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Edited Volumes by M. Christian Green

Forgiveness and reconciliation are important moments for the stability of a society and a state. ... more Forgiveness and reconciliation are important moments for the stability of a society and a state. Many African countries have gone through serious social crises in the post-colonial period: genocide, post-election crises, civil and internal conflicts, and outright war. Forgiveness and reconciliation have been necessary to reweave the social fabric and restart the construction of peaceful and prosperous societies. Chapters in this book examine the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and religious councils aimed at peace, along with African traditional approaches, mediation and arbitration councils, post-conflict contexts, and the roles of women and gender, philosophy and theology, and programs of education for peace.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approaches its 75th anniversary, contributors join t... more As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approaches its 75th anniversary, contributors join together in this tenth ACLARS volume to propose a framing of human rights in terms of African conceptions of human dignity. Following on the signing of the Punta del Este and Botswana Declarations of Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere in 2018 and 2023, contributors discuss human dignity as an African and indigenous concept grounded in relationship, community, and an overarching ethic of Ubuntu. Chapters further explore human dignity’s many meanings and relation to other rights in the African context, as well as human dignity’s connection to basic human needs, state obligations, religion and theology, gender and age, and the environment.

From 2020 to 2022 the Covid-19 pandemic spread throughout the world, disrupting lives and economi... more From 2020 to 2022 the Covid-19 pandemic spread throughout the world, disrupting lives and economies and presenting new challenges for law and religion. Central among these challenges have been the effects of legal regulations on religious practice and the roles of religious authorties and government leaders. Equally challenging were cults and conspiracy theories that arose around the coravirus and the distinctive effects by sex and gender that produces specific kinds of vulnerability. The Covid pandemic also drew new attention to methods of African traditional healing and gave rise to new understandings of community space and social solidarity.

The family is a crucial site for the interaction of law and religion the world over, including Af... more The family is a crucial site for the interaction of law and religion the world over, including Africa. In many African societies, the family is governed by a range of sources of law—including civil, constitutional, customary and religious law. International law and human rights principles have been domesticated into African legal systems, particularly to protect the rights of women and children. Religious rites and rituals govern sexuality, marriage, divorce, child-rearing, inheritance, intergenerational relations and more in Christianity, Islam and indigenous African custom. This book examines the African family with attention to tradition and change, comparative law, the relation of parents and children to the state, indigenous religion and customary law, child marriage and child labour and migration, diaspora and displacement.

This volume explores themes of ecotheology, ecofeminism, environmental pollution and degradation,... more This volume explores themes of ecotheology, ecofeminism, environmental pollution and degradation, climate change, human and environmental rights, sustainable development, human-animal relations through totem and taboo, sacred sites and spaces, and other environmental topics in ways that add immeasurably to the study of African environmentalisms and the interaction of law and religion. In terms of religion, the capability of humans not only to sin and destroy the earth, but also to repair and redeem it, is very much in evidence across Christianity, Islam and Africa’s many indigenous religious and cultural traditions. In terms of law, the need for effective policies and for states and governments to work with indigenous groups and communities towards environmental solutions is also apparent.

A shared interest of law and religion is the advancement of human flourishing, yet there is no co... more A shared interest of law and religion is the advancement of human flourishing, yet there is no common understanding of what it means for humans to flourish and the means by which to attain a flourishing life. The concept of human flourishing is especially important for Africa, where community and national development compete with forces of conflict and scarce resources. In the broadest sense, the concept of human flourishing focuses our attention on having a comprehensively good or worthwhile life, but various religious and legal traditions suggest different norms for measuring the quality of life and designing the institutional structures that could best facilitate and preserve it.

Security is a key topic of our time. But how do we understand it? Do law and religion take differ... more Security is a key topic of our time. But how do we understand it? Do law and religion take different views of it? In this fifth volume in the Law and Religion in Africa series, radicalisation, terrorism, blasphemy, hate speech, religious freedom and just war theories rub shoulders with issues of witchcraft, female genital mutilation circumcision, child marriage, displaced communities and additional issues besides. This unique collection of topics is both challenging and inspiring, providing illumination in troubled times, and forming a sound foundation for future scholarship.

What is heritage in Africa? Who defines and authorises heritage? Is heritage limited to tangible ... more What is heritage in Africa? Who defines and authorises heritage? Is heritage limited to tangible forms of land, resources and monuments, or do intangible forms of heritage, such as cultural and religious heritage, count equally or even more? How is heritage managed, appropriated, expropriated and commodified by the government and state, by heritage experts and professionals, and by religious and ethnic groups in service of cultural and tourism industries and in the construction of national and other group identities? How is heritage shaped by Africa’s religious and ethnic pluralism, its colonial past and its postcolonial trajectories? Finally, how can heritage serve as a means toward social, cultural and political development? These are just some of the many issues and questions addressed in this volume by scholars in law, religion and related fields.

Africa continues to be a region with strong commitments to religious freedom and religious plural... more Africa continues to be a region with strong commitments to religious freedom and religious pluralism. These, however, are rarely mere facts on the ground – they are legal, political, social, and theological projects that require considerable effort to realise. This volume – compiling the proceedings of the third annual conference of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies – focuses on various issues which vastly effect the understanding of religious pluralism in Africa. These include, amongst others, religious freedom as a human right, the importance of managing religious pluralism, and the permissibility of religious practice and observance in South African public schools.

