Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the right not to profess any religion or belief or not to practice a religion, often called freedom from religion..
Freedom of religion is considered by most nations to be a fundamental human right. Freedom of religion is protected in all the most important international human rights conventions, such as the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the American Convention on Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other communities besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers in other faiths or those who have no faith. The concept of religious liberty includes, and some say requires, secular liberalism, and excludes authoritarian versions of secularism.Andrew Koppelman, How could religious liberty be a human right?, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Volume 16, Issue 3, July 2018, Pages 985–1005, https://doi.org/10.1093/icon/moy071
Freedom of religion includes, at a minimum, freedom of belief (the right to believe whatever a person, group, or religion wishes, including all forms of irreligion, such as atheism, humanism, existentialism, or other forms of non-belief), but some feel freedom of religion must include freedom of practice (the right to practice a religion or belief openly and outwardly in a public manner, including the right not to practice any religion). A third term, freedom of worship, may be considered synonymous with both freedom of belief and freedom of practice or may be considered to fall between the two terms.
Crucial in the consideration of religious liberty is the question of whether religious practices and religiously motivated actions that would otherwise violate secular law should be permitted due to the safeguarding freedom of religion. This issue is addressed in numerous court cases, including the United States Supreme Court cases Reynolds v. United States and Wisconsin v. Yoder, and in the European law cases of S.A.S. v. France, as well as numerous other jurisdictions.
Symbols of religious freedom are seen in significant locations around the world, such as the Statue of Liberty in New York, which was initially created to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the US in 1865, but later came to represent hope for religious refugees; the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London, which dates from 1701 and is the oldest continuously active synagogue in Europe; and the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, a symbol of religious inclusivity and freedom of worship. Other key sites include the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa, Israel, which emphasize the unity of humanity and freedom of belief, and Lutherstadt Wittenberg in Germany, where Martin Luther's actions sparked the Reformation, symbolizing a fight for religious reform and liberty.
History
In a historic setting freedom to worship has often been limited in practice through punitive taxation, repressive social legislation, and political disenfranchisement. An example commonly cited by scholars is the status of dhimmis under Islamic sharia law. Stemming from the Pact of Umar and literally meaning "protected individuals", it is often argued that non-Muslims possessing the dhimmi status in medieval Islamic societies enjoyed greater freedoms than non-Christians in most medieval European societies, while duly noting that the protection was limited because of regulation by and obligations to government such as taxation (compare jizya and zakat) and military service differed between religions. In modern concepts of religious freedom, the law is usually blind to religious affiliation.
In Antiquity, a syncretic point of view often allowed communities of traders to operate under their own customs. When street mobs of separate quarters clashed in a Hellenistic or Roman city, the issue was generally perceived to be an infringement of community rights.
Cyrus the Great established the Achaemenid Empire ca. 550 BC, and initiated a general policy of permitting religious freedom throughout the empire, documenting this on the Cyrus Cylinder.Cyrus Cylinder , livius.org.
Freedom of religious worship was established in the Buddhist Maurya Empire of ancient India by Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC, which was encapsulated in the Edicts of Ashoka.
GreekJewish clashes at Cyrene in 73 AD and 117 AD and in Alexandria in 115 AD provide examples of cosmopolitan cities as scenes of tumult.
Genghis Khan was one of the first rulers who in 13th century enacted a law explicitly guaranteeing religious freedom to everyone and every religion.
Ancient Roman policy
The Romans tolerated most religions, including Judaism, and encouraged local subjects to continue worshipping their own gods. They did not, however, tolerate Christianity because of the Christian refusal to offer honours to the official cult of the emperor until it was legalised by the Roman emperor Galerius in 311. Holmes and Bickers note that as long as Christianity was treated as a part of Judaism, which was generally tolerated because of its antiquity and its practice of making offers on behalf of the emperor, it enjoyed the same freedom, but the Christian claim to religious exclusivity meant its followers found themselves subject to hostility.Holmes, J. D. and Bickers, B. (1983), A Short History of the Catholic Church, pp. 11–12
The early Christian apologist Tertullian was the first-known writer to employ the term "freedom of religion" (libertas religionis), which appears in the 24th chapter of his Apologeticum.Taliaferro, Karen (2019). "Arguing Natural Law: Tertullian and Religious Freedom in the Roman Empire". In The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Early Natural Law and the Abrahamic Faiths, pp. 104–127. Cambridge University Press. He expanded on the case for the tolerance of all religious views in his epistle to proconsul Scapula, in which he states
The Edict of Milan guaranteed freedom of religion in the Roman Empire until the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which outlawed all religions except Christianity.
