Religious Freedom and Peacemaking

Knox Thames is a senior fellow at Pepperdine University and a senior visiting expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. The following post comprises his remarks during a panel on “Understanding Religious Freedom: Why Does It Matter?” at the ICLRS 31st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2024. Portions of his remarks were drawn from his book Ending Persecution: Charting the Global Path to Religious Freedom (Notre Dame Press 2024).

Introduction

There can be no durable peace without religious freedom. There may be the cold peace of a cessation of hostilities. However, lasting peace will not come until people can live together, recognizing the rights of their neighbors to pursue truth as their conscience leads without fear of discrimination or violence.

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FoRB Podcast: The Russian World Narrative and the Russian Aggression in Ukraine

In Episode 3 of The FoRB Podcast, Dmytro Vovk and Merilin Kiviorg invite Catherine Wanner and Thomas Bremer to discuss the Russian world (Russky mir)—a narrative utilized by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church to justify Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine and to portray Russia as an “anti-Western civilization.” They touch on the ideological origins and content of the Russia world, the Russian Church’s involvement in the war, political and legal responses to the Russky mir narrative by Russia’s neighboring states (Ukraine and Estonia), and debates over these issue in the United States and Europe. 

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Holiness as a Political Category: Reimagining Society Through the Mosaic Tradition

Ronen Shoval is dean of the Argaman Institute of Advanced Studies and head of the Herzl Program in Philosophy and Culture. This post is based on chapter 3 of his book Holiness and Society: A Socio-Political Exploration of the Mosaic Tradition (Routledge 2024).

 On Capitol Hill, the seat of the U.S. Congress, 22 relief portrait plaques are installed above the gallery doors of the House Chamber. These plaques, collectively known as the Lawgivers, depict figures noted for their foundational contributions to the principles underlying the concept of law. Among these figures are Hammurabi, Justinian, and Solon, lawgivers whose ideas shaped legal thought across civilizations.

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