Lead editors for 5-volume treatise authored by W. Cole Durham, Jr., Robert T. Smith, and William ... more Lead editors for 5-volume treatise authored by W. Cole Durham, Jr., Robert T. Smith, and William W. Bassett. Forthcoming from Thomson Reuters/West Publishing, 2016.

The Second Conference on Law and Religion in Africa was held at Stellenbosch University (South Af... more The Second Conference on Law and Religion in Africa was held at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) from 26 to 28 May 2014. Some 60 scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from 15 countries particpated in this conference, focusing on the theme "Law and Religion in Africa: The Quest for the Common Good in Pluralistic Societies." Essays in this collection address: (1) Philosophy, Law, and Religion, (2) Church and State in South Africa, (3) Islam and Law in Sub-Saharan Africa, (4) Marriage, Education, and Employment, and (5) Religion, State, and Society. The volume will also feature essays by retired South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs and current Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court Mogoeng wa Mogoeng.

The discussion of the relationship between law and religion, as seen from a variety of perspectives in Africa, underscores the critical importance of the issues involved in the everyday life of all citizens. It is accordingly vital for governments to take note of the scholarly results that are produced. We hope that this volume will contribute to this aim.

"The relationship between religion and human rights is both complex and inextricable. While most ... more "The relationship between religion and human rights is both complex and inextricable. While most of the world's religions have supported violence, repression, and prejudice, each has also played a crucial role in the modern struggle for universal human rights. Most importantly, religions provide the essential sources and scales of dignity and responsibility, shame and respect, restraint and regret, restitution and reconciliation that a human rights regime needs to survive and flourish in any culture.

With contributions by a score of leading experts, Religion and Human Rights provides authoritative and accessible assessments of the contributions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Indigenous religions to the development of the ideas and institutions of human rights. It also probes the major human rights issues that confront religious individuals and communities around the world today, and the main challenges that the world's religions will pose to the human rights regime in the future."

Leading scholars in theology, ethics, history, and law evaluate the scholarship of Don Browning a... more Leading scholars in theology, ethics, history, and law evaluate the scholarship of Don Browning and the Religion, Culture, and Family Project of the University of Chicago in terms of its substance and its methods of research, asking whether it is a model for future practical research on other topics vital to church and society.

This volume provides an authoritative collection of freshly translated and annotated canonical an... more This volume provides an authoritative collection of freshly translated and annotated canonical and classic texts on sex, marriage, and family from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Designed to introduce the rich family teachings of the world religions in and on their own terms, the reader includes differing and enduring genres of text – legal, theological, poetic, and liturgical – from the founding eras of these traditions until early modern times. The texts for each tradition are selected and arranged with an eye to their usefulness for comparison with texts from other religions.

Issues of sexuality and gender are hotly contested in both religious communities and national cul... more Issues of sexuality and gender are hotly contested in both religious communities and national cultures around the world. In the social sciences, religious traditions are often depicted as inherently conservative or even reactionary in their commitments to powerful patriarchal and pronatalist sexual norms and gender categories. In illuminating the practices of religious traditions in various cultures, these essays expose the diversity of religious rituals and mythologies pertaining to sexuality. In the process the contributors challenge conventional notions of what is normative in our sexual lives.

Edited Journals by M. Christian Green

This symposium issue will collect papers from conference on Law and Religion in Africa: Comparati... more This symposium issue will collect papers from conference on Law and Religion in Africa: Comparative Practices, Experiences, and Prospects was held 14-15 January 2013 at the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana. Scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierre Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States gathered in Legon for the two-day event. Following a set of plenary lectures, six panels contained papers on Religion and Constitutionalism, Indigenous Religions, Religion-State Relations, Religion-State Tensions, Politics and Pluralism, and State Responses to Religious Minorities.

This symposium issue is part of a larger project that examines how Western democracies with Musli... more This symposium issue is part of a larger project that examines how Western democracies with Muslim minorities can have a productive conversation with Muslim countries that implemented Shari’a, particularly on issues of marriage and family law. The project is funded by the Social Science Research Council and led by principal investigators Abdullahi A. An-Na’im, M. Christian Green, and John Witte, Jr., of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion and the Center for International and Comparative Law at Emory Law School. The core question of the project is whether there can be a responsible jurisdictional pluralism of religious and legal norms in domestic relations that respects both the religious freedom concerns of religious communities and rule of law concerns of the state.

With its nearly even division between Muslims and Christians and the implementation of Shari’a in the Northern States beginning in 1999, Nigeria has become a focal point for these debates. The implementation of Shari’a in Nigeria has raised important questions concerning plural legal and religious norms of marriage and family, the religious identity and inter-communal relations of Muslims and Christians, and the possibility of a moderate form of Shari’a existing in a pluralistic, democratic state. These questions arise in a context of the presidential elections in 2011, a decade of inter-communal violence, and particularly concerns about the implications of Shari’a for the rights of women and children.

