Freedom of Religion/Philosophical Origins/Tradition contributions/Millian Utilitarianism
What have religious and philosophical traditions contributed to our understanding of this right?
Millian Utilitarianism
Though Mill was a less forceful advocate for religious freedom and non-establishment than Bentham, his harm principle - that the only reason to restrict liberty is to prevent harm to others - extends to religion (George). In On Liberty, Mill argued against any attempt to impose religion on another person:
“The notion that it is one man’s duty that another should be religious, was the foundation of all the religious persecutions ever perpetrated, and, if admitted, would fully justify them. Though the feeling which breaks out in the repeated attempts to stop railway travelling on Sunday, in the resistance to the opening of Museums, and the like, has not the cruelty of the old persecutors, the state of mind indicated by it is fundamentally the same” (Mill 1859, 84).
George: https://www.anselm.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/Institute%20of%20SA%20Studies/George .pdf
On Liberty: https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/liberty.pdf Schofield: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/1896809.pdf