The state, religion, and freedom: a review essay of Persecution & toleration
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The state, religion, and freedom: a review essay of Persecution & toleration Metin Coşgel 1 Accepted: 15 November 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Persecution and Toleration offers a novel and superb analysis of the birth of religious freedom. Rather than seek an ideational account of the rise of religious freedom, Johnson and Koyama investigate changes in the institutional environment that governed the relationship between religion and the state. These changes made it in the interest of policy makers in modern Europe to grant greater religious freedom by transitioning from identity rules to impersonal laws in maintaining order. The book introduces a new thought-provoking conceptual framework that can be extended to examine the complicated history of the state’s interaction with religion, comparative analysis of the relationship between state capacity and political legitimacy, and various other issues concerning the treatment of minorities and heterodox practices around the world. Keywords Persecution and toleration . Religious freedom . State capacity . Political
legitimacy . Legal order . Identity rules . General laws . Heterodox practices . Minorities JEL classification H10 . K4 . N4 . O57 . P48 . Z12
Religious freedom is a fundamental principle of liberal democracies, but with a complicated history. Despite making significant progress in advancing freedoms in the last two centuries, even modern societies committed to liberal values have at times struggled with the interpretation, implementation, and protection of religious freedom. Examples of religious persecution in recent history include the genocides of the twentieth century, continuing suppression of minorities around the world, and violent attacks on worshippers in the United States. The scope of religious freedom has also been contentious, as seen in recent debates regarding religious schools, immigration policy, and regulations of food, marriage, and clothing. These examples constantly remind us the importance, complexity, and fragility of religious liberties.
* Metin Coşgel [email protected]
1
Department of Economics, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-1063, USA
M. Coşgel
Religious freedom is at the center of the relationship between state and religion, two of the oldest institutions known in human history. In the traditional arrangement since antiquity, religion and state were typically bound together through an official faith, with significant regulations of religious beliefs and practices. Some states granted a degree of self-governance to religious minorities, but only with severe legal and physical restrictions on their movement and activities. Although the traditional arrangement slowly gave way to greater freedoms since the early modern period, the progress has involved numerous controversies, setbacks, and legal and political conflicts. To understand the complexity and fragility of religious freedom in today’s societies, it is important to know how we got here and wha
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