In addition to its regular content explaining and commenting on a wide range of topics, Canopy Forum also publishes thematic series addressing issues at the intersection of law and religion from a range of perspectives. These series explore important current concerns through a series of essays or other multimedia content published over the course of several days or weeks, and aim to spark further conversations among our readers about how best to think about and deliberate on these questions.
In the Spotlight
Transnational Christian Nationalism
September 2024
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes by Raphael (CC0)
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and Canopy Forum’s new series hopes to shed light on the development of transnational Christian nationalism, and its impact on politics, the rule of law, and religious freedom with a focus on American political movements, European populism, and Russian politics. The critique of secularism has emerged as a powerful tool of mobilization in anti-Western discourse. In this discourse, “secularism” functions as a code-word for “the West,” liberalism, the overturning of traditional gender and family roles, and sometimes, antisemitism. Churches are used to assert a Christianist alternative to Western liberalism.
However, their invocation of Christianity is not simply about a “return of religion” in European politics. Rather, churches serve as the symbolic basis for a claim to the sacred, proffering alternative conceptions of political legitimacy, as well as justifying their attacks on the rule of law, and in the case of Russia, the international order. These anti-Western discourses in Europe find some resonance in American political movements. This essay series queries the traces of transnational Christian nationalism in America and the interconnection of political rhetoric, transnational networking, and highly engaged activism on both continents. ♦
Ongoing Series
Collaboration with Derecho en Sociedad
September 2024 – Canopy Forum and the journal Derecho en Sociedad are happy to announce our collaboration. Read these selected pieces on law and religion now. Derecho en Sociedad is hosted by the Latin American University of Science and Technology.
Religious Perspectives on Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy
September 2024 – Religious convictions often shape decisions—and sometimes laws—on assisted reproduction and surrogacy. This series examines different religious perspectives on assisted reproductive technologies and the implications for law and society.
Previous Series
Faith in Law, Law in Faith: A Festschrift in Honor of John Witte, Jr.
August 2024 – In Faith in Law, Law in Faith, a Festschrift for John Witte, Jr., a host of some 30 of the brightest lights in the interdisciplinary field of law and religion have joined to toast a scholar’s scholar, an intellectual pioneer in our field these last 40 years.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty
September 2023 – October 2023 – This essay series and accompanying one-day symposium examines RFRA’s origins and evolution and looks forward to its new frontiers.
Reassessing Democracy: Contemporary Christian and Islamic Perspectives
September 2023 – With a focus on both domestic (U.S.) and international examples, this series will cover topics such as the Catholic integralist challenge, controversies in Global Anglicanism, transnational conversations among Muslims in Middle Eastern and American contexts, and differences and similarities between dominant Sunni and Shi`a clerical traditions.
200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Law, Religion, and Native American Lands
March 2023 – April 2023 – Focusing primarily on the 19th through the 21st centuries, these essays illustrate how Johnson and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery have global import to Turtle Island (especially the United States and Canada) and Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Clothed in Religion: Law and Religious Attire/Garb
November 2022 – January 2023 – Ongoing debates about religious attire and appearance – such as the prohibition (or requirement) of hijabs in public spaces; beard restrictions in prison, military, and employment contexts; and more – have significant implications for the legal systems and religious practices of communities around the world.
Conviction: On Criminal Law and Religion
May 2020 – December 2022 – This series aims to fill the gap of scholarship that focuses criminal law and religion by sharing new essats on these topics ranging from news and recent events to perspectives on important and relevant issues, within the intersection of criminal law and religion.
Kennedy, Carson, and Dobbs: Law and Religion in Pressing Supreme Court Cases
July – November 2022 – The United States Supreme Court marked the end of its most contentious term in recent memory in 2022. In light of these events, this series exploring the intersections of law and religion in relation to these recent cases, most notably Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (prayer in schools), Carson v. Makin (school choice and state funding), and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (abortion access).
Russia/Ukraine: Law and Religion Perspectives
March – June 2022 – This series focuses on the intersection between law, religion, and politics regarding the Russia/Ukraine War.
Render Unto Caesar
November 2020 – November 2021 — This series broke down the walls that separate tax policy from religious and theological input in the public conception and published religious perspectives on taxes and pieces on tax law jurisprudence that focus on the religious and theological roots of, and ideas latent in, tax policy.
At Home and Abroad
June – July 2021 – A series focused on the political, religious, and legal dimensions of US politics.
Reflecting on Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Modern Politics
June – July 2021 – This series offers different perspectives on the legacy of thinkers like Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Religious Corporations and the Law
May 2021 – This series explores the relationship between religious corporations, law, and politics.
Law and Religion Under Pressure: A One-Year Pandemic Retrospective
April – May 2021 – This series examines emerging issues in law and religion after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chaos at the Capitol: Law and Religion Perspectives on Democracy’s Dark Day
January – February 2021 – This series examines different perspectives on January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S Capitol.
What’s Wrong with Rights?
January – February 2021 — In his recent book, “What’s Wrong with Rights,” Oxford Theologian Nigel Biggar, offers a trenchant critique of some of the ways we tend to think and talk about rights while also offering a more limited sense in which “rights-talk” makes more sense.
Children and Education Rights
December 2020 — In this series, several prominent scholars of religion, education law, race, and juvenile justice tackle a host of issues at the intersection of law, religion, and children’s educational rights
Notorious ACB: Law, Religion, and Justice Barrett’s Ascent to the Court
December 2020 —The nomination and confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court following Justice Ginsburg’s death in the waning months of President Trump’s first term raised many worthy questions of law and religion.
Fratelli Tutti: Reflections on Pope Francis’s Call for Fraternity in Law and Religion
November 2020 — In this series, developed in partnership with Talk About and BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies, scholars, theologians, jurists, and clergy reflect on Pope Francis’s recently published Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (“All Brothers”).
Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States: A Six-Month Assessment
October 2020 — The purpose of this virtual conference is to provide an opportunity for thoughtful reflection on the implications for law and religion in the United States of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the economic and racial justice crises, from our current perspectives approximately six months into the crisis.
Law, Religion, and Constitution
September 2020 — This series, created in honor of Constitution Day, features reflections from a number of prominent scholars hailing for several distinct religious traditions and nationalities.
Self-Defense and Human Rights
June 2020 — In this series, Dr. David Little develops a unified theory of human rights based upon the personal and collective right of self-defense.
Reflecting on COVID-19
April–May, 2020 — This series reflects on the COVID-19 crisis through the lens of law and religion.
Race, Religion, and Law
March 2020 — The legacy of slavery continues to ripple and reverberate across our national and global consciousness, as we grapple with identity, racism, and the meaning of belonging.
Religious Reflections on Forgiveness in Law
February 2020 — This series explores the intersection of law and forgiveness in American law from a variety of religious perspectives.
Natural Rights, Human Rights, and “Unalienable Rights”
January 2020 — This series explores the relationship between Natural Law and Human Rights in light of the State Department’s recently convened Commission on Unalienable Rights.