affirms that the best way to move toward the mystery of divinity is to move toward the mystery of the neighbor. In this book, Thatamanil employs the ancient Indian allegory of the elephant and blindfolded men to argue for the integration of three, often-separated theological projects: theologies of religious diversity, comparative theology, and constructive theology. Circling the Elephant also offers an analysis of why we have fallen short in the past. Interreligious learning has been obstructed by problematic ideas about “religion” and “religions.” Thatamanil also notes troubling resonances between reified notions of “religion” and “race.” He contests these notions and offers a new theory of the religious that makes interreligious learning both possible and desirable. Christians have much to learn from their religious neighbors, even about such central features of Christian theology as Christ and Trinity. This book proposes a new theology of religious diversity, one that opens the door to true interreligious learning.

Language threat in the United Arab Emirates? Unpacking domains of language use

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (254) ◽  
pp. 165-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Kennetz ◽  
Kevin S. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Threat ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
Changing Demographics ◽  
Arabic Speaking

Abstract The United Arab Emirates’ economic and population growth within the past 30 years has led to a vibrant country where linguistic, cultural and religious diversity is the norm. Nevertheless, as Arabic-speaking Emiratis comprise approximately 10–15% of the country’s residents, academics and Emiratis themselves have questioned the level to which Arabic is threatened in the country. Given the use of English in many domains outside of the home, coupled with its global prestige, such uncertainty regarding the future of Arabic are warranted, yet there is currently no baseline data on how Emiratis are using language in their daily lives. This article examines language threat within this context and uses survey data completed by 248 Emirati participants regarding their reported use of Arabic and other languages. Findings suggest that although Arabic plays a major role in the daily lives of majority of Emiratis, English often co-exists in a variety of different domains and adds to the context’s multilingualism. The authors argue that Emiratis live in a multilingual country where Arabic and English co-exist together in relative harmony. Nevertheless, given the rapidly changing demographics and educational policies in the country, further research is essential.

The Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religion and Beliefs in Public Schools

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-239
Author(s):  
Silvio Ferrari ◽  
Simona Santoro ◽  
Cole Durham Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Mutual Respect ◽  
Educational Approach ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Teaching About Religion

AbstractIn line with the OSCE's conflict prevention role and its commitments to fostering a culture of mutual respect and understanding, the ODIHR published the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools. The Toledo Guiding Principles have been prepared in order to contribute to an improved understanding of the world's religious diversity. Their rationale is based on two core principles: first, that there is positive value in teaching that emphasizes respect for everyone's right to freedom of religion or belief, and second, that teaching about religions and beliefs can reduce harmful misunderstandings and stereotypes. The primary purpose of the Toledo Guiding Principles is to assist OSCE participating States whenever they choose to promote the study and knowledge about religions and beliefs in schools, particularly as a tool to enhance religious freedom. The Principles focus solely on the educational approach that seeks to provide teaching about different religions and beliefs.

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