Religion & Law

Tom Farr has an as-per-usual interesting piece up, at The Immanent Frame, on the international-religious-freedom policies of the United States.  In particular, he considers the questions "whether religious freedom as it is conceptualized in the United States has any applicability elsewhere, and whether American foreign policy can legitimately seek to advance international religious liberty at all."  Here's a particularly important paragraph, which is directed at those who regard American efforts to affirmatively spread and support religious freedom as somehow "imperialistic":

Religious freedom is not just for Christians, or minorities, or Americans, or any other single group. It is the birthright of every human being and the legal right of every religious community. To stand against religious persecution is a moral imperative, especially for the government of the United States.

Moreover, religious freedom has long been affirmed and protected by international law and is one of the cornerstone rights in the UN?s landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  It is, in other words, not a parochial, partisan, or sectarian claim, but a universal human right. The IRFA explicitly invokes Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter, and international human rights covenants as the standard for U.S. policy.

Finally, religious freedom is a linchpin of ordered liberty and the very antithesis of religious extremism. By guaranteeing equality under the law for every person and community, religious liberty protects majorities as well as minorities. If the purpose of U.S. foreign policy is to engage the world in defense of American interests, it must become more effective than it has been in carrying out its statutory mandate to advance religious liberty abroad. . . .

Read the whole thing.  This is important stuff.