Freedom of religion

==History==
{{Cite check|section|date=September 2010}}
[[File:Minerva als Symbol der Toleranz.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|[[Minerva]] as a symbol of enlightened wisdom protects the believers of all religions ([[Daniel Chodowiecki]], 1791)]]

In a historic setting freedom to worship has often been limited in practice through punitive taxation, repressive social legislation, and political disenfranchisement. An example commonly cited by scholars is the status of [[dhimmi]]s under Islamic sharia law. Stemming from the [[Pact of Umar]] and literally meaning "protected individuals", it is often argued that non-Muslims possessing the dhimmi status in medieval Islamic societies enjoyed greater freedoms than non-Christians in most medieval European societies, while duly noting that the protection was limited because of regulation by and obligations to government such as taxation (compare [[jizya]] and [[zakat]]) and military service differed between religions. In modern concepts of religious freedom, the law is usually blind to religious affiliation.

[[File:Declaration of Human Rights.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]]'' (1789) guarantees freedom of religion, as long as religious activities do not infringe on public order in ways detrimental to society.]]
In [[Classical antiquity|Antiquity]], a [[syncretism|syncretic]] point of view often allowed communities of traders to operate under their own customs. When street mobs of separate quarters clashed in a [[Hellenistic]] or [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] city, the issue was generally perceived to be an infringement of community rights.

[[Cyrus the Great]] established the [[Achaemenid Empire]] ca. 550 BC, and initiated a general policy of permitting religious freedom throughout the empire, documenting this on the [[Cyrus Cylinder]].<ref>[https://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder.html Cyrus Cylinder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722222501/http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder.html |date=22 July 2017 }}, [https://www.livius.org/ livius.org].</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Richard A. Taylor|author2=E. Ray Clendenen|title=Haggai, Malachi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hII6mqKrH9kC|year= 2004|publisher=B&H Publishing Group|isbn=978-0805401219|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hII6mqKrH9kC&pg=PA31 31–32]}}</ref>

Freedom of religious worship was established in the Buddhist [[Maurya Empire]] of [[History of India|ancient India]] by [[Ashoka the Great]] in the 3rd century BC, which was encapsulated in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]].

Greek{{ndash}}Jewish clashes at [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]] in 73 AD and 117 AD and in [[Alexandria]] in 115 AD provide examples of cosmopolitan cities as scenes of tumult.

[[Genghis Khan]] was one of the first rulers who in 13th century enacted a law explicitly guaranteeing religious freedom to everyone and every religion.<ref name="Weatherford 2005 p. 59">{{cite book | last=Weatherford | first=J. | title=Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World | publisher=Crown | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-307-23781-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8Y9B5uHQcAC | quote=Genghis Khan decreed complete and total religious freedom for everyone..| page=[https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=A8Y9B5uHQcAC&pg=PA69&dq=religion+freedompg=PA69 60]}}</ref>

===Ancient Roman policy===
The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] tolerated most religions, including [[Judaism]], and encouraged local subjects to continue worshipping their own gods. They did not however, tolerate [[Christianity]], because of the Christian refusal to offer honours to the official cult of the emperor, until it was legalised by the Roman emperor [[Galerius]] in 311. Holmes and Bickers note that as long as Christianity was treated as a part of Judaism, which was generally tolerated because of its antiquity and its practice of making offers on ''behalf'' of the emperor, it enjoyed the same freedom, but the Christian claim to religious exclusivity meant its followers found themselves subject to hostility.<ref name="Moss">{{cite book|author=Candida Moss|title=[[The Myth of Persecution]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0-06-210452-6|pages=145–151|author-link=Candida Moss}}</ref> <ref>Holmes, J. D. and Bickers, B. (1983), ''A Short History of the Catholic Church'', pp. 11–12</ref>

The early Christian apologist [[Tertullian]] was the first-known writer referring to the term ''libertas religionis''.<ref>Taliaferro, Karen (2019). "Arguing Natural Law: Tertullian and Religious Freedom in the Roman Empire". In ''The Possibility of Religious Freedom: Early Natural Law and the Abrahamic Faiths'', pp. 104–127. Cambridge University Press.</ref> The [[Edict of Milan]] guaranteed freedom of religion in the Roman Empire until the [[Edict of Thessalonica]] in 380, which outlawed all religions except Christianity.

===India===
{{Main|Freedom of religion in India}}
'''Religious tolerance in India: A legacy of the past and a promise for the future'''

Ancient Jews fleeing from [[Persecution of Jews|persecution]] in [[Land of Israel|their homeland]] 2,500 years ago settled in modern-day India and never faced [[anti-Semitism]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWX6pF2PTJwC&pg=PA26|title=Who Are the Jews of India?|last=Katz|first=Nathan|year=2000|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520920729|language=en}}</ref> Freedom of religion [[edicts]] have been found written during [[Ashoka the Great]]'s reign in the 3rd century BC. Freedom to practise, preach and propagate any religion is a constitutional right in Republic of India. Most major religious festivals of the main communities are included in the list of national holidays.

