Liberty in the Things of God

Liberty in the Things of God PDF

Author: Robert Louis Wilken

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-04-09

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0300226632

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From one of the leading historians of Christianity comes this sweeping reassessment of religious freedom, from the church fathers to John Locke In the ancient world Christian apologists wrote in defense of their right to practice their faith in the cities of the Roman Empire. They argued that religious faith is an inward disposition of the mind and heart and cannot be coerced by external force, laying a foundation on which later generations would build. Chronicling the history of the struggle for religious freedom from the early Christian movement through the seventeenth century, Robert Louis Wilken shows that the origins of religious freedom and liberty of conscience are religious, not political, in origin. They took form before the Enlightenment through the labors of men and women of faith who believed there could be no justice in society without liberty in the things of God. This provocative book, drawing on writings from the early Church as well as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, reminds us of how "the meditations of the past were fitted to affairs of a later day."

Liberty for All

Liberty for All PDF

Author: Andrew T. Walker

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1493431153

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Christians are often thought of as defending only their own religious interests in the public square. They are viewed as worrying exclusively about the erosion of their freedom to assemble and to follow their convictions, while not seeming as concerned about publicly defending the rights of Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and atheists to do the same. Andrew T. Walker, an emerging Southern Baptist public theologian, argues for a robust Christian ethic of religious liberty that helps the church defend religious freedom for everyone in a pluralistic society. Whether explicitly religious or not, says Walker, every person is striving to make sense of his or her life. The Christian foundations of religious freedom provide a framework for how Christians can navigate deep religious difference in a secular age. As we practice religious liberty for our neighbors, we can find civility and commonality amid disagreement, further the church's engagement in the public square, and become the strongest defenders of religious liberty for all. Foreword by noted Princeton scholar Robert P. George.

The Right to Be Wrong

The Right to Be Wrong PDF

Author: Kevin Seamus Hasson

Publisher: Image

Published: 2012-08-14

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0307718107

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In the running debate we call the "culture wars," there exists a great feud over religious diversity. One side demands that only their true religion be allowed in the public square; the other insists that no religions ever belong there. The Right to Be Wrong offers a solution, drawing its lessons from a series of stories--both contemporary and historical--that illustrates the struggle to define religious freedom. The book concludes that freedom for all is guaranteed by the truth about each of us: Our common humanity entitles us to freedom--within broad limits--to follow what we believe to be true as our consciences say we must, even if our consciences are mistaken. Thus, we can respect others' freedom when we're sure they're wrong. In truth, they have the right to be wrong.

Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination

Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination PDF

Author: John Corvino

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0190603070

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This book explores emerging conflicts about religious liberty and discrimination. In point-counterpoint format, it brings together longtime LGBT rights advocate John Corvino and rising conservative thinkers Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis to debate Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs), anti-discrimination law, and age-old questions about identity, morality, and society.

Religious Freedom and the Constitution

Religious Freedom and the Constitution PDF

Author: Christopher L. Eisgruber

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-04-10

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 067426326X

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Religion has become a charged token in a politics of division. In disputes about faith-based social services, public money for religious schools, the Pledge of Allegiance, Ten Commandments monuments, the theory of evolution, and many other topics, angry contestation threatens to displace America's historic commitment to religious freedom. Part of the problem, the authors argue, is that constitutional analysis of religious freedom has been hobbled by the idea of "a wall of separation" between church and state. That metaphor has been understood to demand that religion be treated far better than other concerns in some contexts, and far worse in others. Sometimes it seems to insist on both contrary forms of treatment simultaneously. Missing has been concern for the fair and equal treatment of religion. In response, the authors offer an understanding of religious freedom called Equal Liberty. Equal Liberty is guided by two principles. First, no one within the reach of the Constitution ought to be devalued on account of the spiritual foundation of their commitments. Second, all persons should enjoy broad rights of free speech, personal autonomy, associative freedom, and private property. Together, these principles are generous and fair to a wide range of religious beliefs and practices. With Equal Liberty as their guide, the authors offer practical, moderate, and appealing terms for the settlement of many hot-button issues that have plunged religious freedom into controversy. Their book calls Americans back to the project of finding fair terms of cooperation for a religiously diverse people, and it offers a valuable set of tools for working toward that end.

The Crisis of Religious Liberty

The Crisis of Religious Liberty PDF

Author: Stephen M. Krason

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-12-23

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 144224254X

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In The Crisis of Religious Liberty:Reflections from Law, History, and Catholic Social Thought, contributors consider a series of significant challenges to the freedom of religious conscience and expression in the United States today. Such challenges include the mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning contraceptive, sterilization, and abortifacient coverage in health insurance plans; the question of health-care institutions requiring medical personnel to participate in morally objectionable procedures contrary to their religious beliefs; legal liability for individuals and businesses refusing on religious grounds to provide services for same-sex marriages; the prohibition on students from engaging in religious expression in public schools; the use of zoning laws to block Bible studies in private homes; and a variety of other issues that have surfaced in recent years with respect to religious freedom. While some argues that religious liberty extends no further than the freedom to worship, contributors suggest otherwise, noting that the exercise of religious liberty is greater than a highly restrictive definition of the notion of worship. The Crisis of Religious Liberty comprises eight chapters and an afterword that explore the nature and basis of religious freedom in terms of Catholic social thought. They cover such topics as the Catholic Church's teachings from the Vatican II's Dignatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Liberty), the decline of a historic rapprochement among different religious perspectives in the United States in the face of an increasingly aggressive secularism, perspectives on religious liberty from the founding of America, and how the religious liberty situation in the U.S. compares with the rest of the world. The Crisis of Religious Liberty:Reflections from Law, History, and Catholic Social Thought should appeal to a variety of professionals as well as a scholars: lawyers and clergy, health care professionals and Catholic business owners, and researchers in the fields of religion, law, American politics, and sociology.

The Right to Religious Liberty

The Right to Religious Liberty PDF

Author: Barry W. Lynn

Publisher:

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780809319671

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This revised and updated edition of "The Right to Religious Liberty "sets forth an individual s religious rights under present law, offering suggestions as to how they can be preserved and protected. The ACLU has diligently and vigorously advanced claims that the religious liberty of individual believers and religious institutions are infringed upon by government. Written by two ordained Christian ministers and a former Orthodox Jewish rabbinical school student, "The Right to Religious Liberty "represents the view that far from being militantly atheistic, the ACLU s insistence on the separation of church and state is in the best interests of both church and state. Like other handbooks in the ACLU series, this volume is developed in the hope that Americans, informed of their rights, will be encouraged to exercise them. Barry Lynn, Marc D. Stern, and Oliver Thomas explain this shared conviction through the use of a question and answer format that addresses a broad range of issues dealing with church-state separation and religious liberty. In detail, the authors discuss establishment and free exercise clauses, religion and public education, governmental aid to religious organizations, religious displays, the role of chaplains, religion and family law, accommodation of religion, church autonomy, conscientious objection, refusal of medical treatment for religious reasons, zoning and religious institutions, clergy confidentiality, religion in the workplace, prisoners rights, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, state constitutions, and the controversial topic of deprogramming. In presenting the material as objectively as possible, the authors do not always concur with each of the cited decisions, nor do they always agree with the specific solutions of a case. Instead, their goal is to give the interested reader a synopsis of the most current and relevant information and a general sense of the meaning and application of the law."