Abstract

Although many books on terrorism and religious extremism have been published in the years since 9/11, none of them written by Western authors calls for the curtailment of religious freedom and freedom of expression for the sake of greater security. Issues like torture, domestic surveillance, and unlawful detentions have dominated the literature in this area, but few, if any, major scholars have questioned the vast allowances made by Western nations for the freedoms of religion and speech. This book challenges the almost sacrosanct inviolability of these two civil liberties. By drawing the connection between politically correct tolerance of extremist speech and the rise of terrorist activity, it sets the context for its proposal that governments should introduce new limits on religious practice within their borders. To demonstrate, the book presents the disparate policies and security circumstances of five countries: the United States, UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Israel. This second edition includes significant new material analyzing the trial of Warren Jeffs, self-censorship in the face of religious sensitivity, religious extremism and violence in Israel, and the complicated tension in the Netherlands between speech and religion. The book responds to public discussion and criticism provoked by the proposal presented in the first edition that governments impose limits on religious extremist practices and speech within their borders. In doing so, it sheds new light on the existential and practical predicaments confronting civil democratic society: how much intolerance should the nation-state tolerate and to whom does government owe a duty.

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