At the same time, there a sense that what happens in Nigeria may have implications far beyond. Nations in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas are all engaged in discussions of their own about the permissibility and coexistence of plural norms and forms of marriage and family. The 2010 constitutional referendum in Kenya featured considerable discussion about the role of Shari’a courts. South Africa and other African nations continue to debate the extent and effects of customary law that applies different standards to tribal groups based on ethnicity and religion. A number of European nations continue to struggle with how to recognize the religious identities and family patterns of their Muslim immigrant populations. While some fear the arrival of Sharia on their shores, others, most notably the Anglican Archibishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in 2008, have suggested that accommodation of “juridical pluralism” in family law may be inevitable.

This symposium issue represents the outcome of a major conference with a score of leading religio... more This symposium issue represents the outcome of a major conference with a score of leading religious liberty scholars, advocates, judges, NGO heads, and media personnel from various parts of Africa. The conference situated and complicated the discourse on religion, culture, and human rights in Africa. It became quite clear that -- beyond the conventional issues of religion-state relations, freedom of conscience and expression, religious group rights, and the like -- African nations face formidable issues of religion and human rights in a number of specific subject areas, including: proselytism, apostasy and blasphemy; citizenship/residency/cultural identity; education and charity; violence, warfare, refugees, and genocide; political participation and access; property rights for individuals (especially women and religious minorities); religious dress and ornamentation; concerns about sects and new religious movements; sex, marriage, and family; children and their exploitation and protection; environmental concerns; humanitarianism; private and public health, especially with AIDS and other epidemics.

Book Chapters by M. Christian Green

Faith in Law, Law in Faith: Essays in Honor of John Witte, Jr. , 2024

In this chapter, I examine John Witte’s writings relevant to the parable of the Good Samaritan th... more In this chapter, I examine John Witte’s writings relevant to the parable of the Good Samaritan through some initial connections that Witte made to the Good Samaritan story in his early writings on human rights. I think explore the Good Samaritan parable through the lens of modern concerns for what might be called the “ethics of bystanders,” connecting the observation that in Christian theology “there really are no bystanders” with John Calvin’s theological conviction that “we are not our own,” both of which emphasize the responsibility of humans to others. I then take up concerns about how to balance charity and justice in the “Good Samaritan state” drawing on Witte’s writing on poor relief in Reformation law and theology and on the work of nineteenth-century theologian Abraham Kuyper. The analysis then shifts to charitable choice laws and policy debates in the U.S. in recent decades, before drawing some conclusions about what it means to be “charitable bystanders” today.

Faith in Law, Law in Faith: Essays in Honor of John Witte, Jr. , 2024

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law, 2023

Humanity is experiencing a global ecological crisis. This chapter examines theological and politi... more Humanity is experiencing a global ecological crisis. This chapter examines theological and political approaches to the environment across the Christian tradition. It acknowledges the human roots of the ecological crisis and argues that its main origin can be found in the dominant technocratic paradigm that has shaped human development in the past two centuries. Humanity will be able to tackle the ecological crisis only by developing a different relationship with nature, based on an individual
and collective ecological conversion. This should rely on the paradigm of ecological integrity, which recognizes the existence of a close connection between the well-being of humanity and the health and integrity of ecosystems. It is a paradigm that is also giving rise to new ecological understandings of the law.

The Legal Thought of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 2023

In this set of reflections, I consider Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s teachings on climate, e... more In this set of reflections, I consider Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s teachings on climate, environment, and social ethics and what these suggest for environmental law. First, I examine Bartholomew’s pronouncements on climate change and the environment, which are not
new, but go back to the 1990s. Second, I examine key points from Bartholomew’s recent compendium of Orthodox social ethics, For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church, and how the references to “life” and the “world” seem not accidental, but reflective of an ecotheology at very heart of Bartholomew’s larger social ethics. Finally, I apply these teachings to key themes and principles in environmental law. Overall, the trajectory that I trace in this examination of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and his lessons for environmental law follows how environmental law itself must shift from crisis to kairos in its orientation to meet the challenges currently before us.

This chapter explores issues of religious freedom and religious persecution faced by Christian mi... more This chapter explores issues of religious freedom and religious persecution faced by Christian minorities around the world. It describes the nature and scope of religious rights and of various forms of religious persecution, as well as the protections given to religious freedom in international human rights law conventions. It also provides case study descriptions of persecution of Christian minorities in Afghanistan, Burma, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, which have been hot spots for persecution of Christianity—and other religions--in recent years. The chapter concludes with observations on the mutual necessity and interdependence of religious rights and human rights.

This chapter will examine Jean Bethke Elshtain’s concept of sovereignty at the level of both the ... more This chapter will examine Jean Bethke Elshtain’s concept of sovereignty at the level of both the individual and the state in the cosmopolitan world of modernity. It will do so by placing Elshtain’s Christian realist notion of sovereignty in dialogue with the “chastened liberal” perspective of Georgia Harkness, who in 1939 became the first woman appointed to teach theology and ethics in an American theological seminary. Separated by nearly a half century, Elshtain and Harkness shared common interests in theology, ethics, politics, war, and the role of women in the church and academia, but they often differed on their particular responses, including matters of sovereignty. But they can also both be said to share a critical Christian perspective on individualism, liberalism, and the role of the nation-state in the modern world. The chapter will compare and contrast Elshtain’s Christian realist views with Harkness’ “chastened liberal” perspective in assessing the sovereignty of individuals and states and their capacities for hospitable and cosmopolitan responses in a world of individual self-sovereignty, religious pluralism, and human rights.

