Religious Freedom in the Age of Coronavirus: Legal and Non-Legal Strategies for Finding Community and Hope


This post by Brett G. Scharffs , Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies is taken from remarks at the 2020  Religious Freedom Annual Review, Religion and Religious Freedom in the COVID-19 Era: Finding Community and Hope, an Online Discussion held  June 17, 18, and 19, 2020.

The current coronavirus pandemic as presents a kind of stress test upon us and upon the institutions to which we belong. As we strive to behave responsibly, avoiding crowds, wearing masks, physical distancing, this is surely a time that is testing the strength and resilience of the bridges that connect us one with another, a time that is trying our hearts.

We may find ourselves as if balanced on a razor’s edge, with despair lying on one side and rage on the other. We are already seeing evidence of mental and economic tolls this crisis is exacting, alongside the more obvious public health toll.  We are all affected by the horrific price the coronavirus has exacted. The toll upon those who have suffered the illness, and upon their families, is unfathomable: more than 7 million people worldwide have contracted it, many suffering terribly.  More than 400,000 have died. (more…)

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The Transformative Power of Loss: Finding Community and Hope for All


This post by Elizabeth A. Clark, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, is taken from an address at the final session of the 2020 Religious Freedom Annual Review.

Community and hope seem to be in short supply these days. Initial bursts of national unity in response to COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. have become seriously frayed, revealing for many, how splintered American life was even before the pandemic.  Self-isolation and social distancing tear at the heart of community. Is a meaningful community even possible when we are unable to be there for each other at book clubs, weddings, or even funerals?

Hope for many also feels out of reach. As of the end of May, over 100,000 Americans had died from COVID-19, more than in the Vietnam War. A staggering one-third of Americans have experienced high levels of psychological distress during the crisis.[1] Over 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits, the most since the Great Depression and roughly ¼ of the pre-COVID 19 work force.[2] Many who still do work have positions where they are vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure, and yet others struggle with disabilities or family situations that exacerbate the effect of the crisis. (more…)

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And When He Came to Himself


This post is an address by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered on 17 June 2020 at the 2020 Religious Freedom Annual Review.

I am grateful to participate with you in the Religious Freedom Annual Review at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University.  This is a most opportune time to consider together the importance of religious freedom.  And I appreciate the invitation to share a few of my thoughts with you.

The Prodigal Son

In the fifteenth chapter of Luke in the New Testament, we learn about a young man who obtained his inheritance from his father and then traveled to a far country (See Luke 15:11-32.) This young man “wasted his substance with riotous living.” (Luke 15:13) When he had squandered all of his resources, a mighty famine arose in that land, and “he began to be in want.” (Luke 15:14) (more…)

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