Reflections on Religious Freedom
Religious Freedom is one of our fundamental Human Rights.
It is clearly articulated in Article 18 of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
It is good just to spend a moment looking at the words of Article 18,
to make them familiar enough to come to mind when we hear ‘religious
freedom’ spoken of. This is what it means:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or
belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in
public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching,
practice, worship and observance.
Have we really ever thought about these words before and what they
might mean for us?
Do we begin to think about how they are understood by others?
What do we really feel about this freedom being universal, shared by
everyone, irrespective of their beliefs, and however different or
contradictory from our own?
Let us contemplate the scene and the passion in this extract from
Ahram Online 7th January 2011:
Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass on Thursday
night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt’s
threatened Christian community ... making a pledge collectively to
fight ... for an Egypt free from sectarian strife .. ’This is not
about us and them’ said a student... ‘We are one. This was an attack
on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only
way things will change... is if we come together.’
In the days following the brutal attack on Saints Church in
Alexandria, which left 21 dead on New Year’s Eve, solidarity between
Muslims and Copts has seen an unprecedented peak. Millions of
Egyptians changed their Facebook profile pictures to the image of a
cross within a crescent...
Around the city, banners went up calling for unity and depicting
mosques and churches, crosses and crescents, together as one.
Can we put ourselves in this scene?
Do we understand and value our own freedom
enough to
have the courage to fight for this same
freedom for others?
The freedom to have, choose, change or leave a religion or belief.
When we look at our brothers and sisters in faith, may we remember
that we are all pilgrims on the journey to God. For each of us this
journey may have different turnings, times of light and darkness. Our
creeds and faiths provide us with a map, but it is God who brings us
to our final destination.
The church is a house with a hundred
gates;
and no two people enter at exactly the
same angle.
G K Chesterton
Freedom to manifest a religion or belief.
May we always see beauty in the signs of
fidelity.
As Christians we have, through the centuries,
made our belief manifest in the building of
churches - the ‘first fruits’ of our labour,
our best offerings and most ornate
craftsmanship, expressions of our deepest
sense of beauty and the magnificence of God.
We have created sacred spaces and invested
meaning in the objects, signs and symbols
within them.
When we look at the religious buildings of
Freedom from coercion.
other faiths, may we recognise and respect
that
same reverence
for the
that same
As we acknowledge and deepen our
appreciation
of our
own sacred,
faith and
desire
bear
witness
to the
tradition, as we relish its gifts,
maytowe
also
nurture
the presence
humilityoftoGod
in our
respect those who do not or choose
notmidst.
to share our tradition. May we
have the openness and courage to bear criticism with secure hearts.
We remember to ‘tread softly, because God has been here before you.’
Freedom from discrimination.
Where religious tension comes from a failure to understand each other
well, we pray that we may find the language that enables us to
communicate about the things that really matter: the language not
only of words, but of the heart, the shared experience of the
presence of God, the recognition of the solidarity of the faithful.
Open our eyes to see faith in all its different expressions, to see
‘that which is of God in everyone’. Open the ear of our hearts to our
brothers and sisters in faith, that we may share that faith honestly,
openly, respectfully.
Freedom of parents to educate their children in accordance with their
religious beliefs.
As we bring up our children in the
knowledge and love of our faith,
may we tread gently and deal wisely
with their open souls.
As we share with them the riches of
our tradition may we teach them to
respect and value the traditions of
others.
The right to conscientious objection
Be with us Lord when the deepest trials of the soul are felt or
expressed, when we have to engage with the reality of the taking of
life, the moral conflict of decisions made about war, abortion,
euthanaesia.
May we look with love on those faced with the dilemmas we hope never
to encounter.