Interactions – A Law and Religion Podcast

In today's episode of Interactions , we hear from Dr. Isaac Weiner and his Canopy Forum article "Secular Corporations, Religious Subjects" about the interesting question religious corporations pose for law and religion. What is a religious corporation? That's the question everyone would like to answer, seeing as religious corporations are extremely powerful, possessing certain exemptions in U.S. l...

Against the backdrop of a controversial new law restricting abortion procedures in Texas, we’re hearing from Professor Caroline Mala Corbin and her Canopy Forum article, “The Religious Right to Disregard Mandatory Ultrasounds.”  Legal victories by conservative Christians have expanded the scope of religious exercises that qualify for protection under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. As...

In last week’s episode of Interactions , we heard from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in his lecture on happiness from the Jewish perspective. He outlined three types of happiness in Judaism: the happiness of struggle, the happiness of peace, and the happiness of covenant. In today’s episode, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks delves deeper into the meaning and measure of happiness in Judaism, and how the ancie...

While the concept of happiness is obviously not unique to Judaism, Jewish tradition and Jewish law offer a unique perspective on the many forms and meanings of happiness in human life and society. In today’s episode of Interactions, we hear from Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on the meaning and measure of happiness in the Jewish tradition. "There is a very beautiful image of happiness as being at...

Legislatures in the United States have introduced more new laws targeting transgender rights in 2021 than in any year previously. While the GOP and many social conservatives have long opposed the expansion of LGBTQ+ rights, it is important to understand the context and reasons for their recent focus on transgender issues.  In this episode of  Interactions,  Professor   Dan Mill...

Over the course of the last two centuries, the American slaughterhouse has been carefully designed to function as a site of legal exception, where violence against both animals and workers—many of whom are immigrants and people of color—is hidden from the public’s gaze, while being rendered licit. In today's episode of Interactions, we hear from Ph. D. candidate Joanna Smith of UNC Chapel Hill as...

The U.S. border is a place of intense racialization and militarization. It’s a place where there are fewer protections against governmental abuse of power than anywhere else in the country. And it’s a place that over 200 million people call home. In today’s episode of  Interactions,  we examine the politics at the U.S. border as a way of understanding the racism and militarization at wor...

Even though the FBI has labeled QAnon a domestic terrorist threat, for some Christians this conspiracy system has become a hermeneutical lens to interpret the Bible--and the world. According to Annabelle Bichler , QAnon has ridden the line of religiosity from its inception, but the conspiracy has become so enmeshed with evangelical Christianity that it could be considered a religion. In today's ep...

How can we make atonement after serious wrongdoing? How do we repair our souls—even amidst shame, guilt, and irreparable damage? Today’s episode of  Interactions  features the work of David R. Blumenthal, who illustrates how the Jewish tradition approaches the question of rejoining life after grave sin. “Feeling guilt for having done wrong is a blessing,” Blumenthal writes. “Feeling guil...

Despite not typically interacting with each other in Israeli society, Haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews) and traditional Arab women seem to share common qualities, such as covering up most of their bodies for modesty reasons, and living in relatively closed societies. In this episode of  Interactions,  Gilan Miller-Gertz and Nour Abu-Ghosh interview women from both groups to discove...

The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated inequalities, financial devastation, and loneliness. How can families observe a mindset of sacramentality in this time of uncertainty and loss? In this episode of  Interactions,  Marguerite Spencer explores how the pandemic can be a “marker of growth” that can be “reflected upon with reverence”: a sacrament to be pondered over as much as water, bread,...

Appeals to natural law have been seen as oppressive--or even backwards--by social progressives. But does natural law have something to offer feminist, queer, and antiracist movements? In his  Canopy Forum  article , “A Natural Law for Queer and Racial Justice,” Dr. Craig A. Ford, Jr. argues that the abandonment of the natural law by progressives is misguided. "The natural law tradition d...

What happens when a criminal court in Ghent, Belgium finds the Jehovah’s Witness community guilty of discrimination for "disfellowshipping" its former members? In his article for Canopy Forum, “The Right to Shun: Ghent’s Misguided Jehovah's Witness Decision,” Matthew P. Cavedon explores the practice of shunning among Jehovah’s Witnesses: its impacts on believers, but also its impacts on the freedo...

While homeschooling is largely seen as a White, middle-class, and Christian fundamentalist phenomenon, more Black families are choosing to homeschool. However, their perspectives are too often left out of conversations about homeschooling. “Homeschooling advances the best interests of Black children,” write authors Cheryl Fields-Smith and Andrea L. Dennis. “But Black parents face challenges due to...

The United States already had the biggest prison population in the world. Then the pandemic struck. Not only has the virus disproportionately affected Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), but the COVID-19 Policing Project found that BIPOC are “2.5 times more likely to be policed and punished for violations of COVID-19 orders than white people.” In his newest essay for  Canopy Forum...

How has the Christian legal movement responded to coronavirus regulations on religious gatherings, and how will the politics of this response affect support for religious liberty in general? Find out in this reading of Andrew Lewis and Daniel Bennett's essay, “Church Closures, Religious Freedom, and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Assessing the Christian Legal Movement’s Response.” Browse our...

Matthew P. Cavedon, a criminal defense attorney who holds graduate degrees in both law and theology, asks whether death row inmates have a right to have a clergyperson or spiritual advisor present at the time of their execution. Do those who are convicted of the most heinous crimes deserve spiritual consolation at the moment they are put to death? Browse our book brochure.

Today’s episode features Dr. Audra Savage, an expert in law, religion, and human rights, talking about what she sees as America's first religion - the religion of racism. Though this talk was given by Professor Savage a little over a year ago at Emory University, her insights are relevant today amidst ongoing movements for racial justice. For more, visit Canopy Forum . Browse our book brochure.

What does Jewish law and tradition teach about protecting individuals and communities during a pandemic? Rabbi Michael Broyde explains why religious communities should be treated fairly under quarantine restrictions, why religious practitioners shouldn’t disobey public health orders – even for pious reasons – and what role medical and public health experts should play in regulating religious obser...

"The Trump administration is promoting new proposed rules on social service partnerships with faith-based organizations under the banner of religious freedom. A closer look, however, reveals that the proposals would actually eliminate certain religious liberty protections for social service beneficiaries, and that none of the Trump administration’s justifications for its actions holds water..." Me...