n this article, I examine the new terrain of religious freedom and human rights in Africa, with p... more n this article, I examine the new terrain of religious freedom and human rights in Africa, with particular attention to role of social hostilities in restricting religious. In the current environment of “postsecularism” and the global resurgence of religion the relationship between government restrictions and social hostilities is particularly complex in Africa, in light of the high degree of religiosity and the notably intertwined relationship of religion, culture, politics, and law, in marked contrast to the secularist and separationist paradigms that prevail in Europe and North America. Paradoxically, though the restrictions on religious freedom in many African nations stem from or have been exacerbated by social hostilities, including pernicious and inflammatory uses of social media, solutions to social hostilities may depend a great deal on empowering religious and civil society groups in the creative and constructive use of social media to change the normative perceptions, attitudes, values, and that underlie successful constitutional and democratic reform. Indeed, some of these creative uses of social media are already happening, but are threatened by crackdowns on freedom of expression and social media by the state. This article will examine uses of social media both to inflame and to reduce social hostilities in recent elections and constitutional referenda in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia.

This article addresses the relationship between the bible and law in Africa, particularly attempt... more This article addresses the relationship between the bible and law in Africa, particularly attempts to implement "biblical" law or otherwise instantiate Christian norms in African legal system. It focuses particularly on the "Christian nation" constitutional debates in Zambia and Liberia and sexuality debates in Uganda, as well as issues of marriage, polygamy, and religious pluralism.

After discussing the development of universal human rights norms, including religious human right... more After discussing the development of universal human rights norms, including religious human rights, the article details the provisions for the protection of religious freedom in key instruments of international human rights law. The article then discusses the "new alphabet" of religious freedom in connection with the hot-button issues of Apostasy, Blasphemy, Conversion, and Defamation. It concludes with reflections on the mutual relationship and interdependence of religion and human rights.

This article provides an overview of religious bases for rights in a selection of the world's rel... more This article provides an overview of religious bases for rights in a selection of the world's religious and philosophical traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It examines common principles and distinctive views of human rights amid these various traditions, current protections of religion in international human rights law, and the potential for mutually reinforcing relations between religion and human rights.

In recent decades, feminists of faith have been central voices in international human rights disc... more In recent decades, feminists of faith have been central voices in international human rights discussions concerning reproduction, motherhood, and the status of women. This was particularly the case at the Cairo Conference on population and development and the Beijing Conference on women. The struggle for women’s rights as human rights has rarely, however, been disconnected from the broader human rights struggles for health, peace, environmental sustainability, and the alleviation of poverty and inequality that have come to be known as the “third generation” of human rights. In this chapter I will provide an analysis of the lives and work of Dorothy Day, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchu, and Aung San Suu Kyi and the way that their faith commitments prompted connected concerns for women’s rights to these broader human rights issues. I will then discuss the ways in which the women’s rights and human rights connection continues to be seen in international human rights discussions today. Finally, I will indicate some ways in which “third wave” voices of feminists of faith seem especially well suited to the quest to secure “third generation” human rights.

"Religious Freedom, Democracy, and International Human Rights," with John Witte, Jr., in Rethinking Religion and World Affairs, eds. Timothy S. Shah, Alfred C. Stepan, and Monica Duffy Toft (Oxford University Press, 2012), 104-124.

Some years back, around 2013, I was asked to write an article on the uses of the Bible in African... more Some years back, around 2013, I was asked to write an article on the uses of the Bible in African law. Researching references to the Bible and biblical law across the African continent, I soon learned that, besides support for arguments by a few states in favor of declaring themselves “Christian nations,” the main use was in emerging debates over homosexuality and same-sex relationships—almost exclusively to condemn those relationships. In January 2013, the newly formed African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) held its first international conference at the University of Ghana Legon. There, African sexuality debates emerged forcefully in consideration of a paper by Sylvia Tamale, then dean of the Makarere University School of Law in Uganda, who argued pointedly, “[P]olitical Christianity and Islam, especially, have constructed a discourse that suggests that sexuality is the key moral issue on the continent today, diverting attention from the real critical moral issues...

The Article Examines Religious Persecution, In The United States And Abroad, Through The Lens Of ... more The Article Examines Religious Persecution, In The United States And Abroad, Through The Lens Of An Extreme Result Of Persecution: Martyrdom. It Examines Maximal And Minimal Definitions Of Martyrdom And Recent Claims And Instances Of Martyrdom, Both In United States Law And Political Culture And Against Christian And Other Religious Groups Around The World. The Article Concludes With Some Principles From Which To Discern An Ethic Of Martyrdom And Claims Of Martyrdom, Recommending Especially Attention To The Role Of The Martyr As Witness. KEYWORDS: Religious Persecution, Martyrdom, Law And Religion, Human Rights, Religious Freedom, Ethics, Witness

Review of: The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam. By Simon Cottee . London: Hurst, 2015. Pp. 2... more Review of:

The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam. By Simon Cottee . London: Hurst, 2015. Pp. 243 (paper). ISBN: 9781849044691.

Doubt in Islamic Law: A History of Legal Maxims, Interpretation, and Islamic Criminal Law. By Intisar A. Rabb . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. 414 (cloth). ISBN: 9781107080997.

