A public health lawyer and ethicist explores the thorny issue of whether requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 might be necessary. And if so, can people object citing their faith?
Religious objections to vaccinations have been around almost as long as vaccinations themselves. This presents a new challenge to policy makers as we get closer to a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
Some church members have no problem wearing masks; others say it’s an unconstitutional mandate.
Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
A Florida minister and a conservative lawmaker filed suit against a county law mandating mask wearing, saying it violates the freedom of religion. A constitutional law professor says they’re wrong.
Critics have accused Mike Pompeo of sculpting policy out of his religious beliefs.
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A commission set up by the US Secretary of State says religious freedom and property rights should be elevated above other rights. It has prompted concern from faith-based and secular critics alike.
An LGBTQ rights supporter sets up outside the Supreme Court.
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Both sides of the debate over religious freedoms and LGBTQ rights use the language of equality and opposition to discrimination. It will be up to the courts to decide whose claim is stronger.
A worker from Sanctuary, a Christian charitable organization, tends to homeless people in their tents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on April 28, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Canadian and American religious groups are responding very differently to coronavirus public health measures. Why? In Canada, health care is more widely regarded as a public good and a right.
Some countries have imposed much stricter restrictions on religious worship than others as part of the coronavirus lockdown.
The Satanic Temple unveils a statue of Baphomet, a winged-goat creature, at a rally for the First Amendment in Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 2018.
AP Photo/Hannah Grabenstein
A group known as The Satanic Temple was started with the political goal of advocating for the value of church-state separation. This group is now challenging the traditional definition of religion.
I’d hoped to keep my absence nice and private, especially from those quiet Australians fighting fires. Regrettably, despite best efforts, my press office wasn’t able to keep a lid on the story.
Dilbar Ali Ravu, 10, is kissed by his aunt, Dalal Ravu, as Yazidi children are reunited with their families in Iraq after five years of captivity with the Islamic State group, March 2, 2019.
AP Photo/Philip Issa, File
Interviews with the Yazidi survivors of IS attacks that killed 3,100 people in 2014 reveal the emotional, cultural and spiritual scars of religious persecution.
A mother hugs her son at the memorial of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2019, the first anniversary of the shooting at the synagogue.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
The US Constitution is supposed to protect freedom of religion. But in the 20th century, white Christian nationalists used this ideal to discriminate against Jews and justify their exclusion.
Morrison this week delivered to an audience of big business what was described as his most important speech for the rest of the year.
Steven Saphore/AAP
Next week begins the year’s final parliamentary fortnight, and the main attention will be on the fate of two bills - the ensuring integrity legislation, and the medevac repeal.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster may seem to be a joke, but it highlights some real contradictions in secular societies.
The Supreme Court ruled that baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, could refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs.
AP/David Zalubowski)
Under the government’s draft religious discrimination legislation, big companies would face tougher rules in relation to indirect discrimination.
The data show no evidence of local anti-Semitism or Islamophobia – but this does not mean that hate towards minority religious groups does not exist in New Zealand.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Simon Chapple, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
A survey of New Zealanders’ attitudes towards religious groups, taken after the Christchurch mosque shootings, shows they trust Buddhists most and Evangelicals least.
There will be a State Dinner in Scott Morrison’s honour when he visits Washington DC in September.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Michelle Grattan discusses the slower pace which has taken over Canberra - at least until next week when the action picks up with the new sitting week.
As the debate over religious freedom heats up, the attorney-general has flagged that any proposed legislation would cover a situation like the Folau case.
Peter Rae/AAP
Less than four in ten Australians believe stronger laws are needed to protect religious freedom in a new poll, but 68% say Israel Folau should be able to share his views on social media.
A Senegalese nun prays during a service at the St. Peters church in Dakar, Senegal.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Father Frank Brennan on Israel Folau and religious freedom
The Conversation, CC BY38,6 MB(download)
Member of the government's Religious Freedom Review, Frank Brennan, discusses the way forward on the "wicked problem" of ensuring religious freedoms in Australia.