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Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing
Allen D. Hertzke

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The following is an excerpt from Allen D. Hertzke’s upcoming book, Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing (April 2026). Reprinted here with permission from University of Norte Dame Press.

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Imagine a social force, a potent “X Factor,” that underpins democracy, bolsters civil liberties, builds citizen loyalty, undermines religious fanaticism, reduces societal violence, improves women’s status, fosters economic development, spurs uplift for the poor, and nurtures international peace.

Remarkable as it seems, new global research powerfully links religious freedom to all these social outcomes. Not solely, of course. But compelling evidence points to religious freedom – rightly understood and generously protected – as pivotal to the kind of world we want to inhabit: an X factor for flourishing societies.

Such a claim may seem startling to some modern ears, especially given the religious fanaticism and sectarian strife afflicting the globe today. Why promote such a divisive impulse as religion? Moreover, in our fraught and polarized times religious liberty itself has gotten a bad name in some progressive circles, depicted as a rightwing cause, an excuse for bigotry and discrimination, or a weapon in the culture war. We also see distorted views about religious freedom on the right – from religious nationalists who falsely believe that imposing a dominant religious identity on diverse societies will preserve their spiritual heritage. 

Equally troubling, a chorus of intellectual critics attack the very idea of religious freedom as a definable, coherent set of rights. Or they see it as a western construct imposed on indigenous societies, a cover for imperialism, or a pretext for aggressive Christian proselytizing.

For those of us engaged in scholarship and advocacy on global religious freedom, such perceptions are anguishing. They often reflect a misunderstanding of what genuine religious freedom is and why it matters profoundly for the future most of us seek.

Religion as a Human Right

Why is religious freedom such a potent human right? Why is it so critical to human flourishing? Why does it have such a huge impact on so many arenas of human life? My central argument is that religious freedom uniquely matters to peaceful, democratic, and flourishing societies because it goes to the heart of human personhood and experience: the right to be who we are, to act on our ultimate commitments, and to be treated with equal worth and dignity. While I will probe specific empirical theories that link religious freedom to democracy, prosperity, women’s empowerment, uplift, and peace, they all converge on this overarching theme.

Let me elaborate. Suppose I ask what is ultimate to you, what makes the greatest claim on your conscience. Then I say, “You cannot live by that commitment, you cannot publicly affirm or act on it.” You would see this as a violation of your identity and dignity, as fundamentally unjust. This freedom to exercise one’s transcendent duties – to seek truth about ultimate questions and act on them – is so central to humanity that government or social repression, along with unequal treatment that privileges religious majorities, will inevitably harm societies, governance, and economics.

If religious freedom is the right to be who we are, it is under siege in the world today, assaulted by theocratic movements, violated by authoritarian regimes, attacked by ethno-nationalists, curbed by aggressive secular policies, and undermined by elite hostility or misunderstanding. All reflect the hegemonic impulse of regime leaders and dominant social groups. For theocrats: You must become us. For ethno-nationalists: You must be expelled from us. For autocrats: You must serve us before God. For aggressive secularists: You must hide your faith under a bushel. And for regimes that privilege majority faiths: You – religious minorities – must endure second-class status.

These repressive impulses represent one of the greatest threats to more stable, democratic, prosperous, and peaceful societies in the twenty-first century.

In sum, empirically driven research demonstrates that restrictive laws, repressive societal practices, and state favoritism produce persecution and conflict, undermine democracy and civil liberties, contribute to terrorism and international conflict, and prevent empowerment of women or uplift for the poor. There are, in short, compelling reasons to see religious liberty as a fundamental and universal human right. Justice demands it. Violations disrupt the social order.

Underpinnings of Democracy, Civil Liberties, and Civil Society

Religious freedom helps underpin democracy by enhancing civil liberties, limiting the reach of government, and propelling robust civil society.  Research shows strong historical and statistical relationships between degrees of religious freedom and the longevity of democracy.  Given that religious freedom is itself an essential civil liberty, these connections appear direct and obvious.  By combining historical accounts with modern empirical analysis, I show how religious freedom is not just associated with democracy but serves as a crucial agent in propelling democratization.  The chapter begins with the seventeenth-century quest by religious dissenters for greater religious tolerance and liberty, which spurred democratization in the Netherlands, England, and the American colonies.  The transformation of the Catholic Church in the twentieth-century then serves as a natural experiment of how a change in doctrine on religious freedom propelled the last wave of democratization on earth. Turning to empirical research, I show how attempting to enforce religious uniformity on diverse societies, or extending privileges to majority faiths, produces strife, undermines equality before the law, and fuels despotism.  That pattern explains the democratic gap in Muslim-majority countries, not inherent tenets of Islam.  When religious freedom is protected and religious pluralism promoted, we see more enduring democracy in Muslim-majority societies.  Finally, religious freedom serves as a crucial indicator of the direction “transitional regimes” are moving, or as a harbinger of the erosion of democracies.  Indeed, would-be autocrats often employ favoritism toward dominant religious groups and restrictions on minorities as tools to undermine democratic norms and consolidate power.   

