Canopy Forum is a digital publication from the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University that produces and delivers expert analysis to the broader community of digital consumers: citizens, scholars, lawyers, clergy, journalists, policy makers, and more.
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University holds conferences and events that draw thousands of participants from the far corners of the world. Explore recorded versions of our esteemed speakers here!
Browse some of Canopy Forum's most popular posts over the past few months, and read the top 10 posts of 2020!
A number of states, such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, have recently passed laws targeting transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) girls and young women, barring them from participating in girls’ and women’s competitive sports. The state of Arkansas also recently passed a law (Arkansas HB1570) criminalizing gender-affirming medical care to (TGNC) youth, such as the…
Freedoms, Religion, Family, and Public Policy: A Global PerspectiveGrzegorz Blicharz An Overview by Grzegorz Blicharz This series of books was published by the Institute of Justice in Warsaw as part of the Public Order Protection Project. The Institute of Justice of Warsaw is a public research center subordinate to the Polish Minister of Justice which…
Recently, in my part of the world, as in many places across the United States, debates have raged over the enforcement of mask mandates as a measure against COVID-19. My representative, Congressman Clay Higgins, described masks early on as “bacteria traps.” This assertion was apparently based on his former career as a police officer, in…
My query began with an observation. During the first spring of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were required to maintain small circles, why was I seeing such large family groupings riding bikes or throwing the ball around on open greenspace? Then it struck me. The answer was quite simple. These are families that have learned,…
Churches can be forgiven for describing themselves, like any other civil society organization, as “voluntary.” This Lockean portrayal, after all, dominates the American political imagination. But an exclusive or even primary emphasis upon the freely choosing individual should give churches pause. Does not Saint Paul describe each member in more corporate terms, as together making…
1. Introduction Coronavirus began to spread across the world a year ago, peaking in most EU countries (as well as the United Kingdom) in April or early May 2020. While the amount of COVID transmissions was quite lower in summer than in spring, from this moment on, its intensity has been variable. Legal continence measures…
Australian Jurists and ChristianityGeoff Lindsay and Wayne Hudson An Overview by Geoff Lindsay and Wayne Hudson This volume is part of a fifty-volume series on “Great Christian Jurists in World History”, presenting the interaction of law and Christianity through the biographies of 1000 legal figures of the past two millennia. Commissioned by the Center for…
Since its outbreak, the COVID-19 health crisis has had a devastating impact not only on our social lives, but also on our political and juridical systems, and it has also generated a deep economic crisis. During the first wave, the lack of effective preventive strategies and scientific uncertainty gave rise to a proliferation of pervasive…
On March 21, 2020, Americans became shut-ins overnight. Around 245 million people in the U.S. found themselves under stay-at-home orders. In Illinois, where we teach and work, Governor J.B. Pritzker became one of the first few governors to enforce a state-wide stay-at-home order. Following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Pritzker…
Constitutional theory and theology often intersect within a society. Theology may inform and influence constitutional assumptions and constitutional theory may shape some aspects of a religious sect’s theology. In this essay, I explain the nature of Constitutional Theology, explore America’s unique Constitutional Theology, and examine the COVID Heresy — our leaders’ denial of America’s Constitutional…