There is no doubt that freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief is one of the most important human rights, enjoying as it does even the privileged status of a nonderogable right. On the other hand, freedom of religion or belief protects phenomena that can be among the most controversial and dangerous in human existence, as religions and ideological belief systems can and all too often have been misused to stir up intolerance, discrimination, prejudice, hatred, and violence. When ethnic and religious criteria coincide, as for example in the former Yugoslavia, the resulting agitation can have horrendous results, including the possibilities of war and even genocide.