The Font of Wealth: Religious Freedom and Flourishing Economics

Can religious liberty enhance material well-being and flourishing economics? Wide-ranging scholarship indicates that it does, in surprising ways. Protecting religious liberty, and the pluralism it entails, promotes conditions that help spark and sustain equitable economic growth. Repression and persecution, on the other hand, retard economic growth and distort outcomes. To chart the pathways that produce these outcomes, I synthesize historical accounts and econometric studies from around the world. Fascinatingly, the historical record shows how political economists of the past documented the economic and trading advantages gained by countries that practiced religious toleration if not full religious freedom. As in this past, religiously free conditions act as a magnet to attract skilled craft workers and entrepreneurial risktakers, unleashing their potential. As leaders in the American colonies learned, religious persecution is bad for trade and the wealth it produces. Another pathway entails contingent liberties that legal guarantees of religious freedom support, such as rule of law, property rights, and the right to assemble, which underpin commercial enterprise. Econometric studies also show that religious repression represents a crucial risk factor for business investment, which redounds to the long-term benefit of religiously tolerant societies.  When religious communities are free to build houses of worship, schools, charities, and other institutions, their investments produce multiplier effects for local economies. These societal contributions also generate social capital and trust that lubricate commercial enterprise. Some of the most fascinating research documents how state religious privilege and discrimination act to retard long term economic progress. As sophisticated scholarship shows, the enforcement of rigid versions of Sharia law by Muslim empires impeded economic modernization for centuries. I end by examining the case of China, which seems to defy global trends elsewhere. What research shows, however, is how the nation benefited economically from relaxed religious restrictions that accompanied economic modernization, which began with Deng Xiaoping. The severe religious crackdown launched by Xi Jinping from 2018 onward, however, appears to be contributing to recent sluggish outcomes and a long-term demographic challenge.       

Path to Empowerment: Uplifting Vulnerable Communities

Mounting empirical research and in-depth ethnographic studies show that violations of religious freedom, both by governments and powerful social actors, reinforce oppressive structures that marginalize impoverished people, exploited women, migrants, and ethno-religious minorities. Indeed, religious restrictions tend to lock the poor, women, and outcasts in economic and social straitjackets. Protections of religious freedom, on the other hand, particularly the right to practice, interpret, criticize, or change one’s faith, act as powerful engines of empowerment and integration of otherwise poor and marginalized people. Repression of this religious agency, moreover, produces cycles of persecution, societal instability, and violence that redound disproportionately on fragile economic and social institutions of integration. These findings may seem paradoxical given that religion is often portrayed as innately patriarchal and repressive of non-conforming beliefs. But as I will show, genuine religious freedom unleashes agency among the marginalized that extends far beyond religion. Indeed, some of the most stunning research shows how religious agency empowers women in developing societies and leads to improvements in their economic fortunes.  

Weapon of Peace

One of the weightiest arguments for religious freedom concerns its vital link to international security and peace.  Religious strife and violence represent major sources of global instability and conflict – undermining economic development and propelling massive refugee flows. The chapter begins by documenting the dramatic upsurge in the past few decades of religious violence and terrorism, sectarian civil wars, and religiously driven interstate conflict. Capitalizing on an unprecedented wealth of new global data, scholars have documented the robust causal relationships between rising levels of religious repression and these devastating outcomes. This empirical scholarship is corroborated by qualitative investigations of security threats. They show that every security threat to the United States, whether from non-state actors or nations, is an egregious violator of religious freedom. On the other hand, no religiously free state represents such a threat, nor is there a single example in modern history of religiously-free states fighting on opposing sides of a war. These patterns suggest that religious conditions inside a nation, like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, provide an early warning of new dangers to global security. The disruptive international ripples of state repression emerge in the powerful relationship between majority favoritism and religious violence. Landmark research shows that most religious violence stems from religious majorities emboldened by their privileged status in law and society. By giving all a stake in the pluralist fabric of society, religious liberty cultivates inter-religious interactions and amity.  It empowers global peacemakers.  It is a weapon of peace.

Charting The Way Forward

The concluding chapter refines the argument and carries its broader implications into the future.  In pursuit of that aim, I qualify findings, clarify and summarize key themes, highlight slighted issues, explore challenges, and offer a vision for the way forward. I begin by clarifying the confused discourse on secularism to present an alternative way to capture the best regimes for protecting maximum religious freedom. I then elaborate on the paradox of privilege as one of the most consequential findings of global research – that state favoritism toward dominant religious majorities is uniquely disruptive to democracy and peace. This leads to the stunning realization that we may now possess insight into the timeless question of what makes religion good or bad, compassionate or cruel, peaceful or violent. Relatedly, research shows why inequality represents such a massive violation of religious liberty across the globe, and why international law must incorporate equality more fully into formulations of religious freedom. I also make the case that governments and international organizations must recognize the special character of indigenous peoples, whose spiritual lives tied to sacred lands can be destroyed by large-scale development projects. Turning to a recent challenge, I frankly analyze emerging clashes between religious conscience claims and antidiscrimination laws on sexual identity and gender orientation. While sometimes depicted in zero sum terms, I show that compromises exist to avoid culture wars and the stigmatization of religious freedom. I conclude by presenting an emerging vision for how diverse religious communities can accept the reality of pluralism – and live and work together – without giving up their religious truths or commitments. That vision, covenantal pluralism, serves as a crucial societal companion to constitutional provisions and statutes that protect religious freedom.  Neither utopian nor relativistic, covenantal pluralism provides a way forward for societies to avoid religious strife, cultivate interfaith trust, and provide political support for legal guarantees of religious liberty and equality. ♦

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Recommended Citation

Hertzke, Allen. “Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing.” Canopy Forum, February 4, 2026. https://canopyforum.org/2026/02/04/why-religious-freedom-matters-human-rights-and-human-flourishing/.

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