How do law and public order relate to religion? What restrictions might political systems impose on religious minorities? What are the building blocks of a tolerant society, regarding religious diversity? These are the questions this section focuses on:

- Are there any tensions between public order and the practice of religious worship?

- Do religious minorities have to restrict their practices to private places?

- Do they have the same rights and opportunities as the majority?

- How have these questions been approached in the past and present?

The historical clippings in this section offer plenty of food for thought here. For example, clippings https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/6070 and https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/6076 show reactions of political rulers to the public worship of a religious minority in the Netherlands in 1577-8. How does this compare with the attitude towards minorities expressed in the Charter of Rhode Island in 1663 (see, for example, https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/6106)? And what stance did the famous Declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen in 18th century France (https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/6145) take here?

The way in which (religious) minorities are represented in law and public order is not only a historical issue. Clipping https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/6943 uses an extract from the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement to show how communities in North Macedonia have agreed on the use of symbols in crests and flags to mark their identities in the 21st century. .

After the terrorist attacks in the USA in 2001, Muslims all over the world have been confronted with Islamophobia (https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/1876). This posed important questions about representations of Muslims and the role of Islam in contemporary political systems, in Europe and worldwide. How did the Amman Message respond to these concerns (https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/1888)? And how did the Conference of Mardin in 2010 draw on historical documents (https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/1894, https://retopea.eu/s/en/item/1897) from the 13th century to consider the relationship between religion and politics?

The clippings in this section inspire engagement with questions that have been on the agenda for centuries and still need answers. How would you answer the aforementioned questions? How do the clippings add to your understanding of the issues