Religious freedom is a basic human right, argues report
Theos, the public theology think tank, has launched a report entitled "Free to Believe?"
The paper, written by Roger Trigg, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick and Academic Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Kellogg College, Oxford, tackles the silent downgrading of religious rights in contemporary Britain. It argues that human beings are naturally religious animals and have a prima facie natural right to freely exercise their religion, which should not simply be equated with the right to free speech.
The Theos report comes at a time of growing concern about restrictions of religious liberties in the UK. In a poll conducted on behalf of Theos by ComRes, nearly a third of people (32%) said they believed religious freedoms had been restricted in the UK over the last ten years.
In the report, Professor Trigg argues that: "If religious freedom is itself one of the most important rights, it must itself by the same token be entitled to equal respect from others. It cannot automatically be overridden in a clash of such rights."
To read the report,
click here