Many scholars and intellectuals believe that India's predominant religion, [[Hinduism]], has long been a most tolerant religion.<ref>{{cite book|author=David E. Ludden|title=Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC|year=1996|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0812215850|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC&pg=257 257–58]}}</ref> [[Rajni Kothari]], founder of the [[Centre for the Study of Developing Societies]] has written, "[India] is a country built on the foundations of a civilisation that is fundamentally non-religious."<ref>{{cite book|author=Rajni Kothari|title=Communalism in Indian Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruNtAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Rainbow Publishers|isbn=978-8186962008|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ruNtAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22foundations+of+a+civilisation+that+is+fundamentally+non-religious%22&pg=PA134 134]}}</ref>

The [[Dalai Lama]], the Tibetan leader in exile, said that religious tolerance of 'Aryabhoomi,' a reference to India found in the [[Mahabharata]], has been in existence in this country from thousands of years. "Not only Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism which are the native religions but also Christianity and Islam have flourished here. Religious tolerance is inherent in Indian tradition," the Dalai Lama said.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/42229/indias-religious-tolerance-lauded.html|title=India's religious tolerance lauded|work=Deccan Herald|date=19 December 2009|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

Freedom of religion in the [[Indian subcontinent]] is exemplified by the reign of King Piyadasi (304–232 BC) ([[Ashoka]]). One of King Ashoka's main concerns was to reform governmental institutes and exercise moral principles in his attempt to create a [[Edicts of Ashoka|just and humane society]]. Later he promoted the principles of [[Buddhism]], and the creation of a just, understanding and fair society was held as an important principle for many ancient rulers of this time in the East.

The importance of freedom of worship in India was encapsulated in an inscription of [[Ashoka]]:
{{Blockquote|King Piyadasi (Ashok) dear to the Gods, honours all sects, the ascetics (hermits) or those who dwell at home, he honours them with charity and in other ways. But the King, dear to the Gods, attributes less importance to this charity and these honours than to the vow of seeing the reign of virtues, which constitutes the essential part of them. For all these virtues there is a common source, modesty of speech. That is to say, one must not exalt one's creed discrediting all others, nor must one degrade these others without legitimate reasons. One must, on the contrary, render to other creeds the honour befitting them.}}

On the main Asian continent, the Mongols were tolerant of religions. People could worship as they wished freely and openly.

After the arrival of Europeans, Christians in their zeal to convert local as per belief in conversion as service of God, have also been seen to fall into frivolous methods since their arrival, though by and large there are hardly any reports of law and order disturbance from mobs with Christian beliefs, except perhaps in the north eastern region of India.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stephen-knapp.com/christian_persecution_in_india.htm|title=Christian Persecution in India: The Real Story|publisher=Stephen-knapp.com|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

Freedom of religion in contemporary India is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the nation's constitution. Accordingly, every citizen of India has a right to profess, practice and propagate their religions peacefully.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |title=The Constitution of India |access-date=3 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909230437/http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf |archive-date=9 September 2014}}</ref>

In September 2010, the Indian state of [[Kerala]]'s State Election Commissioner announced that "Religious heads cannot issue calls to vote for members of a particular community or to defeat the nonbelievers".<ref name="orthodoxherald.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.orthodoxherald.com/2010/09/18/%E2%80%98using-places-of-worship-for-campaigning-in-kerala-civic-polls-is-violation-of-poll-code%E2%80%99/|title=Using places of worship for campaigning in Kerala civic polls is violation of poll code|newspaper=Indian Orthodox Herald|date=18 September 2010|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref> The Catholic Church comprising Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites used to give clear directions to the faithful on exercising their franchise during elections through pastoral letters issued by bishops or council of bishops. The pastoral letter issued by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) on the eve of the poll urged the faithful to shun atheists.<ref name="orthodoxherald.com"/>

Even today, despite religious tensions and violence, most Indians celebrate all religious festivals with equal enthusiasm and respect. [[Hindu]] festivals like [[Deepavali]] and [[Holi]], Muslim festivals like [[Eid al-Fitr]], [[Eid-Ul-Adha]], [[Muharram]], Christian festivals like Christmas and other festivals like [[Buddha Purnima]], [[Mahavir Jayanti]], Gur Purab etc. are celebrated and enjoyed by all [[Indian people|Indians]].

