The Journal of Human Rights

The Journal of Human Rights

Religious Identity, Difference and Human Rights: the Crucial Role of Hermeneutics

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
1 Professor of Political Economy and Human Rights, Utrecht University of the Netherlands
2 Professor of Development Policy, Institute for Social Studies, Hague, Netherlands
Abstract
Two fundamental questions tend to dominate religious discursive narratives and their interpretations: What duties and which rights are conferred by God applicable to all humans as the creation of God and regardless of their faith? And the second question is whether humans are sufficiently qualified to put into the words of God, not baring, the possibility of faulting the mercy of God for political, social or economic gains where hermeneutics become an ideology tampered with the power of divinity.
This paper discusses the untapped possibilities of the varieties of human faith and the potential gains harvest in order to ensure the respect for human rights, the sanctity of the human soul and the varieties of means that provide the necessary space for decision-making from a perspective of human difference. 
Keywords

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