Human Rights and Religious Freedom

Why every person matters

Human rights are fundamental entitlements that belong to people because they are human. They are not rewards for good behaviour or privileges reserved for a particular group. They protect human dignity: the inherent worth of every person.

For Christians, this dignity has a biblical foundation. Genesis 1:27 teaches, ‘So God created humankind in his image’. This belief is often called Imago Dei. It does not mean that people physically resemble God. It means that human beings have a special God-given worth. The passage includes both male and female: dignity belongs to humanity, not just one group. Someone's religion, nationality, disability or social position does not make them less deserving of respect.

Jesus' command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31) turns this belief into a responsibility. Loving a neighbour means seeking their good, not merely feeling affection for them. Protecting someone from persecution or challenging unfair treatment can therefore express Christian love, including when that person holds different beliefs.

Catholic teaching: dignity needs practical protection

Gaudium et Spes, issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1965, explains the Church's relationship with the modern world. Paragraph 26 connects human dignity with the common good: the social conditions that allow people and communities to flourish. Because people across the world increasingly depend on one another, every social group must consider other groups' needs and the welfare of the whole human family.

The paragraph teaches that human rights and duties are ‘universal and inviolable’: they apply to everyone and must not be violated. This follows from the dignity of the human person. Everything necessary for a truly human life must therefore be available to all, including food, clothing and shelter. It also recognises the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, rather than being forced into a particular way of life. Further rights include education, employment, a good reputation, respect, appropriate information, acting according to an upright conscience, protection of privacy and rightful freedom in religious matters.

These rights matter because respecting a person requires more than saying that they are valuable. Someone without adequate food or shelter lacks essential conditions for living with dignity. Someone prevented from following their conscience is denied an important part of their freedom. Catholic teaching therefore requires social arrangements to serve people, rather than treating people merely as tools of governments or institutions. Paragraph 26 calls for a social order founded on truth, built on justice and animated by love.

This is a universal concern. Gaudium et Spes 73 calls for rights to be available to all citizens, not only a privileged few, and condemns political systems that obstruct civil or religious freedom. Catholics should defend the dignity of people outside the Church as well as their own community.

Religious freedom is not forced agreement

The Second Vatican Council's declaration Dignitatis Humanae grounds religious freedom in human dignity. Paragraph 10 teaches that a person's response to God must be free: nobody should be forced to embrace Christianity against their will. Threats may produce outward obedience, but they cannot produce a genuinely free act of faith.

Religious freedom includes practising religion publicly or privately and being able to join or leave a religious community. Dignitatis Humanae 6 rejects governments forcing people either to profess or to reject a religion. It also requires equality before the law, without religious discrimination. This protects people of other religions and those who do not believe, not just Catholics.

Supporting this freedom does not mean that Catholics must regard every belief as equally true. They may explain their faith, invite others to accept it and disagree with other beliefs. The distinction is between persuasion and coercion: defending a person's freedom is different from agreeing with their conclusions.

Religious freedom also brings responsibilities. Dignitatis Humanae 7 says that people must respect others' rights and the common welfare when exercising their freedoms. Government may protect public order and resolve conflicts of rights, but restrictions must be fair and necessary, not an excuse to suppress an unpopular religion.

Shared rights, different foundations

Christians and humanists can agree that people deserve equal rights while explaining that agreement differently. Christians can appeal to creation in God's image and Jesus' command to love others. Humanists can appeal to shared humanity, shared needs, reason and empathy, without belief in God. Atheism itself means not believing in God; it does not prescribe one particular attitude towards human rights.

In contemporary Britain, Humanists UK argues that freedom of religion or belief must protect religious and non-religious people equally. It supports religious people's freedom as well as humanists' freedom, provided its exercise does not harm others' rights. Its approach includes challenging unfair privileges and discrimination and seeking a fair balance where rights conflict.

For example, Humanists UK helped bring the 2015 Fox case, challenging the exclusion of non-religious worldviews from the school curriculum. This shows how pursuing rights can involve legal action over equal treatment, rather than only direct help to individuals.

A potential disagreement concerns the boundary between religious freedom and equality. A religious group may argue that freedom includes organising its activities according to its beliefs. A humanist may question an exemption that disadvantages others, especially in publicly funded services. A reasoned judgement must consider both the religious freedom being claimed and the effect on other people's rights.

Putting human rights into action

For individual Catholics, defending rights can include challenging religious discrimination, helping someone facing persecution or taking part responsibly in public life. Gaudium et Spes 75 describes voting as both a right and a duty directed towards the common good. The aim is not simply personal advantage, but conditions in which others can flourish too.

The Church can teach about dignity, speak against injustice and cooperate with others. Gaudium et Spes 76 defends its freedom to make moral judgements when fundamental human rights are at stake, while distinguishing the Church from any particular political system.

Religious and non-religious people can also work together. In 2021, Humanists UK worked with the Jewish human rights charity René Cassin to coordinate a joint letter from religion or belief leaders defending the Human Rights Act 1998. Agreement about protecting rights can support cooperation even where beliefs about God differ.

Does every right bring a responsibility?

There is a strong argument that rights require corresponding duties. My right to worship requires others not to intimidate me; their right to worship requires the same restraint from me. Governments must also protect rights through fair laws. Without these responsibilities, rights may exist on paper but not in people's lives.

Protecting rights can require positive action, not just avoiding harm. Reporting discrimination or supporting someone whose freedom is threatened helps make their rights effective. Catholic teaching connects this duty with love of neighbour and service of the common good. Gaudium et Spes 26 explicitly links rights with duties towards the whole human race: a group cannot seek its own welfare while ignoring others' needs.

However, it would be dangerous to treat basic rights as rewards for fulfilling responsibilities. A child, a seriously ill person or someone unable to contribute to society still possesses dignity. Even someone who behaves wrongly retains fundamental rights.

A justified conclusion is that rights and responsibilities are closely connected, but rights are not earned. People should exercise their freedoms responsibly and help protect others; any restriction on their actions needs justification, rather than cancelling their human worth.