Conversations

Blog series on current law and religion topics

The right to conscientiously object to the military service is well established in international law and “can be derived from the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief.” However, in many countries across the globe, believers of different religions and belief systems continue to face challenges in gaining access to alternative service and, more broadly, practicing their belief not to bear arms and participate in military service. This blog series provides case studies that illustrate such challenges in various contexts.

On 23–25 June 2024, the AMAR International Charitable Foundation reconvened its Windsor Dialogue conference series on the theme “The Journey from Outside to Inside,” focusing on the Yazidis’ ongoing journey from persecution to inclusion. Held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, the 2024 Dialogue discussed challenges Yazidis face as they transition from life in IDP camps to life in a now-devasted Sinjar region or elsewhere—challenges inherent in gathering a dispersed people and in making a faith portable, particularly when sacred land is integral to that faith. Several conference presentations can be found below.

In this series, theologians and political and legal scholars reflect on the declaration and explore if and how the Holy See’s declaration Dignitas Infinita advances the Church’s teachings on human dignity, how it can help address dignity-related threats, and how it might (or might not) strengthen dignity as a basic value of human societies.

Antonio Autiero. Dignitas Infinita. A Theological Commentary

Paolo Carozza. Developing Our Understanding of Human Dignity for the Digital Age

Ingeborg G. Gabriel. Dignitas Infinita—Infinite Dignity. A Compendium of Catholic Ethics—and a Missed Chance

Greg Marcar. Infinite Love and the (In)dignity of Christ: Reflections on Francis’s Theology of Infinite Human Dignity from Infinite Divine Love

Rev. Thomas Massaro, S.J. Theological Perspectives on the Document Dignitas Infinita

Francisca Pérez-Madrid. What Does Dignitas Infinita Say about Gender?

Benedetta Vimercati. Why Should Human Dignity Be Defined as Infinite? Brief Reflections on Dignitas Infinita

In January 2024, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) Nazila Ghanea published a new thematic report titled “Hatred on the Basis of Religion or Belief.” In this series, FoRB researchers and experts share their reflections on Ghanea’s report and, more broadly, on religiously motivated hatred and ways to address it.

Eugenia Relaño Pastor. Applying Vernacularization to Hate Speech Based on Religion or Belief: A Short Exploration 

Montserrat Gas-Aixendri. Hatred on Religious Grounds and the Risk of Double Standards

Jagbir Jhutti-Johal. How Does Hate Speech Directed at One Community Affect Another Community?

Alberto Jose Ferrari Puerta. The Real Danger of Hate Speech and Its Impact on Vulnerable Groups

This series aims to explore the roles of colonialism and decolonization in the interaction of law and religion. Religion and religious institutions can be employed by the state to support its imperial expansion and facilitate the loyalty and cultural homogenization of colonized territories and populations. Religion can also be an important factor in post-colonial social, political and legal developments. …

Stanislav Panin. The Orthodox Church and Moscow’s Colonial Policies in Siberia

David Kenny and Peter McCarthy. Religion and Law in Ireland’s Post-colonial Nation-Building

Andriy Fert and Dmytro Vovk. Spiritual Independence, National Security, and Religious Freedom: Squaring a Triangle in the Case of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Dicky Sofjan. Decolonizing the Indonesian Penal Code

Piotr Szymaniec. Communist Law and the Protection of Religious Freedom in Poland

Ana Cristina Melo de Pontes Botelho. Portuguese Colonization, Catholic Faith, and the Relativization of Secularism in the Jurisprudence of Brazil’s Supreme Court

Series authors discuss the Pope’s approach to the war and, more broadly, his vision of just war and just peace from theological, historical, political, and inter-Catholic perspectives. Specifically, they elaborate on the nature of the Vatican’s neutrality, conflicts between Catholic ethics and the Vatican’s politics, the influence of the war on the Vatican’s Ostpolitik, and the possible contributions of Catholic theology to dealing with war crimes committed in Ukraine, including potential ecocide.

Regina Elsner. Hybrid Neutrality as the Deadlock: The Pope’s Approach to the Russia-Ukraine War

Pavlo Smytsnyuk. Pope Francis’s Humanitarian Diplomacy for Ukraine: Between Peacemaking and Geopolitics

Thomas Mark Németh. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Greg Marcar. On Spiritual Resources and Common Homes: A Look at Crimes in Ukraine in Conversation with Raphael Lemkin and Pope Francis

Many observers call Israel’s current constitutional crisis the biggest political challenge for the state since its establishment in 1948. Both parties—the coalition government and the opposition, as well as their supporters—are extremely polarized, with little room for compromise. While the major cause of the crisis (the reform of Israel’s Supreme Court) seems to be purely secular, a deeper look reveals a variety of religious aspects to the crisis.

