How Could Religious Liberty Be a Human Right?
Int. J. Const. Law, Forthcoming
46 Pages Posted: 4 Jul 2017
Date Written: June 29, 2017
Abstract
A growing number of scholars think “religious liberty” is a bad idea. They oppose religious persecution, but think that a specifically “religious” liberty arbitrarily privileges practices that happen to resemble Christianity and distorts perception of real injuries. Both objections are sound, but religious liberty is nonetheless appropriately regarded as a right. Law is inevitably crude. The state cannot possibly recognize each individual’s unique identity-constituting attachments. It can, at best, protect broad classes of ends that many people share. “Religion” is such a class.
Keywords: Religion, Human Rights, Religious Liberty
JEL Classification: K10, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation