Toleration is a core liberal ideal, but it is not an ideal without limits. To tolerate the intolerant would be to violate the principles and purposes underlying liberal societies. This important exception to the liberal ideal of toleration is dangerous, however, in that we may make it too exclusionary in practice. That is, we may mistakenly apply it to peaceful, beneficial members of our communities as well as to the truly intolerant. In particular, some contemporary liberals see religion either as inherently intolerant and dangerous or as violating standards of public discourse that they feel are necessary to uphold liberalism's core ideals, including toleration. This work argues that we risk violating the liberal ideal of toleration in a hasty over-generalization about religious belief. Through an examination of the arguments of Roger Williams and John Locke, this work argues that religious belief can be compatible with toleration, and that the practice and popular value of liberal toleration has at least in part a religious origin. These authors, and believers like them, defended toleration, partially as a result of their own experiences of intolerance, but also because they saw toleration as a theological necessity. Thus, this work shows that we have misunderstood the relationship between religion and toleration. While some forms of religious belief may incite intolerance and violence, others provide a firm foundation for toleration. We must show care in distinguishing the two to avoid violating the fundamental liberal ideal of toleration. Moreover, it is important that we do so to foster civil comity and cooperation, as well as to sustain the other benefits that religious groups provide to liberal, democratic societies.

Upset with what they say is the increasingly heterodox stance the national leadership of The Episcopal Church, Episcopalians in Texas and throughout the country are leaving their denomination and aligning under Anglican bishops. In a last-grasp effort to hold on to property and assert control over an often dissident flock, the leadership of The Episcopal Church is arguing Canon law in the unlikeliest of places: the secular courtroom. As parishes and even whole dioceses country break free of the hierarchy and declare themselves independent from the national church, two lawsuits in Texas are raising the stakes and asking the government not just to intervene in land disputes, but to go further and determine the organizational structure of the faith. / text

This thesis starts by describing the legal foundation of religious liberty in the United States and the evolvement of the religion clause jurisprudence. Then follows an outline of the main legal theories on religious liberty. It continues to describe a case study conducted on how Americans citizens perceive the protection of their religious liberty. Upon this there is a chapter where the detailed findings from the case study are described in juxtaposition to the relevant jurisprudence and how this can be applied to the overall legal framework protecting religious liberty.  The final chapter is a discussion on what conclusions that can be drawn.

The practice of wearing hijab has been around for hundreds of years and around the world by Muslim women. It has been revealed that the decision to wear hijab is varied among Muslim women ranging from religious convictions to the consideration of the attire as a tool for empowerment. This paper, which utilizes a normative method with an argumentative structure, will defend the right of veiled Muslim women to employment and free from discrimination, and aims to clarify why the general ban on religious sign, specifically on hijab in this regard, not conforming to the basic principles of human rights . The argumentation will include a discussion and critiques regarding the two core principles in favor of banning hijab in the field of employment and comes to the conclusion that they appear to be built on weak grounds. Furthermore, some relevant conflicting principles regarding the hijab issue within the field of employment will be discussed. The conclusion maintains that veiled Muslim women shall not be pushed into the corner of the society by the two dominant discourses which are now included in the written legislations within the European laws and national laws. The paper concludes by stating that veiled Muslim women shall be accommodated to work and contribute to the European mainstream employment just like females from other groups.

There is long held belief by many jurists and academics in the United States that religious liberty cannot be fully protected without a vigorous application of the Establishment Clause. To non-Americans, especially from countries whose Constitution does not expressly contain a similar non-establishment clause, this idea that religious freedom cannot be fully protected without express non-establishment principles in either a written constitution or the jurisprudence interpreting it might seem to be at best foreign and at worst condescending. The purpose of this work is to determine how a country without an express equivalent of the Establishment Clause in its constitution protects those religious liberty interests that are most associated by Americans with non-establishment principles. Germany provides an example opportunity for such a comparison as its constitution arguably has no equivalent to the Establishment Clause, and the vast majority of its jurists and academics have rejected the idea of strict separation between church and state. The comparison here will be conducted in three stages. The first stage seeks to explain that while the history of institutional church/state relations in the United States and Germany is without a doubt different, the same cannot necessarily be said for the historical foundations of the individual religious liberty doctrines that have developed in both countries. The second stage will provide an overview of these doctrines and show that despite some similarities in the role religion has historically played in both societies, the doctrines of these two countries have indeed developed in a manner that stresses different aspects of religious liberty. In this stage, it will also be shown that many of the purposes served by the Establishment Clause are also interests that German courts take into consideration when applying German individual religious liberty doctrine. In the final stage, it will be shown that courts in both jurisdictions use non-establishment principles as a means of placing limits on actions taken by the government regarding religion, but these limits operate within two entirely different individual religious liberty schemes, and as such, the impact of these non-establishment principles varies. In this stage it will also be shown that while there is some transatlantic convergence taking place in specific areas of the individual religious liberty doctrines, these convergences will likely never be absolute because of the different religious doctrines into which courts in each country have incorporated non-establishment principles.