Interview: Ori Aronson on Religion and the Constitutional Crisis in Israel

Gila Stopler. The Radical Regime Transformation in Israel Marks the Start of an Intra-Jewish Religious War

Moshe Jaffe. The Impact of Israeli Judicial Reform on Freedom of/from Religion

Following our previous series on (un)friendly algorithms and human rights, this series traces the historical roots of using machines for spiritual purposes and elaborates on AI’s influence on religious expression in the contemporary world (Panin); discusses the phenomenon of the sacralization of AI as a new “omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent” deity (Razmetaeva); argues that AI encourages the commodification of religious experiences, turning believers into consumers of “superior religious services” (Eddebo); and asserts that “tech giants and their algorithms” are the latest iteration of destructive monsters that have oppressed human freedom and rights since early modern times (Rochow).

Stanislav Panin. Challenges and Promises of Artificial Intelligence in Religion

Yulia Razmetaeva. Sacralization of AI

Johan Eddebo. AI and Commodification of Religion

Neville Rochow. Another Case of Déjà-Vu: The Sacrifice of Conscience to Monsters

 

In March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine had begun, we published a series exploring the role of religion in the war. In that series, we argued that the religious component of the conflict has manifested itself in a variety of aspects: from religious justification and rhetoric employed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to the perception of the war by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, to threats to religious freedom in territories under Russian control. Commemorating the first-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, we provide an update on these topics.

Jerry G. Pankhurst. Both Symptom and Cause: Four Problems in Eastern Orthodoxy Reflected in the Ukraine War

Robert C. Blitt. Russia’s Constitutionalized Civilizational Identity and the Moscow Patriarchate’s War on Ukraine

Alar Kilp. The Role of the ROC in the Sacralization of Secular Imperial Nationalism

Regina Elsner. No End to the Dead End? The Difficult Relationship Between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarchate

Catherine Wanner. The Effects of War and Collaboration on Trust in Ukraine

Andriy Fert. Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Ukrainian Orthodox Parish During the War

Stanislav Panin. Russian Alternative Spiritualities During the First Year of the War

Dmytro Vovk. Not My Church: Ukraine’s New Draft Law Dealing with the Ukraine Orthodox Church of (not) the Moscow Patriarchate

Michelle Coleman. The War and Religion in Ukraine: The Role of NGOs in Evidence Collection for Future International Trials

The ICLRS held its 29th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, “Religion’s Roles in Peacebuilding,” 1–5 October 2022. While the Covid pandemic restricted Symposia to online meetings in 2020 and 2021, this year’s Symposium gathered more than 80 delegates from 40 countries for sessions and related events at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, and in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The following select presentations are illustrative of the depth and breadth of the Symposium’s 90-plus presentations.

Daniel Philpott. Religion and Peace

Sharon EubankReligion’s Roles in Peacebuilding: Religion and Interfaith Engagement in Times of Conflict and Disaster

James Christie. Understanding Religion’s Roles in Peacebuilding

Asma Redi BalekerReligion’s Roles in Peacebuilding in Ethiopia: Religion and Interfaith Engagement in Times of Conflict and Disaster

Elizabeth A. Clark. Enemies and Brothers

Andrew Teal. Fidei Defensor

Carlos Bernal PulidoThe Role of Religious Groups in the 2016 Colombian Plebiscite for Peace and Implementation of the Peace Agreement

Rakesh NaidooA New Zealand Police Perspective on Religions’ Roles in Peacebuilding

Andrew MethvenThe AMAR Foundation: Remedies to Religious Persecution, Lessons in Peacebuilding

Jennifer G. WoodsPeacebuilding and the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Muhammadou M.O. KahReligions’ Roles in Peacebuilding in The Gambia

The 2022 Religious Freedom Annual Review, held on 16 June at Brigham Young University, focused on the theme “Living Peaceably: Religious Freedom as a Foundation for Religious Harmony.” Panelists in the opening plenary session shared personal reflections on “Why Religious Freedom Matters to Me.” Edited summaries of their presentations are available below:

Reverend Marian Edmonds-Allen. Why Religious Freedom Matters to Me

Simran Jeet Singh.Why Religious Freedom Matters to Me

Chris Seiple. Why Religious Freedom Matters to Me

 

In September 2022 The Review of Faith & International Affairs published an issue dedicated to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and women’s rights across the OSCE region. The issue brought together a broad and rich variety of papers focusing on international law issues; the role religions and religious freedom play in the promotion of gender equality, as well as in religion-related reservations and political opposition to relevant international law; and tensions between religious organizations and human rights defenders working in this sphere. In this series, we continue exploring this multifaceted topic.

Interview: Nazila Ghanea on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Gender Equality as Non-Clashing Rights

Marie Juul PetersenReligion, Gender, and Sexuality: Three Points on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Montserrat Gas AixendriHow to Make Progress on Gender Equality Without Decreasing Religious Freedom: The OSCE Context

Regina ElsnerUkrainian Churches and the Implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine: Being European Without Accepting “Gender”

 

In 2022, the ICLRS cosponsored two conferences as part of The AMAR International Charitable Foundation’s Windsor Dialogue series. The following posts, summarizing conference presentations, are representative of just some of the expertise and viewpoints shared during the 2022 Windsor Dialogue conferences.

Bishop Alastair Redfern. Fostering Frameworks that Set People Free

Sharon Eubank. Eight Years, Three Steps

Alastair AgerA Faith‑Sensitive Approach in Humanitarian Response

Maryanne LoughryThe Promotion of Music, Mental Health, and Preservation of Culture and Religion to International Agencies

Fitzroy Morrissey. Islamic Views on Music

Erin Bailey. Impact of Music Participation on the Psychological Wellbeing of Refugees

Aldo Zammit BordaWhy Iraq Should Enact Laws Criminalizing Genocide

The First Brazilian Symposium on Religious Freedom was held in Rio de Janeiro, 23–25 March 2022. The symposium was organized by the Brazilian Center of Studies in Law and Religion and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. Participants included dozens of leaders from religious organizations, academic institutions, government entities, and nongovernmental and civil society organizations—from Brazil and other Latin American countries, the United States, and Europe. The following summaries provide a small glimpse into ideas exchanged at this first-of-its-kind event

Edna Vasconcelos Zilli. Panorama of Religious Coexistence in Brazil

Marcio Henrique Pereira PonzilacquaLaw, Religion, and Society: Sociology’s View of Law and Religion

Ruth Junginger de AndradeThoughts on Law, Religion, and Society

Carmen Asiaín PereiraThe Reception of the Right to Religious Freedom in Latin America

Carmen Asiaín PereiraLa Recepción del Derecho de Libertad Religiosa en América Latina

 

The religious component of the Russian-Ukrainian war has manifested itself in a variety of aspects: from religious justification and rhetoric employed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, to the perception of the war by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, to the dramatic situation with religious freedom in the territories under Russia and its proxies’ control. These and other issues are discussed in this series.

 

The series contains tributes to Archbishop Desmond Tutu who recently passed away. The posts commemorate Tutu’s life-long efforts to promote peace, reconciliation, and human dignity and reflect on his legacy as a theologian and human rights advocate

 

The First Annual Forum on Law and Religion of the Southern Cone, “Human Dignity and Religious Freedom,” was held in Santiago, Chile, 28–29 October 2021. The forum was sponsored by BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies, the Chilean government’s National Office of Religious Affairs, and the Center for Law and Religion at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Below are links to select forum remarks, available in both Spanish and English

 

In this series, we provide different perspectives on religion and judging. Five contributors, academics and a U.S. federal judge explore religious diversity and the judiciary, interplays between religious convictions and judicial ethics, and the role of religion and religious beliefs in professional and personal biographies of judges.

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies speakers at the 2021 G20 Interfaith Forum Summit in Bologna, Italy along with leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Summit Theme is “A Time to Heal.”

In June 2021 the ICLRS Blog, “Talk About: Law and Religion,” hosted a webinar on advancing religious freedom in different political regimes. The panelists (Brett G. Scharffs, Seng Mai Aung, Ján Figeľ, Mine Yildirim, Knox Thames, and Elizabeth A. Clark) talked about their personal experiences in Iraq, Myanmar, Pakistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan focusing on challenges and restrictions religious and belief communities face in these countries and other parts of the world.

This series offers a set of essays written from various perspectives—Catholic, Orthodox, and secular—and with different outcomes—more positive and supportive, and more critical—concerning both ideas and approaches articulated in the 2019 Declaration and its political implications.

Rohingya Muslims Flee Violence In Myanmar

In this series we discuss the conception “grievous religious persecution” developed by Werner Nicolaas Nel in his recently published book.

In this series, we look at the individualization of religious beliefs through lenses of social philosophy, religious studies, and law.

This series develops the theme we were discussing in one of our previous conversations: the normative, political, and symbolic role of mentioning God in the Australian Constitutions.

This series explores the normative, interpretative, political, and symbolic role of mentioning God, the Trinity, and other sacraments in secular constitutions. The contributors consider the German, Greek, Irish, Polish, and Russian cases.

In October 2020, Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis’s new encyclical was released. This 287-paragraph document provides a Catholic perspective on a variety of questions from human dignity and political integration from the lack of public trust and peacemaking to the death penalty and fake news. Talk About: Law and Religion posts a series of theological and philosophical reflections on Fratelli tutti.

Developed from contributions to an international Webinar held 16 April 2010, Episode 2 of the Webinar Series COVID-19 and Freedom of Religion or Belief. Hear panelist addressing: How is this global emergency affecting our concept of human dignity? How can we ensure that restrictions to civil liberties that we accept for our collective safety respect human dignity and human rights?

Scholars from Israel, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine discuss a landmark case, believed to be the first time the criminal justice system in the UK has been used on behalf of an agunah – a “chained” woman left unable to remarry according to Jewish law because her husband denies her a religious divorce.’ Evoked in this case are issues not only of Jewish and British law, but of family law, religious autonomy, and women’s rights, with ”wide implications within the Orthodox Jewish community and potentially in other communities, when religious laws are abused .’