India
Religious tolerance in India: A legacy of the past and a promise for the future
Ancient Jews fleeing from persecution in their homeland 2,500 years ago settled in modern-day India and never faced antisemitism. Freedom of religion edicts have been found written during Ashoka the Great's reign in the 3rd century BC. Freedom to practise, preach and propagate any religion is a constitutional right in Republic of India. Most major religious festivals of the main communities are included in the list of national holidays.
Many scholars and intellectuals believe that India's predominant religion, Hinduism, has long been a most tolerant religion. Rajni Kothari, founder of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has written, "[India] is a country built on the foundations of a civilisation that is fundamentally non-religious."
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile, said that religious tolerance of 'Aryabhoomi,' a reference to India found in the Mahabharata, has been in existence in this country from thousands of years. "Not only Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism which are the native religions but also Christianity and Islam have flourished here. Religious tolerance is inherent in Indian tradition," the Dalai Lama said.
Freedom of religion in the Indian subcontinent is exemplified by the reign of King Piyadasi (304–232 BC) (Ashoka). One of King Ashoka's main concerns was to reform governmental institutes and exercise moral principles in his attempt to create a just and humane society. Later he promoted the principles of Buddhism, and the creation of a just, understanding and fair society was held as an important principle for many ancient rulers of this time in the East.
The importance of freedom of worship in India was encapsulated in an inscription of Ashoka:
On the main Asian continent, the Mongols were tolerant of religions. People could worship as they wished freely and openly.
After the arrival of Europeans, Christians in their zeal to convert local as per belief in conversion as service of God, have also been seen to fall into frivolous methods since their arrival, though by and large there are hardly any reports of law and order disturbance from mobs with Christian beliefs, except perhaps in the north eastern region of India.
Freedom of religion in contemporary India is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the nation's constitution. Accordingly, every citizen of India has a right to profess, practice and propagate their religions peacefully.
In September 2010, the Indian state of Kerala's State Election Commissioner announced that "Religious heads cannot issue calls to vote for members of a particular community or to defeat the nonbelievers". The Catholic Church comprising Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites used to give clear directions to the faithful on exercising their franchise during elections through pastoral letters issued by bishops or council of bishops. The pastoral letter issued by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) on the eve of the poll urged the faithful to shun atheists.
Europe
Religious intolerance
Most Roman Catholic kingdoms kept a tight rein on religious expression throughout the Middle Ages. Jews were alternately tolerated and persecuted, the most notable examples of the latter being the expulsion of all Jews from Spain in 1492. Some of those who remained and converted were tried as heretics in the Inquisition for allegedly practicing Judaism in secret. Despite the persecution of Jews, they were the most tolerated non-Catholic faith in Europe.
However, the latter was in part a reaction to the growing movement that became the Reformation. As early as 1380, John Wycliffe in England denied transubstantiation and began his translation of the Bible into English. He was condemned in a papal bull in 1410, and all his books were burned.
In 1414, Jan Hus, a Bohemian preacher of reformation, was given a safe conduct by the Holy Roman Emperor to attend the Council of Constance. Not entirely trusting in his safety, he made his will before he left. His forebodings proved accurate, and he was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. The council also decreed that Wycliffe's remains be disinterred and cast out. This decree was not carried out until 1429.
After the fall of the city of Granada, Spain, in 1492, the Muslim population was promised religious freedom by the Treaty of Granada, but that promise was short-lived. In 1501, Granada's Muslims were given an ultimatum to either convert to Christianity or to emigrate. The majority converted, but only superficially, continuing to dress and speak as they had before and to secretly practice Islam. The Moriscos (converts to Christianity) were ultimately expelled from Spain between 1609 (Castile) and 1614 (rest of Spain), by Philip III.
Martin Luther published his famous 95 Theses in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. His major aim was theological, summed up in the three basic dogmas of Protestantism: The Bible only is infallible. Every Christian can interpret it. Human sins are so wrongful that no deed or merit, only God's grace, can lead to salvation.