In 2011, France was the first European country to enforce the Concealment Act which statesthat any type of face concealing clothing in the public sphere is banned. France is a memberof the European Union, and the right to freedom of thought, religion and conscience is one ofthe significant fundamental human rights. Thus, questions arise whether this legislationinterferes with the religious liberty of Muslim women. This research is evaluating how thecontemporary ban is related to religious liberty when accounting for the historicalbackground. The research addresses the continuous attempt of France, especially afterIslamic terror attacks, to restrict the Islamic clothing and assimilate the French andwesternized identity to Muslim women. The principle of laicite and France’s historicalbackground shows the country's strong separation of religion and state.

This goal of this project is to assist liberals and progressives who are reluctant to speak out publicly on religious questions so that they can advance their moral values and protect their religious liberties by encouraging and educating them to use legal protections under the First Amendment. Rights to religious freedom in the American legal system are reviewed on the federal, state, and local levels. The denominational history of and theological evolution within Unitarian Universalism, the target group being studied, are examined. This examination has a particular focus on shifting historically strict intradenominational attitudes on the separation between church and state and using legal protections to advance progressive moral values and social justice objectives. Through a nonprofit legal foundation, the author seeks to educate and to support religious groups seeking to pursue religious projects and ministries that may face legal challenges and government opposition. The project also reviews metrics for assessing attitude change in response to educational workshops presented to Unitarian Universalist audiences.

This thesis examines the rationale for religious liberty in England and Wales. Currently, United Kingdom religious liberty literature shows very little sustained interrogation of the topic. Authors are likely to assume religious liberty is, most notably, a species of personal autonomy. This fails to explain why we should care about religious liberty and deepens religion’s privatisation, its separation from politics or public life. Drawing from a theological sensibility known as Radical Orthodoxy (RO), this thesis criticises current assumptions and argues that religious liberty discourse should be re-envisioned. The Introduction and Chapter One explore the current problems facing religious liberty discourse and map rationales given by prominent authors. Chapter Two argues that the main problem is that current discourse is shaped by a secularisation narrative: the differentiation of religious and secular spheres. Chapter Three relates the RO argument that this differentiation is underpinned by three themes, all of which have theological components: the rise of secular order as the protection of individual rights; the invention of private religion in modernity; and the contemporary shift to 'authenticity' or diffuse individual experiences as the hallmark of religion. Chapter Four contends that these three themes are echoed in religious liberty discourse and jurisprudence, leaving us with the question of why religious liberty matters. Chapters Five and Six explore the RO-influenced alternative, in theory and with reference to common questions in religious liberty discourse: the relationship between an individual claimant and the group; the reality of plural religious traditions; and the tension between sexual orientation non-discrimination and religious liberty. On the RO-influenced account, religious liberty concerns, against sphere differentiation, a commitment to the flourishing of multiple groups contributing to desirable social ends, understood ultimately as participating in the life of 'charity', the love of God and of others. This encapsulates two themes, both rooted in the Christian tradition: judgement against politics (as reflected in the secular order), and transformation of society along social pluralist lines. These two themes, the thesis argues, better explain why religious liberty matters.

