At the Borders of Religious Freedom: Proselytism between Law and Crime

Abstract

The raise of religious pluralism has a twofold effect, on one hand it widens the number of available and accessible religious options, and on the other it increases the level of tensions and conflicts. Even though religions preach peace, sometimes they provoke wars that are triggered by proselytism. Indeed, today recruitment campaigns in religious market fuel discontent, and yet freedom of religion implies the right to express and to profess a religious message, even for advertising or with a persuasive aim. Logic of the market, by new means of communication and freedom of criticism, influences under many aspect religion, and opens the doors to new forms of religiosity. The present study aims at examining the main critical issues of freedom of religion: the need of freedom of expression and the safeguard from invasiveness or offensiveness of proselytism. This will be achieved by trying to identify balanced boundaries among all ‘sacrosanct’ needs.