* Freedom of Religion and Religious Diversity: State Accommodation of Religious Minorities

NOT YET PUBLISHED

Today, pluralism is increasingly the norm and can be seen as a permanent characteristic of modernity. As seen in world events, religion has not become irrelevant but more diverse, giving rise to a complex web of religion and belief minorities, together with intra-plural majorities. Nations seek ways to implement the ideal of freedom of religion, but as this book shows, whether East or West, in the global North or the South, there is no simple formalism for accommodating religious diversity. Different faith communities have competing needs and demands for the same social space, with tensions inevitably arising. This book highlights responses from liberal democracies which enshrine secularism into their constitutions to other constitutions where religion and ethnic identity are enshrined to prioritise their ethno-religious majority. Western and Asian countries encounter different obstacles and challenges. With analysis from nineteen international scholars, the book explores different obstacles and responses to accommodation of religious minorities in a range of jurisdictions. In a globalised world, it will be invaluable for comparative legal scholars, for law and religion scholars, researchers and students, and decision-makers, e.g., governments, NGOs, and for those who seek to better understand the challenges of our time.

table of content

Part 1: Contemporary Issues Regarding Freedom of Religion and Accommodation of Religious Diversity

1. Governance of Religious Diversity across the World: An Introduction

Md Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan and Ann Black

2. Freedom from Religion: Multiculturalism and the Rights of Women and Children

Raphael Cohen-Almagor

3. Religious Freedom, Freedom of Expression and Religious Hate Speech

Sylvie Bacquet

4. Religious Freedom and International Protection of Places of Worship

Alejandro González-Varas Ibáñez

5. Religious Freedom or Multiculturalism? Quebec and Karnataka as Case Studies

Sonia Sikka

 

Part 2: Changing Nature of Freedom of Religion in the West

6. Religious Freedom and Accommodation of Religious Laws: Responses by the European Court of Human Rights

Burkhard J. Berkmann

7. The Rights of Religious or Belief Minorities and Their Members in Prison: The European Space

Rossella Bottoni and Ilaria Valenzi

8. Limiting the Freedom of Religion in the Name of Animals: Un-stunned Ritual Slaughter and the European Courts

Carla Zoethout and Sien Devriendt

9. Could the European Court of Human Rights ever Recognise Conscientious Objection to Mandatory Vaccination?

Wojciech Brzozowski

10. Paganism, Witchcraft and the Satanic Panic in Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Javier García Oliva and Helen Hall

11. Religion, Belief, and LGBTQIA+ rights in England and Wales: A response to some ongoing tensions

Javier García Oliva

 

Part 3: Freedom of Religion and Accommodation of Religious Diversity in Asia

12. Religion and State Legitimacy in Thailand and Myanmar

Amy Freedman

13. Religious Minorities in Brunei and Malaysia

Ann Black

14. Freedom of Religion and Religious Minorities in Indonesia: The Local Beliefs Case

Ahmad Rofii and Nadirsyah Hosen

15. Muslim Religious Minorities in India and Citizenship Amendment Act

Md Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan

16. The Accommodation of Islamic Inheritance Law in ‘Secular’ India

Brooke Thompson

17. State Regulation and Promotion of New Religious Movements within the two ‘Spiritual Vacuums’ of Japan and China

Anthony Shaw