Argumentative Essay Example: Give Freedom to Choosing Religions

Freedom is the act of being responsible to yourself based on the choices that individuals make and anything else that relates to themselves. There has been a great struggle ongoing for a very long period to enhance the freedom for choosing a religion, and the creation of laws governing the human rights internationally did not take place until in 1948 when it was adopted universally which gives every person the right to thinking freely and liberty to choosing religion. This is because only when one is free, he or she would be responsible for decisions made and therefore, there would be no one else to blame in case of an eventuality. Religion on the other side refers to the relationship between individuals with their God. Whereas the person who people tend to consider to worship as their god should be an individuals choice that should not be influenced by any other person whether parent, relative or friends. For example, many people have different Gods that they worship including Krishna, Christ, Allah, Ganesha, and all the followers of such religions should be respected (Evans, 2001).

Individuals should enjoy unconditioned right to hold on to any belief or religion and their believes should be subject to the limitation in any circumstance .according to the international laws on human rights, it does not accord any limitation to the freedom of having or adopting any religion and beliefs that one chooses to be engaged in. The right to freedom is hence protected as everyone has a right to hold different opinions and without manipulations from anyone. Based on the above rights, therefore no one should be forced to reveal in commitments to a certain belief or religion. Similarly, no individual should be required to announce his non-commitments to a religious belief in order for them to obtain employment or any other social or benefits of the economy.

Freedom to worship any God should not be an enforcement for people to do so, but rather a decision that the subconscious mind of people should choose. People should choose region lastly after taking into consideration their spirituality. The global community overwhelms embraced the freedom of religion as an important human right in the declaration made universally. The recognition of the dignity in human beings led to the protection and also the promotion of freedom of religion to all human beings. In the year 1996, the united nations created a treaty, which extrapolated on the dimensions of the right to freedom of beliefs and religion and gave the human rights committee the power to check on the implementation of the treaty that came in to force in 1976 (Heiner et al. 2016).The declaration by the united nations to eliminate all types of discrimination and intolerance on the basis of religion was adopted the united nations general assembly on 1981, and it was supposed to impose the strong stand of the united nations against intolerance in religion.

Every human being is entitled to the freedom of belief because its universal and applies to all persons of all races regardless of their status of living, ethnic group gender or even their age and what to those individuals believe or they dont believe in .freedom of religion should also be granted because its a large range of rights that covers a very broad spectrum of the issue. The freedom of choosing religion encompasses the freedom of conscience and also the commitment to a religion or a belief on all the matters. It should not be perceived to be a privilege thats provided by a government, but rather it should be perceived to be individuals birthright. As stated in the human rights universal declaration where all individuals are endowed with conscience and also dignity (Evans, 2001).

The right to choosing a belief or religion is related to other important rights to individuals, for example, its intertwined to the right to freedom of expressing oneself, the freedom of associating with others and all the common principles of equity to all and non-discrimination.

The freedom to choosing a religion is important because if benefits everyone because it serves as a means to achieving democratization through actions based on faith, security and also plurality is achieved. The freedom to choosing religion also enhances the reduction in poverty through developments both socially and economically .its proves to be the core values that promote a society that is free and open, moral uprightness, transparency, treating others ethically, promotions and peace among other human rights (Torfs, n.d.). Restrictions form rights to choosing own religions promotes increased discrimination among communities and also it undermines the security of a country and also the undermining of democracy is enhanced all this contributes to rising of extremist groups.

Throughout the world in recent years, the right to freedom of religion or belief has been under siege. According to a recent study that was conducted globally by the Pew Research Centre that concentrated on 197 countries and their territories which comprised approximately 99.5 percent of the entire worlds population it showed that approximately more than 5 billion people who comprise 75 percent of the worlds population are living in countries where there are high government restrictions imposed on religion and also immense hostilities socially involving religion, which in most cases it targets the religious minorities present. These intense restrictions on the freedom of religion are alarming all over the world due to their increase (Heiner et al. 2016).

The privilege to freedom of religion or conviction is significant. It is a crucial freedom that incorporates all religions and convictions. It secures mystical and non-mystical beliefs and also the right not to affirm any religion.as noted by the United Nations human rights committee religion and belief are not restrained to any form of traditional religion or to beliefs and religions which have institutional practices similar to those of traditional religions.

