Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Our annual report includes a five-year look at the relationship between religion-related government restrictions and social hostilities in 198 countries and territories.
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Library of Congress Washington, D.C. With the passage of the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998, the United States became one of the few countries in the world to make promotion of religious freedom an explicit foreign policy goal. The act, signed into law by President Clinton, established an Office of International Religious Freedom at […]
Washington, D.C. A May 10 Associated Press article reports that U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina is allowing four former detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to pursue a lawsuit alleging their U.S. captors violated their religious rights. The Pew Forum responds to questions raised by the news. Featuring: David Masci, Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on […]
Although tolerance is an American ideal and freedom of religion is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, American history has often been characterized by inter-religious conflict. Without question, however, much progress has been made in overcoming blatant forms of institutionalized religious discrimination. But historic tensions among American religious groups, not to mention […]
Although a right to personal privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution, most judges and legal scholars acknowledge that a measure of privacy is essential to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. The exact extent of that privacy, however, is highly contested. Indeed, some of the most hotly debated high court decisions in U.S. […]
December 7, 2005, marks the 40th anniversary of Dignitatis Humanae, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on religious freedom. Dignitatis Humanae asserts the fundamental right of all individuals, religious communities and families to freedom of religious participation and expression, and it affirms the duty of civil authorities to protect this right. Beyond religious freedom, the document […]
Read the Pew Forum Discussion transcript The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that aims to protect the religious freedom of inmates and others held in state and local institutions. The unanimous decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson, issued on May 31, reverses […]
Church-State Experts React to Unanimous Ruling The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that aims to protect the religious freedom of inmates and others held in state and local institutions. The unanimous decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson reverses a ruling by the […]
Pew Research Center Washington, D.C. Download the Pew Forum legal backgrounder Speakers: Nathan J. Diament, Director, Institute for Public Affairs, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Co-Editor, Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Law and Thought Ira C. “Chip” Lupu, F. Elwood and Eleanor Davis Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School […]
