State Religious Exclusivity and Human Rights
| Date | 01 December 2008 |
| Author | Jonathan Fox |
| Published date | 01 December 2008 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00724.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
State Religious Exclusivity and
Human Rights
Jonathan Fox
Bar Ilan University
This study uses the Religion and State (RAS) and the Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) data sets to examine
whether the extent to which a state government supports religious exclusivity influences that state’s
human rights record. It tests this relationshipfor all states included in the study as well as for four problem
sets which look specifically at democracies. The results show that both for all states in general and for
democracies in particular, state religious exclusivity – which is defined here as state support for some
religions or one religion over others and state legislation of religious precepts as law – is associated with
poorer human rights records. However, this result is weaker in tests which include only Western
democracies. The results also show that Muslim states tend to have relatively poor human rights records
and Christian states tend to have relatively good human rights records.
Religion is a topic that was marginalized in the social sciences for most of the
twentieth century (Ebaugh, 2002; Gill, 2001; Haynes, 1994; Minkenberg, 2002,
pp. 223–4; Thomas, 2005). However, recently there has been a growing number
of studies which examine various aspects of religion’s impact on society and
politics. The current study uses the Religion and State (RAS)1and the
Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) data sets to examine the impact of state religious
exclusivity on a state’s human rights record. For the purposes of this study, state
religious exclusivity is defined as state support for some religions or one religion
over others and state legislation of religious precepts as law.
An empirical examination of this question is both important and novel for a
number of reasons. First, despite the growing number of empirical studies on
religion, no previous study has directly tested the impact of state religious
exclusivity on a state’s human rights record. Second, both human rights and
religion are becoming increasingly important international issues. Third, as is
discussed in more detail below, there is no consensus on the likely influence of
religion on human rights, though there seems to be a consensus that it has an
impact.
Religion and Human Rights
The focus of this study is not on religious human rights – which can be defined
as the freedom to practice one’s religion without interference and the right to
equal treatment of one’s religion by governments and society – but, rather,on the
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00724.x
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2008 VOL 56, 928–948
© 2008The Author.Jour nal compilation © 2008 Political StudiesAssociation
influence of religion on human rights in general. That is, this study asks how
religion, and in particular the extent to which a state government supports
religious exclusivity, influences that state’s human rights record. This focus on the
impact of religion on human rights other than religious human rights is impor-
tant because showing that state religious exclusivity is linked to violations of
religious human rights, while interesting, would not be particularly surprising.
However, showing that state religious exclusivity also impacts on other types of
human rights would be more interesting and novel.
That said, religious human rights and other types of human r ights are not
completely separate. Violations of religious freedoms can also constitute viola-
tions of other rights and violations of other rights can in effect limit religious
rights. For example,limitations on the right to obser ve one’s religion can include
limitations on freedom of expression.Similarly, limits on freedom of assembly and
association can in practice limit religious congregations from gathering together
for religious purposes, and limits on such religious gatherings violate freedom of
assembly and association (Dinstein, 1990, pp. 170–8).
Be that as it may, religion is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon so it is not
surprising that different aspects and manifestations of religion can potentially both
support and undermine human r ights. The literature reflects this complexity in
that there is little agreement on the nature of religion’s impact on tolerance in
general and human rights in particular. However, it is argued here that religious
exclusivity and intolerance – one of religion’s many facets – will have a more
uniformly negative impact on human rights. This brief review is intended
to highlight some of the relevant trends in the literature rather than provide
an exhaustive discussion, which is not possible in this context due to space
considerations.
Many directly link religion to intolerance. Thus when a particular religion has
disproportionate influence in a state, this is expected to lead to intolerance for
other religions.2Clearly this would lead to restrictions placed on religious rights.
In fact, a state which is religiously exclusive, by definition gives preference to one
religion over others. Such states are also more likely to discriminate against
minority religions. Of the 175 states included in the RAS data set,46 have official
religions and 42 (91.3 per cent) of these states place restrictions on the religious
practices of minority religions as opposed to 89 of 129 (69.0 per cent) of states
without official religions.3Also the mean level of religious discrimination in states
with official religions is 10.02 while it is 3.98 in other states. Thus while
restrictions on religious rights exist in a major ity of states, these restrictions are
significantly4more common and severe in religiously exclusive states.
There are multiple potential ways in which religion can lead to intolerance. A
dominant religion can include notions of superiority which allow, justify and
even require acts of intolerance toward others. Intolerance can also be caused by
more specific stimuli such as specific beliefs held by minorities, specific minority
STATE RELIGIOUS EXCLUSIVITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS 929
© 2008The Author.Jour nal compilation © 2008 Political StudiesAssociation
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2008, 56(4)
To continue reading
Request your trial