ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that instabilities in the engagement between the state and religion have complicated the position of religious minorities, ironically so as the status of religious minorities has played an important role in the development of the minority rights system. The chapter sets out some background to these claims in the complex, dynamic field of interaction of state and religion, turns to offer a typology of three very different forms of state engagement with religion present in the transatlantic context, and then argues that these forms developed significantly in light of historical factors in different states. The chapter furthers that claim with an examination of how different uses of the same distinctive legal modalities in two provinces in Canada reflect historical and contextual differences. The relation between state and religious minorities is immensely complex, and the chapter concludes with an argument that there must be a true theoretical reengagement with religion if religious minorities are not simply to face challenges but also to realize opportunities in the shifting contexts present in contemporary circumstances.
