Picture titled “Church, Religion, Freedom” from Pixabay (License). This article is part of our “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act at Thirty” series. If you’d like to explore other articles in this series, click here. I n a democratic multi-religious society, regulating religious freedom is a tricky issue. However, examining the issue from the perspective of a European…
Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia by Peter H. on Pixabay. Many Christians celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision in 303 Creative, LLC v. Elenis as a bulwark against coercion. In 303 Creative, the Supreme Court held that a Christian web designer has a First Amendment free speech right to refuse service to couples seeking…
Picture of The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria by James Gordon (CC BY 2.0) This article is part of our “Reassessing Democracy: Contemporary Perspectives” series. If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Since the 9.11 attacks and subsequent Global War on Terror, one of the major fields of study related to…
Image: Church Altar Pews (Pixabay) This article is part of our “Reassessing Democracy: Contemporary Perspectives” series. If you’d like to explore other articles in this series, click here. T here is no single Catholic political philosophy. Some intellectuals, like twentieth-century philosopher Heinrich Rommen, have even suggested that “Catholic political philosophy” is a contradiction in terms, given the…
Picture of the Chicago Skyline from Grant Park in by James Conkis (CC BY-SA 4.0). This essay is an introduction to our thematic series, “Reassessing Democracy: Contemporary Christian and Islamic Perspectives.” How do religious communities approach democracy? What religious beliefs, practices, and histories inform those views? And what does democracy look like when viewed through…
“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…
“No Lobbyists Beyond This Point” sign at the Maryland State House by Daniel Huizinga. (CC BY 2.0). In the history of corporate governance worldwide, “shareholder primacy” is the legal notion that shareholders — those who invest the capital necessary for companies to grow and innovate — do (and should) exercise ultimate control over business decisions. Because…
“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…