Religious Freedom or Oppressive Religion?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

On the 11th of May the New York Times ran an article with the following title: “For Ultra-Orthodox in Abuse Cases, Prosecutor Has Different Rules.” It reported that the ultra-Orthodox advocacy group Agudath Israel of America was instructing adherent Jews that they could report allegations of child sexual abuse to district attorneys or the police only if a rabbi first determined that the suspicions were credible. It was, as the article points out, a blatant challenge to the authority of... Read more

The End of Civil Religion in America

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Yes, I know. Being civil about religion in America is already long dead. Stridency is the order of the day, with politicians, pastors, imams, rabbis and news commentators trying to outdo each other in inflammatory rhetoric and wounded indignation. America’s public space is like a kindergarten playground at recess. But if we aren’t civil about religion perhaps its because there is tension in the air as America’s civil religion reaches the end of its long productive life, and the children... Read more

The Christian Basis for a Religiously Plural Democracy

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

In the last blog I asked how those who exercise their political responsibilities out of Christian commitment could share those responsibilities with non-Christians. The answer, if not simple, is itself profoundly Christian. One can start at many different places in the Bible to understand how people of different religions can share in a common human obligation to exercise sovereignty. I would suggest we start with Romans 1:18 – 20, which nicely encompasses the possibilities and problems of a religiously plural,... Read more

Dual Citizenship and Divided Loyalties? No!

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

I the last blog I talked about dual citizenship in a nation and in a transnational religion. Sometimes this is quite concrete. All Jews are by right citizens of Israel. The Chinese government still grants citizenship rights to ethnic Chinese, as does the German government to ethnic Germans for that matter. In other cases dual citizenship has less legal status in international law, but is arguably just as real. Christians are citizens of a nation-state and of God’s Kingdom, which... Read more

Dual Citizenship and Divided Loyalties?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Were you aware that officially the United States does not allow its citizens to be citizens of any other country? When my wife became a US citizen four years ago one of the things she had to do was to renounce her Malaysian citizenship. Why? The US, and many other nations (but not all) resist dual citizenship because they fear divided loyalties. For most of recent history nation-states have wanted to be the sole claimant on the loyalty of their citizens.... Read more

Islam in Egypt and Freedom of Conscience

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Today’s New York Times (April 29, 2012) reports that Egypt’s most conservative Islamic groups have announced their support for the most liberal candidate in the upcoming presidential election: an ex-Muslim Brotherhood leader; Mr. Aboul Fotouh. He is known for saying that the Quranic injunction that there should be no compulsion in religion means that governments cannot and should not enforce religious law. Indeed they should support freedom of religion. This runs contrary to the Islamist vision of a government based... Read more

Minority Report

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Jesus said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is a statement every Christian knows, but surprisingly few seem to consider when they think about the problem of civic identity and the nature of their national home. Particularly among that group that identifies itself as “conservative Christian” there is a strong emphasis on the United States as a nation based on “Judeo-Christian values.” For them the Biblical ten commandments are understood as the basis of... Read more

Endowed by Their Creator?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

In recent public appearances Mitt Romney has been reminding his audiences that “our founding fathers said that our Creator has endowed us with rights. Not the government, but our creator.” His reference is to the US Declaration of Independence that states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What he fails to... Read more

Fighting for Religious Identity in a Pluralist World

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Although it is in and out of the mainstream media, the problem faced by Muslims in Murfreesboro Tennessee goes on and on. Their effort to build an Islamic center faces continued protests as citizens try to “protect” their city from the deleterious influences of a “foreign” religion. Various anti-Shari’a law bills wending their way through state legislatures are intended to have the same effect. But let’s not forget that this isn’t just an American issue. In the United States we... Read more

One God, Many Paths?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

After a long hiatus in which I traveled to Europe, the Middle East, and Nepal I wanted to inaugurate this new blog format with a blog from last year. In every country I visited I found that the classical forms of inter-religious dialogue, dialogue centered around the search to understand and respect the religious beliefs of others, was on the wain. As one Palestinian scholar told me: “I don’t need to have another Rabbi tell me he respects my religion,... Read more