Alison Parker, the Human Rights Watch U.S. Program Director, composed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, urging the…
In defense of Muslim civil liberities
religious freedom
The bishops, the sisters, and religious freedom
At its March 2012 meeting, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved “Our First, Most…
Everson’s Children
Everson v. Board of Education is considered a landmark of First Amendment jurisprudence. That 1947 case marks the first time…
Reading religious freedom in Sri Lanka
As several contributors to this forum have pointed out, legal provisions regarding religious freedom do not emerge from history fully…
Secularism and the freedom to transform lives
In this post I explore the case of Bangladesh: the state of secularism there and the tensions and polemics that…
Religious freedom as crisis claims
Adopted in 1950, Article 17 of the Indian Constitution legally abolished untouchability---the ancient Hindu system of social discrimination---forbade its practice…
Nahda’s return to history
The Tunisian uprisings of December 2010 are often depicted in negative terms, as lacking leadership, ideology, and political organization. Nahda…
Beyond establishment
Religious freedom and religious establishment have come to mean many things to many people. This is, in part, because of…
The problem of translation: A view from India
What is the politics of religious freedom? For the past decade and more, those who would like to see the…
Protecting freedom of religion in the secular age
I want to start with a paradox. In the secular age, as Charles Taylor has amply illustrated, religious belief no…