The Right to Freedom of Religion: Contributions

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that the right to freedom of religion is still a “pium desiderium” (pious desire) for many people on our planet, and that the attitude of some states—with totalitarian political regimes—towards religious liberty is deficient, because it violates one of the fundamental human rights, namely the right to religion, which over the centuries has led to religious wars within and between states.

In order to help address the proposed topic, I suggest a few themes:

• Religions and their role in shaping the collective identity of human society
• The history of religious freedom from antiquity to the present day
• How mankind has perceived the right to freedom of conscience and religion
• The relationship between the three fundamental human freedoms: freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
• Persecution of religious freedom
• The nature and origin of the right to freedom of religion
• The right to religion in the sacred texts of the great religions of humanity
• The right to religion in Roman law
• The right to religion in Byzantine law
• The right to religion in international and European Union law
• The right to religion as laid down in the constitutional texts of the States of the world
• Laws of the various religious cults recognised by the State
• Religious education in schools as a prerequisite for the right of everyone to have a religion and to profess it in private or in public
• On the relationship between the sacred and the profane
• Religion and secularism in theological, philosophical, legal, sociological and political literature
• The right to religion in today's totalitarian states
• Norms of international and national law concerning the criminalisation of acts that seriously infringe the right to freedom of religion
• The sacrifice made over the centuries on the altar of religious freedom

Therefore, we are pleased to invite you to submit a scientific paper for a special issue of the journal Religions, entitled “The Right to Freedom of Religion: Contributions”, falling within the scope of this journal, namely: The paper must be the result of original research, making its own contribution, whereby its author certifies that he is an expert in his field of specialization, and that, at the same time, it is customary in his research to approach topics inter and multidisciplinary, so that in this way we are not limited to our specialty, but to search for information and documentary evidence, that the process of exploration of the field of socio-human sciences (religious studies, philosophy, law, history, political science, sociology, etc. could offer to us. Through such a scholarly approach I am sure we can all make relevant contributions to the theme proposed for this special editorial issue of Religions.

The title proposed by the Editor—for this special issue of Religions—is a clear testimony that it implies “es sesse” (by itself) an inter and multidisciplinary approach, even if at first sight its field of research would seem to be circumscribed only to the legal sphere. That, volens-nolens, the authors of this volume will draw not only on the historical, theological and philosophical fields, but also on the legal field, which is a valuable ‘auxilium’ even in terms of defining the relationship between the law and the moral-religious law, is an undoubted fact.

Such a subject gives the opportunity to researchers in the field of theology—which includes disciplines such as biblical theology, systematic theology, practical theology, historical theology, etc.—to make an effective contribution to a better understanding of the issue and to the preparation of a volume that will bring together works on the human right to freedom of religion, i.e. its manifestation in private and public life.

Through their work in this special issue, the participants will of course also evoke how this right to freedom of religion has been understood and applied in human society since antiquity, as confirmed by both historical and legal testimonies (cf. Edicts of Emperor Cyrus II the Great, Alexander the Great, Emperors Constantine the Great and Licinius, etc.), as well as the sacred texts of the great religions of mankind, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, the Mosaic religion, the Christian religion, etc.

Both secular and religious law, such as Mosaic and Christian (state and ecclesiastical) law, have made an enlightening contribution not only to the conceptual clarification of the term ‘right to freedom of religion’, and of fundamental human rights and freedoms in general, but also to the way in which this right has been provided for and protected.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: theology, philosophy, religious studies, law, history, political science, sociology etc.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors have to submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Please send the manuscript to the Guest Editor, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Dură V. Nicolae
Dr. Cătălina Mititelu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• freedom of conscience
• human rights
• religious freedom
• legal protection of religious freedom
• sacred texts
• legal texts
• monotheistic religions
• ancient edicts on religious freedom
• international law and European Union law on religious freedom