Rights of Religious Travellers
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: United Massachusetts
Recalling its longstanding commitment to the preservation of free expression and free worship,
Accepting then, a necessary corollary to those two fundamental rights -- that religious expression and missionary work ought to be legally protected as well,
Believing that when peaceful and non-coercive, missionary work does not pose a harm significant enough to justify its criminalisation,
Also aware that many religious travellers seek to engage in pilgrimage or visit holy sites,
Expressing its firm opinion that such travel, a fundamental aspect of religious freedom, also ought to be legalised,
The General Assembly, with the advice and consent of the delegates and member nations thereof, and by the authority of the same, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same:
- Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, the following terms:
- "missionary work" as the act of travelling to another country for the purposes of teaching about religious belief, engaging in faith-based charity work, or spreading a non-violent and otherwise permitted religious belief, including non-belief,
- "missionary" as an individual engaged in missionary work,
- Prohibits any member-nation from criminalizing the act of non-coercive missionary work, provided that:
- the work is done non-violently and in accord with all other relevant national law,
- the work does not pose a risk of sparking significant lawlessness, civil unrest, or other significant threats to health or safety,
- Declares that no member-nation shall:
- inhibit the rights of missionaries to enter a country, on sole account of their desire to engage in non-coercive missionary work,
- deny an individual the right to access and visit a public holy site of their faith tradition, except where a compelling practical purpose exists to do so in the name of public health, security, or good order, and where doing so is the least restrictive means of advancing said purpose, subject to reasonable operational and administrative restrictions,
- hamper the right of a traveller to possess, read, travel with, or distribute religious literature.