THE TANDEM PROJECT
UNITED NATIONS: HUMAN RIGHTS
&
FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
NEUROSCIENCE: CHOICE AND FREEDOM
OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
Issue: Question for neuroscience: how free are we to choose a
religion or belief?
For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs,
Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society
Review: The big debate in the U.N. Human Rights Council on
There was no consensus on
this issue as 29 countries voted in favor and 18 countries abstained on the
U.N. Human Rights Council. The 18 country abstentions were based on the
objections from
Philosophers and theologians have debated free will
for centuries. The approach of neuroscience, to free will, may be an issue of
importance to the U.N. Human Rights Council on this resolution in years to
come. Though it will not happen quickly, according to an article in The
Economist, “shrinking the space in which free will can operate could have some
uncomfortable repercussions. “Without a belief in free will, an ideology of freedom
is bizarre.”
Here are excerpts from two articles: - Free to Choose? The
Economist: December 23-
Excerpts: Excerpts are presented under the Eight Articles of
the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief followed by an Issues
Statement.
1. 1 Everyone shall have the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include
freedom to have a religion or whatever belief of his choice, and freedom,
either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to
manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practices and teaching.
1. 2. No one shall be subject to
coercion which would impair his freedom to have a religion or belief of his
choice.
For millennia the question of free will was the province
of philosophers and theologians, but it actually turns on how the brain works.
Only in the past decade and a half, however, has it been possible to watch the
living brain in action in a way that begins to show in detail what happens
while it is happening…Science is not yet threatening free will’s existence: for
the moment there seems little prospect of anybody being able to answer
definitively the question of whether it really exists or not. But science will
shrink the space in which free will can operate by slowly exposing the
mechanism of decision making.
- Free to Choose? The
Free will is one of the trickiest concepts in
philosophy, but also one of the most important. Without it, the idea of responsibility
for one’s actions flies out the window, along with much of the glue that holds
a free society (and even an un-free one) together.
- Free to Choose?
The
A bevy of experiments in recent years suggest that
the conscious mind is like a monkey riding a tiger of subconscious decisions
and actions in progress, frantically making up stories about being in control.
As a result, physicists, neuroscientists and computer scientists have joined
the heirs of Plato and Aristotle in arguing about what free will is, whether we
have it, and if not, why we ever thought we did in the first place.
- Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don’t, Dennis
Overbye, The New York Times, Science Times Section,
These days there seem to be fewer new big concepts
around, and experiments are often conducted in the expectation of particular
results. But neuroscience is one area where big concepts certainly remain to be
discovered. And when they are, they are likely to upend humanity’s
understanding of itself.
– Who do you think you are? The
Without a belief in free will, an ideology of freedom
is bizarre. Though it will not happen quickly, shrinking the space in which
free will can operate could have some uncomfortable repercussions.
- Free to Choose? The
Is it an illusion? That’s the question,’ said
Michael Silberstein, a science philosopher at
- Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You
Don’t, Dennis Overbye, The New York Times, Science Times Section,
ISSUE STATEMENT: The Neural Buddhists – When brain
research meets the Bible, is an Op Ed piece in the New York Times by David
Brooks,
The Brothers Karamazov, with excerpts from the Chapter on The Grand Inquisitor, by Marie Jaanus, Professor of English,
______________________________________________________________________________________________
STANDARDS: http://www.tandemproject.com/program/81_dec.htm
Submit information under the Eight Articles and
sub-paragraphs of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief by using The Tandem
Project Country & Community Database.
http://www.tandemproject.com/databases/forms/card.htm
Introduction: The Tandem Project is dedicated to support for
International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief, with a
focus on fundamental values shared virtually universally by public, private,
religious and non-religious organizations to change how our cultures view
differences, how we often behave toward one another and to forestall the reflexive
hostility we see so vividly around the world.
As we are all painfully
aware, religious conflict continues to escalate worldwide whether in the
Surely one of the best hopes for the future of
humankind is to embrace a culture in which religions and other beliefs accept
one another, in which wars and violence are not tolerated in the name of an exclusive
right to truth, in which children are raised to solve conflicts with mediation,
compassion and understanding.
