Educators
The Religion & Education curriculum exposes teachers and school administrators to some of the most common religious freedom issues currently found in public, charter, private, parochial and home...
View ArticleJournalists
Emerging and established journalists are exposed to a wide range of contemporary religious topics that cut across a wide variety of religious traditions. In partnership with leaders from the Religion...
View ArticleReligious Leaders
Emerging and established religious leaders are exposed to a variety of constitutional and human rights frameworks to examine rule of law approaches to religion and public life. The religious diversity...
View ArticleWelcome
Welcome to the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute. We promote civil dialogue, engage the public, equip schools, educate leaders and publish religious liberty resources.
View ArticlePolitics and perils of Muslim bashing on the campaign trail
According to conventional presidential campaign wisdom, loose talk denigrating a religious tradition practiced by millions of Americans would seriously damage – if not sink – a candidate’s bid for the...
View ArticleIslam, public schools, and the challenge of teaching about religions
In recent weeks, fights have erupted in Georgia and Tennessee over how Islam is taught in public schools. Charges of “Islamic indoctrination” are countered by charges of “anti-Muslim bigotry” as people...
View ArticleMuslims, refugees, and the struggle for the soul of America
The horrific terrorist attacks of recent weeks have brought out the worst – and the best – in the American character. First, the worst: Attacks on Muslims have spiked significantly across the country....
View ArticleFear and loathing in America
Trump’s outrageous, un-American and unconstitutional proposal for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” is the latest escalation of his ongoing campaign to demonize...
View ArticleThe First Amendment, our articles of peace
In 2015, America’s increasingly crowded public square was often filled with hostility, becoming an angry arena where people shout past one another across religious and ideological divides. Incendiary...
View ArticleIn 2016, genocide is taking place and it must end
The evidence is overwhelming: ISIS is systematically eradicating Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in territories controlled by the terrorist group. What’s at...
View ArticleReligious diversity, school calendars and the quest for fairness
Religious monopolies like the one enjoyed for so long by Protestants in public schools are antithetical to religious freedom. We can disagree on how best to move from monopoly to diversity, but we...
View ArticleMarrakesh Declaration Calls for Religious Freedom in Muslim Societies
At a summit in Marrakesh, Morocco on January 27, more than 250 Islamic leaders issued an historic declaration calling for religious freedom for non-Muslims in majority Muslim countries. Read More
View ArticleAt Morocco summit, Muslim leaders stand up for religious freedom
The Marrakesh Declaration comes at a time of unprecedented persecution of Christians and other minority groups by extremists acting in the name of Islam in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Read...
View ArticleJustice Scalia’s disastrous decision on religious freedom
Justice Scalia was no defender of religious freedom. On the contrary, Scalia authored Employment Division v. Smith, the landmark 1990 Supreme Court decision that all but erased the Free Exercise clause...
View ArticleAmerica to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far
Celebrate the beauty and diversity of Muslim cultures in New York City, the United States and across the world through art, architecture, design, travel, music, trade, home life, and more! Read More
View ArticleTrump and the future of the First Amendment
Vicious name-calling, racist fear-mongering, crude remarks about women’s body parts, cyberbullying, playground taunts: Welcome to the ever-lowering low bar for political discourse in Trump’s America, a...
View ArticleSymposium on “Religion & Law”
Please join the faculty at Virginia Tech from the Department of Religion & Culture and School of Public and International Affairs on Saturday, March 12, 2016 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm for a symposium...
View ArticleBeyond left vs. right, Madison’s vision of religious freedom
Madison, whose birthday the nation largely ignores every year on March 16, would be appalled to see the true meaning of religious freedom, the great cause of his life, lost in the din of charge and...
View ArticleSafe space for free speech
When chalked graffiti promoting Donald Trump and his controversial wall appeared overnight on buildings, steps, and other surfaces at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., last week, student reaction...
View ArticleGeorgia Is Not Alone In Scuffle Over ‘Religious Liberty’ Bills
The governor of Georgia has vetoed a so-called "religious liberty bill" after vocal opposition. NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Center at the Newseum,...
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