ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how and why religions stand in the way of the promotion of human rights. The first section provides a general orientation into the topic by presenting exemplary evidence for the problems religious leaders often manifest when it comes to human rights. While keeping in mind the vast diversity of religious actors involved with human rights, certain specific roots for a critical and problematic understanding of human rights are analysed. Those include concepts of tradition (which tend to give preponderance to the societal status quo); the primacy of obligations over rights; a collectivistic reading of human rights; an exclusivism and exceptionalism, which undercut the vision of a human community of equals; and escapism (engagement for better social conditions is a second-order priority).
