How to Protect International Religious Freedom from the Politicization of Human Rights

Dr. Aaron Rhodes’ new book, The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom, identifies a dangerous trend in the international human rights movement. Increasingly, the natural rights of individuals, like religious freedom, are being conflated with manufactured rights which are the social and economic policy priorities of particular groups and governments.

Natural rights protect the fairness of the political process by ensuring that individuals are free to think, speak, and act according to their convictions, including their religious beliefs. However, when governments and social groups can transform their economic and social policy goals into “human rights,” this undercuts the moral legitimacy and persuasive power of natural rights like religious freedom.