This volume examines the relationship between religion and human rights in seven major religious traditions, as well as key legal concepts, contemporary issues, and relationships among religion, state, and society in the areas of human ...

Author: John Witte

Publisher: OUP USA

ISBN: 9780199733446

Category: Political Science

Page: 392

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The relationship between religion and human rights is both complex and inextricable. While most of the world's religions have supported violence, repression, and prejudice, each has also played a crucial role in the modern struggle for universal human rights. Most importantly, religions provide the essential sources and scales of dignity and responsibility, shame and respect, restraint and regret, restitution and reconciliation that a human rights regime needs to survive and flourish in any culture. This volume provides authoritative examinations of the contributions to human rights of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and indigenous religions. Each chapter grapples with the concept and origins of "human rights," and offers insight into the major human rights issues that confront religious individuals and communities. These include core issues of freedom of religious conscience, choice, exercise, expression, association, morality, and self-determination. They also include analysis of the roles of religious ideas and institutions in the cultivation and abridgement of rights of women, children, and minorities, and rights to peace, orderly development, and protection of nature and the environment. With contributions by a score of leading experts, Religion and Human Rights provides authoritative and accessible assessments of the contributions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Indigenous religionsto the development of the ideas and institutions of human rights. It also probes the major human rights issues that confront religious individuals and communities around the world today, and the main challenges that the world's religions will pose to the human rights regime in the future.

This volume and its companion Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives are products of an ongoing project on religion, human rights and democracy undertaken by the Law and Religion Program at Emory University.

Author: John (jurista) Witte

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

ISBN: 9041101764

Category: Political Science

Page: 597

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In this 'Dickensian century' of human rights, the world has cultivated the best of religious rights protections, but witnessed the worst of religious rights abuses. In this volume, Jimmy Carter, John T. Noonan, Jr., and a score of leading jurists assess critically and comparatively the religious rights laws and practices of the international community and of selected states in the Atlantic continents. This volume and its companion Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives are products of an ongoing project on religion, human rights and democracy undertaken by the Law and Religion Program at Emory University.

In the backdrop of the events of 11 September 2001, a considerable focus of this volume is upon the Muslim world, either through the emergent State practices and existing constitutional structures within Muslim majority States or through ...

Author: Javaid Rehman

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

ISBN: 9789004158269

Category: Religion

Page: 569

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Freedom of religion is a subject, which has throughout human history been a source of profound disagreements and conflict. In the modern era, religious-based intolerance continues to provide lacerative and tormenting concern to the possibility of congenial human relationships. As the present study examines, religions have been relied upon to perpetuate discrimination and inequalities, and to victimise minorities to the point of forcible assimilation and genocide. The study provides an overview of the complexities inherent in the freedom of religion within international law and an analysis of the cultural-religious relativist debate in contemporary human rights law. As many of the chapters examine, Islamic State practices have been a major source of concern. In the backdrop of the events of 11 September 2001, a considerable focus of this volume is upon the Muslim world, either through the emergent State practices and existing constitutional structures within Muslim majority States or through Islamic diasporic communities resident in Europe and North-America.

Author: Project on Religion and Human Rights

Publisher: Human Rights Watch

ISBN: UVA:X002596088

Category: Cultural relativism

Page: 123

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This book argues that the idea of human rights is not exclusively religious, but that its realization in practice requires urgent action on the part of people of all faiths, and of none.

Author: Richard Amesbury

Publisher: Fortress Press

ISBN: 9781451408454

Category: Religion

Page: 146

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This book argues that the idea of human rights is not exclusively religious, but that its realization in practice requires urgent action on the part of people of all faiths, and of none. Acknowledging the ambiguous moral legacy of their own tradition, Christianity, the authors draw on christological themes to draft blueprints for a culturally sensitive "theology of human rights."

This book, incorporating previously published as well as unpublished materials, discusses the legal meaning of religion and belief, the U.N. work in this respect, religious minorities, relevant regional and special arrangements, the issues ...

