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| Can God and Caesar Coexist?: Balancing Religious Freedom and International Law
ISBN: 9780300133714
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Yale University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Freedom of religion; Freedom of religion (International law);
An eminent religious leader and political activist considers the future of religious freedom throughout the world
Father Robert F. Drinan--priest, scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, and ethicist--has spent his life working to strengthen human rights. In this important book, Father Drinan explores the state of religious freedom worldwide, arguing that international law and legal institutions have not gone far enough to protect religious freedom. The international community, says Father Drinan, has been slow to recognize the urgent need of balancing the requirements of a pluralistic society with the demands of religious freedom.
Despite numerous proclamations from the United Nations and from individual nations about the importance of religious freedom, says Father Drinan, there is still no covenant, legally binding instrument, or world tribunal to monitor freedom of religion. Drinan explores the status of religious freedom in certain Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Communist societies whose doctrines may promote intolerance. And he asserts that the silence of international law allows nations to continue to punish persons who practice a faith viewed unfavorably by the government.
Robert F. Drinan, and ordained Jesuit priest, a lawyer, and a former U.S. Congressman, is professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. For more than three decades he has been an advocate for international human rights. |