===Europe===

====Religious intolerance====
[[File:CONGRESS COLUMN-BRUSSELS-Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram (13).jpg|thumb|right|Nineteenth century allegorical statue on the [[Congress Column]] in Belgium depicting religious freedom]]
Most Roman Catholic kingdoms kept a tight rein on religious expression throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. Jews were alternately tolerated and persecuted, the most notable examples of the latter being the expulsion of all [[History of the Jews in Spain|Jews]] from Spain in 1492. Some of those who remained and converted were tried as heretics in the [[Inquisition]] for allegedly practicing Judaism in secret. Despite the persecution of Jews, they were the most tolerated non-Catholic faith in Europe.

However, the latter was in part a reaction to the growing movement that became the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. As early as 1380, [[John Wycliffe]] in England denied [[transubstantiation]] and began his translation of the Bible into English. He was condemned in a [[papal bull]] in 1410, and all his books were burned.

In 1414, [[Jan Hus]], a [[Bohemia]]n preacher of reformation, was given a safe conduct by the Holy Roman Emperor to attend the [[Council of Constance]]. Not entirely trusting in his safety, he made his will before he left. His forebodings proved accurate, and he was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. The Council also decreed that Wycliffe's remains be disinterred and cast out. This decree was not carried out until 1429.

After the fall of the city of [[Granada]], Spain, in 1492, the Muslim population was promised religious freedom by the [[Treaty of Granada]], but that promise was short-lived. In 1501, Granada's Muslims were given an ultimatum to either convert to Christianity or to emigrate. The majority converted, but only superficially, continuing to dress and speak as they had before and to secretly practice Islam. The [[Morisco]]s (converts to Christianity) were ultimately expelled from Spain between 1609 (Castile) and 1614 (rest of Spain), by [[Philip III of Spain#Expulsion of the Moors (1609–1610)|Philip III]].

[[Martin Luther]] published his famous 95 Theses in [[Wittenberg]] on 31 October 1517. His major aim was theological, summed up in the three basic dogmas of Protestantism:
* The Bible only is infallible.
* Every Christian can interpret it.
* Human sins are so wrongful that no deed or merit, only God's grace, can lead to salvation.

In consequence, Luther hoped to stop the sale of [[indulgence]]s and to reform the Church from within. In 1521, he was given the chance to recant at the [[Diet of Worms]] before [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]. After he refused to recant, he was declared heretic. Partly for his own protection, he was sequestered on the [[Wartburg]] in the possessions of [[Frederick III, Elector of Saxony]], where he translated the [[New Testament]] into German. He was excommunicated by papal bull in 1521.

However, the movement continued to gain ground in his absence and spread to Switzerland. [[Huldrych Zwingli]] preached reform in [[Zürich]] from 1520 to 1523. He opposed the sale of indulgences, celibacy, pilgrimages, pictures, statues, relics, altars, and organs. This culminated in outright war between the Swiss [[cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] that accepted Protestantism and the Catholics. In 1531, the Catholics were victorious, and Zwingli was killed in battle. The Catholic cantons made peace with Zurich and Berne.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-34SAAAAYAAJ&q=1531+The+Catholic+cantons+were+magnanimous+in+victory|title=The History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People|last1=Zschokke|first1=Heinrich|last2=Zschokke|first2=Emil|date=1855|publisher=C. S. Francis & Company|language=en}}</ref>

The defiance of papal authority proved contagious, and in 1533, when [[Henry VIII of England]] was excommunicated for his divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn, he promptly established a state church with bishops appointed by the crown. This was not without internal opposition, and [[Thomas More]], who had been his Lord Chancellor, was executed in 1535 for opposition to Henry.

In 1535, the Swiss canton of Geneva became Protestant. In 1536, the [[Bern]]ese imposed the reformation on the canton of [[Vaud]] by conquest. They sacked the cathedral in [[Lausanne]] and destroyed all its art and statuary. [[John Calvin]], who had been active in Geneva was expelled in 1538 in a power struggle, but he was invited back in 1540.

[[File:ReligiousFreedomStamp.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|A U.S. postage stamp commemorating religious freedom and the [[Flushing Remonstrance]] ]]
The same kind of seesaw back and forth between Protestantism and Catholicism was evident in England when [[Mary I of England]] returned that country briefly to the Catholic fold in 1553 and persecuted Protestants. However, her half-sister, [[Elizabeth I of England]] was to restore the [[Church of England]] in 1558, this time permanently, and began to persecute Catholics again. The [[King James Bible]] commissioned by King [[James I of England]] and published in 1611 proved a landmark for Protestant worship, with official Catholic forms of worship being banned.

