Defining Harm: Religious Freedom and the Limits of the Law

Lori G. Beaman

Jul 2008 · UBC Press

About this ebook

In the past several years religion has increasingly become an integral component of discussions about diversity and multiculturalism in Canada. Of particular concern has been the formulation of limits on religious freedom. Defining Harm explores the ways in which religion and religious freedom are conceptualized and regulated in a cultural context of fear of the “other” and religious “extremism.”

Drawing from literature on risk society, governance, feminist legal theory, and religious rights, Lori Beaman looks at the case of Jehovah’s Witness Bethany Hughes who was denied her right to refuse treatment on the basis of her religious conviction. The B.H. case, as it was known in the courts, reflects a particular moment in the socio-legal treatment of religious freedom and reveals the specific intersection of religious, medical, legal, and other discourses in the governance of the religious citizen.

A powerful examination of the governance of a religious citizen and of the limits of religious freedom, this book demonstrates that the stakes in debates on religious freedom are not just about beliefs and practices but also have implications for the construction of citizenship in a diverse nation.

About the author

Lori G. Beaman is the Canada Research Chair in the Contextualization of Religion in a Diverse Canada at the University of Ottawa.