First published in (2009) 12 Otago Law Review 37
This article is based on the author's Inaugural Professorial Lecture delivered at the University of Otago, 21 August 2008. The title of the lecture was inspired from the album of the same name by Bob Dylan (Columbia Records, 1979).

Introduction

A lunch-time Christian club is threatened with being shut down at a Wellington state primary school. A Muslim witness wants to wear her burqa when giving evidence in the Auckland District Court. The Exclusive Brethren complain of religious persecution by the New Zealand government following their clandestine support for an opposition political party at the previous general election. Complaints about a ban on communion wine in New Zealand prisons bring about a change of policy by the Corrections Department. Concerns are raised after Sikh priests board a domestic Air New Zealand flight wearing their kirpan (ceremonial daggers) under their robes. A Christian registrar in North London is disciplined for refusing to carry out a same-sex civil partnership ceremony. The Canadian news magazine, Maclean's, is accused of smearing Islam after publishing an article warning of the growing influence of Islam. Two Christian preachers are allegedly told to leave a Muslim area of Birmingham by local police lest they stir up ill feeling. These are some recent headlines relating to religious freedom.

Religious liberty is not in imminent peril in the West and, in both global and historic terms, countries like New Zealand enjoy a healthy measure of religious freedom. In the annual poll of my Law and Religion class, I asked the students to rate the state of religious freedom in New Zealand on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being deplorable and 10 being exemplary). The average score of the students was 7.4. That seems about right, perhaps even a little on the low side. But there is no need for complacency. The "travail of religious liberty" as the historian Roland Bainton wrote, has been just that - a long and difficult journey. Taking that as my cue, this article explores some of the potential "potholes" or "detours" in the road ahead.

The ominous phrase "the last days" perhaps needs a brief explanation. As used by the New Testament writers, it refers to the period between Jesus Christ's first coming and His second coming (parousia). This time is, as the biblical writers view it, a perilous one marked by widespread moral decline. In St Paul's words:

"But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without selfcontrol, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power."

No doubt some in every generation see the moral decay described by Paul present in their society, and to that extent they are right. Much of the twentieth century was tumultuous and, as some would see it, typified by social degeneration. I leave it to you to assess whether things are better at the start of the twenty-first century.

The plan of this essay is as follows. In the next, second, section I wish to describe the broad scope of religious liberty - how it extends to cover not just patently "religious" conduct, but all areas of life. The third part will canvass some of the major threats to religious liberty in the West. In the fourth section, I note that most conflicts between the state and the believer are satisfactorily resolved, but there are limits to how much Caesar will tolerate. I will then, in the fifth section, sketch some reasons why I consider religious liberty is vulnerable. I move then, sixthly, to a concrete illustration involving two evangelists accused recently of inciting religious hatred in Victoria, Australia. Finally, I conclude with some thoughts on the ultimate protection of religious freedom.

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