Religious Diversity, Minorities and Human Rights: Gaps and Overlaps in Legal Protection

Abstract

The legal protection of religious diversity is strewn with difficulties and uncertainties. The re-emergence of religiously motivated demands points to the need to better define the relationship between the legal protection of human rights and religious diversity. The current applicable laws and regulations come from different historical or national contexts, which presents a confusing landscape that calls for a better definition of the protection afforded by the different rights at stake. This article uses a general normative analysis to propose extending the scope of religious minorities to any religious affiliation that does not represent the majority of the population of a given state. This involves shifting from a paradigm of specific protection for certain minorities to one in which all minorities are protected through the universally recognized rights of freedom of religion and nondiscrimination.