State Responses to Minority Religions [Hardcover]

The response of states to demands for free exercise of religion or belief varies greatly across the world. In some places, religions come as close as imaginable to autonomous existences with little interference from government. In other cases religion finds itself grinding out a meagre living, if at all, under the jealously watchful eye of the state. This book provides a legal and normative overview of the variety of responses to minority religions available to states. Exploring case studies ranging from Islamic regions such as Indonesia, Pakistan, and the wider Middle East, to Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Canada, and the Baltics, contributors include international scholars and experts in law, sociology, religious studies, and political science. This book offers invaluable perspectives on how minority religions are currently being received, reviewed, challenged, or ignored in different parts of the world.Contents: Foreword, Heiner Bielefeldt; Preface, David M. Kirkham; Part I Minority Religions and International Legal and Ethical Norms - an Overview: State reactions to minority religions: a legal overview, W. Cole Durham Jr; The UN Human Rights Committee and religious minorities, Nazila Ghanea. Part II Minority Religions and Islam: Religious minorities and conversion as national security threats in Turkey and Iran, Ziya Meral; Springtime for freedom of religion or belief: will newly democratic Arab states guarantee international human rights norms or perpetuate their violation?, Robert C. Blitt; Indonesia: between religious harmony and religious freedom, Renata Arianingtyas; A legal analysis of Ahmadi persecution in Pakistan, Asma T. Uddin. Part III Atlantic Models - Religious Minorities, Diversity and the European West: Public policies in European case law: between security, non-discrimination, and public information, Louis-L?on Christians; The French system against sectarian deviations, Herv? Machi; The French war on cults revisited: threl}