Essays Archives - Page 2 of 21

“Can Faith-Based Schools Retain Their Traditional Religious Values in a Changing World?” by Charlie Russo and Keith Thompson

Oct 17, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysOctober 2022, Politics, Religious Freedom, Russo, Charles J., Thompson, A. Keith

Contemporary efforts to regulate religious schools are unjust and bound to fail. Emerging legislation in Australia and the ongoing judicial controversy in the United States over the freedom of officials in faith-based schools to hire staff and admit students who share their values present serious challenges to educators in both countries, particularly in regards to sexuality.…

“The Unmelting Lebanese National Pot” by Imad Salamey

Oct 14, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysOctober 2022, Pluralism, Salamey, Imad

Post-colonial Middle Eastern states have failed to achieve national secularization and homogenisation. Nation-building has been obstructed by prevalent transnational communal affiliations. In Lebanon, a power-sharing consociational arrangement preserved the autonomy of sectarian groups in a loose national union. A communitocracy is formed to protect group plurality against forced national assimilation, marginalization, and dictatorship. This regime,…

“The Rise and Fall of Church-State Separation” by Damon Mayrl

Oct 13, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysMayrl, Damon, October 2022, Politics, Religious Freedom

For the past 60 years, American education has been governed by a policy of “strict separation” of church and state that formally disallowed both the teaching of religion in public schools, and public funding for religious schools. Like all policies, strict separation was a political settlement that emerged thanks to a strategic campaign by separationist…

“Remedies for Religious Persecution in China: An International Human Rights Perspective” by Michelle Coleman

Oct 7, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysColeman, Michelle, Human Rights, October 2022

The Chinese government is waging an assault on religion. Millions of Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists are being subjected to arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture, and the destruction of religious buildings, books and artifacts. Can the international community do anything to stop these human rights violations and hold the perpetrators accountable? China and Persecution of Religious…

The Bible and the Constitution: Of Monkeys, Babies and Original Intent by Larry W. Caldwell

Oct 5, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysCaldwell, Larry W., October 2022, Politics

In 1925, on Day 7 of the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial” (The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes), defense attorney Clarence Darrow interrogated prosecuting attorney William Jennings Bryan on the witness stand. His purpose was to discredit Bryan’s (and many Protestants’) view that the original author of Genesis understood the six days of creation…

“Why Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Persecuted?” by Mathew N. Schmalz

Sep 16, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysReligious Freedom, Schmalz, Mathew N., September 2022

Since 2017, the Russian government has attempted to “liquidate” Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious organization. Branding Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” group akin to a terrorist organization, the Russian government has confiscated the organization’s property. Witnesses have been beaten and jailed. This persecution has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, which recently imposed…

“The Universal Application of Laws is Never Equal: Antisemitism in U.S. Law” by Mia Brett

Aug 18, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysAugust 2022, Brett, Mia, Human Rights

“Klan display their robes at the U.S. Capitol: 1925” by Washington Area Spark. Until the Civil Rights movement in the twentieth century, courts interpreted laws as non-discriminatory if they applied equally to all, no matter their impact. Segregation, anti-miscegenation laws, and “Sunday Laws” were all constitutional because they all applied to both white and Black…

“‘Drawn from out of the very bowels of heaven and earth’: Natural Law and Discursive Politics in Richard Hooker” by Luke Zerra

Aug 17, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysAugust 2022, Ethics & Morality, Zerra, Luke

Statue of Richard Hooker on Exeter Cathedral Close (Rob Brewer) Richard Hooker (1554-1600) is credited — alongside Thomas Cranmer — as the most important theologian of the English Reformation. The six books of his Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity issued a defense of the Elizabethan Church of England against more radical Protestants, calling for further reform. Hooker’s conception…

“State and Non-State Violations of Religious Freedom and Implications for National Unity in Nigeria” by Dodeye Uduak Williams

Aug 5, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysAugust 2022, Religious Freedom, Williams, Dodeye Uduak

Nigeria is home to about 250 ethnic groups and culturally diverse communities with different religious affiliations, who speak over 500 different languages. The three dominant ethnic groups are the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. Nigerians practice Christianity, Islam or an indigenous religion. The country is divided almost equally between the Muslims who live predominantly in the…

“Social Media, Free Speech, and Religious Freedom in Australia” by Colette Langos and Paul Babie

Aug 3, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysAugust 2022, Babie, Paul T., Langos, Colette, Religious Freedom

Social media forms part of the fabric of 21st century global life. A form of speech, social media allows communication with a potentially vast audience. Unsurprisingly, many people use it to disseminate religious views or ideas. While such proselytising (as part of a broad freedom of religion or belief (FoRB)) typically causes little concern, some…