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Constitutional Doublethink, Managed Pluralism and Freedom of Religion

Religious freedom has been recognised as one of the most fundamental of human rights, and is enshrined in a number of international legal documents. The nonbinding Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, declares that '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 in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance' (Article 18).1 More than 144 nations have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Article 18 guarantees to an individual the right to religious freedom and to manifest his religion or belief 'in worship, observance, practice, and teaching', and forbids any sort of coercion 'which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice'. 2 A number of regional human rights treaties, among them the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Article 9), the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights (Article 12), and the 1969 African Charter on Human and People's Rights (Article 8) all contain explicit guarantees of the individual's right to freedom of choice and expression in philosophical, religious and ideological matters. 3 Most states, in addition to ratifying international protocols that protect freedom of religion, have also recognised the principle of pluralism within their domestic constitutions or fundamental laws. A state like Saudi Arabia, which declares in Article 1 of its 'Basic Law' that 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God's Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God's prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution' ,. is a rarity in the modem world. However, as the US State Department concludes: 'Notwithstanding the existence of ... broadly accepted international instruments protecting religious freedom, there remains in some countries a substantial difference between promise and practice. Much of the world's population lives in countries in which the right to religious freedom is restricted or prohibited." Indeed, the debate currently under way in many countries around the world focuses on finding the balance between respecting the freedom of the individual and maintaining societal cohesion. A publication of the Romanian State Secretariat for Religious Affairs comments that many societies around the world are now engaged in a 'deep search for identity, based on solidarity and convergence in diversity'.6