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76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 941 (2005)
Who Needs Freedom of Religion

handle is hein.journals/ucollr76 and id is 951 raw text is: WHO NEEDS FREEDOM OF RELIGION? JAMES W. NICKEL* This article proposes that we view freedom of religion as a specific application area of more general basic liberties such as freedoms of thought, expression, association, assembly, movement, privacy, po- litical participation, and economic activity. Separate enumeration of freedom of religion in national and international bills of rights may be useful, but it is not indispensable. In this respect freedom of relig- ion is more like scientific freedom or artistic freedom than like free- dom of expression. Recognizing that separate enumeration of free- dom of religion is dispensable has salutary consequences for how we conceive and justify freedom as it applies to religion. First, we see that the general grounds of the basic liberties will also be the grounds of religious freedom. Second, we gain a broad and ecu- menical scope for freedom of religion that extends into areas such as association, movement, politics, and business. Third, this perspective helps us avoid a narrow clause-bound focus in interpreting freedom of religion. Finally, this approach helps us resist exaggerating the priority offreedom of religion. INTRODUCTION When we try to describe the meaning of freedom as a political norm, we usually identify important areas of liberty in which govern- ments should enter only with good reasons and tread lightly when they do. We speak of freedom of expression, religion, association, assembly, and movement. This is the basic liberties approach to understanding liberty. One of its early uses was the enumeration of liberties in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution-which protected the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and press, the right of peaceable assembly, and the right to petition the government.1 Contemporary human rights * James Nickel is a professor at Arizona State University College of Law. I wish to thank Gail Merten for research assistance with this essay. 1. U.S. CONST. amend. I.

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