In France, although peace was made between Protestants and Catholics at the [[Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] in 1570, persecution continued, most notably in the [[Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day]] on 24 August 1572, in which thousands of Protestants throughout France were killed. A few years before, at the "Michelade" of Nîmes in 1567, Protestants had massacred the local Catholic clergy.

====Early steps and attempts in the way of tolerance====
[[File:Cross menorah Oxford 20051225.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Christian cross|cross]] of the [[war memorial]] and a [[Menorah (Temple)|menorah]] coexist in [[Oxford]], Oxfordshire, England]]
[[Kingdom of Sicily|The Norman Kingdom of Sicily]] under Roger II was characterized by its multi-ethnic nature and religious tolerance. Normans, Jews, Muslim Arabs, Byzantine Greeks, Lombards, and native Sicilians lived in harmony.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377080/Roger-II|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070523045823/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377080/Roger-II|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2007|title=Roger II|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D61331F935A15757C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|title=Tracing The Norman Rulers of Sicily|work=The New York Times|date=26 April 1987|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2015}} Rather than exterminate the Muslims of Sicily, Roger II's grandson [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen]] (1215–1250) allowed them to settle on the mainland and build mosques. Not least, he enlisted them in his{{snd}} Christian{{snd}} army and even into his personal bodyguards.<ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Gravett|title=German Medieval Armies 1000–1300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nav0JZtAJbcC|year=1997|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1855326576|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nav0JZtAJbcC&pg=PA17 17]}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=February 2015}}<ref>Thomas Curtis Van Cleve's ''The Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen: Immutator Mundi'' (Oxford, 1972)</ref>{{Request quotation|date=February 2015}}

[[Kingdom of Bohemia]] (present-day Czech Republic) enjoyed religious freedom between 1436 and 1620 as a result of the [[Bohemian Reformation]], and became one of the most liberal countries of the Christian world during that period of time. The so-called Basel Compacts of 1436 declared the freedom of religion and peace between Catholics and [[Utraquism|Utraquists]]. In 1609 Emperor Rudolf II granted Bohemia greater religious liberty with his Letter of Majesty. The privileged position of the Catholic Church in the Czech kingdom was firmly established after the [[Battle of White Mountain]] in 1620. Gradually freedom of religion in Bohemian lands came to an end and Protestants fled or were expelled from the country. A devout Catholic, Emperor [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]] forcibly converted Austrian and Bohemian Protestants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/cousinjeanne?lang=en&n=austria&oc=2&p=ferdinand+ii+habsburg|title=Family tree of Ferdinand II Habsburg AUSTRIA|website=Geneanet|language=en|access-date=2019-12-23}}</ref>

In the meantime, in Germany [[Philip Melanchthon]] drafted the [[Augsburg Confession]] as a common confession for the Lutherans and the free territories. It was presented to Charles V in 1530.

In the [[Holy Roman Empire]], Charles V agreed to tolerate Lutheranism in 1555 at the [[Peace of Augsburg]]. Each state was to take the religion of its prince, but within those states, there was not necessarily religious tolerance. Citizens of other faiths could relocate to a more hospitable environment.

In France, from the 1550s, many attempts to reconcile Catholics and Protestants and to establish tolerance failed because the State was too weak to enforce them. It took the victory of prince Henry IV of France, who had converted into Protestantism, and his accession to the throne, to impose religious tolerance formalized in the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1598. It would remain in force for over 80 years until its revocation in 1685 by [[Louis XIV of France]]. Intolerance remained the norm until Louis XVI, who signed the Edict of Versailles (1787), then the constitutional text of 24 December 1789, granting civilian rights to Protestants. The [[French Revolution]] then abolished state religion and the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] (1789) guarantees freedom of religion, as long as religious activities do not infringe on public order in ways detrimental to society.

===Early laws and legal guarantees for religious freedom===

====Principality of Transylvania====
{{main|Edict of Torda}}
In 1558, the [[Hungarian Diet]]'s [[Edict of Torda]] declared free practice of both Catholicism and Lutheranism. Calvinism, however, was prohibited. Calvinism was included among the accepted religions in 1564. Ten years after the first law, in 1568, the same Diet, under the chairmanship of [[List of Hungarian monarchs|King of Hungary]], and [[List of Princes of Transylvania|Prince of Transylvania]] [[John Sigismund Zápolya]] (John II), following the teaching of [[Ferenc Dávid]],<ref>{{cite book |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/109.html|title=History of Transylvania. Volume I. From the Beginnings to 1606|publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada and A Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto|access-date=20 November 2016|isbn=0880334797}}</ref> the founder of the [[Unitarian Church of Transylvania]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=DESTINATION: ROMANIA/Unitarianism, a religion born in Cluj|url=http://www.agerpres.ro/engleza-destinatie-romania/2014/08/27/destination-romania-unitarianism-a-religion-born-in-cluj-13-23-02|date=27 August 2014|access-date=2023-01-02|website=www.agerpres.ro|language=ro|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225160554/https://www.agerpres.ro/engleza-destinatie-romania/2014/08/27/destination-romania-unitarianism-a-religion-born-in-cluj-13-23-02|url-status=dead}}</ref> extended the freedom to all religions, declaring that "''It is not allowed to anybody to intimidate anybody with captivity or expelling for his religion''".

