Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “So Help Him God?:The Case of the Prayerful Juror” Matthew P. Cavedon Mother Teresa said that “listening is the beginning of prayer.” One Florida juror listened in prayer and heard the Holy Spirit telling him to vote not guilty. So he did. Did he violate his oath to…
Photo by Jason Sung on Unsplash Om Hreem Shree Gurubhyo Namah Introduction Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech at the Parliament of World Religions in 1893 introduced Hinduism to the West. As an ambassador of one of the most ancient traditions of the world, he conveyed the essence of the Vedas, the universal acceptance of all traditions: “as…
Photo by Varun Yadav on Unsplash This article is part of our “Law, Religion, and the Constitutionalism” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Each year the United States Supreme Court produces a new batch of cases construing the religion clauses of the first amendment. There is something stylized…
Photo / James Coleman / Unsplash The coronavirus pandemic has had (and continues to have) worldwide implications. Quite apart from the tragic loss of life and the damage to economies, individuals have faced significant restrictions in their personal lives, which includes, but of course is not limited to, limitations on the extent to which they…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 Two Tracks for Twelve Steps: Rehabilitation and Religious Liberty in Criminal Sentencing Matthew P. Cavedon Right before Christmas 2019, a Canadian man won a settlement after his bosses made him attend Alcoholics Anonymous. Why? The man is an atheist, while the world-famous recovery program’s twelve steps require participants…
Photo by freddie marriage on Unsplash The French politician Robert Schuman (1886-1963) embodies the most genuine spirit of European reconciliation after the Second World War. One of the founding fathers of the European Union, a convinced Christian Democrat of German education and French heart, he was raised in the contested border area of Alsace-Lorraine and…
Photo by Fermin Rodriguez Penelas on Unsplash This article is part of our “Self-Defense and Human Rights” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. As we continue the important conversation begun in early June with the publication of David Little’s The Right of Self-Defense and the Organic Unity of Human Rights, Dr. Little…
Photo by Fermin Rodriguez Penelas on Unsplash This article is part of our “Self-Defense and Human Rights” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. As we continue the important conversation begun in early June with the publication of David Little’s The Right of Self-Defense and the Organic Unity of Human Rights, Dr. Little…
Photo by Fermin Rodriguez Penelas on Unsplash This article is part of our “Self-Defense and Human Rights” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. To begin with, let me express my deepest appreciation to the six respondents who have taken the time and made the effort to provide such…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Last Rights? Death Chamber Chaplains and the Law” Matthew P. Cavedon On December 22, 1849, twenty Russian dissidents stood on St. Petersburg square, waiting to be shot dead by their government. They had already been offered last rites. Several were even tied to a post. Suddenly, a messenger…