Religion, Discrimination and Accommodation: the Role of the State in a Multi-faith Society

宗教、歧视和包容：国家在多信仰社会中的作用

• 批准号: AH/F007728/1
• 负责人: Peter Jones
• 金额: $ 1.58万
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FF007728%2F1
• 关键词: Religion; Discrimination; Accommodation; Role; State

What account should a liberal democratic state take of the religious convictions of its citizens? A possible answer is: none at all. The state should establish a framework of laws that enables its citizens to pursue whatever form of life they embrace, religious or non-religious, but there is no need, and perhaps no justification, for the state's taking any special account of religious convictions. Yet that faith-blind approach does not describe the reality of most contemporary western societies. In Britain, for example, Sikhs are exempted from legislation requiring motorcyclists to wear crash helmets and prohibiting the carrying of knives in public; Jews and Muslims are permitted to practise ritual slaughter; the state funds faith schools; blasphemy and incitement to religious hatred are crimes; religious discrimination in employment is now outlawed.In this interdisciplinary Workshop we examine the account the state should take of its citizens' religious beliefs. Everyone agrees that a society should treat its citizens fairly but there is no consensus on what constitutes fair treatment amongst people who possess different beliefs and whose beliefs make very different demands. Some suggest that the arrangements established by the state should be entirely non-religious in foundation and that religious believers must fall into line with whatever those arrangements happen to be; the religious have no right to special treatment. Others argue that that faith-blind approach yields a phoney equality and that genuinely fair arrangements require the state to recognise and take account of the different characters and demands of the faiths present amongst its population.The Workshop addresses a series of issues that are central to the general question of how the state should respond to the fact of religious diversity.1. Why and how does religion have special significance?What, for governmental and legal purposes, makes religious belief special relative to other kinds of belief, e.g. political and non-religious moral beliefs? Should beliefs have greater weight than preferences? Should religion be treated symmetrically with race? Are religious beliefs 'chosen' and does it make a difference if they are? Should the state discriminate between 'reasonable' and 'unreasonable' religious beliefs?2. Religion, discrimination and employmentIs discrimination on grounds of faith as unacceptable as other forms of discrimination? How should we interpret 'proportionate means to a legitimate end' as a defence against indirect discrimination (2003 Employment Regulations)? To what extent should-faith based organisations (e.g. churches, schools, charities) be able to make faith a requirement of employment? Who, for purposes of employment law, should be able to declare what are the requirements of a faith?3. General rules and special casesIn the UK, exemptions are sometimes used to avoid a conflict between the demands of faith and the demands of law. Do such exemptions grant privileges or secure equality? If a general rule affects a religious group adversely, is that a consequence of their belief they must endure, or an unfairness of the rule itself? Should a society's rules and arrangements be entirely neutral amongst faiths or is some bias towards the 'native faith' acceptable?4. Religious sensibilities and free expressionShould freedom of expression be limited by the state to protect the interests of the religious? If so, in what form, with what justification (e.g. to prevent offence, accord respect or recognition, maintain public order, prevent group defamation) and to what extent? What are the countervailing claims of free expression in relation to religion? Can we secure equitable treatment of different faiths with respect to free expression, given that different faiths are differently susceptible to 'wrongful' expression?

自由民主国家应该如何考虑其公民的宗教信仰？一个可能的答案是：根本没有。国家应该建立一个法律框架，使其公民能够追求他们所信奉的任何形式的生活，无论是宗教还是非宗教，但国家没有必要，也许也没有理由对宗教信仰给予任何特殊考虑。然而，这种信仰盲目的方法并不能描述大多数当代西方社会的现实。例如，在英国，锡克教徒不受要求摩托车手佩戴防撞头盔和禁止在公共场合携带刀具的立法的约束；犹太人和穆斯林被允许进行仪式性屠杀；国家资助信仰学校；亵渎和煽动宗教仇恨均属犯罪；就业中的宗教歧视现已被禁止。在这个跨学科研讨会上，我们研究了国家应该考虑其公民的宗教信仰。每个人都同意一个社会应该公平对待其公民，但对于拥有不同信仰以及其信仰提出截然不同要求的人们之间的公平待遇，并没有达成共识。一些人认为，国家制定的安排应该完全非宗教基础，宗教信徒必须遵守任何安排；宗教人士没有权利享受特殊待遇。其他人则认为，盲目信仰的做法会产生虚假的平等，而真正公平的安排要求国家承认并考虑其人口中存在的信仰的不同特征和要求。研讨会讨论了一系列核心问题国家应如何应对宗教多样性这一事实的一般性问题。1．宗教为什么以及如何具有特殊的意义？出于政府和法律的目的，什么使宗教信仰相对于其他种类的信仰（例如信仰）具有特殊性？政治和非宗教道德信仰？信念是否应该比偏好更重要？宗教是否应该与种族同等对待？宗教信仰是“选择”的吗？如果是的话，会有什么不同吗？国家应该区别“合理”和“不合理”的宗教信仰吗？2．宗教、歧视和就业 基于信仰的歧视是否与其他形式的歧视一样不可接受？我们应该如何解释“为合法目的采取适当手段”作为对间接歧视的辩护（2003 年就业条例）？基于信仰的组织（例如教堂、学校、慈善机构）应该在多大程度上能够将信仰作为就业的要求？就就业法而言，谁应该能够声明信仰的要求是什么？3。一般规则和特殊情况在英国，有时会使用豁免来避免信仰要求与法律要求之间的冲突。这种豁免是否赋予特权或确保平等？如果一项一般规则对一个宗教团体产生不利影响，这是他们必须忍受的信仰的结果，还是规则本身的不公平？一个社会的规则和安排在不同信仰之间是否应该完全中立，还是可以接受对“本土信仰”的某种偏见？4。宗教情感和言论自由国家是否应该限制言论自由以保护宗教人士的利益？如果是的话，以什么形式、有什么理由（例如为了防止冒犯、给予尊重或认可、维护公共秩序、防止群体诽谤）以及程度如何？与宗教相关的言论自由的反面主张是什么？鉴于不同信仰对“错误”言论的敏感度不同，我们能否确保不同信仰在言论自由方面得到公平对待？