DEMOCRACY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: LIBERAL VALUES IN A CENTRAL ASIAN CONTEXT

Perennial questions about religious freedom and democracy include, ‘what are the moral limits to
religious freedom?’ and ‘what does respect for religious freedom require?’ In this paper I examine
some aspects of these questions and consider some examples from the context of Central Asia. My
aim is to highlight the relevance of some basic elements of political morality to any democratic state.
There are a variety of forms of state religion policy that are consistent with democracy. Moreover, if
we try to apply liberal political values in the Central Asian context there are interesting and difficult
challenges. I consider some of these challenges by briefly discussing religious freedom in the Kyrgyz
Republic.