Berkley Center

The Religious Freedom Project hosted a discussion in the "Room for Debate" section of the New York Times op-ed page on December 22, 2011. RFP Director Thomas Farr and Assistant Director Timothy Samuel Shah co-wrote the first submission, in which they answer "yes and no" to the question of religious freedom's being under threat in the United States. While the United States is hardly an oppressive theocracy, they are concerned at the supposition that democracy "mandates" the exclusion of religion from public debate and policymaking. Professors Farr and Shah's piece is followed by contributions from noted experts in the field of religious liberty on topics ranging from Muslims' patriotism to religious freedom in the context of human rights to the long and not-always-exemplary history of the United States with religious persecution.