llan Hertzke’s Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing is a welcome overview of the vital importance of religious freedom by a veteran writer of informed studies on the subject over the last 30 years.
The book comes at a critical time since both religious freedom and knowledge of its salience are both sadly being eroded. He reviews a wide range of arguments on its importance in and of itself and as an indispensable foundation for other human rights.
Retired Congressman Frank Wolf, a champion of religious freedom after whom the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act is now named, has recently lamented the diminished attention to religious freedom, something that others have also noted.
There are several reasons for this decreased attention:
One is current U.S. domestic divisions. Some on the left have come to see calls for religious freedom as ploys to avoid adhering to anti-discrimination laws. Such suspicions undercut bipartisan international religious freedom advocacy. This continues even though such advocacy is not limited to Christians but includes Falun Gong and Uyghurs in China, Muslims in Myanmar, Buddhists in Vietnam, Baha’is in Iran, Ahmadis in Pakistan, and a host of others throughout the world.
Another reason is that increasing secularism in the West leads to antipathy or, perhaps, simple apathy regarding religion. The European Union recently left its post for special envoy for religious freedom vacant for 16 months.
A third may be a body of scholarship, often termed “secularism studies,” arguing that religious freedom is not a neutral, universal human right but a mechanism of state power that often marginalizes those it seeks to help. This critique maintains that legal definitions of “religion” are largely Western, Protestant, models prioritizing individual “belief” over collective “lived” practices. In turn this can leave unorthodox or non-institutional traditions legally “invisible” and unprotected.
A problem with this approach is that, while it may offer valuable critiques, it reflects current Western academic trends on religion. Hence it tends to replace purported previous Western categories with other more recent Western categories.
Then there is the growth of more self-described ‘realist’ international politics and policy, including in the U.S. This downgrades human rights concerns in general in favor of a modus vivendi between major powers.
Finally, American evangelicals have less international concern. It has been argued, wrongly, that the stress on international religious freedom in the 1990’s was simply evangelicals defending their own. Apart from the fact that any such stress would itself be a perfectly legitimate, it overlooks the fact that the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act was supported by Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’is, and many others. Indeed, as Hertzke has shown in an earlier work, it drew in most religious groups in the US.
However, by sheer numbers and electoral clout it was evangelicals that made the campaign successful. But now, with many evangelicals increasingly restricting their focus to domestic culture wars, the energy for international religious freedom has been reduced. Some of this slack is being taken up effectively by Catholics, but a deficit remains.
In this situation, Hertzke’s latest book is especially welcome. He builds on earlier studies by Brian Grim, Roger Finke, and Robert Martin, and more recent work by Nilay Saiya, Jonathan Fox and others. Whereas Grim and Fox are heavy-duty number crunchers, albeit with good explanations of the numbers so crunched, Hertzke weaves them into a compelling narrative. Well over a third of the book is devoted to notes and an index, but he still manages to make it flow.
His overall thesis is that religious freedom is not only a major good but is also a primary driver of democracy, prosperity, the increased status of women and of the poor, and decreased violence.
His central argument is that religious freedom touches the core of “human personhood and experience”—the fundamental right to be who we are and to act on our deepest commitments. He contends that when this is protected, it frees and enhances personal agency that benefits others, both religious and non-religious. Conversely, when governments or society suppress religious liberty, it leads to destructive outcomes, including weakened democracy, increased violence, and eroding civil liberties.
He argues that there is both a strong historical and strong statistical link between religious freedom and the longevity of democratic institutions. This is because religious freedom limits government powers and, by allowing diverse groups to act independently, helps foster a robust and free civil society.
Hertzke then summarizes the strong evidence that countries with fewer religious restrictions commonly have higher economic growth. He attributes this to increasing social cooperation, attracting skilled immigrants, and promoting a more stable investment climate. He reports that religious freedom is one of only three factors significantly associated with global economic growth. In particular, countries that reduced religious restrictions between 2007 and 2017 had GDP growth rates nearly double those where restrictions increased.
In addition, he contends that there is a positive relationship between religious freedom and 10 out of 12 measures of global competitiveness, and that innovation is more likely in countries that have low religious restrictions.
He then argues that religious liberty also supports a greater role for women and for programs that uplift the poor, since religious organizations are often the primary providers of social services. Research cited in the book shows a strong correlation with women’s empowerment.
Finally, there are links to international security. Drawing on Nilay Saiya, he stresses that religious repression is a leading indicator of social conflict and terrorism, whereas religious freedom reduces fanaticism and builds broader loyalty to the state.
The interrelations demonstrate that religious freedom is rarely an isolated variable. Instead, it is highly correlated with many other indicators of societal well-being, also including lower levels of armed conflict and decreased income inequality.
Of course, correlations leave lots of questions: it might mean that it is these other goods that are enhancing religious freedom. But, while recognizing that causation is not all one way and that there are certainly reciprocal effects, Hertzke gives good reasons, often through historical narrative, that the religious freedom factor is formative.
To be proactive in enhancing religious freedom, he advocates what is now commonly called “covenantal pluralism.” This calls for moving beyond a “passive religious tolerance,” in which groups refrain from restricting one another, toward active, respectful, and engaged relations between religions and with political and other key actors.
He concludes “We are witnessing a historical convergence of empirical evidence and events on the ground that corroborate a key ontological reality: Humans are spiritual creatures who thrive best and most harmoniously when they enjoy the freedom to express their fundamental dignity. Religious liberty is crucial to thriving societies and peace.”