Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed
Since 2015, religious freedom has become a heated and divisive political and public policy issue in Australia. While rarely defined or interrogated, ‘religious freedom’ does not exist as a value-neutral principle with a single meaning. Rather, its discursive constructions are varied and serve to pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/669 |
| _version_ | 1797598467880648704 |
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| author | Elenie Poulos |
| author_facet | Elenie Poulos |
| author_sort | Elenie Poulos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since 2015, religious freedom has become a heated and divisive political and public policy issue in Australia. While rarely defined or interrogated, ‘religious freedom’ does not exist as a value-neutral principle with a single meaning. Rather, its discursive constructions are varied and serve to promote certain interests at the expense of others. Offering a new perspective on the politics of religious freedom, this paper draws together four separate studies of the public discourse of religious freedom in Australia (spanning 35 years from 1984 to 2019) to chart how its framing has changed over time and to explore the implications of these changes. This analysis reveals three major discourses of religious freedom emerging over three phases: ‘religious diversity’; ‘balancing rights’; and ‘freedom of belief’. This paper demonstrates how, once used to promote a progressive social agenda, religious freedom has become weaponised by the Christian Right and culture warriors in their battle to entrench in law the ongoing acceptability of discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:22:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-926ac78358ea4350aee8b4d57c1bad58 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:22:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-926ac78358ea4350aee8b4d57c1bad582023-11-18T03:05:32ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-05-0114566910.3390/rel14050669Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has ChangedElenie Poulos0Discipline of Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, AustraliaSince 2015, religious freedom has become a heated and divisive political and public policy issue in Australia. While rarely defined or interrogated, ‘religious freedom’ does not exist as a value-neutral principle with a single meaning. Rather, its discursive constructions are varied and serve to promote certain interests at the expense of others. Offering a new perspective on the politics of religious freedom, this paper draws together four separate studies of the public discourse of religious freedom in Australia (spanning 35 years from 1984 to 2019) to chart how its framing has changed over time and to explore the implications of these changes. This analysis reveals three major discourses of religious freedom emerging over three phases: ‘religious diversity’; ‘balancing rights’; and ‘freedom of belief’. This paper demonstrates how, once used to promote a progressive social agenda, religious freedom has become weaponised by the Christian Right and culture warriors in their battle to entrench in law the ongoing acceptability of discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/669religious freedomreligion and politicsLGBTIQ+ rightsdiscriminationreligious discourseAustralian politics |
| spellingShingle | Elenie Poulos Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed Religions religious freedom religion and politics LGBTIQ+ rights discrimination religious discourse Australian politics |
| title | Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed |
| title_full | Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed |
| title_fullStr | Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed |
| title_short | Three Discourses of Religious Freedom: How and Why Political Talk about Religious Freedom in Australia has Changed |
| title_sort | three discourses of religious freedom how and why political talk about religious freedom in australia has changed |
| topic | religious freedom religion and politics LGBTIQ+ rights discrimination religious discourse Australian politics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/5/669 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eleniepoulos threediscoursesofreligiousfreedomhowandwhypoliticaltalkaboutreligiousfreedominaustraliahaschanged |