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Professor David M. Kirkham, International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University, and Professor Ivan Strenski, University of California, Riverside, delivered the keynote addresses at the conference "Models of Relationship of State and Church: Contemporary Tendencies," which took place 10-11 May 2013 at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. Sponsored by the Collaboration for Democracy Centre under the direction of Stepan Danielyan, and with the support of the US Embassy in Armenia, the conference was the first of its kind in the country in which scholars focused almost entirely on challenges posed by traditional church-state relationships... more
The current issue of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion is now available online and in print.
ARTICLES
- David H. McIlroy : Locke and Rawls on Religious Toleration and Public Reason
- V. Bradley Lewis : Religious Freedom, the Good of Religion and the Common Good: The Challenges of Pluralism, Privilege and the Contraceptive Services Mandate
- Alice Donald : Advancing Debate about Religion or Belief, Equality and Human Rights: Grounds for Optimism?
23-24 May 2013. International Symposium on Iraq, 'Human Rights and Justice in Iraq', Istanbul, Turkey. The symposium is sponsored by the International Jurists Union, Istanbul University, Istanbul Sehir University, Istanbul Yeni Yüzyil University, Association of Researchers on The Middle East and Africa (ORDAF), and Lawyers' Association.
28 May 2013. Rt Revd Mgr David-Maria Jaeger OFM (Pontifical University ‘Antonianum’ and Rota Romana), 'Religious Freedom, International Law and the Catholic Church', Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Lecture Series (Trinity Term): 'Changing Nature of Religious Rights under International Law – 30 Years after the 1981 Declaration'. Public lectures, Tuesdays 5.00 pm, Regent's Park College.
6 June 2013. Human Rights in North Korea, MEP Anna Rosbach in collaboration with NKDB and Human Rights Without Frontier, main guest speaker Shin Dong-hyuk, European Parliament ASP Building... more
The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Lecture Series is announced for Trinity Term 2013. Public lectures on the theme "Changing Nature of Religious Rights under International Law–30 Years after the 1981 Declaration" are held on Tuesdays throughout the term at 5.00 pm at Regent’s Park College, Oxford. Organized by the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture, Regent's Park College, FORBFocus, Brunel Law and Religion Research Group, Bristol Centre for the Study of Law and Religion, and the Oxford Society for Law and Religion.
The conference "Challenges for Democracy: Religion, Law and Dialogue in the CIS and Baltics", was held 25-27 April 2013 at the Baltic International Academy in Riga, Latvia. The conference brought together scholars and government leaders from the CIS and Baltics to look at law and religion issues in this region.
The conference organizing committee consisted of Ringolds Balodis, University of Latvia; Elizabeth Clark and Cole Durham, Brigham Young University; Ekaterina Elbakyan, Academy of Labor and Social Relations (Moscow); Merilin Kiviorg, Oxford University; Andrei Tatarchuk, Baltic International Academy; and Renata Uitz, Central European University.
The conference was sponsored by the Baltic International Academy; the... more
The first Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Summer Academy will take place 17-21 June 2013 at Regent's Park College, Oxford. Featured Themes of the Academy will include
- religious rights
- international law and international relations
- law, religion and politics in the Middle East
- legal protection of holy places
- political theology
- international law and the Christian tradition
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies announces the third Religious Freedom Discussion Series. The lectures, followed by a brief question & answer period, are held in room 472 JRCB on the campus of Brigham Young University at noon on six Wednesdays each year, and are simulcast by limited-space Webinar to listeners worldwide. The public is invited to attend the lectures in person. For those joining by Webinar, early registration to secure a place is encouraged. Webinar links are available on iclrs.org one week before each lecture.
The right to freedom of religion is increasingly vulnerable worldwide. Recent studies find that 75 percent of the world’s population live under high or very high restrictions on religious freedom, and restrictions in many... more
A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010
Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. A comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.... more
Ma Guilin, Cole Durham,
Zhang Daocheng
The China Social Science Forum (2012 • Religious Studies) — Religious Charities and Social Development, sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), was held by the Institute of World Religions, 11-12 December 2012, in Beijing.