{{Quotation|Act of Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience:<br><br>
''His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he{{snd}} together with his realm{{snd}} legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well. If not, no one shall compel them for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents or others shall abuse the preachers, no one shall be reviled for his religion by anyone, according to the previous statutes, and it is not permitted that anyone should threaten anyone else by imprisonment or by removal from his post for his teaching. For faith is the gift of God and this comes from hearing, which hearings is by the word of God''.|Diet at Torda, 1568 : King John Sigismund<ref name=s2>Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council. [http://www.uupcc.org/docs/edict-of-torda.doc "Edict of Torda"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713112749/http://www.uupcc.org/docs/edict-of-torda.doc |date=13 July 2018 }} (DOC). Retrieved on 2008-01-23.</ref>}}

Four religions ([[Catholicism]], [[Lutheranism]], [[Calvinism]], [[Unitarianism]]) were named as accepted religions (religo recepta), having their representatives in the Transylvanian Diet, while the other religions, like the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxs]], [[Sabbatarians]] and [[Anabaptists]] were tolerated churches (religio tolerata), which meant that they had no power in the law making and no veto rights in the Diet, but they were not persecuted in any way. Thanks to the Edict of Torda, from the last decades of the 16th century Transylvania was the only place in Europe, where so many religions could live together in harmony and without persecution.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005-11-25|author=Kovács Kálmán|title=Erdély és a Habsburg valláspolitika a 17. század utolsó évtizedeiben|url=https://mult-kor.hu/20051125_erdely_es_a_habsburg_vallaspolitika_a_17_szazad_utolso_evtizedeiben|access-date=2023-01-02|website=Múlt-kor történelmi magazin|language=hu}}</ref>

This religious freedom ended however for some of the religions of Transylvania in 1638. After this year the [[Szekler Sabbatarians|Sabbatarians]] begun to be persecuted, and forced to convert to one of the accepted Christian religions of Transylvania.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/192.html|title=History of Transylvania. Volume II. From 1606 to 1830|date=17 July 2002 |publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada and A Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto|access-date=20 November 2016|isbn=0880334916}}</ref>

====Habsburg rule in Transylvania====
The Unitarians (despite being one of the "accepted religions") started to be put under an ever-growing pressure, which culminated after the Habsburg conquest of Transylvania (1691),<ref>{{cite book |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/290.html|title=History of Transylvania. Volume II. From 1606 to 1830|date=17 July 2002 |publisher=Hungarian Research Institute of Canada and A Research Ancillary of the University of Toronto|access-date=20 November 2016|isbn=0880334916}}</ref> Also after the Habsburg occupation, the new Austrian masters forced in the middle of the 18th century the [[Hutterite]] Anabaptists (who found a safe haven in 1621 in Transylvania, after the persecution to which they were subjected in the Austrian provinces and Moravia) to convert to Catholicism or to migrate in another country, which finally the Anabaptists did, leaving Transylvania and Hungary for Wallachia, than from there to Russia, and finally in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hutterites.org/history/hutterite-history-overview/|title=Hutterite History Overview|work=Hutterian Brethren}}</ref>

====Netherlands====
In the [[Union of Utrecht]] (20 January 1579), personal freedom of religion was declared in the struggle between the Northern Netherlands and Spain. The Union of Utrecht was an important step in the establishment of the Dutch Republic (from 1581 to 1795). Under Calvinist leadership, the Netherlands became the most tolerant country in Europe. It granted asylum to persecuted religious minorities, such as the Huguenots, the Dissenters, and the Jews who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal.<ref>Karl Heussi, ''Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte'', 11. Auflage (1956), Tübingen (Germany), pp. 396–397</ref> The establishment of a Jewish community in the Netherlands and New Amsterdam (present-day New York) during the Dutch Republic is an example of religious freedom. When New Amsterdam surrendered to the English in 1664, freedom of religion was guaranteed in the Articles of Capitulation. It benefitted also the Jews who had landed on Manhattan Island in 1654, fleeing Portuguese persecution in Brazil. During the 18th century, other Jewish communities were established at Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah, and Richmond.<ref>Clifton E. Olmstead (1960), ''History of Religion in the United States'', Prentice-Hall, Englewood Ciffs, NJ, p. 124</ref>

