'Foreword,' to Natan Lerner, Religion, Secular Beliefs, and Human Rights: 25 Years After the 1981 Declaration

Abstract

This Article briefly introduces the work of Natan Lerner, a leading Israeli school of religion, human rights, group rights, and self-determination as well as racism, genocide, and religious violence. It sets the volume in the context of modern global religion and human rights controversies and the scholarship that has emerged in the past generation. The Article points to Lerner as a wise leader who calls for the balance of religious freedom and other international human rights norms.

Keywords: Natan Lerner, religious freedom, religious human rights, international human rights, soul wars, group rights