Religious liberty advocates encouraged by 54 percent increase in opposition
Support continues to dwindle for a United Nations resolution seeking to bridle potentially offensive religious speech, despite the measure's passage for the tenth consecutive year, religious liberty advocates said.
Three fewer member nations of the UN Human Rights Council voted for the so-called "defamation of religions" resolution this year, a 13 percent drop in support from 2009. Opposition to the resolution grew 54 percent, with 17 nations voting against it compared to last year's 11.
While the March 25 defamation of religions resolution is non-binding, its regular passage does build momentum toward achieving an international legal norm, making changes in patterns of support and opposition significant, said James D. Standish, director of UN relations for the Seventh-day Adventist world church.
"As people of faith, we are very sensitive to rhetoric that is disrespectful of religion," Standish said, "but we believe the risks associated with regulating [such] speech ... outweigh the likely benefits."
Under existing international human rights law, faith groups are already sufficiently protected against religiously motivated speech that may result in discrimination or violence, the International Religious Liberty Association's Board of Experts agreed last year.
Any additional legislation, they said, could be enforced arbitrarily and unequally, inviting infringement on an individual's freedom to compare and critique religious beliefs and practices.
"National laws that mirror the defamation of religions concept are currently being misused to settle personal disputes and marginalize religious minorities," Standish said, adding that a "failed national model" should not undergird an "international legal norm."
The UN General Assembly is expected to consider the defamation of religions resolution at the end of the year.