Education and Freedom of Religion or Belief: An Essential Relationship

James D. Holt is an associate professor of religious education at the University of
Chester (England). This post is based on a presentation given at the ICLRS 32nd International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2025.

On my office shelves is a copy of the Rodin sculpture La Cathédrale, depicting two hands. I often begin presentations by asking people in the audience to try to recreate the image. What usually happens is that people try to do this by themselves but quickly find they can’t. In fact, it can’t be recreated without somebody else because it depicts two right hands. To me, the sculpture is symbolic of interfaith engagement—of the need for different, distinct entities to create engagement and relationship. But the sculpture also represents the relationship and engagement between education and freedom of religion or belief: You can’t have freedom of religion or belief without education, and you shouldn’t have education without freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).

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Moving Toward Anti-Separation of Religion and State: Frank Ravitch on the Current U.S. Supreme Court

Frank Ravitch (Michigan State University College of Law) discusses America’s shift from moderate separationism to an anti-separationist approach to religion-state relations. According to Ravitch, the victimhood of social conservatives not only drives the Supreme Court’s current majority to an increasingly anti-establishment stance but also results in strong politicization of the Court and its decisions. Ravitch explains how recent First Amendment decisions, including Mahmoud v. Taylor (more because of bias evident in the majority opinion rather than the decision itself), contribute to this trend and predicts that the Court will eventually overturn Smith v. Employment Division and constitutionalize Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. He also touches on an alternative approach to both the current anti-establishment drift and radical separationism.

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Mahmoud v. Taylor: Even When the Current Supreme Court Gets It Right the Supermajority’s Bias Is on Display

Frank S. Ravitch is Professor of Law and Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law and Religion at the Michigan State University College of Law.

On 27 June 2025, the United States Supreme Court decided Mahmoud v. Taylor.[1] The case focused on the Montgomery County (Maryland) School Board’s integration of books featuring LGBTQ characters into the elementary-school English curriculum. The board had long integrated books with characters from a variety of backgrounds, including different religious and cultural backgrounds, into its curriculum. The goal of including books with LGBTQ characters was to be inclusive because the district is one of the most culturally, socially, racially, and religiously diverse districts in the United States.

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