English subtitles for clip: File:What is religion.webm

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everyone knows what religion is

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and yet

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no one can give a clear definition

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what is religion

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[Music]

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this is the university of the

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netherlands ever heard of the

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pastafarians

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no not rastafarians pastafarians

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pastafarians is another name for people

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who are members of the church of the

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flying spaghetti monster the church

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first emerged in 2005 after the

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publication of an open letter to the

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kansas school board raising concerns

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about teaching intelligent design

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that's the idea that the world was

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intentionally designed by an intelligent

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creator namely god alongside teaching

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evolution

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the church has quickly gained multiple

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followers across numerous countries

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around the world

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now since then pastafarians have applied

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for legal recognition as a religion in

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many countries including most recently

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in 2021 by members of the church in

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adelaide south australia

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now legal recognition would allow the

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church to among other things establish

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formal legal rules and regulations

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accountability structures gain tax

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exempt status and offer charitable

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social services all with government

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oversight

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however

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the south australian legal authorities

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rejected the application for formal

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legal recognition declaring that

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pastafarianism was a hoax religion

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designed to satirize or mock established

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religions

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the ruling came as a deep disappointment

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to followers of the church of the flying

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spaghetti monster who believe that the

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church is essentially misunderstood

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there is a core group of people who

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really believe in pastafarianism

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and it can change people's lives for the

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better

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so

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is pastafarianism a religion or not

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what even is religion

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and who gets to decide

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that's what we're going to explore today

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so what is it that makes something a

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religion

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that seems fairly obvious right we all

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know what religion is we all know the

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major world religions christianity islam

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hinduism buddhism judaism new ageism and

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so on

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but within christianity

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we have catholicism and protestantism

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and thousands of other denominations and

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sub-denominations

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do they all count as

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religion we know that there are sunni

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and shia islam but there are multiple

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other traditions within the global

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muslim community as well that all have

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slightly different variations in beliefs

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and traditions

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the same is true if we take a look at

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hinduism buddhism and judaism

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so when we talk about religion

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which religion do we mean

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which christianity are we actually

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referring to

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which islam

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what is it that we're really talking

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about

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with so much variation it's hard to be

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sure that we really do all know what we

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mean when we talk about religion

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now you might be thinking okay so there

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are different kinds of religions fine

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but they're all basically the same

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aren't they at their core

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they all share the same kinds of

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characteristics and do the same kinds of

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things and that's how you know they are

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religions

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well let's think about that for a moment

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what are these characteristics that all

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religions supposedly share that makes

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them basically the same

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is it that religion is defined by a

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belief in god

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if that's the case that would mean that

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buddhism is not a religion since

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buddhists don't believe in a god

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okay

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is religion then a set of guidelines on

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how to live a good life

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if that's the case then perhaps veganism

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can be considered a religion

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is religion an institution or a

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community brought together around a

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shared belief in something greater than

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oneself

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but then

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couldn't we also think about communism

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or nationalism as a type of religion

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does religion require a group of people

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meeting in a place of worship like a

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church

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that would rule out ancestor or nature

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worship as well as many indigenous

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spiritualities

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now this might surprise you but there is

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actually no widely accepted universal

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established definition of

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religion and yet decisions get made

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every day in courts in parliaments in

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policy about what counts as religion and

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what doesn't

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so who's making these decisions and how

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are they doing it

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well for the most part the state decides

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what does and doesn't count as a

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religion at least from a legal or

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political perspective

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and this is because of the way the state

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as we know it today has developed

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throughout history

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now this is a very abridged version but

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essentially

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within europe from for a long time the

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church was also the political authority

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gradually however

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other rulers emerged who drew their

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power from wealth or land or family

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heritage

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what we now call secular sources of

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power rather than from the divine

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religious power and secular power became

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separated and ultimately secular rulers

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and institutions established varying

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degrees of control over religious

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institutions

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with processes of colonialism and

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globalization this model of political

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power was exported around the globe so

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that now most countries have a

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constitutional structure that separates

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religious and political authority

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but in order to separate them we also

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have to decide what religion is and

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where religion ends and politics begins

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and this distinction looks different

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depending on your own culture history

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and background

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because it's not just about what the law

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or the constitution says

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it's also about how they are interpreted

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and the way we interpret law depends

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very much on the context that we're

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coming from

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so even though there's no official

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definition of religion written in the

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law

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the south australian court decided that

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pastafarianism is a hoax and not a real

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religion based on the cultural and

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historical context of australian

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politics law and society

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but

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so what

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what does it matter that the

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pastafarians aren't acknowledged as a

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religion they can still get dressed up

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like pirates and have their gatherings

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and their own texts about the flying

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spaghetti monster they're just not

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legally recognized

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well the pastafarians themselves are

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deeply disappointed about not being

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legally recognized

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but maybe that's not such a big deal

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perhaps

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but there are other groups around the

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world for whom the way the state or

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legislature decides what does and

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doesn't count as religion can make a

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major impact on people's lives

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especially when we look at the human

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right to freedom of religion or belief

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groups like the ahmadiyya community in

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pakistan

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the ahmadiyya follow the teachings of

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gulem akhmad a 19th century man from

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punjab who they see as a prophet who

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came after the prophet muhammad

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now the ahmadiyya consider themselves to

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be muslim they use the same terms to

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refer to their sacred rituals of prayer

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and worship as the broader muslim

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community

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but not everyone agrees with this

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indeed there are some who think the

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ahmadiyya are not muslims because in

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their view muhammad was the last and

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greatest of the prophets not golem

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akmart

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they see their use of the same rituals

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as offensive and blasphemous a

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deliberate act of provocation

