Human Rights Or Religious Rules? (Empirical Research in Religion

Human Rights or Religious Rules? Empirical Research in Religion and Human Rights Chief Editor J.A. van der Ven, Radboud University Nijmegen Editorial Board C. Sterkens, Radboud University Nijmegen J. van de Vyver, Emory University Atlanta H.-G. Ziebertz, University of Würzburg VOLUME 1 Human Rights or Religious Rules? By Johannes A. van der Ven LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010 Th is book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ven, J.A. van der, 1940– Human rights or religious rules? / by Johannes A. van der Ven. p. cm. — (Empirical research in religion and human rights ; v. 1) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 978-90-04-18304-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Human rights—Religious aspects. I. Title. II. Series. BL65.H78V458 2010 201’.723—dc22 2010002262 ISSN 1877-881X ISBN 978 90 04 18304 9 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................ vii List of Figures and Tables ................................................................ xiii Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 PART ONE RELIGION I. Varieties of Religious Weakness and Strength .................. 11 II. Religious Identity .................................................................... 53 III. Refl ective Comparison in Religious Research .................... 88 PART TWO RELIGION AND HUMAN RIGHTS IV. Human Rights: Religious or Nonreligious? ........................ 135 V. Human Rights: Natural or Political? ................................... 187 VI. Religious Rights for Minorities ............................................. 226 PART THREE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN RELIGION AND HUMAN RIGHTS CULTURE VII. Religious Freedom .................................................................. 265 VIII. Separation of Church and State ........................................... 304 vi contents IX. Impact of Religion on Attitudes toward Religious Freedom and the Separation of Church and State ............... 356 Appendix ............................................................................................. 399 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 413 Index of Subjects ................................................................................ 449 Index of Names .................................................................................. 466 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My research into religion and human rights dates back to 1993, when what was known as an interim constitution was being negotiated at Kempton Park in South Africa on the eve of its fi rst democratic elec- tions in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became the country’s fi rst demo- cratically elected state president. Together with my colleagues Hennie Pieterse and Jaco Dreyer at the University of South Africa, I set a project for a survey among senior secondary school students to explore the relation between religion and human rights. We regarded the students as the future carriers of a human rights culture and were curious whether and to what extent their religious beliefs and participation in religious rites contributed positively to their attitudes towards human rights. Th e project resulted in many articles and culminated in a book, Is Th ere a God of Human Rights? Th e Complex Relationship between Human Rights and Religion: a South African Case, International Stud- ies in Religion and Society, Volume 2, Brill, Leiden 2004. I thank my two colleagues for our free exchange and stimulating development of ideas, the fruits of which I still cherish and on which I look back grate- fully and pleasurably. Since then the topic of religion and human rights has continued to haunt me. Historical, empirical, and systematic research into it found a fertile matrix in the International Research Programme Human Rights and Religion. Th e programme has a twofold comparative perspective. Th e fi rst is a cross-cultural research perspective, implemented by colleagues in some ten European, African, and Asian countries with the aid of an identical questionnaire, translated into eight languages and designed for students at the end of their secondary or the start of their tertiary education. Th e second comparative perspective concerns the composition of the research population in these countries. It comprises a Christian and a Muslim group, sometimes augmented with a nonreligious group as in European countries or with a Hindu group as in India. Collaboration with colleagues from such diverse parts of the world poses a constant scientifi c challenge. Regular discussions with colleagues of the Centre for Ethics at Radboud University, Nijmegen, was also a source of ever new ideas. Critical and constructive exchange of opinions with colleagues of the Faculty of Law at Radboud University viii acknowledgements continually stimulated fresh insights and the reinterpretation and reformulation of previously gained insight. I am very thankful to my academic assistant, Claudia Sarti, because she responsibly took care of the data collection, literature search, footnotes, bibliography and so many other things. I am also very grateful to Marcelle Manley for the professional translation of this book. Th e present study is the product of all these forms of collaboration, as well as numerous lectures and papers and the debates about these. In all this oral and written communication there are three key themes: systematic research into religion (chapters 1–3); partly historical, partly systematic research into religion and human rights (chapters 4–6); and fi nally empirical research into religion and a human rights culture, focusing on religious freedom and the separation of church and state among Christian, Muslim, and nonreligious youths in the Netherlands. Data for this purpose were collected in 2007–2008 (chapters 7–9). Th e book forms part of the aforementioned International Research Programme. It comprises the following chapters. Chapter 1, “Varieties of Religious Weakness and Strength”, is based in part on a lecture, entitled ‘Th e Future of Religion’, which was given at the University of Groningen on the occasion of the opening of the new building for the Faculty of Th eology and Religious Studies in 2002. It also draws on a 2005 lecture for the Conference of the International Academy of Practical Th eology (IAPT) at the Catholic University in Brisbane, Australia, entitled “Th e Multicultural Drama, Religion’s Failure and Challenge”, and on another lecture given in 2005 to some Dutch universities, entitled “Is Religion out of Date?” (Is religie achterhaald?).1 In part, the chapter is also based on an article entitled, “Where Do Religious Variations Come From?” (Waar komen verschillen in religie vandaan?), which was fi rst published in Tijdschrift voor Th eologie,2 and later republished, in a somewhat modifi ed form, under the title, “Th ree Paradigms for the Study of Religion”.3 1 In J.A. van der Ven (ed.), Geloof en verlichting (Faith and Enlightenment), Damon/Soeterbeeck programme, Budel/Nijmegen 2007, 11–44. 2 In Tijdschrift voor Th eologie 46(2006)2, 161–180. 3 In H. Streib (ed.), Religion Inside and Outside Traditional Institutions, Empirical Studies in Th eology, Volume 15, Brill, Leiden 2007, 7–35. acknowledgements ix Chapter 2, “Aspects of Religious Identity”, stems from some basic ideas given in my Formation of the Moral Self,4 and from a 2006 lecture to the International Society of Empirical Research in Th eology (ISERT) in Bangor, North Wales. It also stems from an article entitled, “Towards a Spirituality of Human Rights” (Naar een mensenrechten- spiritualiteit),5 which was subsequently incorporated into another article: “Religious Identity in Comparative Research”.6 Chapter 3, “Refl ective Comparison in Religious Research”, stems from a 2001 lecture given at the 147th anniversary of the Th eological University of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in Kampen, entitled, “From a Faculty of Th eology to a Faculty of Religious Sciences” (Van een faculteit der theologie naar een faculteit der religiewetenschappen).7 Th is lecture was subsequently revised and published as an article entitled, “Doing Th eology in a Faculty of Religious Sciences” (Th eologie beoefenen in een faculteit voor religiewetenschappen),8 revised again into “Th e Relation between Th eology and Science of Religion in Com- parative Research” (De relatie van theologie en religiewetenschap in een vergelijkende wetenschapsbeoefening),9 and revised yet again for a 2005 lecture at Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main Universiteit. It was eventually published as an article entitled “Refl ective Comparativism in Religious Research”.10 Finally, the chapter contains

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