FROM THE DIRECTOR
 After an exciting Spring -- our first semester in operation -- the Religious Freedom Project is hard at work preparing for the Fall, which will include our first public symposium on religious liberty.
That event will take place on November 17 at Georgetown University, and will feature a keynote debate between two of the most powerful voices in U.S. religious liberty jurisprudence: Stanford Law Professor Michael McConnell and Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman.
The subject of their debate will be "Is Religious Freedom an Independent or Derivative Human Right?" The symposium will also feature two panels on the history and institutionalization of religious liberty. If you would like to join us, please sign up here.
You can also check out on our website our activities from last Spring, including the first of our Standing Seminars on "Religion as Intrinsic to Human Experience." Some of the world's leading scientists, social scientists, philosophers, and theologians gathered at the Berkley Center to debate that issue.
As for this summer, our RFP Scholars have been busy. Read on!" --Thomas F. Farr
FRIENDS OF THE RFP
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia
The archbishop, who spoke at Georgetown this past March at a conference on religious liberty chaired by RFP director Thomas F. Farr, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to lead the 1.5 million Catholics in the archdiocese of Philadelphia. Video of the archbishop's address, "Subject to the Governor of the Universe," is available online here. A strong advocate for religious freedom, Archbishop Chaput has served as a Commissioner on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and recently wrote a letter (available online here) to the president urging his administration to develop a more robust international religious freedom policy.
RFP SCHOLARS IN THE NEWS
Mona Siddiqui Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
The OBE was awarded to Siddiqui as part of the 2011 Queen’s Honours List in recognition for her outstanding services to inter-faith relations. Read more...
Thomas F. Farr Testifies on Religious Freedom Policy Before U.S. Congressional Committee
As Congress considered legislation to amend the International Religious Freedom Act, Farr offered testimony that the promotion of religious freedom as part of US foreign policy is crucial to the success of American diplomatic efforts and to American national security. Read more...
Roger Trigg Completes 3 Year Research Project on Religious Belief and Human Nature
The Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project at Oxford University, co-directed by Trigg, found an inclination from birth and early childhood development to see and understand the world through religious ideas. Read more...
NEW PUBLICATIONS BY RFP SCHOLARS
Timothy Shah, Monica Duffy Toft, and Daniel Philpott, "The Dangers of Secularism in the Middle East," Christian Science Monitor (August 11, 2011)
"If the United States wishes to advance democracy, stability, and the defeat of terrorism in the upheaval in the Middle East, it must continue to abjure the brand of secularism that views religion only as a threat. It must realize not only that religion is here to stay but also that, in the right kind of setting and through the right kind of policies, religion can become an ally, not an enemy, of American interests and ideals." Read more...
Thomas F. Farr: "The Trouble with American Foreign Policy and Islam," The Review of Faith and International Affairs (Summer 2011)
"If the United States wishes to have an impact either on the humanitarian tragedy that is emerging in the greater Middle East, on the national security threat that it represents, or both, it must learn to advance religious freedom more effectively than it has to date." Read more...
William Inboden: "On Libya, Losing Time and Listening for Divine Footsteps," ForeignPolicy.Com (July 18, 2011)
"Wise and effective statecraft depends much on developing the right policies. But statecraft also depends on a less appreciated factor, and that is timing. It is not always enough to do the right thing, but to do the right thing at the right time. In other words, in foreign policy it is not just what you do, but when you do it." Read more...
RECENT LECTURES BY RFP SCHOLARS
Rabbi David Novak: "Pope John Paul II on Judaism and the Jews," United Nations Headquarters, New York (May 12, 2011)
"Thus John Paul II’s overall concern with Jews and Judaism was more than nostalgia for his pre-War childhood and youth, and more than sympathy for the common plight of Polish Jews and Polish Catholics during the War; rather, it was his profoundly theological concern for the covenanted people, whether that people be the Jews or the Church, sometimes together sometimes apart until the end of days." Read more...
Daniel Philpott: "Religious Freedom in Islam - A Global Landscape," Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel (May 29, 2011)
What is the state of religious freedom in Islam today? This important question was explored by Philpott at an international conference on "Religious Law and State Affairs," held at the Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv, Israel. In his remarks, to be published at a later date, Philpott looked at Muslim-majority countries and assessed the degree to which religious freedom existed, the patterns of its violation, and its relationship to democracy.
Roger Trigg: "Free to Believe? A Religious Conscience in a Secular Society," DISCERN: The Institute for Research on the Signs of the Times, Malta (February 23, 2011)
In a prominent lecture, attended by the President of the Republic of Malta, Trigg argued against Europe's increasingly aggressive secularism as evidenced by recent judicial decisions that have undermined religious belief in the name of "equality." "What is developing," argued Trigg, "is not neutrality but often hostility to religion, with an ideology of human rights taking its place.” Read more...
UPCOMING EVENTS
Keynote Debate: Is Religious Freedom an Independent or Derivative Human Right?
Georgetown University, Thursday, November 17, 2011
 Religious freedom has been called America’s “first freedom.” But does it deserve such special recognition? On Thursday, November 17, 2011, the Religious Freedom Project will host a debate between Harvard University Law Professor Noah Feldman and Stanford University Law Professor Michael McConnell on the uniqueness of religious freedom. RSVP here.
Sourcebook Seminar on Religious Freedom and the Struggle Against Extremism
Georgetown University, Friday, September 23, 2011
A number of recent studies focused on the topic of extremism have indicated a potential relationship between the lack of religious freedom in a society and the expression of religion-based violence. On September 23, 2011 the Religious Freedom Project will convene a private meeting of experts to discuss a sourcebook of collected data-sets and annotated case studies on the potential relationship between religious freedom and extremism, terrorism, and violence. Read more...
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
Jean Bethke Elshtain Lectures on "Religious Freedom and the Politics of Prosyletism"
Georgetown University, Friday, April 29, 2011 
Proselytism has emerged as an increasingly important international political issue. What is the relationship between religious freedom and the freedom to proseltyize? In her presentation Jean Bethke Elshtain argued that the two are inseparable. For religious pluralism to be robust it must encompass not just religious diversity and interaction but also include efforts to knowingly and determinedly set out to change someone else’s mind about something basic to his or her identity and self-definition. Watch the event online
Justin Barrett Lectures on "The Cognitive Science of Religion"
Georgetown University, Wednesday, May 4, 2011
 Is religious experience intrinsically related to human cognition? In recent decades this question has prompted significant academic interest from a wide range of scholarly disciplines including anthropology, biology, philosophy, and psychology. Cognitive psychologist Justin Barrett has been a leading figure in the exploration of this question and spoke to Religious Freedom Project on May 4, 2011. Watch the event online
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