Law and Religion Headlines
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Monday, 18 September 2023
EVENT, 18-19 September 2023: International Moot Court Competition in Law and Religion (Milan, Italy)
(European Academy of Religion)
Monday, 21 August 2023
EVENT, 21-23 August 2023: 9th IRLA World Congress on Religious Freedom - 130 Years of Advocacy (Washington, DC)
(International Religious Liberty Association)
Friday, 18 August 2023
EVENT, 14-18 August 2023: 2023 Parliament of the World's Religions: A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights (Chicago, USA)
(A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights, Parliament of the World's Religions)
Thursday, 13 July 2023
EVENT, 13-15 July 2023: Frontiers of Democracy 2023: Religious Pluralism and Robust Democracy in Multiracial Societies, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
(Tufts University)
Tuesday, 11 July 2023
EVENT, 11-13 July 2023: Religious Liberty Summit 2023 (London)
(University of Notre Dame Law School)
Monday, 3 July 2023
HYBRID COURSE, 3-7 July 2023: The International Human Rights Standards and System: Monitoring and Implementation Strategies at the National Level
(Geneva Human Rights Platform)
Wednesday, 28 June 2023
EVENT, 28 June 2023 (10:30AM ET): USCIRF Hearing: Deteriorating Religious Freedom Conditions in Cuba (Miami)
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Friday, 23 June 2023
EVENT, 19-23 June 2023: Sixth Annual Conference | Theme: Religion from the Inside
(European Academy of Religion)
Wednesday, 21 June 2023
EVENT, 21-23 June 2023: Negotiating Boundaries in Buddhism and Buddhist Studies (Scotland)
(University of St Andrews)
Thursday, 15 June 2023
EVENT, 15 June 2023: 2023 Religious Freedom Annual Review: "Religious Communities: Worshipping, Serving, and Learning Together” (Provo, Utah)
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)
Wednesday, 14 June 2023
EVENT, 14-20 June 2023: Conference of European Churches (CEC) General Assembly
(Conference of European Churches)
Thursday, 8 June 2023
VIRTUAL EVENT, 8 June 2023 (10AM ET): USCIRF Conversation: Evaluating Religious Freedom in Uzbekistan
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Tuesday, 6 June 2023
HYBRID EVENT, 6 June 2023 (16h00 UTC+2): How can the EU-CELAC Summit contribute to a partnership of equals and promote global justice?
(Latin American Episcopal Council, COMECE, Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean, Caritas Europa)
EVENT, 6 June 2023 (8.00 hrs): Ecumenical Prayer for Peace and Christian unity to be held at the European parliament
(Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the EU (COMECE))
Friday, 2 June 2023
CALL FOR INPUTS, 2 June 2023: Promotion of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief at the national and local level – GA report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
(Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)
Thursday, 1 June 2023
EVENT, 1 June 2023 (6:30PM EDT): Religious Liberty and Human Dignity: The Promise of American Pluralism (Charlotte, NC)
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, deadline 31 May 2023: Contract Opportunities (Examination of Anti-Muslim Bias in Europe, Implementation of Expedited Removal Recommendations, and Enhancing IRFA’s CPC Designation Tool, 25 Years On)
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
EVENT, 31 May 2023 (5:30PM in Boston): 2023 Shurden Lecture: The Myth of American ‘Chosenness’
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Monday, 29 May 2023
Brazil: Religious freedom at risk in business (Portuguese)
(Cristiano Stefenoni, Comunhão)
Brazil: It has never been so urgent to face religious intolerance (Portuguese)
(Magali Cunha, Carta Capital)
Spain grants historic tax exemption to Jehovah’s Witnesses
(Jehovah's Witnesses)
Bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms fails in House after missing crucial deadline
(Robert Downen, The Texas Tribune)
Al-Shabab terrorists target African Union army base in Somalia
(Daily Sabah)
European Muslim Forum backs Erdoğan in Turkish runoff
(Daily Sabah)
The Moscow Mechanism Expert Report on the Forcible Transfer and Deportation of Ukrainian Children
(Veronika Bilkova, Cecilie Hellestveit and Elīna Šteinerte, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
American evangelism and complementarianism: authority and abuse
(Jennifer McKinney, OUPblog: Religion)
Saturday, 27 May 2023
EVENT, 27 May 2023 (9.00 h): 1º Fórum de Liberdade Religiosa (Fortaleza)
(Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Ceará)
Friday, 26 May 2023
Some worshippers switching congregations amid United Methodist split over LGBTQ issues
(Peter Smith and Holly Meyer, Associated Press)
What is Christian nationalism, anyway?
(Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)
Pope sends Vatican official to Bolivia as abuse allegations escalate
(Carlos Valdez, Associated Press)
Catholic clergy sexually abused Illinois kids far more often than church acknowledged, state finds
(Michael Tarm and Kathleen Foody, Associated Press)
New Mexican Spanish, a unique American dialect, survives mostly in prayers
(Giovanna Dell Orto, Associated Press)
Happy birthday, Buddha! Why the founder of Buddhism has so many different birthdays around the world
(Megan Bryson, The Conversation)
Shavuot: The Jewish holiday that became all about children
(Laura Yares, The Conversation)
IRFBA statement on Christians
(U.S. Department of State)
IRFBA Chair’s statement on the arbitrary detention of Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson
(International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA), U.S. Department of State)
The U.S. strategy for international religious engagement: 10 years on
(Peter Mandaville and Julia Schiwal, The United States Institute of Peace)
MP introduces urgent legislation for accountability in Canada’s security agencies
(Steven Zhou, Canada's National Observer)
Revictimization in the search for a solution to conflicts related to religious freedom
(Pablo Vargas, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Mosque in Germany gets letter with neo-Nazi threats
(Ayhan Simsek, Anadolu Agency)
Religious persecution at the far edge of India
(Knox Thames, The Diplomat)
The crisis in Manipur has been brewing: Depths of discord in northeastern India
(Martin Macwan, South Asia Monitor)
India: Atal Behari Vajpayee: The man who made Hindu nationalist politics acceptable
(Soutik Biswas, BBC News)
Sacred Spheres: Religious Autonomy as an International Human Right
(Diana V. Thomson and Kayla A. Toney, Catholic University Law Review)
New book: Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law: From the Classical Period to the Present
(Omer Awass, Cambridge University Press)
Blasphemy laws in Nigeria
(UK Parliament)
FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Releases First-Ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
(The White House)
Universal Periodic Review – the UK’s status as a human rights champion could be under threat
(Marcial Boo, Equality and Human Rights Commission)
Travel to Brazil, Suriname, and Guyana
(Twitter, Office of International Religious Freedom)
Chechen leader slams Quran-burning incident in Volgograd as outrageous
(TASS)
Russia acknowledges Vatican peace initiative, says no steps yet for a mission to Moscow
(Paolo Santalucia and Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
Texas legislature approves chaplains in public schools
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court OK's police department's rejection of religious-themed flags and uniform patches
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Mahmoud v. McKnight (case page; parents’ rights)
(Becket)
What Britain’s government needs to know about its faith communities
(Colin Bloom, Religion News Service)
RFI’s Nathan Berkeley joins NRB panel on deplatforming risks for religious ministries
(Religious Freedom Institute)
Hurt feelings, conscience, and freedom – Part 1
(Rick Plasterer, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy)
France, Sonia Backès caught red-handed again: A “religious profiling” of Muslim students in schools
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)
Ukraine: 110 damaged religious sites inspected and documented by UNESCO
(Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Justice Breyer and the Establishment Clause: Notes on "appeasement," "legal judgment," and "divisiveness"
(Richard W. Garnett, SSRN)
COMECE and EU decision-makers discuss ways to promote peace in Ukraine at the European Parliament
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Does identifying with religion make one more civic-minded?
(Ryan Burge, Religion News Service)
Uzbekistan: devout muslim jailed after return to country
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
New Ipsos survey includes newsworthy updates on religious attitudes worldwide
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)
Israel's violations of Al-Aqsa threaten its Islamic identity, Islamic-Christian Committee warns
(Middle East Monitor)
Boosters of Israel emigration find friends, support among evangelical Christians
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Court upholds order limiting divorced father's talking to gay son about sexual orientation and religion
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)
Japan home to a growing Muslim presence as it embraces change
(The Asahi Shimbun)
Religious prisoner released in Tajikistan
(International Christian Concern)
Colombia: This is how the Comprehensive Public Policy on Religious Freedom and Worship advances (Spanish)
(Camila Camacho, Alcadía de Bucaramanga)
Chile: Protections for religious freedom advance in process for new Constitution in Chile (Spanish)
(Diego López Marina, ACI Prensa)
Brazil: Hospital that denied surgery to Jehovah's Witness will have to compensate (Portuguese)
(Rafa Santos, Conjur)
Brazil: Arminianism and religious freedom (Portuguese)
(Ediudson Fontes, Guiame)
Wednesday, 24 May 2023
AI and Commodification of Religion
(Johan Eddebo, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
EVENT, 22-24 May 2023: "Dare to Overcome" National [email protected] ERG Conference (Washington, DC)
(Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and Busch School of Business)
HYBRID EVENT, 24 May 2023 (in London): Faith in Freedom: What Next for Britain’s Role in Promoting International Freedom of Religion or Belief?
(Henry Jackson Society)
A bill that would have required Texas public schools to display the Ten Commandments has failed
(Ashley Killough and Tina Burnside, CNN)
Texas pushes church into state with bills on school chaplains, Ten Commandments
(Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post)
Australia and India: Albanese should raise human rights concerns with Modi
(Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch)
Occupied Ukraine: First known "discreditation" case in Russian-annexed territory
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Don’t legalize same-sex unions: Malawi’s Christian leaders to judges ahead of ruling
(Magdalene Kahiu, ACI Africa)
'No one should be sentenced to death for their belief': Concern over blasphemy cases in Nigeria and Pakistan
(Premier Christian News)
Priest killed in Mexico; 9th under the current administration
(Associated Press)
Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy blasts war as a ‘pandemic’ that affects everyone
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
Judge's religious comments did not violate defendant's rights
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
AAUP issues report on Hamline University Islamic Art controversy
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
New asylum policies after Title 42 ‘don’t address root cause,’ say faith-based groups
(Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service)
Brazil’s liberation theologians back Lula, and the Pope, on Ukraine
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
It will be easy for journalists to find God connections in Turkey's run-off election
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)
Colombia Catholic Church highlights youth, family for nation building
(La Croix International)
CAIR-California welcomes Senate passage of bill expanding state service holiday time off for religious and cultural observances
(Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Stirring DeSantis speech moves Christian broadcasters to cheers, standing ovations
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Japan's religious outfits on ‘extralegal’ sales for tax breaks
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Muslims in South Korea want to build a mosque. Neighbors protest and send pig heads
(Se Eun Gong, NPR)
USCIRF calls for the release of Mubarak Bala and Yahaya Sharif Aminu
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
WEBINAR, 7 June 2023 (10AM ET): Religious Freedom for All: The Experience of Minority Faith Groups in Cuba
(Outreach Aid to the Americas)
Legal Spirits 051: The Biden Administration’s guidance on prayer in public schools (podcast)
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
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