A cornerstone of democracy is freedom of religion. To flourish, that freedom must include a tolerance for disparate faiths. It is one of the great paradoxes that, while religions act as primary forces for mutual respect and peace, a significant percentage of the world’s turmoil arises from deep-seated intolerance toward other beliefs and practices.

As a result, religion today is subject to much discussion and critical consideration. Yet at no time has its civilising influence been more important. We live in a world where many solutions advanced to cure the world’s pressing problems ignore the spiritual nature of humanity. The explosion of intolerance, the plague of drug abuse, the increasing ills of illiteracy, crime and immorality and the rapid rise in terrorism and international conflict demonstrate the futility of purely scientific solutions alone.

Religious organisations, therefore, have an important contribution to make in resolving the ills of society. Indeed, churches of Scientology across the globe hold that a reaffirmation of the primacy of the human spirit will bring about resurgence in our civilisation.

International human rights instruments, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the Concluding Document from the 1989 Conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, articulate that every person has a right to express, practice and profess their religious beliefs. That freedom includes the right to possess the scriptures and texts of one’s chosen religion, to conduct religious services and to bring up one’s children in one’s religious tradition, without interfering with their own religious choices upon reaching maturity.

To this end, the Church and its members have for five decades dedicated themselves to the cause of religious freedom all over the world. They have helped investigate and expose discrimination by government bodies against a range of religious organisations, including Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist movements as well as Scientologists themselves. In Germany, for example, the Church’s Human Rights Office has documented more than 1,500 cases of discrimination, and has worked with many of those affected to help them address and resolve the situation.