International Religious Freedom

Advancing Human Rights For All Worldwide

International Religious Freedom: How it Works

Hardwired’s programs promote respect for and protection of the fundamental human right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief for all, which is recognized in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that every person is “hardwired” to believe and religious freedom ensures the inherent human right to live according to your conscience. Religious freedom is a unique human right because religion and belief affect both the inside and outside of a person as they seek to orient themselves to the ultimate truths of reality and find meaning and purpose in life. How states deal with this human impulse has significant implications on peace, security, and even economics worldwide.

The implications for how states approach religious freedom are many and, in today’s world, urgent. Global efforts to address the spread of intolerant ideologies that foment radicalization, discrimination, and violence are fraught with controversy. Children emerging from religion-related conflict around the world are particularly vulnerable to extremist thinking, intolerance, and discrimination. Hardwired recognizes that respect for religious freedom is essential to any legal or educational efforts to build more peaceful, pluralistic societies. This is why Hardwired developed its unique education and training program. We believe diverse opinions, beliefs and expression can be vibrant points of discussion rather than flash points of conflict. And through our programs, we have witnessed societies experiencing religion-related conflict overcome recurrent cycles of conflict and flourish when they protect and uphold religious freedom for every person.

Our Impact

We have worked with leaders in more than 30 countries and trained thousands of leaders to overcome religious intolerance, discrimination and violence in pursuit of dignity and respect for the rights of all. By incorporating lessons on human rights and religious freedom, our programs have established networks of teachers, community leaders, and officials who are strengthening laws and policies to protect the human rights of persecuted religious and ethnic communities and ensuring that future generations can experience greater freedom and dignity, too. advancing. Teachers are modeling respect for religious freedom and human rights in their classroom, leading students to have a deeper respect for these rights. We have documented the impact on those we’ve trained across society and witnessed significant changes in their attitudes and behaviors about the religious freedom of others. Participants are engaging in meaningful dialogue with one another and are beginning to defend the rights of persecuted communities.

What We Offer

Hardwired is not religiously or politically affiliated and we do not teach or promote religion; rather, we work within the national, cultural and religious context to support a culture of respect for the freedom of conscience for all people. Hardwired works with leaders at all levels of society and government to improve understanding of and respect for human rights and religious freedom. We provide legal and educational training programs for religious communities, journalists, and other community leaders to increase social understanding and respect for the rights of people of all backgrounds and beliefs. We also work with lawyers, policymakers, and legislators to strengthen laws and policies to ensure greater protection for all people equally. Our programs provide an understanding of international treaty law related to religious freedom, the theoretical basis for those laws, comparative analysis of state and regional laws, and the application of these standards in law and society globally.

Resources

Hardwired has published several legal training guides for various countries to help policymakers, legislators and lawyers understand and strengthen protection for the religious freedom in their country and context, which are available upon request. In addition, Hardwired staff have published several articles on the impact of our programs on building respect for the dignity and rights of others, particularly as it relates to religious freedom and related rights, which can be found on our Research page. Hardwired’s founder and president, Tina Ramirez, is a contributing author, and editor of Human Rights in the United States: A Dictionary and Documents (2010 and 2017) alongside Hardwired Legal Consultant, H. Victor Conde who served as the editor. And Ramirez is also the author/editor of Human Rights: Great Events From History (2019). Our advisory board includes several notable leaders in the field of human rights and religious freedom who have published extensively on this topic as well. While there are many international treaties and laws defining “religious freedom”, the United Nations has established what is considered the normative standard this freedom in three documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Despite differences in how some countries may interpret religious freedom, it is an inalienable right that exists before the law.

Testimonials

It’s been a learning experience for me to hear about your work and to hear about the great experience you are having with students and others in various parts of the world from Iraq to Lebanon and elsewhere. The key thing is to be able to speak to partitioners like yourself and learn from them.

Ahmed Shaheed, former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

With so many living in oppression across the globe, the road ahead is long, but I am optimistic and looking forward to working alongside Hardwired Global to continue to oppose tyranny in all its forms.