The freedom to choosing religion and belief incorporates the modern religions established and also the minority religions that may be core to hostile treatment by the dominant religious communities. Common mistakes in definitions are the need to believe in God be a must in order for it to be viewed as a religion. Most common examples are the Buddhist which is usually not theistic and also the Hinduism which is often polytheistic. Such definitions are narrow, and they contravene the fundamentals of human rights (Index, 2011).

There are two major dimensions to choosing freedom of religion, and this involves the right of persons or individuals and also the practice or manifestation of religion by the religious communities in public or whether in private places either though worshiping or the practice and also teaching of the religion. The initial dimension takes care of the individual's freeness to manifest religion whereas the second dimension it covers the privilege of religious groupings to representing fellow believers in the manifestation of religious rights and to structure internal affairs of the religion through institutions and even legal entities (Heiner et al. 2016).

According to the history and civilization culture, it reflects an in-depth tradition of parents being concerned with the upbringing and nurture of their small children. However, now the core role of parent to the upbringing of their kids is beyond conversations as its the enduring of rights that are universal. The international laws on human rights is unambiguous on the right of the parent to raise their kids in a manner that is acceptable to their religion .international covenants on political and civil rights and economics requires most states to consider having respect for all parents liberty to ensure that their children are morally and religiously brought up in a manner that conforms to convictions of their own.

The children should enjoy the right of having access to their education in matters of religion and their beliefs which are accordance with the wishes that their parents hold or even their guardians. However, they cannot be forced to receive the teachings of religion or belief that are against the wishes that their guardians hold, whereby the most preferred interests of the child are the guiding principle. The individuals should also be allowed to choose their religions because in practicing any function that is related to teaching and also education, the government must obey the rights that parents have to ensure that their own philosophical beliefs and religious education are achieved by teachings and educations delivered to them. Participations initiated by force on children of minorities religious groups in undertaking studies in the religion of the majority faith or undertaking courses that are tailored to indoctrinate them against their own or a particular belief or religion should be prohibited (Ploeg, n.d.).

Based on the human rights laws recognized internationally, states are mandated to respect the fact that individuals are free to choose any religion or belief, but they should also protect such privilege against anyone who tries to interfere with it. The governments in place should also ensure that there is a conducive environment where there is tolerance to the diversity of religions in their schools, and also this promotes appreciation of each other. The institution of learning should also shun away negativity by encouraging togetherness as this can promote elimination of stereotypes in schools that frequently lead to detrimental results on the religion that they are minor (Rizvi, 2016).

The freedom for choosing a religion also involves the freedom of coercion where individuals should not be influenced to make decisions in a certain manner, where one is free to replace their current religion with another or even to adopt the atheistic views, as well as to retain their religion. According to article 18 of the covenant on political and civil rights protects individuals from being manipulated in any manner that would change their right to having or adopting a religion, by including the use of either threats or violence or even economic sanctions in order to make certain believers follow their religion or congregations. Based on the above discussion there is, therefore, the need for individuals to be granted their freedom on choosing their religious group because its considered as a fundamental human right by most of the nations.

References

Evans, C. (2001). Freedom of Religion or Belief. Freedom of Religion under the European Convention on Human Rights, 67-102. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243648.003.0005

Freedom of Religion. (n.d.). The Brill Dictionary of Religion. Doi: 10.1163/1872-5287_bdr_com_00172

Index. (2011). Freedom of Religion and the Secular State, 202-209. doi:10.1002/9781118153321.index

Rizvi, A. A. (2016). The atheist Muslim: a journey from religion to reason. New York: St. Martins Press.

Torfs, R. (n.d.). Contractual Religious Freedom. Freedom of Religion, 141-154. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004158078.i-269.61

Heiner, P. B., Nazila, D. G., & Michael, D. W. (2016). Part 1 Freedom of Religion or Belief, 1.1 Freedom to Adopt, Change, or Renounce a Religion or Belief. Freedom of Religion or Belief. doi:10.1093/law/9780198703983.003.0003

Ploeg, T. J. (n.d.). Freedom Of Religion And Civil Law. Freedom of Religion, 121-140. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004158078.i-269.55