RFP scholar Will Inboden looks at recent decisions of the Obama administration on religious liberty and asks, "Is the White House Trying to Turn America into France?" at the Foreign Policy blog Shadow Government

The Canadian government's decision to open a new office of religious freedom has not been without controversy. Yet in this Globe and Mail editorial, the author argues that the global rise in religious persecution warrants sustained attention. RFP Director Tom Farr is quoted on the important connection between religious freedom and issues of justice and human dignity.

Marley's ghost, in Charles Dickens' great moral parable, The Christmas Carol, reflected in anguish on what, beyond the grave, he finally understood to have been his core moral obligation in life: "Mankind was my business." Just as Marley and his Spirits exhorted Scrooge to confront the realities of poverty and his responsibility to help, we also are confronted during this end of the year holiday season with appeals to our conscience.

Top ten lists are loads of fun, but they often predict future political outcomes worse than the Ames Straw Poll (won by Mitt Romney in 2007 and Michele Bachmann in 2011, thank you). What follows, then, is a look back that tries to look forward. What were the biggest American politics and religion stories of 2011 and how might they play out in the presidential campaign of 2012?

From December 11 to 13, the fourth annual Alliance of Civilizations Forum took place in Doha, Qatar, a splendiferous gathering at Doha's spanking new convention center, occasion for the opening of Katara, Qatar's huge and gorgeous cultural "village." Banners everywhere proclaimed the theme: "Intercultural dialogue to boost development." So what was it all about?