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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Combating Racism


This  note from our dean, Gordon Smith, to the BYU Law School Community, is reprinted with permission, and our gratitude. 

Dear Law School Community,

Each time I enter our law building, I see an art exhibit captioned “Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere.” The exhibit features stunning portraits of people from Ecuador, France, Mongolia, Niger, and Pakistan by renowned photographer Steve McCurry. The title of the exhibit alludes to the Punta del Este Declaration on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere, which has been promoted by the Law School’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to remember, reaffirm, and recommit to the notion that “equal human dignity of everyone everywhere is the foundational principle of human rights and reminds us that every person is of value and is worthy of respect.”

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Fairness for All: An Answer to the Special Rapporteur’s Call for a Practical Resolution between Freedom of Religion or Belief and LGBT+ Non-discrimination

 

 

 

 

Robin Fretwell Wilson is Director, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois System & Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law

Tanner Bean is an Attorney with the law firm Fabian VanCott in Salt Lake City, Utah

U.N. Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed’s, report on freedom of religion or belief (“FoRB”) and gender equality (the “Report”) comes at an important moment in our collective existence. Many of us in many countries are struggling with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, fearing the impact on our families and communities. Yet, in the midst of this crisis, churches and people of faith continue to serve, albeit in altered and unique ways. In uncertain times like these, churches often rush to fill dire needs and remind us that we all need each other. (more…)

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