Religious Freedom: what it is?
For many people in the world, there are few things more precious than freedom. Freedom – the power to live as one would choose – is one of the great sources of human dignity. Exercising freedom correctly is also one of the great responsibilities that humans hold. We continue to grapple with how to define our freedoms, how to understand them, and how they should be both cultivated and tempered. At the heart of these questions, we find one of the most fundamental of all freedoms: freedom of religion, or religious freedom.
Religious freedom protects people’s right to live, speak, and act according to their beliefs peacefully and publicly. It protects their ability to be themselves at work, in class and at social activities. Religious freedom is more than the “freedom to worship” at a church, mosque, temple, or synagogue. Religious freedom is important for everyone, everywhere because religion is important for everyone, everywhere. Religious freedom makes sure they don’t have to go against their core values and beliefs in order to conform to culture or government.
At the most fundamental level, religious freedom is the human right to think, act upon and express what one deeply believes, according to the dictates of his or her moral conscience.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th December 1948, says:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes the freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance”.
The freedom to live according to vastly different religious beliefs has allowed men and women of different faiths to live, work, learn and worship peacefully side by side. Any effort to repress our beliefs is an attack not just on human dignity but on the very foundation that has made our society strong.