So I maintain my view that an abrupt state implementation of full religious liberty always and everywhere would lead to backlash and worsen the condition of religious minorities in the short term. But religious freedom remains a human right, and in the long term it meshes with other liberties to make for freer and more self-governing countries.
Islamic Roots of the Middle East's Trust Deficit
By: Timur Kuran
World travelers saw the Middle East as a “low trust” region well before the World Values Survey began, in 1981, to compare levels of trust across societies through scientific techniques. According to the survey and related research, trust among Middle Eastern individuals is low enough to limit commercial transactions to people who know each other either personally or through mutual acquaintances. Trust in institutions is low as well; it makes individuals personalize their interactions with government agencies, and even their dealings with private companies, by seeking the intermediation of a flesh-and-blood person with appropriate connections.
Conscience Protection and Discrimination in the Republican Party Platform and Mississippi's H.B. 1523
By: Linda McClain
Last May, before the Supreme Court issued its landmark opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges,Cornerstone sponsored a symposium on “Responding to Indiana RFRA and Beyond,” which focused on Governor Mike Pence’s swift “fix” of Indiana’s RFRA, after protests and threats of boycotts, to clarify that it would “not create a license to discriminate.” Particularly controversial were provisions protecting the conscience of persons operating for-profit businesses.
"FADA" Knows Best
By: Matthew J. Franck
The Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges in June 2015 redefined the meaning of marriage in American law. But many Americans remain opposed to the Court’s imposition of same-sex marriage, through a ruling that presumed to change the meaning of the Constitution as well. The reasonable belief that the true meaning of marriage is its traditional meaning—the conjugal union of a man and a woman—can be expected to persist among millions of our fellow citizens. In part, this is because that view is also supported by their religious faith, though moral convictions on the subject can be strongly held for non-religious reasons, too.