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and this question of whether the

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ahmadiyya are muslim or not has been the

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source of significant political and

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civil tension and violence since the

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post-colonial formation of the pakistani

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state

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now it's here that the right to freedom

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of religion or belief comes into play

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a right that is enshrined in the

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constitution of pakistan it says that

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every citizen has the right to profess

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and practice their religion subject to

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law public order and morality

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so this should mean that the ahmadiyya

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can also practice their rituals right

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well that depends

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since the 1980s interpretations of this

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law have emphasized the preservation of

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public order rather than the right to

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profess and practice religion

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where previously courts had ruled that

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the ahmadiyya had the right to worship

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and pray and practice their religion

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courts and parliamentary legislation

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have determined that the ahmadiyya

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practices present a threat to public

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order because of the violent reactions

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they incur from the wider community

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further

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in the early 1970s constitutional

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amendments were introduced that meant

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that anyone taking the oath of office

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for prime minister had to swear not only

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that they were muslim but that they

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believed muhammad was the last of the

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prophets

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now this automatically rules out the

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ahmadiyya

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thus despite considering themselves

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muslims under pakistani law

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ahmadiyya are not counted as muslims and

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are restricted in their religious

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practices because of the violence with

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which other communities react

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maybe this is only a problem in pakistan

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where there are certain rights reserved

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for muslims

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what about other countries like

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supposedly secular countries where the

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law shouldn't privilege any particular

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religion and there aren't special rights

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for certain religious communities

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let's take a look at two cases from the

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european court of human rights that also

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addressed the right to freedom of

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religion to see whether this makes any

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difference

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the first case concerns mr lubb a

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primary school teacher in switzerland

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who converted to islam and began wearing

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a head scarf including while she was

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teaching

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now initially this didn't cause any

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problems mr loud didn't receive any

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complaints from the other teachers

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students or any of the parents about

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wearing the headscarf while she was

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teaching

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if her students asked her why she was

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wearing it she told them it was to keep

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her ears warm she didn't mention

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anything about her religion

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nonetheless

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the geneva education authorities ordered

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her not to wear it because it violated

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the principle of denominational

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neutrality in education the idea that

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schools and teachers shouldn't promote a

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particular religion or ideology

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mr lab argued that this violated her

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right to manifest her religion under

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article 9 of the european convention of

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human rights the right to freedom of

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religion

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what do you think the court decided

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before we discuss the outcome i want to

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introduce you to the second case which

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is also about religion in public schools

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this is the laozi v italy case now miss

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lautzy an atheist objected to crucifixes

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being displayed in the classrooms at her

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children's public school

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she argued that the crucifixes in the

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classroom violated her and her

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children's right to freedom of religion

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the same right that mr lubb argued

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should allow her to wear a headscarf

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now the school board rejected miss

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loutz's claim

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and left the crucifixes in place

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the case went through various levels of

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the italian court system until it

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eventually reached the european court of

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human rights

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at first the court ruled in favor of

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miss laozi saying the crucifixes on the

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wall did indeed violate the right to

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freedom of religion

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however

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the italian government appealed this

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decision to the court's grand chamber

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so we have these two cases where the

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european court of human rights had to

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rule about religious symbols in

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classrooms

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in the first case state authorities

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claimed that the presence of a head

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headscarf violates the principle of

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denominational neutrality in the

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classroom

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in the second case an individual claimed

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the display over crucifix violates this

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principle

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in both cases individuals claimed that

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their right to freedom of religion or

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belief is being violated by the actions

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of state authorities

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what do you think the court decided

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in the case of mr lab the court ruled in

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favour of the swiss government and

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educational authority

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mr lab was not allowed to wear her head

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scarf because it violated the principle

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of neutrality

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the court argued that the head scarf was

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a powerful religious symbol that it

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influenced the freedom of conscience of

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very young children

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further the court stated that the head

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scarf carried negative connotations

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because it was imposed on women by the

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koran undermining tolerance equality and

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respect for others

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in the case of miss laozi the court

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ruled that the crucifix is a passive

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symbol that doesn't violate the

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principle of neutrality and that there

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was no evidence of influencing the

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beliefs of young children

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in addition the court agreed with the

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italian state that the crucifix is also

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an important cultural symbol

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part of italian cultural heritage with

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positive connotations as a symbol of

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democracy equality and justice

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two similar cases two very different

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outcomes

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both of them decided by how the european

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court of human rights interpreted

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different symbols as either religious or

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cultural and as negative or positive

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and for both of them the individual

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rights of people to freedom of religion

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or belief are fundamentally affected

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pakistan switzerland italy

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each of these examples shows us that

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religion can mean different things in

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different contexts

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religion isn't something that is fixed

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and universal that we can clearly define

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and label

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it's something that constantly changes

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that we continually debate and contest

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through law and politics

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and in our everyday lives

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and it matters

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because it means that how we decide what

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religion is can have very different

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consequences for individuals and

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communities all over the world

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so what then is religion

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it depends

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it depends on where you are who you are

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and who gets to decide

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there is no standard universal

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definition

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the australian court ruled that

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pastafarianism wasn't a real religion

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but the pastafarians themselves claim

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that it is

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so who should we listen to

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the people who live and follow and

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practice the teachings of pastafarianism

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who know about it and engage with it

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or the legal authorities who assess

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whether something is a religion or not

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against cultural norms and legal and

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political provisions

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there's no easy answers here but one

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thing is clear

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defining religion isn't just an abstract

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theoretical or philosophical question

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defining religion has real consequences

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for people's human rights

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freedoms dignity

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and sometimes even for their lives

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thank you for watching

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[Music]

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you