Religion and law - Topics

Mount Athos has banned women for a thousand years and that rule is still enforced What the ministerial exception protects churches from in employment suits What happens when a congregation votes to leave its denomination over property? How are new religious movements incorporated as legal entities? How the brainwashing theory entered courtrooms and then came under attack Who owns the land under a church and what happens if the congregation folds? Using annual leave for religious observance — how do employers usually react? Why do some countries restrict proselytizing and how is it enforced? Islamic law as a family keeps breaking the categories comparatists built for it Swearing on a holy book in court is optional in many countries and still requested Sallekhana fasting to death and the legal fight around it How the legal status of religious charities differs from other nonprofits What can parents opt out of when religious education is compulsory at school? How does France's ban on religious instruction in public schools work in practice? How the kirpan sits with weapons law in different countries What changes when a government puts a religious group on a fundamentalist watch list? Witnesses who refuse to swear may still testify by affirmation in most legal systems Can a religious oath in court be replaced with a secular affirmation How the Waco siege reshaped federal law enforcement policy What kinds of insurance do religious institutions carry? What Indonesia's Pancasila requires of religious minorities Why courts refuse to rule on theological questions at all Conscience clauses for pharmacists and whose right is protected at the counter How the Religious Freedom Restoration Act restored exemptions the courts had removed How blasphemy laws still on the books are applied today Bans on full-body swimwear at public pools — what is the argument on each side? Breaking a sworn oath carries legal consequences in some systems and only religious ones in others How religious bodies register marriages and what that registration decides How rules of evidence in religious courts differ from secular ones Why Employment Division v Smith changed how US courts weigh religious exemptions Marriage vows change wording sharply between religious and civil ceremonies What counts as a religion for tax purposes and who decides