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The ousting of the communist regimes has not guaranteed the protection of human rights. The historical reality is that discrimination against minority religious and ethnic groups is often part of a broader monolithic nationalism. As official atheism is replaced by varying models of church-state arrangements, how much will the rule of law prevail against resurgent nationalism and intolerance toward minorities? These nineteen essays consider this question. The authors represent eleven countries (four essays discuss Western Europe ) and include theologians, political and social scientists, legal scholars, and human rights professionals. Whether considering Bulgarias policy toward Muslims or Christian-Jewish dialogue in Poland, these provocative essays shed new light on human rights in a globalizing world.
List of contents
PREFACE, by DR. J. PAUL MARTIN, Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University
INTRODUCTION: Religion, Religious Minorities and Human Rights: An Introduction, by PETER DANCHIN, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia
PART ONE. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Religious Minorities and Religious Freedom: An Overview, by DAVID LITTLE, Harvard Divinity School
2. The Protection of Minority Religions in Eastern Europe, by EILEEN BARKER, London School of Economics
3. Equality and Religious Preferences: Theoretical, International and Religious Perspectives, by TAD STAHNKE, U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom
PART TWO. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES
4. External Monitoring and the International Protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief, by PETER DANCHIN, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs
5. The Evolving Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Protection of Religious Minorities, by PETER DANCHIN, LISA FORMAN, Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
6. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Rights of Religion or Belief, by T. JEREMY GUNN, Emory Law School
7. Self-Determination and the Right to Secession of Religious Minorities under International Law, by JOHAN VAN DER VYVER, Emory Law School
PART THREE. CASE STUDIES
A. EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE
8. State Politics and Religious Pluralism in Russia and Ukraine: A Comparative Perspective, by SERHII PLOKHY, University of Alberta
9. Law and Politics toward the Muslims in Bulgaria, by KRASSIMIR KANEV, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.
10.Protection of Minority Religions in Hungary: A Comparative Analysis, by BALÁZS SCHANDA
B. WESTERN EUROPE-COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES
11. European Parliamentary Enquette Commissions: Justification of a Two-Tiered System of Religious Freedoms, by CAROLYN WAH, Watchtower
12. The Contemporary Form of the Relationship between Religious Minorities and the State in Spain, by ROSA MARIÁ MARTÍNEZ DE CODES, Ministry of Justice, Spain
13. The Protection of Religious Minorities in Belgium: A Western European Perspective, by WILLY FAUTRÉ, Human Rights Without Frontiers
PART FOUR. NON-LEGAL APPROACHES
14. The Development of Polish Civil Society and the Experience of the Greek Catholic Minority in Eastern Poland, by CHRISTOPHER HANN, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
15. The Catholic Church in Post-Communist Europe, by TIMOTHY BYRNES, Colgate University
16. American Church Advocacy of Religious Rights in East Germany: The Legacy of the Past for the Present, by ROBERT GOECKEL, SUNY Geneseo
17. Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Poland: A Difficult Road to Tolerance, by STANISLAW KRAJEWSKI, Warsaw University and Consultant to the American Jewish Co
AFTERWORD
18. Religion and Human Rights: The Capacity to "Swear to one's own Hurt", by DONALD W. SHRIVER, Union Theological Seminary
Summary
As official atheism is replaced by varying models of church-state arrangements in eastern Europe, how much will the rule of law prevail against resurgent nationalism and intolerance toward minorities? These nineteen essays consider this question. The authors represent eleven countries and include theologians, political and social scientists, legal scholars, and human rights professionals.
