Brett G. Scharffs is Director of the International Center of Law and Religion Studies and Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. This post is based on a presentation given at the conference “Promoting Pluralism Through Religious Cultural Heritage Preservation” held at Exeter College, University of Oxford, 18 March 2026.

Religious cultural heritage preservation can be viewed as a human rights issue. But taking a purely human rights approach to religious cultural heritage preservation can be somewhat awkward since human rights are primarily recognized and protected for individuals. Preservation can also be viewed as a property right, but scratch the surface, and you realize it goes much deeper, in part because the property at issue resonates so deeply within communities. And so a rights-based approach may not be the end-all be-all when justifying preservation of religious sites.