The Interactions podcast, a podcast about the interactions between law and religion, is produced by the CSLR and distributed by Canopy Forum. New episodes now available.
This symposium explores the complex and multifaceted nature of religious discrimination. Read new essays by various experts here.
Our three latest series include essays on Transnational Christian Nationalism, IVF and ART, and a collaboration with the journal, Derecho en Sociedad. Explore our latest series by scholars around the globe.
Photo by Jesse Collins 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. The meaning of the religion clauses in judicial opinions has changed dramatically over the last 150 years. Doctrine has shifted, sometimes precipitously. The case law…
Photo by Sean Valentine on Pexels 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. This essay was originally published on June 16, 2020 in Cato Unbound: A Journal of Debate The Liberty Bell is one of the most prominent…
Photo of Ludwigsburg, Germany marketplace/ maxmann/ Pixabay/ CCO In his dissent in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, wherein the Supreme Court invalidated student-led prayer prior to the start of high school football games, a dismayed Chief Justice William Rehnquist expressed the sentiment of many Americans, that “[t]he Court … bristles with hostility to…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Don’t Write off Sharia’s Forgiveness Option Just Because of the Khashoggi Case” Matthew P. Cavedon Jamal Khashoggi was a prominent international journalist and Saudi dissident. He was tortured to death and dismembered in 2018 at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul. On September 7, eight Saudis were sentenced for…
“Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies” by Michael Welker and John Witte, Jr. Five hundred years ago, Protestant reformer Martin Luther argued that “three estates” (drei Stände) lie at the foundation of a just and orderly society — marital families, religious communities, and political authorities. Parents in…
Photo by Joshua Sukoff 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. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.…
Photo by Cooper Baumgartner on Unsplash The May 25, 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, despite his multiple cries of, “I can’t breathe,” has compelled me to turn to Black theologian James H. Cone for a personal lesson in rebellion. Having spent over a decade working in the civil rights field, and three…
Photo by Chris Hardy / 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. September 17 is designated as Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. This…
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…