St. Thomas Law Review
First Page
604
Document Type
Article
Abstract
When religion is discussed in a legal setting, the topic is typically an examination of whether a law is either dealing with religions equally or staying out of religious affairs. The Western world has concerned itself with issues such as prayer in school, references to God on currency, religious attire in classrooms, and biblical texts in courthouses. These problems deal with the negative obligations of a state to not impose a religion on its people. The examination found in this article, however, will consider religious freedom from a different perspective. It will analyze freedom of religion in terms of the positive obligations of states to rectify past discrimination. Presently, the interpretation of freedom of religion under international law mechanisms does not require a state to produce a tolerant environment through education. Although there have often been situations where a state has promoted a particular religion or outlawed another religion, religious freedom has not been construed to include reparations for past actions. The focus of international law is on the present state of a nation's laws and whether those laws are religiously neutral. While this removal of government interference with freedom of religion is essential to many, it does not ensure freedom of religion for all individuals. In fact, for some religions, state neutrality leaves the atmosphere of that state as one that is oppressive to religions that have been disfavored for centuries. Without additional safeguards, expression of religious beliefs is interrupted by fear of physical or verbal abuse. Thus, the concept of religious freedom must be reassessed to determine whether religious reparations might be more appropriate than religious neutrality in certain situations.
Recommended Citation
Danielle Boaz,
Religious Reparations from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Forming Demons, Cults, and Zombies to Justify Black Enslavement,
20
St. Thomas L. Rev.
604
(2008).
Available at:
https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol20/iss3/12