Religious Freedom: Importance, Status, and Violations

Running head: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Introduction
Conflicts involving communities belonging to different religion is one of the most
common occurrences in the world and has remained an unsolved issue. Most instances of
conflict occur when one religious community feel or find that they are not allowed the freedom
to follow their religion. Religious freedom thus, is the principle that encourages freedom of the
people or community to follow religion without any interference. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations has incorporated this freedom of religion in the
International Law. It shows the importance of religious freedom in the world (Un.org).
This essay shall discuss on the topic of religious freedom by drawing upon several facts
and information across studies to understand it better. Further, the essay will provide a detailed
description of the principle of religious freedom followed by the status in different countries. It
will then highlight the legislation regarding freedom of religion in the International Human
Rights Law (IHRL).
Discussion
Religion came from the Latin word religio meaning the going over again or considering
carefully. Cicero was the one who had first provided a clear definition of religion. According to
him, religion is cultum deorum, which meant that it is the “proper performance of rites in the
veneration of gods”. On the other hand, Julius Caesar defined religion as the “obligation of
gods”. It is thus evident that the term had several different definitions however; the theme
remained the same, which was the gods. The definition was not difficult to discern because the
main difficulty arose when the gods were divided. Different communities and people worshipped
different gods and that created chaos since the dominant community began forcing its gods to the

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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
suppressed one. The Christians began converting the pagans and other religions because they
were the dominant community in most parts of the world. Then, other religions started enforcing
their gods and their ideologies wherever they ruled. This led to numerous conflicts and
bloodsheds and people began to realize that freedom of religion must be given to everyone.
During the modern era in the 19th and 20th century especially after the two World Wars, the
principle of religious freedom was more fully realized. The atrocities carried out by the German
Nazis against the Jews were the focal point behind formulating the UDHR and the IHRL
protecting religious freedom.
After the IHRL was drafted, leaders of the nations believed that it would protect the basic
rights of the humans across the globe that also included religious freedom. The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) formed under the UDHR underpins the various
rights of the people, one of which is the freedom of religion or belief. As per Article 18(1) of the
ICCPR, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion. This right
shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his or her choice” (Ohchr.org). It
is however important to note that the ICCPR laws are viable to be violated by the states and no
concrete resolution is available to address this. Therefore, many scholars and political thinkers
across nations have voiced their opinions against the IHRL. The document of ICCPR also does
not mention anything relating to the violation of the principle of religious freedom. Moreover, all
the countries have their own laws regarding religious freedom and those laws are punishable as
per the state’s law and not the IHRL.
The United States constitution guarantees protection of the rights of its citizens
concerning religious freedom and the freedom of belief. The First Amendment Rights states that
the government has no right to form any law regarding the “establishment of religion, or