Author: Natan Lerner

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

ISBN: 9789004152090

Category: Political Science

Page: 228

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Religion, and beliefs related to religion, are today a central factor in international life and politics. International law, and human rights law in particular, have to take into consideration the religious dimension, and have done it to some extent. A body of positive law has already been developed for the protection of freedom of religion, and from religion, by the U.N. and regional organizations. This book, incorporating previously published as well as unpublished materials, discusses the legal meaning of religion and belief, the U.N. work in this respect, religious minorities, relevant regional and special arrangements, the issues of proselytism, religion and terrorism, the use of religious symbols, international criminal law, and some particular situations, such as the state and religious communities in Israel and this country's agreement with the Holy See. Law schools, human rights scholars and activists, and international organizations will find interest in the book.

From an empirical perspective, the general research question of this volume is how young people understand and evaluate socioeconomic rights and to which degree religious convictions and practices are connected with attitudes towards these ...

Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 3030309339

Category: Social Science

Page: 327

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Socioeconomic rights include rights with regard to social security, labour and employment, as well as cultural rights which may be regarded as a shield for the protection of human dignity, especially of specific groups, such as women, children and refugees. The enforceability of socioeconomic rights clearly distinguishes them from other rights. These rights need, perhaps more than others, the support of civil society. Because states have leeway in how resources are distributed, civil society has a major impact on what resources are used to fulfil socio-economic rights. One of the actors in the public arena are religious traditions, respective Churches. Most of them have developed ethical standards for individual conduct and rules for living together in society based on their basic scriptures. All three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are marked by a caring engagement for the poor, the sick, the old and the foreign. From an empirical perspective, the general research question of this volume is how young people understand and evaluate socioeconomic rights and to which degree religious convictions and practices are connected with attitudes towards these human rights. Can religion be identified as a force supporting the human rights regime and which additional concepts strengthen or weaken the consent to these rights? The richness of empirical data contributes to a better understanding how socioeconomic rights are legitimated in the opinion of more than 10.000 respondents in 14 countries.

In this first comprehensive study of the problem of a universal definition of human rights, Robert Traer argues that contemporary theological discourse contains an affirmation of faith that unites members of world religious traditions with ...

Author: Robert Traer

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

ISBN: 1589018451

Category: Political Science

Page: 256

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In this first comprehensive study of the problem of a universal definition of human rights, Robert Traer argues that contemporary theological discourse contains an affirmation of faith that unites members of world religious traditions with secular humanists in a common struggle to establish human rights as the basis for human dignity. Scholars of religion, law, and comparative religious ethics, as well as human rights advocates will find it an invaluable guide.

Media. By James Finn.

Author: Van der Vyver, J. D.

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

ISBN: 9041101772

Category: Political Science

Page: 670

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Media. By James Finn.

This book presents a human rights-based assessment of the various modes of state religion identification and of the various forms of state practice that characterize these different state religion models.

Author: Jeroen Temperman

Publisher: BRILL

ISBN: 9789004181489

Category: Law

Page: 382

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This book presents a human rights-based assessment of the various modes of state religion identification and of the various forms of state practice that characterize these different state religion models. This book makes a case for the recognition of a state duty to remain impartial with respect to religion or belief in all regards so as to comply with people s fundamental right to be governed, at all times, in a religiously neutral manner. As this book demonstrates through the various case studies there is increasing interest and concern at the manner in which questions concerning the enjoyment of the right to the freedom of religion or belief bear upon key questions concerning the governance of democratic society. Issues raised involve matters concerning employment, education, expression, association and, more generally, the interface between religion and political life. The existing literature often traces these concerns back to the need to consider the place of religion in contemporary society but leaves matters there. Another body of academic literature explores the theoretical dimensions of that relationship but fails to connect it to the practice of states in order to test out the propositions which are the product of these reflections. The great virtue of this work is that is seeks to unite these various enterprises and engages head on with the challenges which this produces The aim is to demonstrate and illustrate the key contention: that there is an emergent right to religiously neutral governance, and that this is incompatible with the continuation of systems which offer preference to particular forms of belief system religious or otherwise. A chief virtue of this book is that it works through the consequences of this claim in a fearless fashion, posing challenges for those states which continue to use their legal frameworks to offer support (directly or indirectly) for historical, dominant or favoured forms of religion or belief. It challenges received assumptions and, by driving the logic of contemporary human rights thinking to the foundations of state-religion relationships performs a valuable service for those engaging with this most difficult and timely of questions. Malcolm D. Evans, Professor of Public International Law, University of Bristol

This book brings together leading specialists across disciplines for the first major survey of the religious politics of human rights across the world's major regions, political systems, and faith traditions.

