Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers by Charles McCrary The following material is excerpted and lightly adapted from the introduction and eighth chapter of Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers (Chicago 2022). In 2020, legislators in Iowa introduced a bill that would define the phrase “bona fide religious purpose,” from the state’s 1965…
A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Limiting Oppression: Duress and Unconscionability in Islamic Law” Rabea Benhalim “Indeed, God orders justice and beauty…
A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Proposal for a Muslim American Alternate Dispute Resolution and Mediation Center” Abed Awad Lee Ann Bambach…
A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Secular Law and Equity in Beth Din Decisions” Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann While recently reading the introduction…
President Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Justice Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court. The nomination is no doubt historic: If confirmed, Judge Jackson would be the third Black Supreme Court justice and first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. When it comes to matters of church and state, issues…
Last December, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Combating International Islamophobia Act. The bill creates a new position – a Special Envoy – within the U.S. State Department. The envoy would monitor Islamophobia globally. While the House passed companion legislation around the same time, the Senate bill…
“Harold J. Berman on the Revitalization of Criminal Law and Religion” Peter Wosnik The age we live in can be defined in part by its skepticism: skepticism of our national history, of our traditions, of our institutions. Commentators from various ideological persuasions have bemoaned the collapse of important American institutions. According to Gallup polling, major…
A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Guiding Christians to the Best Conciliation Process and Preparing Them to Participate Well in It” Candace…
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has strained the attempts of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) to maintain control and influence over its far-flung flock. The ROC has attempted to revive an imperial-style of church governance without the legal structures of an empire. Instead, it relies on mass media to cohere the wide territory claimed as its…
A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “Reversing Course on Conciliation Clauses” Ken Sande Although conciliation clauses (AKA, “religious arbitration clauses”) may be…