Dissent on Core Beliefs: Religious and Secular Perspectives. Edited by Simone Chambers and Peter Nosco . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Pp. 244 (cloth). ISBN: 9781107101524.

In this essay, analyzing the “daughter track” of daughter-provided eldercare, through feminist ph... more In this essay, analyzing the “daughter track” of daughter-provided eldercare, through feminist philosopher Lisa Tessman's “burdened virtues” framework, I examinge the ethical questions surrounding gender, sacrifice, and eldercare on the daughter track, particularly concerning contexts of virtue and necessity. Second, I examine how Tessman’s “burdened virtues” framework applies to the “daughter track” situation, particularly regarding virtues born of necessity. Third, I examine some wider legal and social justice issues that remain unresolved in eldercare provision by daughters. Finally, I conclude with some reflections on the “daughter track” as a law and religion issue and how law, in particular, might better support women in being not only “dutiful daughters,” but “graceful pillars,” in the care of their elders.

In this article, I examine the new terrain of religious freedom and human rights in Africa, with ... more In this article, I examine the new terrain of religious freedom and human rights in Africa, with particular attention to role of social hostilities in restricting religious. In the current environment of “postsecularism” and the global resurgence of religion the relationship between government restrictions and social hostilities is particularly complex in Africa, in light of the high degree of religiosity and the notably intertwined relationship of religion, culture, politics, and law, in marked contrast to the secularist and separationist paradigms that prevail in Europe and North America. Paradoxically, though the restrictions on religious freedom in many African nations stem from or have been exacerbated by social hostilities, including pernicious and inflammatory uses of social media, solutions to social hostilities may depend a great deal on empowering religious and civil society groups in the creative and constructive use of social media to change the normative perceptions, attitudes, values, and that underlie successful constitutional and democratic reform. Indeed, some of these creative uses of social media are already happening, but are threatened by crackdowns on freedom of expression and social media by the state. This article will examine uses of social media both to inflame and to reduce social hostilities in recent elections and constitutional referenda in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Departing from such incidents as the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie, the 2005 Danish Cartoon c... more Departing from such incidents as the 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie, the 2005 Danish Cartoon controversy, the "defamation of religions" debates at the U.N., and the recent political debates over the role of a controversial anti-Muslim film in the attack on the U.S. diplomatic post at Benghazi, this review essay discusses arguments about the relationship between religious freedom and freedom of expression in five recent books on blasphemy, hate speech, and religious critique. Books reviewed include FREEDOM FROM RELIGION, 2ND ED by Amos Guiora, SILENCED: HOW APOSTASY AND BLASPHEMY CODES ARE CHOKING FREEDOM WORLDWIDE by Paul Marshall and Nina Shea, THE FUTURE OF BLASPHEMY: SPEAKING OF THE SACRED IN AN AGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS, by Austin Dacey, THE HARM OF HATE SPEECH, by Jeremy Waldron, and IS CRITIQUE SECULAR?: BLASPHEMY, INJURY, AND FREE SPEECH, 2ND REV ED., by Talal Asad, Wendy Brown, Judith Butler, and Saba Mahmood.

Something unexpected has been happening in Africa—and not just Northern Africa, which, along with... more Something unexpected has been happening in Africa—and not just Northern Africa, which, along with the Middle East, has seen a winter and spring of revolution in 2011. Over the last several years, several sub-Saharan African nations have managed to conduct elections, produce new constitutions, and even partition themselves in relative peace, despite the often dire predictions of foreign governments, media, and election-monitoring organizations. In each of these cases, religion and religious freedom were high-profile concerns, but despite conventional assumptions about the propensity for religious contestation to lead to conflict, the constitutional procedures seem, at least in the near term, to have unfolded peacefully and productively. While the specter of rising Islamist movements in North Africa has led some to view the specifically religious dimensions of the revolutions with caution, religious actors are playing important and often positive roles in the referenda and new constitutions. Even so, as detailed in this paper issues of religious freedom, sharia courts, Muslim-Christian relations, and the relation of religion and state have been key concerns in the new constitutionalism. Countries in focus include Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Taking up the topic of witnesses to divorce, including both children of divorce and outsiders to ... more Taking up the topic of witnesses to divorce, including both children of divorce and outsiders to the family, this article uses the problem of divorce to suggest the need for a broader understanding of the "ethics of bystanders" to humanitarian disasters, environmental catastrophe, and cultural crisis. What should be the response of an ethical bystander to the events and people around them? Through the lenses of social psychology, political theory, and theological ethics, this paper suggests some possibilities through the problem of divorce.

By the recent account of Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker, a course on “Overcoming... more By the recent account of Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker, a course on “Overcoming Violence” may be unnecessary—or at best purely historical. In his latest book, "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined," Pinker argues that violence has been on the decline for several millennia and that we are living today in the least violent époque of human existence. Pinker’s proposal has been controversial. A Harvard colleague, psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, a longtime researcher of violence and mass atrocity, has rebutted Pinker’s “decline of violence” argument, arguing that such violent events as Auschwitz and Hiroshima have been “defining events” in the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries.The need to overcome violence—and the rationale for teaching about violence, nonviolence, war, and peace—could not be more necessary, or more relevant. It was out of this set of concerns that we devised and taught the course “Overcoming Violence: Practical Theology and Conflict Resolution” at Harvard Divinity School in the Spring of 2007. We are honored that the syllabus has been selected for publication in this issue of Practical Matters.

