Publication Details
Thompson, K.
(2017).
Freedom of religion and freedom of speech - The United States, Australia and Singapore compared.
GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 6 (1).
Abstract
Freedom of Religion (more correctly, freedom of conscience, belief and religion under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR)), and Freedom of Speech have been logically tied together since human beings were sentient creatures. The two rights are inseparably connected by logic, since one cannot speak freely unless one has the freedom of conscience to think out something to say. For this reason, the two rights were combined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution in 1789 and that joinder has cemented the connection ever since even though the extrapolation of the two rights has seen them separated in modern human rights instruments. That latter-day separation in the interests of more complete expression however, seems to have disconnected the two rights in the minds of modern philosophers, legislators and judges.
Keywords
freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR), United States jurisprudence, Australian jurisprudence, Singapore jurisprudence
