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Suspect Symbols: Value Pluralism As A Theory Of Religious Freedom In International Law, Peter G. Danchin Jun 2008

Suspect Symbols: Value Pluralism As A Theory Of Religious Freedom In International Law, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

The grounds upon which states may limit the freedom to manifest religion or belief are divisive questions in constitutional and international law. The focus of recent inquiry has been on laws which proscribe the wearing of religious symbols in certain aspects of the public sphere, and on the claims more generally to religious and cultural freedom of Muslim minorities in European nation-states. Stepping back from these debates, this Article aims at a more rigorous theoretical treatment of the subject. It asks whether there is a coherent notion of religious freedom in international legal theory and, if not, why not? In …


Of Prophets And Proselytes: Freedom Of Religion And The Conflict Of Rights In International Law, Peter G. Danchin Jun 2008

Of Prophets And Proselytes: Freedom Of Religion And The Conflict Of Rights In International Law, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

The case of proselytism presents a tangle of competing claims: on the one hand, the rights of proselytizers to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech; on the other hand, the rights of targets of proselytism to change their religion, peacefully to have or maintain a particular religious tradition, and to be free from injury to religious feelings. Clashes between these claims of right are today generating acute tensions in relations between States and peoples, a state of affairs starkly illustrated by the recent Danish cartoons controversy. Irrespective of their resolution in any particular domestic legal system, how should …


U.S. Unilateralism And The International Protection Of Religious Freedom: The Multilateral Alternative, Peter G. Danchin Jun 2008

U.S. Unilateralism And The International Protection Of Religious Freedom: The Multilateral Alternative, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

This article considers the tension in U.S. foreign policy between unilateral and multilateral approaches to the promotion and protection of religious freedom. In particular, it analyzes the recently enacted International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 that seeks to enforce international human rights norms through the imposition of unilateral sanctions on foreign countries that deny religious freedom and persecute religious groups. The Article suggests that this approach stands in an uneasy relationship with existing international and regional human rights regimes and institutions. It argues that as an instrument of foreign policy, the Act is vulnerable to politicization and abuse of the …


Religion, Religious Minorities And Human Rights: An Introduction, Peter G. Danchin Jun 2008

Religion, Religious Minorities And Human Rights: An Introduction, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

No abstract provided.


Freedom Of Religion, Avihay Dorfman Jan 2008

Freedom Of Religion, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

Why it is that the principle of freedom of religion, rather than a more general principle such as liberty or liberty of conscience, figures so prominently in our lived experience and, in particular, in the constitutional commitment to the free exercise of religion? The Paper argues, negatively, that the most prominent answers offered thus far fall short; and positively, that the principle of freedom of religion arises out of a thicker understanding of the much neglected relationship between religious liberty and democracy. Indeed, a proper account of the legitimacy of the democratic process, I argue, dissolves the mystery surrounding freedom …