In this article, I will provide a brief, recent history of clashes in Nigeria as they relate to i... more In this article, I will provide a brief, recent history of clashes in Nigeria as they relate to issues of religion, family, and identity. I will then discuss some of the key features of Muslim-Christian contestation in Nigeria as revealed in the recent survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religious Life, titled Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa. I will then address the question of whether Muslim-Christian contestation in Nigeria should be construed as a matter of religion qua religion, or of “religion by proxy.” Finally, I will offer an analysis of what this contestation over religion, family, and recognition of identity augurs for the prospects for moderate shari’a and juridical pluralism in Nigeria.

Emory Int'l L. Rev., Jan 1, 2009

This article discusses the current situation of the right to religious freedom in the context of ... more This article discusses the current situation of the right to religious freedom in the context of the postsecular, global revival of religion. After discussing the development of universal human rights norms, including religious human rights, the article details the provisions for the protection of religious freedom in key instruments of international human rights law. The article then discusses the "new alphabet" of religious freedom in connection with the hot-button issues of Apostasy, Blasphemy, Conversion, and Defamation. It concludes with reflections on the mutual relationship and interdependence of religion and human rights.

The Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) at the Emory University School of Law in Atla... more The Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA, USA, under the auspices of a project titled "Law, Religion, and Human Rights in International Perspective," funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, convened a conference on "Law, Religion and Human Rights in Africa" in Durban, South Africa from 30 April 30 to 3 May, 2008. Participants in the conference included thirteen leading religious liberty scholars and activists from nine African countries. The Durban Conference was designed to discover common ground in perceptions and practices pertinent to the relationship between church and state and the interaction of religion and law in countries of the world, but perhaps more importantly, to uncover areas relating to religious human rights that are distinctive to Africa and the developing world. The countries singled out for country-specific analyses were carefully selected with a view to their potential for serving as representative samples of the conference themes. For thematic and conceptual, as well a budgetary, reasons the inquiry focused on sub-Saharan African states. These included Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Each one of these countries represented a distinct dimension of the relationship between church and state and the interaction of religion and law.

Canopy Forum/Center for the Study of Law and Religion , 2023

Not every person or every institution is prepared to undertake such self-examination readily. As ... more Not every person or every institution is prepared to undertake such self-examination readily. As proof, see the debates over “Critical Race Theory” that are roiling states like Louisiana today. But it is an example of how individuals and institutions — and structures of law and religion — can begin to confront these painful and problematic legacies of complicity with race and injustice. The State of Louisiana has recently taken such a step. On January 5, 2022, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards issued a posthumous pardon of Homer Plessy for taking a seat in the “wrong” car of the train.

With Amy Ziettlow and Naomi Cahn, “Women, Eldercare, and the Honor Commandment,” (Washington, DC: Women, Religion, and the Family Project , Word Faiths Development Dialogue , Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University, September 18, 2014.

In the quick exchange of Twitter, I thought that would probably be the end of it, but my South Ca... more In the quick exchange of Twitter, I thought that would probably be the end of it, but my South Carolina interlocutor–I will call her Mary–continued the conversation by tweeting: "I see your bio says Muslim-Christian relations. You mean ISIS slaughtering Christians?"

Does the millennial generation perceive gender differently from the generations that preceded it?... more Does the millennial generation perceive gender differently from the generations that preceded it? From some of the recent media coverage of the upcoming U.S. presidential election, it seems so.

What should we do about people’s negative perceptions of others, even or perhaps especially where... more What should we do about people’s negative perceptions of others, even or perhaps especially where these do not necessarily correspond to actual forces or scientific measurable reality? Can we determine when these perceptions start to crystallize into attitudes that are presumably even harder to dispel? And how should we intervene when these attitudes begin to harden further into distinctive values?

Love and friendship are key ways in which human beings relate to each other and to the sacred. Ho... more Love and friendship are key ways in which human beings relate to each other and to the sacred. How have love and friendship been understood in the West and in other cultures? How are love and friendship complicated by factors such as gender and religious or cultural difference? How do forces of fear and loneliness cut us off from each other and from the sacred? How do love and friendship exemplify key dynamics of mystery, otherness, and recognition as we week to know the divine and each other and live together in society? How do modern technologies of communication and social media connect or divide us from love and friendship from each other and from what is sacred, just, and good? These and other questions will be examined in this session through the fields of philosophy, theology, ethics, and social psychology as we seek to understand the meaning and power of love and friendship today.

Roundtable session with Winnifred Fallers Sullivan in recognition of her forthcoming (co-edited)... more Roundtable session with Winnifred Fallers Sullivan in recognition of her forthcoming (co-edited) book, The Politics of Religious Freedom. This volume promises to be a major contribution to scholarship on religious freedom, and to scholarship on “law” and “religion” more broadly. There is already a substantial body of literature on the comparative study of religious freedom. The essays in this volume, and their framing prefatory essays, take a new turn by asking what kinds of political and legal worlds are or have been produced by religious freedom advocacy. In the words of the editors, “what exactly is bring promoted through the discourse of religious freedom, and what is not?” The volume interrogates what counts as religion in religious freedom legislation, with what consequences. The result is new critical and historical perspective on a right — religious liberty — which is generally supposed to be neutral, stable, and emancipatory, but which yields results that are diverse, contradictory, and sometimes discriminatory. To be convened by the Law, Religion, and Culture Group of the American Academy of Religion at the 2015 annual meeting.

