History Archives - Page 4 of 13

“Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, The Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom’ by Spencer W. McBride” by Peter Wosnik

Dec 5, 2022Canopy ForumConviction, Literature HighlightsChristianity, December 2022, History, Religious Freedom, Social Sciences, Wosnik, Peter

Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “REVIEW: Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, The Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom by Spencer W. McBride” Peter Wosnik Now a world-wide faith with over 16 million adherents, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly known as Mormonism) began as a small, radical…

Open Hearts, Closed Doors: Immigration Reform and the Waning of Mainline Protestantism by Nicholas Pruitt

Nov 30, 2022Canopy ForumLiterature HighlightsChristianity, History, November 2022, Politics, Pruitt, Nicholas, Religious Freedom

Open Hearts, Closed Doors: Immigration Reform and the Waning of Mainline Protestantism Nicholas Pruitt The following is a modified excerpt from Nicholas Pruitt’s Open Hearts, Closed Doors (2021), used with permission from New York University Press. At the outset of the twentieth century, white Protestants still held a tight grasp on the cultural and social resources…

“The Case of the Sheitel: How Jewish Law Accommodates, Even on Cultural Matters, to Reduce Systemic Tension” by Michael J. Broyde

Nov 28, 2022Canopy ForumSeriesBroyde, Michael J., History, Judaism, November 2022, Religious Freedom

Image: Wedding celebration, Jerusalem 1981 / Drkup(IMJ) / CC BY-SA 4.0 This article is part of our “Clothed in Religion: Law and Religious Attire/Garb” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. One of the most interesting social developments in Jewish legal and cultural interactions with Western society is the sheitel,…

“The Women’s Mosque of America: Authority & Community in US Islam” by Tazeen Ali

Nov 25, 2022Canopy ForumLiterature HighlightsAli, Tazeen, History, Human Rights / Civil Rights, November 2022, Religious Freedom, Sex and Gender

The Women’s Mosque of America: Authority & Community in US IslamTazeen Ali The following is a modified excerpt from Tazeen Ali’s The Women’s Mosque of America: Authority & Community in US Islam (2022), out now from New York University Press. The Women’s Mosque of America (WMA) is a multi-racial women-only mosque in Los Angeles that…

“Sikh Studies and Its Publics: Positionality, Autonomy, and Responsibility” by Harjeet Grewal

Nov 23, 2022Canopy ForumSeriesAsia (Geography), Grewal, Harjeet, History, Human Rights / Civil Rights, November 2022, Sikhism

Image adapted from The Fabulous Creature Buraq by unknown author and a painting by Nar Singh (Public Domain) A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum and the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners who will examine the many religious traditions of South Asia and their diverse…

The Potential Religious Context of The Fourth Amendment by Peter Wosnik

Nov 14, 2022Canopy ForumConvictionChristianity, Constitutional Law, History, November 2022, Wosnik, Peter

Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “The Potential Religious Context of The Fourth Amendment” Peter Wosnik James Madison first introduced the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Congress in 1789. Since that time, the Fourth Amendment has become a bedrock in criminal procedure in American constitutional law. Thousands of state and federal cases…

“Ordinary Affects of U.S. Empire” by Candace Lukasik

Nov 11, 2022Canopy ForumLiterature HighlightsChristianity, History, Lukasik, Candace, November 2022, Politics

Religion and US Empire: Critical New Historiesedited by Tisa Wenger and Sylvester Johnson “Ordinary Affects of U.S. Empire”, A review by Candace Lukasik “American imperialist culture has seeped into Egyptian blood.” – Kirollos We sat on the back patio, eating watermelon in the heat of the sun on a chilly March day in 2021. Kirollos…

“The Southern Baptist Convention Cases and the Limited Option for Holding Religious Institutions Accountable for Clergy Sex Abuse” by Carolyn M. Warner

Nov 7, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysChristianity, History, November 2022, Warner, Carolyn

Southern Baptist Church by Warren LeMay (CC0 1.0) In May of 2022, the news broke that the US Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) had released an independent report investigating the SBC’s handling of sexual harassment and assault by clergy and other employees of SBC-affiliated churches. The report described an institution that prioritized avoiding liability, was callous…

“Regulating Religion in Taiwan: Historical Background, Changes, and Recent Controversies” by Rung-Guang Lin

Oct 18, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysAsia (Geography), History, Lin, Rung-Guang, October 2022, Religious Freedom

Yonghe Baofu Temple in Taipei, Taiwan by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash. One of the most notable characteristics of Taiwan’s approach to regulating religion is that the country has very few laws that directly intervene in religious affairs. Though some other Asian countries have religion-specific statutes that restrict interfaith marriage, regulate proselytization, or criminalize certain…

“Why Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Persecuted?” by Mathew N. Schmalz

Sep 16, 2022Canopy ForumEssaysChristianity, History, Religious Freedom, Schmalz, Mathew N., September 2022

Picture by Jace Grandinetti on Unsplash. Since 2017, the Russian government has attempted to “liquidate” Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religious organization. Branding Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” group akin to a terrorist organization, the Russian government has confiscated the organization’s property. Witnesses have been beaten and jailed. This persecution has been condemned by the European Court…