CHAPTER 27 Tad Stahnke, The Right to Engage in Religious Persuasion
In this chapter, Tad Stahnke discusses the right to engage in religious persuasion. In particular, he addresses the question of how to find the proper balance between the freedom to proselytize and the multitude of rights, duties, and interests of religious groups, individuals, and the state that may conflict with that freedom. Stahnke elucidates how proselytism frequently results in controversy between sources and targets, and between religious or political communities that may become identified with either. Since international human rights instruments are generally silent on the issue of proselytism, Stahnke argues that the effect of international human rights obligations on conflicts engendered by proselytism has been minimal. International supervisory bodies have either not dealt extensively with the problem or have not clearly defined the parameters of the freedom to engage in proselytism. This silence, or reluctance to deal with proselytism issues, may be the result of the widely divergent practices of states, ranging from severe limitations on the activity in all of its forms to broad freedom to engage in the activity regardless of the effect it may have on the target. Stahnke’s conclusion is that state action which restrict proselytism by employing discriminatory methods or by furthering interests not recognized in international instruments, is inconsistent with international human rights standards. The validity of other restrictions will depend upon a variety of circumstantial variables primarily relating to the potential for coercion. These variables cannot be sorted out in any consistent way without resorting to the particulars of each case.
