The role of religion in public and

The role of religion in public and political life has been historically underplayed since the European Enlightenment. Yet there is increasing evidence of the importance of religion and spirituality in post‐Cold War public and political life (Smart, 1969, 1989; Casanova, 1994; Woodhead et al., 2002; Ward, 2003; Jackson, 2003, 2004; Gearon, 2002, 2004, 2006). In a European context, following the Reformation and resultant wars of religion, the ‘Enlightenment’ encouraged freedom of religion, thought and expression, and one of the defining political implications of this was separation of Church (or religion) and State, as in the case of France and the United States in the eighteenth centuries. The post‐Enlightenment separation of Church and State presented the groundwork for a wider marginalization of religion in public life, often defined as ‘secularization’, a marginalization to the private sphere which failed fully to materialize (see Ward, 2003). As readers of the International Journal of Children Spirituality will recognize, the growth in interest non‐formal, non‐traditional forms of religious, psychological, existential beliefs and practices is in large measure a result of an increased emphasis upon the private and the personal (especially the experiential) and a wider interest in spirituality.
The relationship between, on the one hand, political power and public life and, and on the other, religious or spiritual belief and practice remains complex. Each nation state presents particular historical and cultural issues and circumstances, for example around freedom of religion or belief, with infringements monitored by government, inter‐governmental agencies and non‐government organizations; in all their constant reminders that religion and spirituality continue to have public as well as private dimensions (Gearon, 2002, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2006d, 2006e). This Themed Issue is about examining some of the public aspects of spirituality, specifically focusing upon citizenship, particularly human rights and specifically children’s rights. Situations of acute and chronic conflict often accentuate the issues, and expert analyses of contrasting perspectives are presented by Mark Halstead and Saida Jaser Affouneh ‘Educating the human spirit in times of conflict: the case of emergency education in Palestine’ and Elana Sztokman ‘To be an Arab Jewish girl in a state religious school in Israel: navigating gender, ethnicity, and class’.
In terms of conflict over religious, ethnic, cultural and spirituality identities, 11 September 2001 is often cited as a turning point or benchmark in a newly emergent situation that seems to undermine the relatively unchallenged secularization thesis, notably by suggesting that what is done in the name of religion or spiritual tradition has an irremediably public and political dimension. Yet some time before 11 September 2001, religion and associated rights of religion or belief were seen as a barometer of wider democratic freedoms by the United States. For example, the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act made it a requirement for the US secretary of State to publish an annual report on religious freedom worldwide. Essentially, the US Department of State clearly continues to link freedom of religion or belief with the other democratic freedoms, providing country‐by‐country and comprehensive worldwide accounts of religious freedoms, the infringements of and improvements in relation to such rights to belief (http://www.house.gov/international_relations and follow links; cf. Shattuck, 2003).
There are also a number of further, independent indicators that highlight the importance of freedom of religion or belief in global governance, where religion and rights are seen as a barometer of wider democratic freedoms (Marshall, 2000; also http://www.freedomhouse.org). The Freedom House global survey reviewed the state of religious freedom in the majority of the world’s countries, providing useful snapshot insights into the political context of religious life in each; its database presents a worldwide survey of freedom of religion or belief, and is a valuable reference to key geo‐political (including educational) contexts, presenting information on religious freedom by area and by tradition.
The United Nations system has itself incorporated and defined freedom of religion or belief (importantly including provision for all aspects of spirituality) since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, notably in Articles 2 and 26 but especially Article 18. The latter states that, ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of: thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.’ But the early history of the UN tended to downplay religious and ideological diversity. Article 18 is the basis for the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981).
Thus after a long low‐level treatment, the UN system began to recognize the international significance of religion for a stable world order (cf. Lerner, 2000; Berg Harpviken & Eggen Roilien, 2005). During the 1990s—notably post‐Cold War where intense nationalism coincided with bitter struggles over cultural and ethnic identities—religion emerges explicitly in numerous international statements, gaining new and unprecedented prominence, for instance: