The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom edited by Heather J. Sharkey and Jeffrey Edward Green An overview by the editors What is religious freedom and how should we understand it? In recent years, scholars have taken impassioned stances in responding to this question. Writing from the perspective of U.S. history, one group of scholars has…
The Religion of Secularism Reexamined by Leigh Eric Schmidt Excerpted from The Church of Saint Thomas Paine: A Religious History of American Secularism America’s most famous infidel orator, Robert Ingersoll, was a paradoxically religious man. The son of a Presbyterian minister, he skewered his natal faith with a sharp wit and a silvery tongue on…
Legal pluralism, as practiced in Egypt in the 19th – 20th centuries, was made possible within institutional structures, procedural norms, and Islamic legal practice under Khedival rule. Islamic legal practice during Ottoman rule not only made other legal traditions accepted within a pluralist legal order, but also, it made them germane to how the system…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “What has Christianity to do with Criminal Law?” Peter Wosnik Released in 2020 by Routledge Press, Christianity and Criminal Law provides a veritable trove of insights into this important area of study. Not only does the work show the historical influence of Christianity on the development of modern…
Decolonizing Human Rightsby Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im Review by Firas Masri President Joe Biden and members of his administration have constantly reiterated the position that “human rights will be the center of our foreign policy.” Despite this claim, the Biden administration has failed to hold violators of human rights accountable. The U.S. government continues to support…
The Business of War: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Military-Industrial Complex by James W. McCarty, Matthew A. Tapie, and Justin Bronson Barringer The Business of War is the inspiration for and first volume in The Business of Modern Life Series. This series explores the ways that neoliberal global capitalism has infiltrated and come to…
Photo of a climate march in Montréal by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) concluded with an agreement that would constitute the Glasgow Climate Pact. Throughout the Conference, high-profile figures such as Sir David Attenborough were enlisted to persuade delegates to respond boldly to climatological crises confronting the world. Leaders…
Caring for Aging, Dying, and Dead Prisoners A Summary of Prison Chaplains on the Beat in US and UK Prisons George Walters-Sleyon, PhD. I believe that chaplaincy in prison is a calling. It is ministry, which is real, raw, diverse, illuminating, enlightening, humbling, stimulating, unpredictable, diverse, and challenging. Chaplains in prison need to have their…