Freedom of religion

===Christianity===
[[File:Worship-monument.jpg|left|thumb|Part of the [[Oscar Straus (politician)|Oscar Straus]] Memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring the right to worship]] According to the Catholic Church in the [[Vatican II]] document on religious freedom, ''[[Dignitatis Humanae]]'', "the human person has a right to religious freedom", which is described as "immunity from coercion in civil society".<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html |title=Declaration on religious freedom – ''Dignitatis humanae'' |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=3 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211202206/https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html |archive-date=11 February 2012}}</ref> This principle of religious freedom "leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward the true religion."<ref name=autogenerated1 /> In addition, this right "is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right."<ref name=autogenerated1 />

Prior to this, [[Pope Pius IX]] had written a document called the ''[[Syllabus of Errors]]. ''The Syllabus was made up of phrases and paraphrases from earlier papal documents, along with index references to them, and presented as a list of "condemned propositions". It does not explain why each particular proposition is wrong, but it cites earlier documents to which the reader can refer for the Pope's reasons for saying each proposition is false. Among the statements included in the Syllabus are: "[It is an error to say that] Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true" (15); "[It is an error to say that] In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship"; "[It is an error to say that] Hence it has been wisely decided by law, in some Catholic countries, that persons coming to reside therein shall enjoy the public exercise of their own peculiar worship".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P9SYLL.HTM|title=The Syllabus|author=Pope Pius IX|publisher=[[EWTN]]|author-link=Pope Pius IX|access-date=26 August 2013|archive-date=2 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102165127/http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P9SYLL.HTM|url-status=dead}}, [http://www.ewtn.com/ Global Catholic Network]</ref>

Some Orthodox Christians, especially those living in democratic countries, support religious freedom for all, as evidenced by the position of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]]. Many Protestant Christian churches, including some [[Baptists]], [[Churches of Christ in Australia|Churches of Christ]], [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] and [[Mainline (Protestant)|main line]] churches have a commitment to religious freedoms.{{cn|date=August 2023}} [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] also affirms religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Articles of Faith|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1|access-date=2023-01-02|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org|language=en|quote=We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may}}</ref>

However others, such as African scholar [[Makau Mutua]], have argued that Christian insistence on the propagation of their faith to native cultures as an element of religious freedom has resulted in a corresponding denial of religious freedom to native traditions and led to their destruction. As he states in the book produced by the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, "Imperial religions have necessarily violated individual conscience and the communal expressions of Africans and their communities by subverting African religions."<ref>Mutua, Makau. 2004. ''Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief, A Deskbook''. Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Religious human rights in global perspective: legal perspectives|volume=2|author1=J. D. Van der Vyver|author2=John Witte|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|year=1996|isbn=9041101772|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XSnpr1ndq5kC&pg=PA418418 418]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSnpr1ndq5kC}}</ref>

In their book ''[[Breaking India]]'', [[Hindutva]] ideologue [[Rajiv Malhotra]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 30, 2018|title=Rajiv Malhotra, Swapan Dasgupta appointed as JNU honorary professors|work=Business Standard|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/rajiv-malhotra-swapan-dasgupta-appointed-as-jnu-honorary-professors-118103000970_1.html|access-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref> and [[Aravindan Neelakandan]] discussed the "US Protestant Church" funding activities in India, with the book arguing that the funds collected were being used not so much for the purposes indicated to sponsors, but for indoctrination and conversion activities. They suggest that India is the prime target of a huge enterprise{{snd}} a "network" of organizations, individuals, and churches{{snd}} that, they argue, seem intensely devoted to the task of creating a separatist identity, history, and even religion for the vulnerable sections of India. They suggest that this nexus of players includes not only church groups, government bodies, and related organizations, but also private think tanks and academics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.breakingindia.com/introduction/|title=Introduction|work=Breaking India}}</ref>

[[Joel Spring]] has written about the Christianization of the [[Roman Empire]]:

<blockquote>Christianity added new impetus to the expansion of empire. Increasing the arrogance of the imperial project, Christians insisted that the Gospels and the Church were the only valid sources of religious beliefs. Imperialists could claim that they were both civilizing the world and spreading the true religion. By the 5th century, Christianity was thought of as co-extensive with the ''Imperium romanum''. This meant that to be human, as opposed to being a natural slave, was to be "civilized" and Christian. Historian Anthony Pagden argues, "just as the ''civitas''; had now become coterminous with Christianity, so to be human{{snd}} to be, that is, one who was 'civil', and who was able to interpret correctly the law of nature{{snd}} one had now also to be Christian." After the fifteenth century, most Western colonialists rationalized the spread of empire with the belief that they were saving a barbaric and pagan world by spreading Christian civilization.<ref>{{cite book|title=Globalization and educational rights: an intercivilizational analysis|author=Joel H. Spring|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|isbn=978-0805838824|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lobX1DC_i0C&pg=PA92}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref></blockquote>