Interactions Podcast

Interactions Podcast

The Interactions podcast, a podcast about the interactions between law and religion, is produced by the CSLR and distributed by Canopy Forum. New episodes now available.

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Australian Journal of Law & Religion Collaboration

Australian Journal of Law & Religion Collaboration

Canopy Forum and the Australian Journal of Law and Religion, are publishing a set of essays that address the impact of “nones”–individuals who do not identify with any particular religion–on law, politics, religion, and society.

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Ongoing Series

Ongoing Series

Our latest series include essays on Masking Religious Violations, Transnational Christian Nationalism, IVF and ART, and a collaboration with the journal, Derecho en Sociedad. Explore our latest series by scholars around the globe.

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“Police Abolitionisms: Political Goals and Religious Ideals” by Charles Guth III

Image by David Geitgey Sierralupe on Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0) The United States has a policing problem. American police have killed over 1,000 people each year for the past decade and kill at a far higher rate than police in any other wealthy democracy. They use force on over 300,000 people per year, injuring approximately

“Will Abū Ḥanīfa Have a Beer and Smoke Ḥashīsh with Me in Jannah? Changing Perceptions of Khamr, Ijmā’, Bid’ah, and Sunnīte Islamic Law” by Scott Bursey

Frontispiece from a copy of Kalila wa Dimna of Abuʼl-Maʻali Nasr Allah by Unknown Author (Public Domain). Unlike the authoritative structures within Shī’a Islam which draw legitimacy from an ecclesiastical-style structure of liturgical and theological intermediaries, Sunnīs approach Islamic law from the basis of a shared consensus. This doctrine of ijmā’ (consensus), in which adherents

“Justifiable Limitations Upon Freedom of Religion and Belief in Australia’s Draft Human Rights Bill: Lessons from the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990” by P. T. Babie

Image of Dunedin, New Zealand by Arvid Olson from Pixabay While Section 116 of the Australian Constitution appears textually to provide broad protection for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), its interpretation by the High Court of Australia severely restricts its potential. The problem stems from the judicial conflation of two questions: whether FoRB has been violated and,

“Speaking Truth to Power in Challenging Times: Lessons from the Arab Spring Politics of Muslim Jurists” by Muhammad Amasha

Image by Bassel Zaki from Pixabay. I spent the last six years studying the politics of intellectuals, broadly understood as people of knowledge. While I mainly focused on some leading Egyptian religious Muslim jurists’ stances on the 2011 Arab Revolutions, I have also observed intellectuals adhering to other traditions at different politically charged moments. As

“Catholic Fraternal Pluralism and Respect for Conscience” by Matthew P. Cavedon

Basilica of Saint Peter by Carlo Armanni from Pixabay. Pope Francis envisions human fraternity in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti. This essay explores how “fraternal pluralism” guides the Church’s respect for personal conscience. This teaching reflects aspects of earlier Church history and the Vatican II document Dignitatis Humanae, and it can be illustrated by examining

“Religious Elements of the Sudanese Civil War” by Christopher Tounsel

Sudanese President Omar al Bashir in Juba, Sudan by Al Jazeera English (CC BY-SA 2.0). On April 15, 2023, civil war broke out in Sudan between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). That day, in the capital of Khartoum, RSF fighters seized the All Saints Anglican Cathedral and transformed

“IVF Returns to the Spotlight: Dobbs, Fetal Personhood, and Extra-Uterine Embryos” by Emma Kennedy

Baby at Play by Thomas Eakins (CC0 1.0) Critiques of President Trump’s recent executive order on in vitro fertilization (IVF) have emerged not only from opponents on the left, who see the order as a “glorified press release” that will not actually expand IVF access, but also from within his own base. These critics are

“Jewish Law Meets International Law” by Michael J. Broyde and Yehonatan Elazar-De Mota

Jewish Law Meets International LawMichael J. Broyde and Yehonatán Elazar-De Mota The following is an introduction to Michael J. Broyde and Yehonatán Elazar-De Mota’s new book, Jewish Law and International Law: Sovereignty and Exogenous Authority in a Transnational World (Oxford, 2025). In today’s interconnected world, legal traditions are constantly interacting across borders. Nations craft treaties

“Constitutions Address Religious Freedom, but Not as Much as Desired” by Dennis Petri and Jonathan Fox

The Village Lawyer by Pieter Brueghel (US-PD). The following essay is reprinted and adapted on Canopy Forum in collaboration with the journal Derecho en Sociedad, a biannual electronic publication that is free and open access. Their issue 19(1) features full length articles in Spanish and English. Read Petri and Fox’s long-form essay on Constitutions Address of Religious Freedom here. See other

“In and Out of Church” by Steven Tipton

In and Out of ChurchSteven Tipton The following is an adapted excerpt from Steven Tipton’s new book, “In and Out of Church: The Moral Arc of Spiritual Change in America.” With permission from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2025. Freedom of conscience runs deep in the American grain of religious practice and belief all the way