A exacerbação da beligerância contra as religiões afro-brasileiras, seus adeptos e símbolos, é uma das faces do pentecostalismo que nas últimas duas décadas e meia tem ganho amplo destaque no debate público brasileiro. Blogueiros e jornalistas, militantes do movimento negro e de outros movimentos sociais, assim como delegados, advogados, juízes, sociólogos e antropólogos têm participado ativamente desse fenômeno que já possui agenda própria de investigação nas ciências sociais desde a década de 1990. Observar como os cientistas sociais abordaram este tema até o final da década de 2000 e analisar um estudo de caso, também ocorrido no final desta década, são os principais empreendimentos que esta investigação visa realizar. Para tanto, construo no corpo deste trabalho duas partes inter-relacionadas que analisam algumas faces deste tema de pesquisa que ficou conhecido como \"o conflito entre adeptos das religiões pentecostais e afro-brasileiras\" na esfera pública brasileira. Na primeira parte desta investigação, constituída na forma de um balanço teórico, procuro apresentar como os termos \"guerra santa\" e \"intolerância religiosa\" são centrais nos principais trabalhos que versaram sobre o tema ou o tangenciaram de tal forma que contribuíram para a constituição desse fenômeno com uma agenda própria. Na segunda parte desta investigação tomo como objeto privilegiado de pesquisa um estudo de caso exemplar do conflito entre pentecostais e religiões afro-brasileiras, ocorrido em junho de 2008 na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, quando quatro jovens \"invadem\" um centro espírita no bairro do Catete, suscitando amplo debate sobre o tema, que tem na prática discursiva dos mais diversos atores sociais a presença constante dos termos \"intolerância religiosa\", \"liberdade religiosa\" e \"liberdade de expressão religiosa\" / The exacerbation of belligerence against afro-brazilian religions, their churchgoers and symbols, is one of the faces of pentecostalism in the past two and half decades has ample prominence in brazilian public debate. Bloggers and journalists, militant black movement and other social movements, as well as delegates, lawyers, judges, sociologists and anthropologists have actively participated in this phenomenon that already gets its own research agenda in the social sciences since the 1990s. Investigate how social scientists have addressed this phenomenon until the late 2000s and analyze a case study are the main projects that this research aims to accomplish. To do so, this work get two interdependent parties who seek to analyze some faces of this theme of research that became known as \"the conflict between adherents of pentecostal and afro-brazilian religions\" in the brazilian public sphere. In the first part of this investigation, constituted as a state-of-the-art, I try to make it clear that the terms \"guerra santa\" and \"religious intolerance\" are central to the principal investigations of around the theme, which contributed to the establishment of this phenomenon with its own research agenda in the social sciences . In the second part of this research, I take as a privileged object of research a case study example of the conflict between pentecostals and afro-brazilian religions occurred in June 2008 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, when four young \"invade\" a spiritualist center in Catete, generating widespread debate on the issue, which has in the discursive practice of many social actors the centrality of the terms \"religious intolerance\", \"religious liberty\" and \"freedom of religious expression\"

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:24:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Clarisse Laupman Ferraz Lima.pdf: 2544299 bytes, checksum: 56692cd3ba6f4ddcf9603879fd8c8139 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-19 / The objective of the present study is to analyse the observance of religious freedom as it pertains to the current international security situation around the world. Recognizing the fact that historically, religion and law coexisted along a fine line. Religions have been responsible for the power construction of relationships throughout human history. It is considered within the international panorama that the topic of religious freedom and the need for security threaten each other boundaries. Terrorism has brought fear and the need for security. The question to tackle is how much freedom is humanity to lose in the name of security. This study will be disseminated in three parts. First, it examines the problematic relationship between religion and political power, in regards to religious people. Secondly, the theoretical and doctrinal aspects are presented as relevant to the construction of religious freedom, highlighted by a Laicity, and the formation of international security. Finally, in the third part, investigates the challenges and perspectives between o religious freedom and the need for security in the current world. This work seeks to demonstrate that religious freedom was a determinant achievement of international law, and this law should not be revoke dues to the fear currently prevalent in world. We envisage an international collective action paragraph perpetuate the idea of religious freedom and security are parts for the ear gear, working of the greater purpose: world peace / O presente estudo tem como objetivo principal analisar a observância da liberdade religiosa diante das questões de segurança internacional suscitadas no mundo atual. Reconhece-se que, historicamente, religião e direito coexistiram sob limites tênues, sendo os atores religiosos responsáveis pela construção das relações de poder na história da humanidade. Considera-se no panorama internacional que o tema da liberdade religiosa e da necessidade de segurança vem tomando dimensões vultosas. O terrorismo nos trouxe o medo e com ele a necessidade de ficarmos seguros. O que nos interessa neste trabalho é discutir a questão de quanto de liberdade estamos dispostos a perder em nome do sentimento de segurança. Para tanto, o estudo se desenvolverá em três etapas. Na primeira, examina-se a problemática da relação entre religião e poder político, a partir do referencial do homem religioso. Na segunda, são apresentados os aspectos teóricos e doutrinários mais relevantes na construção da liberdade religiosa, com destaque para a laicidade, e na formulação internacional de segurança. E, finalmente, na terceira etapa, investigam-se os desafios e as perspectivas para essa relação de liberdade religiosa e necessidade de segurança diante do mundo atual. Procura-se demonstrar que a obtenção da liberdade religiosa foi uma conquista determinante do direito internacional, e que não devemos retroceder desse direito por conta do medo instalado em nosso tempo. Para tanto, sugerimos uma ação coletiva internacional para perpetuar a ideia de que a liberdade religiosa e a segurança são peças de uma mesma engrenagem, fazendo parte do objetivo maior: a paz mundial