The Research About Freedom Of Religion

Religious freedom has long been accepted as the basic rights of human beings in most countries and in the international world; however, it is also a very controversial issue. At present, "faith freedom of religion" is widely used in social and political life of China while "religious freedom" is generally regarded as a negative definition. The main concerning of this dissertation is the respective connotation of religious freedom and faith freedom of religion.This dissertation accepts the etymological view that religion refers to people's manner or behavior when they honor God or in consecration ceremony, and it is the relations between human beings and God. Religion is a kind of social consciousness about super-natural powers and the corresponding worshipping behaviors; religion is not only a kind of social consciousness but also a manner of social behavior. Religion has a strong collective tendency. Religion is the collective performance to express its entity. Observing religion from the angle of religious sociology meets the research needs of religious law.Faith is one important part of religion, but not all of it. People can select, explain and make plans according to faith. No religion has ever regarded people's spirit and body, faith and behavior as independent parts. There is a close relationship between faith and behavior. Internal faith and external behavior is an integrated whole, in which external behavior is the expression or practice of internal faith. It is impossible to break the two apart by force. What is feasible is to distinguish the related level between behavior and internal faith. The integration between faith and behavior is the basic understanding of this dissertation, which emphasizes not neglecting the interactive influence between faith and behavior, and not breaking the two apart.When translating freedom and liberty from English to Chinese, the Buddhist word "freedom" is used. Its literal meaning is "deciding all by oneself which delete the meaning of "passive, done by others" in English. Freedom means people can do anything they like within the regulations of the law. China had long been ruled over under the centralization of state power which made people's concept of freedom totally lost. Generally speaking, freedom in Chinese tradition had only existed in a philosophical sense which means "do according to one's own will rather than being controlled by other people. The Chinese have much barrier and misunderstanding in accepting the definition of freedom and religious freedom.This dissertation believes that religious freedom is the rights people have in holding and practicing their religious faith. Religious freedom has its negative as well as positive side; it is the freedom to choose and act. This dissertation retells the modern definition and historical development of religious freedom and thinks that the free development of religion was born in the Western culture. The Christian church defeated the power of unreligious countries and left the heritage of freedom to the westerners. An opposing situation has been formed in Europe: the church and country, religion and worldliness, material and spirit, in which religious freedom and all other freedom has been developed. The development of religious freedom is the transition from spiritual freedom to behavioral, ancient to modem. While advocating liberating of people, the bourgeois call for religious freedom, and they leave the most important space for religious freedom as citizen's primary rights.Based on the related level to religious faith, faith in religion and its relative activities can be divided into three types: the first is the honoring activities to the super-natural forces, and it is a pure religious activity because it is done completely within the regulations of religion. The second is the social activities the church holds to maintain or broadcast the good elements in religion. The third is the main points in religion being put into practice by some followers of religion. To retell the connotation of religious freedom, one should start from the choosing freedom of religion, hold the view that faith and behavior is an integrated part, concentrate on the above three activities and take each religion's individual characteristic into consideration. As for the limitations of religious freedom, no one should violate the relation between internal faith and external behavior but consider the protection and respect of religious freedom, classify it on the basis of its positive and negative point, especially its private and public area."Faith freedom of religion" is a typical definition from the Western world. And this concept in the first clause of item 36th in our Constitution is inaccurate. In modern Chinese, "religious faith" should be comprehended as a noun phrase and "religion" restricts "faith". In Chinese context, faith is more general than religion, and faith can be divided into religious faith and non-religious faith. Law is the social rule that regulates people's behavior. "Freedom" is to conduct or not to conduct which can be selected at random. In Chinese, comprehending "religious faith" as a verb phrase and a kind of behavior definition is non-grammatical. Faith freedom of religion means the rights that people can choose religious faith freely. Item 36th in our constitution has restriction on freedom of religious activities. "Normal religious activities" is the typical example of inaccurate language in the constitution. The harmony between the government and the religious circle carries on reasonable restriction on the freedom of religious activities. Item 36th in the constitution distinguishes the differences between faith freedom of religion and freedom of religious behavior, establishing the principle to set up a church while not mentioning the separation between the government and the church. The concept of "faith freedom of religion" reveals the relation between the connotation of political culture in Chinese tradition and the government-church relation in Chinese history.