Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Religious Liberty

June 12, 2014

Global Religious Hostility Continues To Increase

, Pew Research says this is a global issue. The Americas are the only region not seeing a noted increase. A third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007. Continue Reading...
June 11, 2014

On the Universal Common Good

Today at Ethika Politika, I examine the longstanding claim of the Roman Catholic Church that the universal character of the common good in our present era necessitates a world political authority. Continue Reading...
June 05, 2014

Economic Growth And Religion: What’s The Connection?

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation has issued a global study that links religious freedom to economic growth. Researchers say that religious freedom has been a previously “unrecognized asset to economic recovery and growth,” and that religion contributes heavily to peace and stability, both of which are necessary to economic stability. Continue Reading...
June 05, 2014

The Paradoxes of Religious Liberty and Economic Freedom

The role of economic liberty in contributing to human flourishing and the common good remains deeply underappreciated, says Samuel Gregg, even by those who are dedicated to religious liberty: The relationship between economic and religious liberty can, however, work the other way: subtle corrosion of economic freedom can undermine religious liberty. Continue Reading...
June 02, 2014

Religion In America: Accommodation, Not Coercion

The Supreme Court recently decided (in Greece v. Galloway) that the New York town of Greece had the right to open its town board meetings with prayer, and that this did not violate the rights of anyone, nor did it violate the Constitutional mandate that our government cannot establish a religion. Continue Reading...
May 09, 2014

Samuel Gregg: Indivisibility Of Religious Liberty, Economic Freedom

Sam Gregg, Acton’s director of research, makes the case that limiting religious liberty also infringes upon economic growth in The American Spectator. Gregg uses history to illustrate the point. Unjust restrictions on religious liberty often come in the form of limiting the ability of members of particular faiths to participate fully in public life. Continue Reading...
May 06, 2014

Chinese Government Destroys Church; Denies Persecution

Wenzhou, China, is known as the “Jerusalem of the East” because of its large Christian population, a population that had, until recently, enjoyed the Sanjiang Church for worship. A massive structure, Sanjiang Church took over 12 years to build and was a site of pilgrimage for Chinese Catholics. Continue Reading...
May 05, 2014

Explainer: The Supreme Court’s Ruling on Government Prayer

What was the Greece vs. Galloway case about? The short answer: The constitutionality of saying religiously specific prayers (e.g., praying in Jesus name) at government meetings and functions. The (slightly) longer answer: In the town of Greece, located in upstate New York, the Town Board sessions were opened by a prayer from local clergy, mostly leaders of Christian congregations although in a few instances members of other faith traditions offered the invocation (a Jewish man, a Baha’i leader, and a Wiccan). Continue Reading...