Abstract
Twenty years ago freedom of religion was an issue which commanded very little
public and media attention. Now, however, it is a matter of almost daily interest
especially in connection with immigration. So states and societies have no choice
but to address the challenges arising from increasing religious and ideological
diversity.
› Prior to the year 2000 churches and civil society organisations led the way in
drawing attention to violations of religious freedom all over the world – and not
just that suffered by Christian believers. Since then, however, politicians have
shown greater determination to address the issue.
› Members of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament who had a
particular interest in freedom of religion fifteen or twenty years ago have in
the meantime been entrusted with other tasks or have retired. The situation in
churches and civil society organisations is similar. While the wealth of experience
they accumulated may now be missed, parliaments, churches and civil society
organisations have definitely not lost sight of the issue.
› New challenges have arisen from the fact that right-wing populist and nationalist parties – Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, Rassemblement National in
France, Lega Nord in Italy, PiS in Poland and FIDESZ in Hungary, to mention just
a few – have seized on the issue for their own ends. However, there is reason to
doubt that they are genuinely interested in freedom of religion and the concerns
of Christians who suffer persecution and discrimination. On the contrary, the
issue would appear to be a means of averting immigration in particular, although
not exclusively, from the Islamic world.
› In this publication interviews conducted with civil society experts and members of
the German Bundestag and the European Parliament who have shown an active
commitment to religious freedom both in their parliamentary work and elsewhere
revisit their advocacy of freedom of religion over the past twenty years and assess
the current challenges it faces.
public and media attention. Now, however, it is a matter of almost daily interest
especially in connection with immigration. So states and societies have no choice
but to address the challenges arising from increasing religious and ideological
diversity.
› Prior to the year 2000 churches and civil society organisations led the way in
drawing attention to violations of religious freedom all over the world – and not
just that suffered by Christian believers. Since then, however, politicians have
shown greater determination to address the issue.
› Members of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament who had a
particular interest in freedom of religion fifteen or twenty years ago have in
the meantime been entrusted with other tasks or have retired. The situation in
churches and civil society organisations is similar. While the wealth of experience
they accumulated may now be missed, parliaments, churches and civil society
organisations have definitely not lost sight of the issue.
› New challenges have arisen from the fact that right-wing populist and nationalist parties – Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, Rassemblement National in
France, Lega Nord in Italy, PiS in Poland and FIDESZ in Hungary, to mention just
a few – have seized on the issue for their own ends. However, there is reason to
doubt that they are genuinely interested in freedom of religion and the concerns
of Christians who suffer persecution and discrimination. On the contrary, the
issue would appear to be a means of averting immigration in particular, although
not exclusively, from the Islamic world.
› In this publication interviews conducted with civil society experts and members of
the German Bundestag and the European Parliament who have shown an active
commitment to religious freedom both in their parliamentary work and elsewhere
revisit their advocacy of freedom of religion over the past twenty years and assess
the current challenges it faces.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 79 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-95721-919-0 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Bibliographical note
This text is licensed under the conditions of “Creative Commons Namensnennung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 international”, CC BY-SA 4.0(retrievable at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.de)