Human Rights and Orthodox Christianity: Learning from our DifferencesJohn Witte, Jr. This essay was originally published on November 3, 2023 as a chapter in The Legal Thought of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, edited by Norman Doe and Dimitrios Nikiforos. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, has thought profoundly about the…
“Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.” Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd on Unsplash. O n August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial a speech that 60 years later possesses enduring significance for the struggle to achieve equal social opportunity as delineated within America’s founding principles. In the…
From the President of Ukraine (PD-US). The right to conscientious objection to military service as a fundamental human right is recognized and guaranteed at the international level. This opposition may rest upon reasons of religious belief, philosophy, morality, ethicality, emotional or political grounds. However, at the same time, the recognition of the right to conscientious…
Demonstration for Uyghur rights in Berlin by Leonhard Lenz (CC0 1.0). Uyghurs are a Muslim Turkic people who have been living for a few millennia in East Turkistan or Uyghuristan, which was called Xinjiang (New Territories) in the Chinese language following Chinese invasion. The Uyghur nation has members of ethnic Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tajiks, and…
“Tyre Nichols protest from January 29, 2023 at the Ohio State House in Columbus” by Becker1999 (CC BY 2.0). This article argues that the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man in Memphis, Tennessee, at the hands of five Black police officers (Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin…
“Amir Kabir University Uprising September 2022” by Darafsh. (CC BY-SA 4.0). How much can a religious-political system control its citizens? The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) legally required the hijab in 1983. Later, in 1996 and 2014, amendments were made to the penal code of Iran, but this law remained in place. According to the…
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 issues facing religious congregations, neighborhoods, towns, and cities where houses of worship are falling into disrepair or vacancy. View selected videos and browse all essays here. “City of Atlanta Faith-Based Initiative”…
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…