“Cristo Church, Havana, Cuba” by Roberts & Co., Havana (CC0). The Regulation of Religion in Communist Cuba Religious groups have been viewed with suspicion by the Cuban government for a long time, as they are seen as potential threats to the socialist state. This distrust has led to subtle forms of repression, such as surveillance…
“In God We Trust” Plaque by USCapitol (CC0). Every year, state legislatures throughout the country introduce legislation that in some way brings together religion and the public education system. This is perhaps becoming more common, as state policymakers recognize the increasingly favorable precedents being put in place by the Supreme Court regarding the presence of…
Image by Wutthichai Charoenburi (CC BY 2.0). Religious rights and civil rights sometimes collide in public schools. In earlier cases, religious rights arguments were sometimes used to maintain racial segregation in schools, which obviously conflicted with the rights of students of color. In later cases, students made religious freedom arguments to justify wearing racially insensitive…
Managua Nicaragua Centroamérica by Hillsong7 (CC BY-SA 4.0). During crises or social conflicts in Nicaragua, the Catholic Church has served as a mediator and promoter of justice and peace. In countries with an authoritarian tendency such as Nicaragua, the Church’s support and guidance has been perceived as a threat to the government’s stability. In that…
Historic Houses of Worship in Peril: Conserving Their Place in American Life By Thomas Edward Frank This excerpt from Historic Houses of Worship in Peril: Conserving Their Place in American Life is an introduction to our virtual conference, “Religion, Property Law, and the Crisis of Houses of Worship.” View selected videos and browse all essays…
Constituting Religion: Islam, Liberal Rights, and the Malaysian StateTamir Moustafa The following is an excerpt from Tamir Moustafa’s Constituting Religion: Islam, Liberal Rights, and the Malaysian State (Cambridge University Press, August 2018). This book is available to read via open access. Over half of all Muslim-majority countries have constitutions that proclaim Islam the religion of…
“A Close Up View of a Puzzle Piece” by Pierre Bamin (Unsplash license). This article is part of our “200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Law, Religion, and Native American Lands” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. The Jig Saw Puzzle February 28, 2023 marked 200 years since Chief Justice John…
Lake Mystery, Canterbury, New Zealand by Michal Klajban (CC BY-SA 4.0). This article is part of our “200 Years of Johnson v. M’Intosh: Law, Religion, and Native American Lands” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Here in Aotearoa-New Zealand the doctrine of discovery is, for many, a very new concept. If…
Magite Historic / Alamy Stock Photo I read a newspaper column many years ago by Garry Wills. He was writing about a priest and three peace activists, morally outraged by the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War, who participated in a White House tour. At one point, they abruptly knelt, announced that the War was an…
Via Vyacheslav Argenberg on Flickr The tenth anniversary of a papal election is an important milestone. This is especially so in the case of Pope Francis, who was elected on March 13, 2013 in extraordinary circumstances after the resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had been in office for less than eight years. Of…