Author: Thomas Banchoff

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 0199841039

Category: Social Science

Page: 336

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Are human rights universal or the product of specific cultures? Is democracy a necessary condition for the achievement of human rights in practice? And when, if ever, is it legitimate for external actors to impose their understandings of human rights upon particular countries? In the contemporary context of globalization, these questions have a salient religious dimension. Religion intersects with global human rights agendas in multiple ways, including: whether ''universal'' human rights are in fact an imposition of Christian understandings; whether democracy, the ''rule of the people,'' is compatible with God's law; and whether international efforts to enforce human rights including religious freedom amount to an illicit imperialism. This book brings together leading specialists across disciplines for the first major survey of the religious politics of human rights across the world's major regions, political systems, and faith traditions. The authors take a bottom-up approach and focus particularly on hot-button issues like human rights in Islam, Falun Gong in China, and religion in the former Soviet Union. Each essay examines the interaction of human rights and religion in practice and the challenges they pose for national and international policymakers.

"In this volume, an Israeli jurist provides an authoritative distillation and analysis of modern international norms on religious rights and liberties - with particular attention to modern controversies over religious and racial ...

Author: Natan Lerner

Publisher:

ISBN: UVA:X004415380

Category: Political Science

Page: 183

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"In this volume, an Israeli jurist provides an authoritative distillation and analysis of modern international norms on religious rights and liberties - with particular attention to modern controversies over religious and racial discrimination, genocide and group libel, proselytism and conversion, and religious group rights and their limits."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This ground breaking book discusses whether human rights can be forged into a common set of transcendent principles against which actions of every nation can be judged and whether such a common understanding, or civil religion, could one ...

Author: Helle Porsdam

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781781000526

Category: Political Science

Page: 232

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This ground breaking book discusses whether human rights can be forged into a common set of transcendent principles against which actions of every nation can be judged and whether such a common understanding, or civil religion, could one day become a vehicle for global peace. Eminent international scholars of history, political science, international relations, human rights and civil religion argue both sides of this debate. In Part One, the theoretical issues relating to why human rights have come about and whether they should be fought for are discussed. Part Two focuses on the reality of actions brought about by human rights ideas with illuminating case studies showing that human rights ideas and practice are generated from both the bottom up and top down by individual actors and institutions. The unique book will be of great interest to scholars in the field of history, human rights, international relations and political science in general.

This volume highlights three intertwined aspects of the global context of Orthodox Christianity: religion, politics, and human rights.

Author: Giuseppe Giordan

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 303028686X

Category: Social Science

Page: 262

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This volume highlights three intertwined aspects of the global context of Orthodox Christianity: religion, politics, and human rights. The chapters in Part I address the challenges of modern human rights discourse to Orthodox Christianity and examine conditions for active presence of Orthodox churches in the public sphere of plural societies. It suggests theoretical and empirical considerations about the relationship between politics and Orthodoxy by exploring topics such as globalization, participatory democracy, and the linkage of religious and political discourses in Russia, Greece, Belarus, Romania, and Cyprus. Part II looks at the issues of diaspora and identity in global Orthodoxy, presenting cases from Switzerland, America, Italy, and Germany. In doing so, the book ties in with the growing interest resulting from the novelty of socio-political, economic, and cultural changes which have forced religious groups and organizations to revise and redesign their own institutional structures, practices, and agendas.

Drawing on historical inisights, systematic reflections and empirical data, this book offers a substantive understanding of the complex relationship between religion and human rights and of the empirical impact of Christianity and Islam on ...

Author: J. A. van der Ven

Publisher: BRILL

ISBN: 9789004183049

Category: Religion

Page: 473

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Drawing on historical inisights, systematic reflections and empirical data, this book offers a substantive understanding of the complex relationship between religion and human rights and of the empirical impact of Christianity and Islam on the attitudes toward human rights, i.e. a human rights culture.

Offering a new model for explaining the relation between religion and human rights, Religion and the Inculturation of Human Rights in Ghana offers a novel perspective on the links between global trends and local cultures underpinned by ...

