Prambanan Temple Complex in Yogyakarta Indonesia. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas. (CC BY-SA 3.0). Political theory in premodern South Asia settled on a single model of governance at a relatively early date: kingship. This was so in large part because those who defined and controlled the intellectual and religious institutions of the day, the Brahmins,…
*(Proverbs: 12:10); “The Good Shepherd, St. Botolph without Aldersgate” by Andrewrabbott (CC BY-SA 4.0). The present essay explores why the various versions of Christianity that emerged in North America by the early nineteenth century contributed almost nothing to the emerging concern about the rights of animals and the prevention of cruelty. Despite the gradual emergence…
Artificial General Intelligence Illustration by David S. Soriano (CC BY-SA 4.0). The capacity to spread misinformation, manipulate people, and persuade them to believe or act in a certain way has been one of the main preoccupations that led to calls for stopping the development of artificial intelligence. The use of social networks to recruit religious…
Mazah Hills, Jos, Nigeria. Photo by Victor Salami Oyale (CC BY-SA 4.0). In 2022, I was invited by Harvard Divinity School at Cambridge for a conference titled “Ecological Spiritualities” to present my paper, on African eco-spirituality. While preparing the paper with a focus on the Indigenous experience, I carried out a survey which revealed that, although several…
Religion in Isla Margarita, Valle del Espíritu Santo by Wilfredor (CC0 1.0). This essay seeks to illustrate the state of religious freedom in Venezuela by analyzing the factors that affect its free exercise. First, it describes the presence of religious communities in the country and their relationship with the government. Second, it reviews the regulatory…
St Francis of Assisi by Philip Fruytiers. From the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. (PD-US). It is possible to investigate Saint Francis of Assisi’s life (1181-1226) from many different and relevant angles. His biography and the accounts of the way he lived are permeated with remarkable singularities and events: his horizontalized view of non-human…
Advanced Introduction to Law and ReligionFrank S. Ravitch This literature highlight is drawn from Advanced Introduction to Law and Religion by Frank S. Ravitch (Edward Elgar 2023). The full book is available here. The following is a short excerpt from my newest book, Advanced Introduction to Law and Religion (Edward Elgar 2023) pages 3-9. This book is…