Intolerance of dissident forms of Protestantism also continued, as evidenced by the exodus of the Pilgrims, who sought refuge, first in the Netherlands, and ultimately in America, founding [[Plymouth Colony]] in Massachusetts in 1620. [[William Penn]], the founder of Philadelphia, was involved in a case which had a profound effect upon future American laws and those of England. In a classic case of [[jury nullification]], the jury refused to convict William Penn of preaching a Quaker sermon, which was illegal. Even though the jury was imprisoned for their acquittal, they stood by their decision and helped establish the freedom of religion.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krauss|first=Stanton D|date=1999|title=An Inquiry into the Right of Criminal Juries to determine the Law in Colonial America.|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6989&context=jclc|journal=Journal of Criminology Law and Criminology.|volume=89|issue=1|pages=111–214|doi=10.2307/1144220|jstor=1144220}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/96/William-Penn-Criminal-Justice-and-the-Penn-Mead-Trial|title=William Penn, Criminal Justice, and the Penn-Mead Trial|publisher=Quakers In The World|accessdate=April 9, 2022}}</ref>

====Poland====
[[File:Konfederacja Warszawska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Original act of the [[Warsaw Confederation]] 1573. The beginning of religious freedom in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]]]
The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the [[Statute of Kalisz]] was issued by the Duke of [[Greater Poland]] [[Bolesław the Pious|Boleslaus the Pious]] on 8 September 1264 in [[Kalisz]]. The statute served as the basis for the legal position of Jews in Poland and led to the creation of the [[Yiddish]]-speaking autonomous Jewish nation until 1795. The statute granted exclusive jurisdiction of Jewish courts over Jewish matters and established a separate tribunal for matters involving Christians and Jews. Additionally, it guaranteed personal liberties and safety for Jews including freedom of religion, travel, and trade. The statute was ratified by subsequent Polish Kings: [[Casimir III of Poland]] in 1334, [[Casimir IV of Poland]] in 1453 and [[Sigismund I the Old|Sigismund I of Poland]] in 1539. Poland freed Jews from direct royal authority, opening up enormous administrative and economic opportunities to them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sinkoff|first=Nancy|title=Out of the Shtetl: Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-KmeZgY2hIC|year=2003|publisher=Society of Biblical Lit|isbn=978-1930675162|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=f-KmeZgY2hIC&dq=1539&pg=PA18 18]}}</ref>

====Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth====
{{Main|Warsaw Confederation}}
The right to worship freely was a basic right given to all inhabitants of the future [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] throughout the 15th and early 16th century, however, complete freedom of religion was officially recognized in 1573 during the Warsaw Confederation. Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth kept religious freedom laws during an era when religious persecution was an everyday occurrence in the rest of Europe.<ref>Zamoyski, Adam. ''The Polish Way''. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1987.</ref>

===United States===
{{See also|Freedom of religion in the United States}}
Most of the early colonies were generally not tolerant of dissident forms of worship, with Maryland being one of the exceptions. For example, [[Roger Williams (theologian)|Roger Williams]] found it necessary to found a new colony in [[Rhode Island]] to escape persecution in the theocratically dominated colony of Massachusetts. The [[Puritans]] of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] were the most active of the New England persecutors of [[Quakers]], and the persecuting spirit was shared by [[Plymouth Colony]] and the colonies along the [[Connecticut river]].<ref name=PER/> In 1660, one of the most notable victims of the religious intolerance was English Quaker [[Mary Dyer]], who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony.<ref name=PER>{{Cite book|last=Rogers|first=Horatio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5_5yIgpa-YC&q=Among%2520the%2520most%2520pathetic%2520chapters%2520|title=Mary Dyer of Rhode Island: The Quaker Martyr That Was Hanged on Boston Common, June 1, 1660|date=April 2009|publisher=BiblioBazaar|isbn=978-1-103-80124-4|language=en|pages=1–2}}</ref> As one of the four executed Quakers known as the [[Boston martyrs]], the hanging of Dyer on the Boston gallows marked the beginning of the end of the Puritan [[theocracy]] and New England independence from English rule, and in 1661 [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] explicitly forbade Massachusetts from executing anyone for professing Quakerism.<ref name=CHLS>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzvHvEDPosQC&q=charles+1661+-+massachusetts+execution&pg=PR41|title=Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: a comprehensive encyclopedia|access-date=3 September 2011|isbn=978-1576076781|last1=Bremer|first1=Francis J.|last2=Webster|first2=Tom|year=2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> Anti-Catholic sentiment appeared in New England with the first Pilgrim and Puritan settlers.<ref>{{cite news|title=America's dark and not-very-distant history of hating Catholics|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/america-history-of-hating-catholics|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 June 2016}}</ref> In 1647, Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting any [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit Roman Catholic]] priests from entering territory under Puritan jurisdiction.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pat|first1=Perrin|title=Crime and Punishment: The Colonial Period to the New Frontier|date=1 January 1970|publisher=Discovery Enterprises|page=24}}</ref> Any suspected person who could not clear himself was to be banished from the colony; a second offense carried a death penalty.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mahoney|first1=Kathleen A.|title=Catholic Higher Education in Protestant America: The Jesuits and Harvard in the Age of the University|date=10 September 2003|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|page=47}}</ref> The Pilgrims of New England held radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=James Harwood |year=1984 |title=The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture |publisher=Ayer Publishing |isbn=0405076711 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sRH9skUh6oC&q=Christmas+Puritan+New+England&pg=PA2 |page=3}}</ref> Christmas observance was outlawed in [[Boston]] in 1659.<ref>{{cite news |first= Rachel N. |last= Schnepper |title= Yuletide's Outlaws |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/opinion/the-puritan-war-on-christmas.html?hp&_r=0 |quote= From 1659 to 1681, anyone caught celebrating Christmas in the colony would be fined five shillings. ... |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= 14 December 2012 |access-date= 15 December 2012 }}</ref> The ban by the Puritans was revoked in 1681 by an English appointed governor, however it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became common in the Boston region.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marling |first=Karal Ann |year=2000 |title=Merry Christmas!: Celebrating America's Greatest Holiday |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0674003187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUc13_ourtYC&q=Christmas+Puritan+New+England&pg=PA44 |page=44}}</ref>