The Tandem Project: a non-governmental organization founded
in 1986 to build understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity, and to
prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.
The Tandem Project, a non-profit NGO, has sponsored multiple conferences,
curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and 1981 United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief.
The Tandem Project
initiative is the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of
United Nations Associations at the United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance
and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief, called
by the UN Secretariat in 1984 on ways to implement the 1981 UN Declaration. In
1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International Conference on
the 1981 UN Declaration.
The Tandem Project
Executive Director is: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.
The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in
Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations
__________________________________________
Purpose: To build understanding and support for
Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –Everyone
shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the
1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination
Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the United Nations, Governments,
Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and Civil Society to consider the
rule of law and International Human Rights Standards on Freedom of Religion or
Belief as essential for long-term solutions
to conflicts in all matters relating to religion or belief.
Challenge: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious
Intolerance, because of its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the
twenty-first century, a dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on
grounds of religion or belief is motivating a worldwide search to find
solutions to these problems. This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue
by States and others; including consideration of an International Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief for protection of and accountability by all
religions or beliefs. The tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:
Should the United Nations
adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?
Response: Is it the appropriate moment to
reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on
freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum
consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At
the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the
Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books
on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN
working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to
rush the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
especially not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief,
Option: After forty years this may be the time,
however complex and sensitive, for the United Nations Human Rights Council to
appoint an Open-ended Working Group to draft a United Nations Convention on
Freedom of Religion or Belief. The mandate for an Open-ended Working Group
ought to assure nothing in a draft Convention will be construed as restricting
or derogating from any right defined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the 1981 UN
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
Separation of Religion or Belief
and State
Concept: Separation of Religion or Belief and State - SOROBAS. The First Preamble to the 1948 United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads; “Whereas
recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. This concept
suggests States recalling their history, culture and constitution adopt fair
and equal human rights protection for all religions or beliefs as described in
General Comment 22 on Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, UN Human Rights Committee,
Article
18: protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not
to profess any religion or belief.
The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed. Article 18 is not
limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs
with international characteristics or practices analogous to those of
traditional religions. The Committee therefore views with concern any tendency
to discriminate against any religion or belief for any reasons, including the
fact that they are newly established, or represent religious minorities that
may be the subject of hostility by a predominant religious community. Article 18: permits restrictions to manifest a religion or
belief only if such limitations are prescribed by law and necessary to protect
public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms
of others.
The Tandem Project uses International Human Rights
Standards on Freedom of Religion or Belief to review the actions of
governments, religions or beliefs, non-governmental organizations and civil
society under constitutional systems such as Separation of Church and State,
Objectives: The Tandem Project Objectives:
Dialogue: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki
Moon, at the Alliance of Civilizations Madrid Forum said; “Never in our
lifetime has there been a more desperate need for constructive and committed
dialogue, among individuals, among communities, among cultures, among and
between nations.” A writer in another setting has said, “The warning signs are
clear: unless we establish genuine dialogue within and among all kinds of
belief, ranging from religious fundamentalism to secular dogmatism, the conflicts
of the future will probably be even more deadly.”
International Human
Rights Standards on Freedom or Religion or Belief are international law and
universal codes of conduct for peaceful cooperation, respectful competition and
resolution of conflicts. The standards are a platform for genuine dialogue on
core principles and values within and among nations, all religions and other
beliefs.
Education: Ambassador
The 1981 U.N. Declaration states; “Every child shall
enjoy the right to have access to education in the matter of religion or belief
in accordance with the wishes of his parents, and shall not be compelled to
receive teaching on religion or belief against the wishes of his parents, the
best interests of the child being the guiding principle.” With International
Human Rights safeguards, early childhood education is the best time to begin to
build tolerance, understanding and respect for freedom of religion or belief.
Documents Attached:
Neuroscience - Choice and Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Neural Buddhists - When brain research meets the bible
Dostoevsky - Choice and Freedom of Religion or Belief