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2 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 A Buddhist Perspective on Freedom of Religion 2 1 www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ 2 www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html Introduction Freedom of religion and belief has in recent years become an important sociopolitical concern in the international community. The term religion is understood to refer to any set or system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices either theistic or non-theistic, and either institutionalized and followed by a group or simply professed by an individual. By definition, then, a religion can be a religion insofar as it is observed by single individuals (in the extreme case of a personal religion), or far more commonly by groups of individuals sharing the same religious belief. In either case, when a particular religion is under discussion, it is often important to make it clear whether we are dealing with the tenets or in fact talking about the beliefs and conduct of certain practitioners of that religion. The necessity of this distinction becomes all the more apparent, especially when it comes to the issue of religious fundamentalism, which will be discussed later. Understandably, the term belief is used alongside religion in this context to accommodate the stance taken by those who believe that there is no need for religion and as a result do not observe any single religion at all. Freedom of religion and belief is held by many as one of the basic human rights demanded by its supporters notably on behalf of small communities in countries where the vast majority uphold another religion or a different sect of the same religion, who are in a strong position to exercise their political power and utilize state authority through judicial or other mechanisms to suppress this freedom. Article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) defines freedom of religion as follows: 1 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Freedom of religion in a broader sense is thus understood to include freedom not to follow any religion at all. In any event, some limitations are seen as necessary to safeguard this freedom against possible abuse. Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950), for instance, has made the following amendment: 2 1-15_mac9 4/26/12, 8:09 PM 2