The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Freedom and Conflict in the 21st Century

The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Freedom and Conflict in the 21st Century
Brian Grim and Roger Finke
Cambridge University Press 2011

Relying on a new source of coded data for nearly 200 countries and case studies of six countries, Brian J. Grim and Roger Finke have crafted a work that offers a global profile of religious freedom and religious persecution. This book shows that, contrary to popular opinion, ensuring religious freedom for all reduces violent religious persecution and conflict. Others have suggested that restrictions on religion are necessary to maintain order or preserve a peaceful religious homogeneity. Grim and Finke, however, show that restricting religious freedoms is associated with higher levels of violent persecution. They report that persecution is evident in all regions and is standard fare for many. They also find that religious freedoms are routinely denied and that government and the society at large serve to restrict these freedoms.