ABSTRACT
This chapter brings together a selection from the Fourth International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) Conference analyzing the current controversies relating to freedom for religion and freedom from religion that have dominated headlines worldwide and brought to the attention of the public vital issues connected to religious freedom. It trains the lens closely on select issues and contexts to provide detailed snapshots of the ways in which freedom for and from religion are conceptualized, protected, neglected, and negotiated in diverse situations and locations at the present time. The connotations of freedom for religion are deferential and accommodating, while the connotations of freedom within religion direct our attention to institutional issues involving the autonomy or self-direction of religious groups. Freedom from religion is the most modern concept in the relationship between 'freedom' and 'religion'. One major aspect of freedom within religion is the freedom of people or groups within a religion not to respect rulings of the religious establishment.