Photo: Ma Guilin is General Secretary and Vice President of the China Charity International Exchange Center; Cole Durham is Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, Utah, USA; Zhang Daocheng is Vice Secretary-General, The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Vice Director of the China Charity Federation.
From 26 November to 5 December 2012, the Institute for Global Engagement, Brigham Young University, and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi co-conducted the first-ever certificate training program on Religion and the Rule of Law in Vietnam.
The purpose of the ten-day program was to train an emerging generation of scholars, government officials, judges, and religious leaders on international and comparative approaches to religion and the rule of law. The training—using both comparative and interdisciplinary training methods—helped to build an emerging intellectual foundation as they develop a new legal infrastructure... more
One of the ten sub-groupd at the Beijing Forum 2012, "The Harmony of Civilizations and Properity of All," held 2-4 November 2012 in Beijing, was a panel of international experts discussing Faith and Society: Spiritual Reflections of Global Age.
From the Forum website, Panel II: The coming of globalization has made us profoundly realize that people from different nations, countries, and civilizations have different faiths.... more
The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has on September 20, 2012 released the third in a series of reports analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. The new report looks at the extent and direction of change in religious restrictions from the year ending in mid-2009 to the year ending in mid-2010. Where appropriate, it also compares the situation as of mid-2010 with the situation in the baseline year of the study (mid-2006 to mid-2007). According... more
The Twelfth Annual Assembly of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty was held in Bogota, Colombia September 6-8, 2012. Scott E. Isaacson, Executive Director for Latin America of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, attended the Assembly on behalf of the Center. Center Director Cole Durham is one of the founding supporters of the Latin American Consortium, and the Center has supported the Consortium in various ways over the years, including lending logistical and financial... more
The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion was introduced to the Oxford Journals collection in early 2012. The first issue appeared in print on 1 April 2012, followed by the second issue on 1 October. These issues, along with advance access to the third issue, are available free of charge on the Journal's website.
The new journal was developed "in response to the recent proliferation of research and writing on the interaction of law and religion cutting across many disciplines." The launch of the Journal was marked by Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Colloquium, hosted by the Religion and International Relations Programme of the Centre for Christianity and Culture and held 19 April 2012 at Regent's Park College, Oxford, UK.
... more
The 34th book by renowned Muslim scholar Dr. Tahir Mahmood has just been published by the Universal Law Publishing Co. The work, Muslim Law in India and Abroad, is co-authored by Dr. Mahmood's son, Dr. Saif Mahmood, Advocate, Supreme Court of India. Earlier versions of this book have been extensively cited in many Supreme Court and High Court judgments, and the work is considered as the most reliable contemporary authority on the Muslim Law of India.
The book was launched on Tuesday, 27 March 2012, at the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi by Hon'ble Mr. Justice Altamas Kabir, Chief Justice of India-designate, at a function jointly organized by the the Association of Scholars of Religion and Law and the publishers. Hon'ble Mr. Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, Judge, High Court of Delhi spoke on the book... more
Freedom of Religion under Bills of Rights
Edited by Paul Babie and Neville Rochow
Foreword by The Hon Sir Anthony Mason AC, KBE, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
University of Adelaide Press 2012
Chapter 1 Paul Babie and Neville Rochow, Protecting Religious Freedom under Bills of Rights: Australia as Microcosm
Chapter 2 Ngaire Naffine, How Religion Constrains... more
Faith on the Move, a study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, published on 8 March 2012, focuses on the religious affiliation of international migrants, examining patterns of migration among seven major groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions and the religiously unaffiliated.
About 3% of the world’s population has migrated across international borders. While that may seem like a small percentage, it represents... more
Religion isn't dying, nor should it, said Tony Blair in a 2 January 2012 blogpost "Faith in a Globalized Age," published on New Europe Online. The former British Prime Minister note that "for years, it was assumed, certainly in the West, that, as society developed, religion would wither away. But it hasn't, and, at the start of a new decade, it is time to take religion seriously." To that end Blair has created a Faith Foundation, "to create greater understanding between the faiths."
In a companion post, "Taking Faith Seriously," published the same day,... more