At a global level, there is no majority religion; there are only religious minorities. It is only within the more limited horizons of nation-states or subnational boundaries that particular groups have predominance, and it is as against such predominance that religious minority status emerges. Significantly, the world's major religions all began as minorities, and even today remain minorities in many parts of the world. Thus, the provision of appropriate legal protections for religious minorities is something that all religious communities can appreciate, even though the sensitivity to the minority status of others is too often forgotten once predominance is attained.

Religious identity may correspond to and help define national, ethnic, or tribal identity, in which case other minority protections reinforce religious rights. However, religious affiliation may ...