Why Religious Freedom Matters

Religious freedom is not just a human right—it’s a foundation for peace, prosperity, and global security.

The Strategic Importance of Religious Freedom

  • A National and Global Security Imperative

    Religious freedom is essential for peace and prosperity. It protects minorities, aligns with international law, and serves as a counter to conflict, radicalization, and extremism.

  • A Foundation for Thriving Societies

    Stable democracies, civil society, economic development, and social harmony all grow stronger when religious freedom is upheld.

  • Supported by Evidence

    Decades of research confirm that protecting religious freedom is not only a moral imperative—it’s a practical one. Scholars and institutions have demonstrated strong links between religious freedom and reduced violence, stronger democracies, and thriving economies.

The Evidence

  • 🕊️ Democracy & Freedom

    A 2011 Harvard, Notre Dame, and Georgetown study found that religious communities are more peaceful and democratic when allowed to freely worship.

  • 📊 Violence & Restrictions

    Dr. Brian Grim found a strong correlation between government restrictions on religion and religiously-motivated violence.

  • 📈 Economic Growth & Competitiveness

    The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation found religious freedom positively linked to 10 of 12 pillars of global competitiveness.

The Power of

Multi-Faith Collaboration

What is a Multi-Faith Roundtable?

A multi-faith Roundtable is a means to:

  • bring faith communities together to discuss and inform policy

  • coordinate actions to build social cohesion

  • discredit radical ideologies and extremism

  • strengthen security and stability

  • enable economic development and empowerment

  • foster sustainable peace and prosperity

“Religious communities are most likely to support democracy, peace and freedom for other faiths, and least likely to take up the gun or form dictatorships, when governments allow them freedom to worship, practice and express their faiths freely and when religious communities in turn renounce their claims to permanent offices or positions of policy-making authority.”

- Monica Duffy Toft, Daniel Philpott and Timothy Samuel Shah, “God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics.” (New York: Norton, 2011)