Latest From RFI
Cornerstone Forum
Snapshots of the Crisis
Our Associated Scholars
Our Board of Advisors
North America Action Team
Middle East Action Team
South & Southeast Asia Action Team
International Religious Freedom Policy Action Team
Islam & Religious Freedom Action Team
Under Caesar's Sword Project
FORIS Project
Daniel Philpott
Whatever Happened to the Arab Uprisings?
At 11:30 in the morning of December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a produce vendor in the city of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, set himself on fire in front of the local government headquarters in order to protest governmental corruption and in so doing provoked a historic wave of demonstrations and uprisings across the entire Arab world.
Did the Arab Uprisings succeed?
Alexandre Le Coz
LAÏCITÉ: A MODEL OR A THREAT FOR FREEDOM OF ...
The French secular model of laïcité—which aims to mark a formal separation of church and state—is a core republican value of the French state and some segments of French society. However, it is often poorly or only partially understood, both domestically and abroad. In its original formulation, laïcité was not designed to eliminate religion from areas outside the jurisdiction and purview of the state, nor to uphold a specific faith over another. Rather, it was supposed to dissipate religious practices from the operations of the secular French state. In public or private matters outside the functioning of the state, laïcité should be no threat to freedom of religion. But in practice, recent instrumentalizations of this model have attempted to contain people of minority religious faiths or coerce them into a closed secularism. Such rampant abuses of laïcité threaten and sometimes violate religious freedom, ultimately undermining pluralism and social stability.
The Islamists You Have Heard About (Excerpt)
In the last two posts, I have argued that Islam is not hardwired for violence, but even a casual consumer of contemporary news in the West is likely to ask: What about the shootings by an Islamist in the nightclub in Orlando, Florida in 2016? Or the violence that Islamists have perpetrated in Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin, Fort Hood, Ottawa, Boston, and so many other places? Or the Islamic State? Or the attacks of September 11, 2001? A more informed observer might add this: What about the many Muslims around the world who have been victims of Muslim terrorism? These phenomena did not appear motivated by the rationales of religious freedom or secular repression, the political theologies that I have argued govern other patterns of Muslim-majority states. No, this violence appears motivated by the Islamic faith.
Rev. Daniel L. Mode
The Intersection of U.S. National Security ...
Religious freedom and national security are closely intertwined. Far from being a boutique human rights issue, the advancement of religious freedom can play a major role in advancing national and international security. There is an increasing recognition of this link as evidenced in the development of language in the National Security Strategy, statements and activities led by high-level officials across the U.S. Government, and emerging academic research.
The French Revolution, Not Just the Iranian ...
The secular repressive pattern in Islam follows the French Revolution and is a rival to the Iranian Revolution in its low levels of religious freedom. Most practitioners of the secular repressive pattern have been authoritarian rulers: Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's Assads. It is often through brutal force, including torture, that they restrict religion—and necessarily so because their populations are far more religious than they are.
Religious Freedom Institute
Francis Inspires Religious Freedom, But Challenges Within the Church Remain
By: Paul Elie
A few weeks ago, several dozen of us Georgetown faculty members and students met in the large conference room at the Berkley Center and watched Pope Francis's address to a joint session of Congress. A lively discussion followed, although I was forced to duck in and out to reply to a raft of messages that came in after Francis put forward Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton—protagonists of my first book, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage—as "representative Americans" in their striving for the common good.
Tagged: religious freedom, Pope Francis, Catholicism, international relations, constructivism
Permanent Link: https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/cornerstone/2016/7/19/francis-inspires-religious-freedom-but-challenges-within-the-church-remain
Pope Francis and the Power of Ideas
By: Nicholas Fedyk
"How many divisions does the Pope of Rome have?" asked Joseph Stalin in 1944. Criticized for his harsh treatment of Catholic minorities, Stalin's retort was plain: A lack of military power meant a lack of influence on the world stage. Soldiers, aircraft, tanks, battleships: this was the stuff of power. The Catholic Church wielded great doctrinal and ideological power over its members, but without military might, it was woefully under-equipped to challenge such dogged realpolitik.
Tagged: religious freedom, Catholicism, Pope Francis, international relations, constructivism
Permanent Link: https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/cornerstone/2016/7/19/pope-francis-and-the-power-of-ideas
316 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Suite 501
Email: RFI@religiousfreedominstitute.org