Freedom of religion was first applied as a principle of government in the founding of the colony of Maryland, founded by the Catholic [[Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]], in 1634.<ref name="Symbol of Enduring Freedom">{{Cite magazine|title=Symbol of Enduring Freedom|author=Zimmerman, Mark|magazine=Columbia Magazine|url=https://issuu.com/columbia-magazine/docs/columbiamar10en/1|access-date=2023-01-02|via=issuu|date=5 March 2010 |page=19|language=en}}</ref> Fifteen years later (1649), the [[Maryland Toleration Act]], drafted by Lord Baltimore, provided: "No person or persons...shall from henceforth be any waies troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof." The Act allowed freedom of worship for all [[Trinitarianism|Trinitarian]] Christians in Maryland, but [[Capital punishment|sentenced to death]] anyone who denied the divinity of [[Jesus]]. The Maryland Toleration Act was repealed during the Cromwellian Era with the assistance of Protestant assemblymen and a new law barring Catholics from openly practicing their religion was passed.<ref>Brugger, Robert J. (1988). ''Maryland: A Middle Temperament''.  p. 21, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. {{ISBN|080183399X}}.</ref> In 1657, the Catholic Lord Baltimore regained control after making a deal with the colony's Protestants, and in 1658 the Act was again passed by the colonial assembly. This time, it would last more than thirty years, until 1692<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Finkelman|first=Paul|title=Maryland Toleration Act (1649)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoI14vYA8r0C&q=maryland+toleration+act|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties|date=2006|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-94342-0|language=en}}</ref> when, after Maryland's [[Protestant Revolution (Maryland)|Protestant Revolution of 1689]], freedom of religion was again rescinded.<ref name="Symbol of Enduring Freedom"/><ref name="roarke">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ybHa6D24qQC&pg=PA78 |author=Roark, Elisabeth Louise|title=Artists of Colonial America|page=78 |isbn=978-0313320231|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing }} Retrieved 22 February 2010</ref> In addition, in 1704, an Act was passed "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province", preventing Catholics from holding political office.<ref name="roarke" /> Full religious [[toleration]] would not be restored in Maryland until the [[American Revolution]], when Maryland's [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]] signed the [[American Declaration of Independence]].

