Welcome to Canopy Forum

Welcome to Canopy Forum

Canopy Forum is a digital publication from the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. Our contributors deliver expert analysis on important issues of law and religion around the world.

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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. Listen wherever you get your podcasts for article reads, roundtable discussions, and expert analysis.

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The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty

This online symposium and essay series explores various aspects of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Read new essays from this event here.

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“The Right of Self-Defense and the Organic Unity of Human Rights – Part I” by David Little

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. This is the first installment of a four-part essay in which Dr. David Little develops a unified theory of human rights based upon the personal and collective right of self-defense. His central

“I Swear to God: Oaths, Accommodations, and the Binding of Conscience” by Matthew P. Cavedon

“I Swear to God: Oaths, Accommodations, and the Binding of Conscience” Matthew P. Cavedon Watch any courtroom drama and you know something serious is about to happen when a witness takes an oath. In the typical Hollywood version, it goes like this: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

“REVIEW: Law and the Christian Tradition in Italy by Condorelli and Domingo”

Law and the Christian Tradition in Italy edited by Orazio Condorelli and Rafael Domingo Review by John Witte Jr. This volume is part of a 50-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

““God, Sometimes You Don’t Come Through”: The Presentation of Religious Trauma Syndrome Through Rock Music – Part III” by Maggie Parker

“Audience enjoying a concert” by Yvette de Wit / Wikimedia / CC0 1.0 This is the third installment of a three-part essay that explores the way in which rock musicians are using their music as a way of working through religious trauma. Through the exploration of the connection of Religious Trauma Syndrome to PTSD, the idea

““God, Sometimes You Don’t Come Through”: The Presentation of Religious Trauma Syndrome Through Rock Music – Part II” by Maggie Parker

“Audience enjoying a concert” by Yvette de Wit / Wikimedia CC0 This is the second installment of a three-part essay that explores the way in which rock musicians are using their music as a way of working through religious trauma. Through the exploration of the connection of Religious Trauma Syndrome to PTSD, the idea is that

“‘God, Sometimes You Don’t Come Through’: The Presentation of Religious Trauma Syndrome Through Rock Music – Part I” by Maggie Parker

“Audience enjoying a concert” by Yvette de Wit / Wikimedia CC0 This is the first installment of a three-part essay that explores the way in which rock musicians are using their music as a way of working through religious trauma. Through the exploration of the connection of Religious Trauma Syndrome to Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the

“Mass Gatherings – COVID-19 Quarantines, Religious Rights, and Criminal Law” by Matthew P. Cavedon

This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. “Mass Gatherings – COVID-19 Quarantines, Religious Rights, and Criminal Law” Matthew P. Cavedon COVID-19 has become the sort of generational event that September 11, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Great Depression were

“COVID-19 Addendum: Experiments in Decarceration and the Courage to Rethink Commitments” by Mauricio Najarro

This article is part of our “Reflecting on COVID-19” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. In recent weeks, scholars, organizers, and healthcare providers have reflected on the impact of COVID-19 on all of our lives. Social scientists and practitioners have put together online collaborations such as Medical Anthropology Weekly: COVID-19,

“Conviction: A Series on Criminal Law and Religion” by Matthew P. Cavedon

“Conviction: A Series on Criminal Law and Religion” Matthew P. Cavedon “conviction (n) 1: the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law 2a:a strong persuasion or belief” Canopy Forum is an online publication on the intersection of  law and religion, and Conviction is Canopy Forum’s ongoing

“Subsidiarity and Abolition: On the Privatization of Prisons and the Demands of Justice” by Mauricio Najarro

“Freedom” by Marko Lovric / Pixabay In October 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill meant to ban the use of for-profit, private detention facilities, phasing out existing detention facilities entirely by 2028. Already contested by means of a complaint filed by GEO Group, a private prison management corporation, and a lawsuit filed by