THE NEW RELIGIONS AND THEIR HUMAN RIGHT TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

There is evidence that the right to religious freedom is threatened in the present times. Despite the achievements of democratic societies and the championing of liberties, this right is still infringed upon. While there are many discourses on infringement on the right to religious freedoms, little attention is paid to the impact on the new religions. Through critical hermeneutic and analytic methods, the paper argues that the new religions have the right to religious freedom like the major world religions. Infringement on the freedom of religion violates human dignity and autonomy and negatively impacts people’s psycho-spiritual good. The paper finds that there is an infringement on the right to religious freedom of the new religions in a disproportionate manner. It concludes that there is a need to safeguard the right to religious freedom of adherents of the new religions. A more harmonious society will be created when this is done.