freedom

Religious Freedom Case Study Scenarios

You are a member of a minority religious community. Because the group in your city is not very large and does not have financial resources to have its own centre, you meet in private homes for prayers and discussions. Although you are not breaking any criminal laws, such meetings have been raided by the authorities in the past because your religion is not ‘officially’ registered. The authorities have threatened the participants of these meetings and confiscated the literature. Two people you know are in jail. You are walking with a friend to one of these meetings. While you feel these gatherings are very important for your spiritual development, you remain fearful about what might happen if the authorities find out about the meeting. What kind of conversation might you have with your friend? (Develop a script of this conversation, or act one out with friends)

Your religious teachings require you to wear a headscarf in public. You are supportive of this requirement and, as a matter of faith, it is important for you to follow this teaching. Unfortunately, your university has just passed a law forbidding such ‘religious dress’ at school. You have been able to wear your headscarf in secondary school and to you feel that continuing your education is important for yourself, your family, and your community. Education is a fundamental human right as is your religious faith. You cannot attend your university now without taking off your headscarf. What do you do? What does it feel like to have these two values in conflict? (Write a creative piece about the conflicting emotions you might have in this situation.)

At your annual appraisal interview, you are advised that if you really wish to achieve a promotion you ought to go to the pub with colleagues, in order to mix informally and socially. In this culture, such interactions after work are important to one’s professional development and you are a young executive with many ambitions. On religious grounds, however, you do not consume alcohol as your teachings forbid it and it is important for you to keep this law. What kind of pressures do you feel in this situation? What can you say to your employer, what can your employer rightly expect, and are there other options you might have? (Develop a script of the dialogue between yourself and the employer, or act out this dialogue.)Because you are a member of a persecuted religious community, the government has mandated that your deceased loved ones can now only be buried in unmarked wasteland. The cemetery once owned by your community has been desecrated. You are about to make your annual visit to the gravesite of your grandfather, but this site has largely been destroyed and you know you are at some risk in making this visit. Your relationship with your grandfather was a close one and you are devastated that his resting place has been defiled. (Write a creative piece about what you are feeling.)

A meeting is called at your place of work in which it is announced that members of your religious community are to be dismissed from their work on the order of the government. Your boss and colleagues, whom you consider friends, are uncomfortable with these developments and do not wish to see you leave. Nonetheless, you are called before a committee and told that, if you renounce your faith, you will be able to keep your job. You refuse to do so. After some weeks, your boss receives the order for your dismissal. You are also informed that you will not receive the pension you have been collecting for some 15 years. (Develop a script of the conversation with the committee and/or saying ‘goodbye’ to your colleagues.)