Religion and State Project founder and Bar-Ilan University professor Jonathan Fox explains how state policies concerning religion and religious freedom can be measured empirically. Fox discusses what prompts governments to discriminate against certain (or all) religions and why government support of religion is a popular tactic to control it. He also provides nuanced perspectives on the interplay of democratic and secular governments and religious freedom, drawing on legal decisions involving religious freedom and women’s rights, bodily integrity, and the humane treatment of animals.

Timeline:

0:00 – On measuring religious freedom

11:10 – On state incentives to discriminate

15:02 – On governments’ lack of motivation to support religious freedom

19:59 – On the interplay of democracy and secularity with religious freedom