With time, the Yugoslav Wars have come to be seen more as ethnic wars than wars with significant ... more With time, the Yugoslav Wars have come to be seen more as ethnic wars than wars with significant religious dimensions. As well, even amidst the feminist literature on the Balkan wars, there is little literature on the confluence of religion and gender–even though the genocides were significantly sexually enacted through the mass rape and forced pregnancy aimed at reproductively eradicating particular religious and ethnicities. In this paper, I will seek to uncover these dimensions of the Balkan genocides and how religion and gender may be taking on greater importance today in other global conflicts. It may be that we have not fully learned the lessons of the Balkan genocides when it comes to religion and gender. In this paper, I shall seek to resurrect these lessons with a view to what we need to learn from the Balkan genocides when it comes to religion and violence today. To be presented to the Religion, Holocaust, and Genocide Group of the American Academy of Religion at the 2015 annual meeting.

From religious minorities in Iraq and Syria to the ISIS jihadis who persecute them, modern claims... more From religious minorities in Iraq and Syria to the ISIS jihadis who persecute them, modern claims of martyrdom have proliferated in connection with ISIS and other terrorist groups. A year before the rise of ISIS, journalist John L. Allen Jr. published The Global War on Christians, in which he articulated a wide, but controversial, definition of modern martyrdom. More recently, conservative religious groups in the U.S. have argued that their religious freedom is imperiled by health insurance laws that require contraception coverage or which require them to recognize same-sex marriage. These definitions and equivalences of martyrdom claims are broad, but are they accurate, appropriate, and just? The paper examines rhetorical uses of martyrdom in contemporary religious and political discourse at the interdisciplinary intersection of law, religion, and ethics to shed light on the nature and scope of the violence of martyrdom and situations that demand it. To be presented to the Comparative Approaches to Religion and Violence Group at the 2015 American Academy of Religion annual meeting.

The French ban on the wearing of face-covering veils in 2010 was defended in the name of the Fren... more The French ban on the wearing of face-covering veils in 2010 was defended in the name of the French national values of “liberté, egalité, et fraternité” The public debate over the proposed ban, culminating in a more than 700-page report submitted to the National Assembly, focused heavily on the supposed need to protect women from gender equality. Passage of the bill was seen to serve the robust notion of French secularism known as laïcité—a form of secularism that has recently surfaced in the formerly French colony of Québec. Gender equality was a prominent theme in the debates in Québec in 2013 and 2014 over a proposed “Québec Charter of Values” that would have banned the wearing of any religious symbols, including veils, in a variety of public contexts. The recent Québec debate was also reminiscent of the earlier controversy upon the 2008 release of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission report on accommodating religious differences, which also focused significantly on issues of gender equality. Is there an inherent clash between religious equality and gender equality when it comes to issues of religious accommodation? Are there ever circumstances in which one must be sacrificed in service of the other? And what other forms of equality did the focus on gender equality obscure in the aforementioned controversies? This paper will examine these questions and others with a view to discerning what the apparent clash between religious freedom, secularism, and gender equality says about the large notion of equality and how various kinds of equality might be reconciled.

“Religion as Identity in a Postsecular World.“ This paper addresses religion and postsecularism t... more “Religion as Identity in a Postsecular World.“ This paper addresses religion and postsecularism through the lens of global religious ethics. Taking up recent discussions of the “impossibility of religious freedom” and the “politics of religious freedom,” she argues both for the possibility and the necessity of attempts to define and delineate religion, particularly in cases of religious conflict that may include violations of religious human rights. Case studies considered include religious conversion, French veil debates, and the religiosity of jihadi "foreign fighters." The difficulty and fluidity of definitions of religion in the post-secular world should not dissuade us from seeking to understand what religion is–particularly when the definition of religion is increasingly shifting from questions of texts and tradition, and rituals and practices, to a new understanding of “religion as identity.”

Presented at the final session of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, third inte... more Presented at the final session of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, third international conference in Windhoek, Namibia, May 19, 2015.

This paper examines the debate over the proposed Quebec Charter of Values and its limitations on ... more This paper examines the debate over the proposed Quebec Charter of Values and its limitations on the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols in comparison to the 2010 French veil debate and the ongoing debate over proposals for a list of “British Values” in the United Kingdom. The paper will examine the possibilities for religious accommodation and religious pluralism and the specter of Islamophobia, comparatively and transnationally, in contexts where the “religious nationalism” is a “secular nationalism.”

This paper examines the recent Muslim-Christian violence in the Central African Republic, which h... more This paper examines the recent Muslim-Christian violence in the Central African Republic, which has been characterized by the U.N. as having the potential to result in genocide. It will examine, particularly, the initial reticence among journalists, experts, and commentators to label the conflict “religious” and the eventual consensus to describe the potentially genocidal comment as “religious.” It will incorporate and analyze recent social science data on the correlation between religion and conflict and assess what is at stake strategically, ethically, and in other respects in labeling a conflict “religious”—particularly in light of what we have learned about religion and violence in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other recent conflicts in Africa.

