Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century- ISBN:9780521146838
- Publication date:December 2010
- 272pages
- 32 b/w illus. 29 tables
- Dimensions: 228 x 152 mm
- Weight: 0.37kg
The Price of Freedom Denied shows that, contrary to popular opinion, ensuring religious freedom for all reduces violent religious persecution and conflict. Others have suggested that restrictions on religion are necessary to maintain order or preserve a peaceful religious homogeneity. Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke show that restricting religious freedoms is associated with higher levels of violent persecution. Relying on a new source of coded data for nearly 200 countries and case studies of six countries, the book offers a global profile of religious freedom and religious persecution. Grim and Finke report that persecution is evident in all regions and is standard fare for many. They also find that religious freedoms are routinely denied and that government and the society at large serve to restrict these freedoms. They conclude that the price of freedom denied is high indeed.
In a nutshell, this book:
- Offers a global profile of religious freedom and persecution, including information on nearly 200 countries and selected case studies
- Explains variation in religious persecution across countries and religious traditions, offering an planation of why persecution tends to be higher among some populations
- Demonstrates and documents how religious freedoms are denied by the government and the society at large
- Argues that religious freedoms serve to defuse the potential conflict and reduce the level of violent religious persecution
[ See an analysis of Religious Freedom HERE ]