Perspectives on Religious
Liberty: A Comparative Framework 7
The author’s aim is to
elaborate a framework within one can see the range of institutional
possibilities for implementing religious freedom in legal systems around the
world, and to
consider in the process a series of philosophical and practical issues raised
as one considers
various aspects of the framework. He begin describing the underlying cultural
differences
that create rifts and tensions wich can only be resolved by providing enhanced
protection for
religious freedom throughout the world. Finally, the author concludes by
briefly summarizing
some of the normative implications of emerging consensus on religious freedom.
John Witte, Jr.
Law, Religion and World
Peace 50
Religion is an
ineradicable condition of human lives and communities. The author
develops this simple and counterintuitive argument, in three parts. First, he
argues that
all laws (including human rights laws) have necessary religious sources,
dimensions,
and analogues. Second, he argues that the modern movement for human rights law
has
impoverished, even bankrupted itself, by its conventional deprecation of the
roles and
rights of religion. Third, the author argues that religious ideas and
institutions need to
be drawn into a healthy regime of law, democracy and human rights, and gives
illustrations
from his own tradition of Christianity to illustrate this point.
Louis Henkin
Human
Rights and Competing Ideas.
Religion
and Other Traditional Ideologies. 70
According to the author,
religion is not a single or simple idea, and its relation to the
idea of rights is neither single nor simple. The major religions can fairly
claim ancestry
to values central to human rights: right and wrong; good and evil; justice and
injustice:
legality and illegality; the essential equality of human beings; the equal
protection of
the laws. The idea of rights reflects principles of interpersonal morality; the
major
religions reflected principles of interpersonal morality without an idea of
rights.
Adamantia Pollis
Eastern Orthodoxy and
Human Rights 80
This study scrutinises
one aspect of the broad problem of a shared value system
between western and eastern Europe; namely, the extent to which the religious
heritage
of Eastern Orthodoxy, practicated in the Balkans, Russia, and other East
European
states, is compatible with the Western conception of individual rights. The
analysis
will focus on, but not be limited to, Greece, the only Eastern Orthodox State
currently
a member of the European Community and never under communist rule.
DIALOGUE
Faith and
Tolerance 98
A debate
organised by the Intercultural Center of the Pro Europa League on the
occasion of the „Week of Tolerance” in Tîrgu-Mureş. The participants —
representatives of different churches and NGOs — discussed the
problem of religious
tolerance/intolerance in Romania.
CASE STUDY
Attila Varga
Constitutional Regulations of the Churches in Romania
after 1918 115
After 1918 due to the constitutional regulations the Hungarian religions
from
Transylvania became minorities. The present study analyses the situation of the
churches in different historical periods.
ALTERA PARS
Gabriel Andreescu
Witnesses of Jehova:
A
Radiography of a Violation of the Religious Freedom 125
The Witnesses of Iehova
were planning to organise an international congress in
Bucharest between 19-21 July 1996. The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox
Church,
Teoctist sent a declaration to the press against this meeting. The General
Secretary
of the Romanian Government prohibited the meeting in Bucharest. The present
essay
describes the circumstances.
DOCUMENT
Declaration on the Elimination of
all Forms of Intolerance
and of
Discrimination based on Religion or Belief 133
The Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights in Islam 137
István Haller
Adaptation of Human
Rights to the Islamic Tradition 143
The author explains the
reasons behind the adopting of The Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights by the Islamic states, comparing with other human rights
documents.
TRANSYLVANIAN CONVERGENCES
Dezső Buzogány
From Intolerance to
Tolerance 148
A description of the
evolution of the philosophy of tolerance in Transylvania in the
second part of the 16th Century. In January 1571 the principle of religious
tolerance
was proclaimed in Tîrgu-Mureş. Due to this, there were no religious wars in
this part
of Europe.
RESTITUTIO
Documents of the 1700
Coucil 166
Greta-Monica Miron
The Religious Union and
the Romanian Self-Consciousness 171
The author presents the
circumstances and consequences of the religious unification
with Rome and the forming the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Transylvania.
Mihály Spielmann-Sebestyén
The
Union with Romein the Hungarian Historiography 185
A study focusing on the
Hungarian Historiography’s positions concerning the birth
of the Romanian Uniate Church in Transylvania.
REVIEWS
Journal of Ecumenical
Studies, vol. 33/1 199
Grammatiche di Pace 201
Cross Curents, Winter 1995—1996 202
Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective 203
Religion and Human Rights in Europe 206
PRO EUROPE League
The PRO EUROPE League (Liga PRO EUROPA) is one of the most well-
known civic NGOs in Romania, founded in the Transylvanian town of Tîrgu-Mureş
(Marosvásárhely — Neumarkt), on 30 December 1989, immediately after the fall of
the Ceauşescu’s dictatorial regime.
The PEL has become respected due to its involvment in promoting human
rights, pluralism and multicultural values. From the very begining of the
transi-
tion, the PEL has played a significant role in the political reality of
Romania,
joining different civic movements and alliances committed to mobilize public
opinion against the restauration of the former communist structures. In the
spe-
cific area of the multicultural society of Transylvania, the PEL has played an
important role in monitoring discriminatory policies against minorities and in
promoting tolerance between Romanians and Hungarians, a key issue for peace
and democratic progress in Central Europe.
For more than six years, the PEL has organized an impressive number of
workshops, seminars, round-table debates, summer camps, conflict resolution
missions and meetings for teachers, local authorities, judges, prosecutors,
stu-
dents, political and civic leaders, has published an independent weekly and a
series of booklets and brochures.
The quartely altera is meant to promote the PEL’s values among acade-
mics, policy makers and the large public in Romania. It is one of the few Roma-
nian publication focusing on the issue of diversity, ethnic, religious and
linguis-
tic diversity in the Transylvanian area, as well as european integration.
●Acest număr a fost
realizat cu sprijinul Fundaţiilor Heinrich Böll (Germania)
şi BILANCE (Olanda), cărora editorii le adresează mulţumiri.
●Opţiunile exprimate în articolele publicate aparţin autorilor.
●Articolele nepublicate nu se restituie.
●Drepturile de publicare sînt rezervate.
Grafica: Mana Bucur
Tehnoredactare: László Zsolt Pápai
Culegere: Mihaela Ignat, Judit-Andrea Kacsó
Tipărit la SC. MEDIAPRINT S. R. L. Tg.-Mureş
ISSN 1224-0338
(c) Fundaţia Jakabffy Elemér, Asociaţia Media Index 1999-2006