Balancing Religious Freedom and Cultural Preservation

Author: José Casanova

June 1, 2008

In this article José Casanova argues that while the human right to religious freedom is indeed becoming globalized does not mean that religious freedom will mean the same thing in all international settings. Policy efforts to support international religious freedom may conflict with other cultural understandings of religious freedom, and will then provoke resistance. A balance between individual rights to religious freedom and communal rights to self-preservation offers the best hope for promoting harmonious living in a shrinking cultural world. This article was published in the Summer 2008 edition of the Review of Faith & International Affairs.

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