Russian Alternative Spirituality During the First Year of the War

Stanislav Panin holds a PhD in Philosophy from Moscow State University and is a PhD candidate in the Department of Religion at Rice University.

During the past year, religious communities in Russia have expressed the whole spectrum of views concerning the war in Ukraine, ranging from unconditional support to implicit or explicit opposition. Several publications, including my own post for this blog, documented reactions of alternative religious and esoteric groups to the current political situation.

(more…)

Continue Reading Russian Alternative Spirituality During the First Year of the War

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

Dmytro Vovk is a visiting associate professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Director of the Centre for the Rule of Law and Religion Studies, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Ukraine). An earlier version of this piece was posted on Forum18.

The Russia-Ukraine war, starting with the annexation of Crimea and the military conflict in eastern Ukraine and continuing with Russia’s full-scale invasion, has had a tremendous effect on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and other related human rights in the region. Murders, tortures, forced detention, and FoRB violations—including forced displacement of priests and believers, acts of religious discrimination and social hatred to religious minorities inspired and directed by Russian proxies, as well as expropriations of religious properties—have become the reality of the territories occupied by Russia in 2014 and 2022.

(more…)

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

The Role of Religious Groups in the 2016 Colombian Plebiscite for Peace and the Implementation of the Peace Agreement

Carlos Bernal Pulido is a professor of law at the University of Dayton School of Law and University of La Sabana (Colombia), serves as a commissioner at the Interamerican Human Rights Commission, and was a justice at the Constitutional Court of Colombia (2017–20). The following is an edited summary of his remarks at the ICLRS 29th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 3 October 2022.

The topic of this Symposium, “Religion’s Roles in Peacebuilding,” is important and relevant in many regions of the world. But I would like to talk today about the peace process in Colombia, my country of origin, and the role of religious groups in that process, or lack thereof. There are lessons to be learned from Colombia’s experience, and I would like to highlight several relevant points.

(more…)

Continue Reading The Role of Religious Groups in the 2016 Colombian Plebiscite for Peace and the Implementation of the Peace Agreement