Problematizing Religious Freedom

This book problematizes the concept of religious freedom along legal, constitutional, ethical and theological lines, and especially from the perspective of religious studies, seeking a contemporary understanding that promotes human flourishing.

The concept of religious freedom is the favoured modern human rights concept, with which the modern world hopes to tackle the phenomenon of religious pluralism, as our modern existence in an electronically shrinking globe comes to be increasingly characterised by this phenomenon. To begin with, the concept of religious freedom, as embodied in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, seems self-evident in nature. It is the claim of this book, however, that although emblematic on the one hand, the concept is also problematic on the other, and the implications of the concept of religious freedom are far from self-evident, despite the ready acceptance the term receives as embodying a worthwhile goal. This book therefore problematizes the concept along legal, constitutional, ethical and theological lines, and especially from the perspective of religious studies, so that religious freedom in the world could be enlarged in a way which promotes human flourishing. The central claim of this book is that although the concept of religious freedom as a human rights concept is emblematic on the one hand, the concept is also problematic on the other, that its implications are far from self-evident despite the ready acceptance the term receives as embodying a worthwhile goal. This book therefore problematizes the concept along legal, constitutional, ethical, and theological lines, and especially from the perspective of religious studies, so that religious freedom in the world could be enlarged in a way which promotes human flourishing.
"Is religion always something good, a benefit to humanity? A detailed examination of the religions as they affect and have affected the world raises disturbing questions, and this authoritative treatment of them will provide a focus of discussion for years to come. I congratulate the author. The result is invaluable for both scholars and students, and I commend it to both without reservation."
John Hick
Professor Emeritus, Birmingham University, UK,
and the Claremont Graduate University, California
Vice-President, British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and World Congress of Faiths
"Problematizing Religious Freedom is an intensely provocative book. It takes the reader through discussions and debates about the nature and definition of religion, distinctions between missionary and non-missionary traditions, concepts of conversion and proselytism, attitudes and understandings of religious freedom internal to various traditions, and the semantic dimensions and practical implications of the phrase "religious freedom" as it is employed in the contemporary human rights community and beyond. Although one may not agree with all of his points, there is no gainsaying the fact that Sharma greatly illuminates a set of important problems - and from a distinctive point of view that is vigorously argued."
Sumner B. Twiss, Distinguished Professor of Human Rights, Ethics, and Religion
Florida State University
Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Brown University

Part I. - Introduction. - What is Religion? . - What is Religion: The Historical Context. - What is Religion: The Legal Context. - What is Religious Freedom? . - The Possibility of Religious Freedom. - Part II. - The Concept of Religion in World Religions and the Corresponding Concept of Religious Freedom. - The Anticipation of Religious Freedom in World Religions. - Attitudes to Conversion in World Religions. - Religions: Missionary and Non-missionary. - Religions: Eastern and Western--The Case for an Asian Understanding of Religion. - Religious Freedom and Proselytization: A Case. - Study of Christian Missions. - Native American Religious Freedom. - Conclusion.