Author: Abamfo Ofori Atiemo

Publisher: A&C Black

ISBN: 9781441199478

Category: History

Page: 304

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It has been maintained that the secular nature of modern human rights makes them incompatible with the religious orientation of African and non-Western societies. However, in view of the resilience of religion in the global and local public sphere, it is important to explore how religion can contribute to the promotion and enjoyment of human rights. Based on fieldwork conducted in Ghana, Abamfo Ofori Atiemo here establishes a convergence between human rights and local religious and cultural values in African societies. He argues that human rights represent universal 'dream values'. This allows for a cultural embedding of human rights in Ghana and other non-Western societies. He argues that 'dream values' are usually presented in religious language and proclaimed, for example, by prophets and seers or expressed in certain forms of taboo, proverbs or legal norms. He employs the concept of inculturation, adaptation of the way Church teachings are presented to non-Christian cultures, as a hermeneutical tool for developing a model to understand the encounter between universal human rights and local cultures. Offering a new model for explaining the relation between religion and human rights, Religion and the Inculturation of Human Rights in Ghana offers a novel perspective on the links between global trends and local cultures underpinned by strong currents of religious ideas.

The reflections on these questions in the collected lectures and essays of this volume derive from an academic discourse between German and South African scholars that took place within the German-South African Year of Science 2012/13.

Author: Wilhelm Gräb

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

ISBN: 9783110348651

Category: Religion

Page: 228

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Current processes of globalization are challenging Human Rights and the attempts to institutionalize them in many ways. The question of the connection between religion and human rights is a crucial point here. The genealogy of the Human Rights is still a point of controversies in the academic discussion. Nevertheless, there is consensus that the Christian tradition – especially the doctrine that each human being is an image of God – played an important role within the emergence of the codification of the Human Rights in the period of enlightenment. It is also obvious that the struggle against the politics of apartheid in South Africa was strongly supported by initiatives of churchy and other religious groups referring to the Human Rights. Christian churches and other religious groups do still play an important role in the post-apartheid South Africa. They have a public voice concerning all the challenges with which the multiethnic and economically still deeply divided South African society is faced with. The reflections on these questions in the collected lectures and essays of this volume derive from an academic discourse between German and South African scholars that took place within the German-South African Year of Science 2012/13.

This book examines the interconnectedness between religion, education, and human rights from an international perspective using an interdisciplinary approach.

Author: Anders Sjöborg

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 9783319540696

Category: Social Science

Page: 212

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This book examines the interconnectedness between religion, education, and human rights from an international perspective using an interdisciplinary approach. It deals with compulsory or secondary school education in different contexts, as well as higher education, and has as its common theme the multiplicity of secularisms in different national contexts. Presenting rich cases, the contributions include empirical and theoretical perspectives on how international trends of migration and cultural diversity, as well as judicialization of social and political processes, and rapid religious and social changes come into play as societies find their way in an increasingly diverse context. The book contains chapters that present case studies on how confessional or non-confessional Religious Education (RE) at schools in different societal contexts is related to the concept of universal human rights. It presents cases studies that display an intriguing array of problems that point to the role of religion in the public sphere and show that historical contexts play important and different roles. Other contributions deal with higher education, where one questions how human rights as a concept and as discourse is taught and examines whether withdrawing from certain clinical training when in university education to become a medical doctor or a midwife on the grounds of conscientious objections can be claimed as a human right. From a judicial point of view one chapter discerns the construction of the concept of religion in the Swedish Education Act, in relation to the Swedish constitution as well European legislation. Finally, an empirical study comparing data from young people in six different countries in three continents investigates factors that explain attitudes towards human rights.

Deficiencies: EUGENE B. BOROWITZ

Author: Hans Kung

Publisher: Reed Books

ISBN: IND:30000004407171

Category: Religion

Page: 139

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Deficiencies: EUGENE B. BOROWITZ

Based on the celebrated five-volume set published in 2005, this updated one-volume edition offers readers a concise yet complete understanding of the interplay between the major religions and human rights.

Author: William H. Brackney

Publisher: ABC-CLIO

ISBN: 9781440828126

Category: Religion

Page: 480

View: 638

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Based on the celebrated five-volume set published in 2005, this updated one-volume edition offers readers a concise yet complete understanding of the interplay between the major religions and human rights.