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Secretary Clinton Emphasizes Relationship Between Free Speech, Freedom of Religion |
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Written by Don Byrd
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Friday, 19 November 2010 |
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In her remarks introducing the State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report, Secretary Hilary Clinton emphasized two important things: that religious freedom means more than the freedom to worship, and that it goes hand in hand with the freedom of speech.
This report reflects a broad understanding of religious freedom, one
that begins with private beliefs and communal religious expression, but
doesn’t end there. Religious freedom also includes the right to raise
one’s children in one’s faith, to share one’s faith peacefully with
others, to publish religious materials without censorship, to change
one’s religion – by choice, not coercion, and to practice no religion at
all. And it includes the rights of faith communities to come together
in social service and public engagement in the broader society.
...
Now, some people propose that to protect religious freedom, we must
ban speech that is critical or offensive about religion. We do not
agree. The Defamation of Religions Resolution adopted by the United
Nations Human Rights Council again this year, and now pending before the
General Assembly, reflects the other view. And the United States joins
in all nations coming together to condemn hateful speech, but we do not
support the banning of that speech. Indeed, freedom of speech and
freedom of religion emanate from the same fundamental belief that
communities and individuals are enriched and strengthened by a diversity
of ideas, and attempts to stifle them or drive them underground, even
when it is in the name and with the intention of protecting society,
have the opposite effect. Societies in which freedom of religion and
speech flourish are more resilient, more stable, more peaceful, and more
productive.
The first point may be the administration's answer to critics who questioned the use of "freedom to worship" as a short-hand for religious liberty generally. The White House, those detractors argued, did not fully appreciate the breadth of religious freedom. That first paragraph above, however, shows a broad understanding of what it means to be a free person of faith.
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