The International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) held its third biennial conference on religion and the law at Richmond, Virginia, from 21 to 23 August 2013, addressing the theme ‘Religion, democracy and equality’. The first conference had taken place in 2009 in Milan on the theme ‘Law and religion in the 21st century: relations between states and religious communities’ and the second in 2011 in Santiago considering the subject ‘Religion and constitution’. The venue for its third conference in Richmond was ideal considering that it was held at the location where the language was crafted that ultimately became the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The keynote address of the conference was delivered by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt. His presentation traversed a wide range of topics including a German court's decision to convict a doctor for circumcising a boy on religious grounds and the subsequent legislation passed by the Bundestag overriding the court decision, the view expressed by some that religious liberty should be regarded as a sub-category of freedom of expression, and the need for religious groups to be committed to promoting religious freedom globally (not just in those countries where they are minorities). He gave a particularly memorable comment that he is regularly asked whether religious liberty is more important than human rights by people who are clearly unaware that religious liberty is a fundamental human right, as clearly affirmed in the central international human rights instruments.
Over 70 international experts on law and religion issues made presentations at the conference on themes such as ‘Religious pluralism and treatment of religious minorities’, ‘Hate speech, hate crimes and religious minorities’, ‘Religious symbols, public reason and the state’, ‘Religion and gender: same-sex marriage’, ‘Religion and anti-discrimination norms’ and ‘Is religion special?’. The presenters often had substantially different perspectives on the ethical and legal issues raised by the various topics addressed, resulting in informative and lively discussion among the presenters and audience members.
At the end of the conference it was decided that the Fourth ICLARS Conference would be held in Europe in 2015 at a location to be announced in the near future. Anyone interested in developing their understanding of law and religion issues would benefit greatly from attending that conference, to listen to the presentations and socialise with some of the leading law and religion experts in the world.
