Justin Trudeu

Source: Economist

BY M.D. AND ERASMUS | OTTAWA

SHOULD Western democracies make the defence of religious freedom around the world a separate, fenced-off part of their foreign policy? Or is it better simply to subsume that concern under the general heading of human rights? In an age when blasphemy laws are horribly abused in many countries, and regimes like those of China, Iran and Turkmenistan deal brutally with dissent in metaphysical matters, that is not just a question for bureaucrats. It’s a real dilemma both for individual countries and for clubs of nations like the European Union, which see themselves as a force for good in the world.

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