General Article Freedom of religion – universal right or matter of national security?

Topic Selected: Religion
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By Dr Erin Wilson (Twitter: @ek_wilson)

The extent to which Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) should be promoted and protected as a foreign policy goal is becoming an increasing focus across numerous industrialised countries. While it has long been a priority for the US, the UK and the EU have also recently increased their efforts to place more emphasis on this right in their engagements abroad.[i] Yet this new found enthusiasm for FoRB is arguably being undermined by concurrent developments in the domestic public spheres of these countries.

The murder of Lee Rigby in the UK in 2013, the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris earlier this year, and the Copenhagen café shooting that has occurred only in the last few days, have all contributed to renewed fears of public displays and professions of religious belief, with governments being called on to implement even more strict regulations around the visibility of religion in the public sphere, both online and offline.[ii]

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