Can God and Caesar Coexist?: Balancing Religious Freedom and International Law

An eminent religious leader and political activist considers the future of religious freedom throughout the world

Father Robert F. Drinan—priest, scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, and ethicist—has spent his life working to strengthen human rights. In this important book, Father Drinan explores the state of religious freedom worldwide, arguing that international law and legal institutions have not gone far enough to protect religious freedom. The international community, says Father Drinan, has been slow to recognize the urgent need of balancing the requirements of a pluralistic society with the demands of religious freedom.

Despite numerous proclamations from the United Nations and from individual nations about the importance of religious freedom, says Father Drinan, there is still no covenant, legally binding instrument, or world tribunal to monitor freedom of religion. Drinan explores the status of religious freedom in certain Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Communist societies whose doctrines may promote intolerance. And he asserts that the silence of international law allows nations to continue to punish persons who practice a faith viewed unfavorably by the government.

Robert F. Drinan, S.J., professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, has had a long and distinguished career. He has been a visiting professor at four American universities and dean of the Boston College Law School. He was a United States Congressman for five terms as a Representative from Massachusetts. He has served on public and privately sponsored delegations and human rights missions to many countries and has been a member of numerous committees devoted to the furtherance of human rights. Father Drinan has received numerous awards, the most recent being the 2003 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Worship medal. He is also the author of eleven previous books.

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