Can We Have Religious Freedom and Social Harmony?

Abstract

Throughout history religious freedom has often been severely restricted by governments on grounds of protecting social “harmony.” Lack of religious uniformity has been feared as a source of instability. By contrast, many Western countries—especially the United States—champion the idea that religious freedom naturally supports social harmony, peace, and flourishing. This paper uses global data from the Pew Research Center’s Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and Social Hostilities Index (SHI) to compare Western countries with Asian countries, identifying which countries have low scores on both of these indices. The data show that this ideal combination is not very common, and to the extent it occurs, it is found in both the West and Asia.

Keywords:

• Religious Freedom
• Religious Diversity
• Pluralism
• Liberalism
• American National Identity

Notes

1 Portions of this research note are excerpted and adapted from the introductory chapters of Hoover 2023a, 2023b.

2 See https://revolution.chnm.org/items/show/578.

3 See the special symposium in The Review of Faith & International Affairs titled, “Who “Belongs” at Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Table? Reflections on American History, Identity, and Immigration,” https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfia20/19/3.

4 See https://www.state.gov/countries-of-particular-concern-special-watchlist-countries-entities-of-particular-concern/#CountriesofParticularConcern.

5 It's also worth noting the results in the “worst case scenario” combination, i.e., high or very high GRI combined with high or very high SHI. Nine countries in Asia have this dubious distinction: Malaysia, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Bangladesh. Only one Western country is in this category: EU member state Bulgaria. If such states are seeking social peace through restrictions on religion, the data suggest it is not working.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dennis R. Hoover

Dennis R. Hoover (D.Phil., University of Oxford) is Editor in Chief of The Review of Faith & International Affairs, Research Advisor to the Templeton Religion Trust’s Covenantal Pluralism Initiative, and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement. He is editor of Exploring Religious Diversity and Covenantal Pluralism in Asia, Volumes I and II (Routledge 2023).