Talk:South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms

Neutrality

This article needs some serious work on neutrality. At present it completely ignores any criticisms of the so-called "Charter" - for example Jacques Rousseau, Free Society Institute, SA Pagan Council.

The article also makes no mention of the fact that the charter has apparently not seen any progress in Parliament, and by saying things like:

The Charter was officially adopted at the Public Endorsement Ceremony in the Johannesburg Chamber, Constitution Hill, in the presence of the Honourable Mr Dikgang Moseneke (Deputy Chief Justice) and signatories.

seems to imply that the charter has a legal status which it does not in fact have.

I also have a problem with this sentence:

The recognition of the SACRFF under law will be significant for 83.5% of the population, a number far in excess of other groups seeking specific protections and freedoms as a constitutional right.

which seems to imply (though it does not state outright) that protecting the constitutional rights of majorities is more important than protecting those of minorities. This is a position which basically gets the whole point of constitutional protections completely backwards. - htonl (talk) 16:15, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

I have no prior knowledge of the charter but will do some research and try clean it up. HelenOnline (talk) 08:04, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

Done. Please confirm dispute resolved and NPOV message should be removed. HelenOnline (talk) 23:17, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm happy to remove the NPOV tag, and very impressed with all the work you've put into this article. Thanks! Incidentally, I think it might be good if the lead clearly expressed that the charter was drawn up specifically by religious organisations, rather than by (say) the government. - htonl (talk) 08:56, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I added "championed by members of civil society" as the statutory CRL Rights Commission was also involved in the drafting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by HelenOnline (talk • contribs) 09:40, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

I was thinking of something like:

The South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms (SACRRF) is a charter of rights drawn up by South African religious and civil organizations which is intended to define the religious freedoms, rights and responsibilities of South African citizens. The aim of the drafters of the charter is for it to be approved by Parliament in terms of section 234 of the Constitution of South Africa.

What do you think of that wording? - htonl (talk) 09:46, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

That is fine thanks (I have amended the lead section thus except for the charter of rights link which links to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms). HelenOnline (talk) 10:12, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Great - thanks for catching my error with that link. - htonl (talk) 10:37, 19 November 2012 (UTC)