The secular state we take for granted in which there is no established church but in which there is freedom of conscience and belief and the right to practice any religion and form of worship is one of the great achievements of the liberal democratic state that we have inherited. This important human right, embodied in Article 145 of our Constitution, is the result of a long historical evolution in which religious intolerance and oppression of one kind or another had prevailed.

Article 145 reads as follows:-

(1) Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, and for the purposes of this article the said freedom includes freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and both in public and in private, to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

(2) No religious community shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that community.

(3) Except with his own consent (or, if he is a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years, the consent of his guardian), no person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if that instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion which is not his own.

(4) No person shall be compelled to take any oath which is contrary to his religion or belief or to take any oath in a manner which is contrary to his religion or belief.

(5) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this article to the extent that the law in question makes provision -

(a) which is reasonably required -

(i) in the interest of defence, public safety,

public order, public morality or public

health' or

(ii) for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons, including the right to observe and practise any religion without the unsolicited intervention of members of any other religion; or

(b) with respect to standards or qualifications to be required in relation to places of education including any instruction (not being religious instruction) given at such places.

(6) References in this article to a religion shall be construed as including references to a religious denomination, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly."

Religious intolerance can still be found all over the world, indeed in some surprising places. There are, for example, elements in the Christian right in America who hold extreme political and cultural views. America protects religious freedom constitutionally but it is a secular state which does not allow the saying of prayers in schools. Some analysts have expressed concern about what has been described as a heavy evangelical accent in President George Bush's theology which they suggest can lead to an apocalyptic interpretation of global conflict. Islamic fundamentalism is of course also an area of great concern and there have been disturbing indications in the world's largest democracy, India, of Hindu extremism.