What is religious freedom?
Religious freedom can be described as a fundamental human right that protects people’s right to live, speak, and act according to them publicly and peacefully. It protects their ability to be themselves at a public place, in the workplace, and at social events. Religious freedom is more than the ‘freedom to worship’ at a mosque, temple, or synagogue. It makes sure that people don’t have to change their core values and beliefs to conform to the culture imposed by the government.
Here are some reasons why religious freedom is essential for any nation or society:
1. It helps societies grow and flourish
Religious freedom creates space for the norms, values, and institutions that supports free societies. Different economists of the world who research the impact of religious liberty on the economy believe that high religious freedom seems to have a positive effect on the income level of each person. It means that there will be high employment and less poverty. In short, religious freedom impacts a nation’s ability to flourish.
2. It supports civil liberties
Religious freedom was essential to the founders because they knew they would lose their civil liberties without it. The founders consider religious freedom to be a prerequisite of those liberties. In a country like America, religion is one of the critical factors which leads to the observance and the enlightenment of the divine laws which guide people to liberty.
3. Restricting religious freedom has negative consequences
Restricting religious freedom compels people out of jobs and stops institutions from offering social services that the deprived people of the communities need. It also endangers other civil liberties, including free association, free speech, and economic freedom. Faith-based social organizations often have some core values about family, sexuality, and marriage. Forcing them to compromise their religious commitments would lessen their ability to serve their communities.
4. It upholds families
If you see the history of the United States, strong families and religious freedom have always been together. The pilgrims look for religious liberty and a place to live and worship their God. The legal, civic, and social systems they built to carry this out were highly aligned with the solid Christian values usually perpetrated by the family.
A Christian family is seen as a little church, a small government, and a small society. A family is a unit that is responsible for training future generations which is essential for living peaceful lives. The goal of the family is to honor the Lord by practicing and promoting Christian values in the kids so that they can make a positive contribution to society.
Author bio
Andy Swarna is a spiritual coach, a self-learner, an out-of-the-box thinker, and an inspiring author of the book ‘Religious Freedom Forever’ – a book focused on human issues revolving around ideology. He is of the belief that is understanding social institutions, their ultimate goals, and responsibilities are the key factor that improves socialization and cooperation among people. The book will allow the readers to realize that social institutions can maintain society, create harmony, and deal with different types of conflicts in peaceful ways.