Human rights are one of the basic foundations of liberal democracy. However, human rights are rights that need to be constantly maintained and improved upon – by politicians and political parties and, ultimately, by everyone. This situation makes both human rights and democracy fragile entities. A wide societal support of human rights is an essential requirement for the understanding, development and protection of values that can be regarded as binding across cultural boundaries. Also, public support is crucial for the growth of a human rights culture and the creation of social conditions that respect and protect these rights. This volume offers an empirical, and not merely legal, perspective on the so-called first generation of human rights. It explores the legitimisation of these human rights by individual people, both because of their religion and because of their vision of what constitutes human dignity. This empirical approach provides an important complementary perspective for legal, political and public debates. Empirical research can ascertain the extent of agreement that human rights law has with human rights and can clarify the factors that induce or reduce people’s support of human rights. The key question in this volume is to what extent do adolescents in different countries support civil human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights? In this volume, religion is chosen as the key concept that might influence attitudes towards human rights. The relationship between religion and human rights is very complex. Historically, when human rights were integrated in democratic constitutions, most religious communities regarded them as dangerous. Among other issues surrounding the concept of human rights was that of freedom of religion and the separation of religion and state; religious communities showed little enthusiasm for either of these notions and, in some cases, displayed barely concealed animosity