The local organizing committee is pleased to announce the third conference on Law and Religion in... more The local organizing committee is pleased to announce the third conference on Law and Religion in Africa
which will be held in Windhoek, Namibia at the University of Namibia from Monday, May 18 to Tuesday, May
19, 2015. This conference focuses on the theme “Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism in Africa:
Prospects and Limitations.” Proposals regarding this theme, and the following subthemes, are welcomed.

Call for paper for the fourth annual meeting of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studi... more Call for paper for the fourth annual meeting of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLAR) to take place May 22-24, 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sanneh/Wiley, 2016

Ecclesiastical Law Journal, 2013

Journal of Church and State, 2013

Journal of Law and Religion

Something unexpected has been happening in Africa—and not just Northern Africa, the locus of demo... more Something unexpected has been happening in Africa—and not just Northern Africa, the locus of democratic revolutions since January 2011, when a…

Ecclesiastical Law Journal, 2015

The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 2017

Journal of Law and Religion, 2014

We are delighted to offer this rst issue of the Journal of Law and Religion under the editorial ... more We are delighted to offer this rst issue of the Journal of Law and Religion under the editorial direction of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) at Emory University and published in collaboration with Cambridge University Press. In 1982, our colleague, Frank Alexander, founded our law and religion program at Emory and, together with Harold Berman and John Witte, Jr., slowly built a distinguished international, interdisciplinary, and interreligious Center of teaching, research, publication, and public education. That same year, the Council on Religion and Law founded the Journal of Law and Religion, with Frank Alexander as an inaugural Board Member and Harold Berman authoring the lead article of volume 1, issue 1. From the start, CSLR and the Journal have been twin leaders in interrogating the vital questions at the intersection of law and religion. A keen sense of kinship and common enterprise thus animates our delight in becoming the Journal's new home. We dedicate this inaugural issue to the many editors and staff members who shepherded the Journal through its rst twenty-eight volumes, to the Council on Religion and Law for their years of leadership, and to Hamline University School of Law for its long-standing support. In particular, this issue is dedicated to Marie Failinger, the longtime editor-in-chief of the Journal. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to take the helm of this agship journal in the eld of law and religion. Marie and her Journal colleagues have set a high standard for pathbreaking scholarship in the eld, and, as stewards of the Journal in this new era, we are dedicated to continuing and building on that legacy. Since the Journal was founded, the study of law and religion has become a truly global endeavor, involving thousands of scholars and students across all continents and all religious traditions. In 1982, the study of law and religion was a fraught academic exercise, involving only a few law professors, theologians, and scholars of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Today, the eld of law and religion has expanded dramatically around the world with several hundred law professors hard at work, and growing numbers of ethicists, historians, theologians, political theorists, political scientists, and social scientists actively involved as well. Especially in this new millennium, the law and religion eld has attracted important new scholarship in Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Indigenous Religions that has joined and sometimes challenged the ongoing Abrahamic conversation. The eld of law and religion now embraces a wide range of topics: religion, human rights, and religious freedom; the relationship of legal and religious authorities; the legal and religious dimensions of family, charity, education, and other classic institutions of mixed jurisdiction; religious legal systems and their relationships to each other and to secular law; the place of religion in public spaces, arguments, policies, and reasoning; theories of natural law, natural rights, and natural society; the place of law in religious canons, sacred texts, and religious traditions; the place of ritual and liturgy in the operation of state legal and political systems; comparative legal and religious hermeneutics, epistemology, forensics, and rhetoric; legal and religious ethics, professionalism, and guild formation; and the interaction of law and religion in the development of sundry legal traditions. All these topics and more are now part of the emerging global conversation. It is in this spirit that we offer, in our inaugural issue, a symposium on "The Pursuit of Happiness in Interreligious Perspective." Happiness has long been viewed as a measure of good

The Journal of Religion, Jul 19, 2015

The United Nations declared 1979 to be the International Year of the Child. Over twenty-five year... more The United Nations declared 1979 to be the International Year of the Child. Over twenty-five years later the field of childhood studies is just coming into its own in scholarship and research in a number of disciplines. Religion is one discipline that has come recently to consideration of childhood, as manifest in a newly formed Childhood Studies and Religion interest group at the American Academy of Religion and a bumper crop of recent books on childhood reflecting the textual, historical, and normative dimensions that combine to make up the interdisciplinary field of religious studies. The interdisciplinary interest in childhood is increasingly found not only within religious studies, but beyond it—including the disciplines of literature, history, psychology, and the social sciences, as well as the professions of law, medicine, and business. The new scholarly attention to children comes at a time of considerable flux in our understanding of childhood. Some argue that children today grow up too fast. Others argue that the span of childhood, or perhaps more properly, of adolescence, has expanded, such that young people are leading a more adolescent, or even childlike existence, for a longer period than ever before. Thus, one of the central themes in the study of childhood and in cultural considerations of children’s interests and needs has to do with the ambivalence and ambiguity of childhood for children, for parents, and for society as a whole. Are children innocents whose innocence (especially sexual) must be preserved? What is at stake in new calls for the recognition of children’s rights? How are these to be balanced with parental authority? Who is to care for children, particularly in indus-

Rethinking Religion and World Affairs