Linking Religion to Rights and Freedoms - Analytical Report

Report: Linking Religion to Rights and Freedoms
Authors: Pavel Antonov, PhD and Velina Barova
Publisher: BlueLink Foundation
Year: 2022

BlueLink Foundation publishes the analytical report Linking Religion to Rights and Freedoms, prepared within an international project supported by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

The report is published in English and summarises the results of research and analytical work carried out during 2020–2021 in Bulgaria and in an international context amid the COVID-19 pandemic, growing online polarisation and intensifying public conflicts concerning human rights, democracy, public health and the role of religion in public communication.

Religion, rights and online polarisation

The project emerged in the context of increasing use of religious and “traditional values” arguments in public and online campaigns against women’s rights, migrants, minorities and civil society organisations in Bulgaria and Central and Eastern Europe. These processes became particularly visible following the public conflicts surrounding the Istanbul Convention in 2018.

At the same time, the research was based on the understanding that religion-related communication cannot be reduced solely to a source of confrontation and exclusion. The report also explores examples of religious messages promoting solidarity, democratic participation, environmental responsibility, public health and peaceful coexistence.

Method and implementation

The research applied a qualitative and exploratory approach combining:

• observation and analysis of public and online communication;
• mapping of religious communicators and institutions;
• semi-structured interviews and expert discussions;
• remote consultations and online exchange;
• international dialogue and workshop discussions.

The COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered the project’s original design. Instead of the initially planned direct meetings and more structured interviews, the work gradually adapted toward remote communication, smaller expert discussions and more flexible forms of interaction.

Within the project, contacts were established and exchanges conducted with representatives of Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Adventist, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist communities in Bulgaria. The project also included the international workshop “Religious Communication in Support of Civil Society”, held in Leipzig in October 2021 as part of the Revolutionale forum organised by the Peaceful Revolution Foundation.

Main findings

The report identifies several major trends:

• religion increasingly appears in digital and media conflicts related to rights, identities and democratic participation;
• online environments encourage polarisation, emotionalisation and conflict-oriented presentation of religious issues;
• significant differences exist between official religious positions and the ways religious arguments are used in political and online communication;
• environmental and climate issues emerge as a possible basis for constructive dialogue between religious and civic communities;
• despite growing social polarisation, dialogue between civil society organisations, journalists, researchers and religious communicators remains possible.

The research also laid the foundations for subsequent BlueLink work related to religion, climate change and public communication, later developed with the support of the European Climate Foundation.

This publication was prepared within the project Linking Religion to Rights and Freedoms, implemented with the support of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). The views and analyses expressed in the publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of APC.

religion_bulgaria_analytical_report_bl.pdf