Religious Freedom in Contest: Enforcing Religion through Anti-Conversion Laws in India
Abstract Legal regulation of religious conversion has become one of the central human rights issues worldwide. Numerous countries, especially in South Asia, have enacted laws that prohibit proselytizating on the grounds of force, allurement, and misrepresentation. Critics have consistently relied on...
| Published in: | Journal of law, religion and state |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2021
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| In: |
Journal of law, religion and state
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
India
/ Religious policy
/ Legislation
/ Conversion (Religion)
/ Prohibition
/ Religious freedom
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism KBM Asia XA Law ZC Politics in general |
| Further subjects: | B
Discrimination
B Tolerance B Hinduism B Religious Freedom B Caste B Religious Conversion B India |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Abstract Legal regulation of religious conversion has become one of the central human rights issues worldwide. Numerous countries, especially in South Asia, have enacted laws that prohibit proselytizating on the grounds of force, allurement, and misrepresentation. Critics have consistently relied on freedom of religion to oppose these laws, but courts in these jurisdictions have upheld them on the very grounds of religious freedom. The present Article explains the historical and ideological bases of this counterintuitive approach to religious freedom by focusing on the case of India. It argues that this approach is based on a historically evolving conception of religion associated with modern Hinduism, according to which all religions have an equal claim to spiritual truth. This precept of religious equality has come to constitute the political and judicial approach to religious freedom and religious conversion laws. The Article uses this interpretive insight to renew the normative critique of such laws. |
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| ISSN: | 2212-4810 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of law, religion and state
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22124810-2021J003 |