Roger Trigg (2012) Equality, Freedom and Religion. London: Oxford University Press.
'Equality, Freedom and Religion'
The following information was supplied by Roger Trigg for the EHRC Religion or Belief Research Network. Please add your own thoughts in the comments section below
Description
This book examines whether religious freedom is being curtailed in pursuit of equality and the outlawing of discrimination and whether enough effort is made to accommodate those motivated by a religious conscience. It argues that, at times, the right to put religious beliefs into practice increasingly takes second place in the law of different countries to the pursuit of other social priorities and that increasingly in many jurisdictions in Europe and North America, religious freedom can all too easily be ‘trumped’ by other rights.
The book looks at the assumptions that lie behind this perceived subordination of religious liberty to other social concerns, especially the pursuit of equality. The author gives examples from different Western countries of a steady erosion of freedom of religion. He argues that religion is all too often seen as a threat and a source of conflict, to be controlled at all costs. He questions whether any freedom can be preserved for long if the basic human right to freedom of religious belief and practice is dismissed as of little account, with no attempt to provide any reasonable accommodation. Given the central role of religion in human life, he argues that unnecessary limitations on its expression are attacks on human freedom itself.