Rhode Island (1636), Connecticut (1636), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (1682){{snd}} founded by Protestants Roger Williams, [[Thomas Hooker]], and William Penn, respectively{{snd}} combined the democratic form of government which had been developed by the Puritans and the Separatist [[Congregationalists]] in Massachusetts with religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/ccflaw.html|title=Plymouth Colony Legal Structure|website=www.histarch.illinois.edu|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.hanover.edu/texts/masslib.html|title=Liberties|website=history.hanover.edu|access-date=2019-08-13}}</ref><ref>M. Schmidt, ''Pilgerväter'', in ''Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', 3. Auflage, Tübingen (Germany), Band V (1961), col. 384</ref><ref>M. Schmidt, ''Hooker, Thomas'', in ''Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', 3. Auflage, Band III (1959), col. 449</ref> These colonies became sanctuaries for persecuted religious minorities. Catholics and later on Jews also had full citizenship and free exercise of their religions.<ref>Clifton E. Olmstead (1960), ''History of Religion in the United States'', Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., pp. 74–75, 99, 102–105, 113–115</ref><ref>Edwin S. Gaustad (1999), ''Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America'', Judson Press, Valley Forge</ref><ref>Hans Fantel (1974), ''William Penn: Apostel of Dissent'', William Morrow & Co., New York, N.Y.</ref> Williams, Hooker, Penn, and their friends were firmly convinced that freedom of conscience was the will of God. Williams gave the most profound argument: As faith is the free work of the [[Holy Spirit]], it cannot be forced on a person. Therefore, strict [[separation of church and state]] has to be kept.<ref>Heinrich Bornkamm, ''Toleranz. In der Geschichte der Christenheit'', in ''Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', 3. Auflage, Band VI (1962), col. 943</ref> Pennsylvania was the only colony that retained unlimited religious freedom until the foundation of the United States in 1776. It was the inseparable connection between democracy, religious freedom, and the other forms of freedom which became the political and legal basis of the new nation. In particular, [[Baptists]] and [[Presbyterians]] demanded the disestablishment of state churches{{snd}} [[Anglican]] and [[Congregationalist]]{{snd}} and the protection of religious freedom.<ref>[[Robert Middlekauff]] (2005), ''The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789'', Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195315882}}, p. 635</ref>

Reiterating Maryland's and the other colonies' earlier colonial legislation, the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]], written in 1779 by [[Thomas Jefferson]], proclaimed:

<blockquote>[N]o man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.</blockquote>

Those sentiments also found expression in the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] of the national constitution, part of the United States' [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]]: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". The acknowledgement of religious freedom as the first right protected in the Bill of Rights points toward the American founders' understanding of the importance of religion to human, social, and political flourishing. The First Amendment makes clear that it sought to protect "the free exercise" of religion, or what might be called "''free exercise equality."''<ref name=Farr2019>{{Cite web|title=What in the World is Religious Freedom?|url=https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/what-in-the-world-is-religious-freedom/|last=Farr|first=Thomas|date=1 November 2019|website=Religious Freedom Institute}}</ref>

The United States formally considers religious freedom in its foreign relations. The [[International Religious Freedom Act of 1998]] established the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] which investigates the records of over 200 other nations with respect to religious freedom, and makes recommendations to submit nations with egregious records to ongoing scrutiny and possible economic sanctions. Many human rights organizations have urged the United States to be still more vigorous in imposing sanctions on countries that do not permit or tolerate religious freedom.

===Canada===
{{Further|Freedom of religion in Canada}}
Freedom of religion in Canada is a constitutionally protected right, allowing believers the freedom to assemble and worship without limitation or interference. Canadian law goes further, requiring that private citizens and companies provide [[reasonable accommodation]] to those, for example, with strong religious beliefs. The [[Canadian Human Rights Act]] allows an exception to reasonable accommodation with respect to religious dress, such as a [[Sikh]] [[turban]], when there is a ''[[bona fide]]'' occupational requirement, such as a workplace requiring a [[hard hat]].<ref>[http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2011-60-e.htm#a6 Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere. 2.2.2 Headcoverings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117174923/http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/2011-60-e.htm#a6 |date=17 November 2015 }}. Parliament of Canada. Publication No. 2011-60-E. Published 2011-07-25. Retrieved 21 December 2011.</ref> In 2017 the [[Santo Daime]] Church Céu do Montréal received religious exemption to use [[Ayahuasca]] as a sacrament in their rituals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chacruna.net/how-ayahuasca-church-received-religious-exemption-canada/|title=How Our Santo Daime Church Received Religious Exemption to Use Ayahuasca in Canada|last=Rochester|first=Rev Dr Jessica|date=2017-07-17|website=Chacruna|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-25}}</ref>

===International===
On 25 November 1981, the United Nations General Assembly passed the [[Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief]]. This declaration recognizes freedom of religion as a fundamental human right in accordance with several other instruments of international law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r055.htm|title=A/RES/36/55. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief|publisher=United Nations|date=25 November 1981|access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

However, the most substantial binding legal instruments that guarantee the right to freedom of religion that was passed by the international community is the [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]] which states in its Article 14: ''"States Parties shall respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.{{snd}} States Parties shall respect the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child.{{snd}} Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others."''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/most/rr2int.htm |title=Religious Rights – International Legal Instruments |publisher=Unesco.org |date=2015-11-19 |access-date=2018-12-06}}</ref>