Can God and Caesar Coexist?

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



Espousing an unpopular faith has cost thousands of men and women their freedom, their homes, even their lives. But while international agencies keep vigilant watch over the rights of political refugees, for example, no such agencies monitor or protect the rights of the devout. Distressed by this global negligence, Jesuit priest Drinan appeals to the world community for actions giving real force to the 1981 United Nations Declaration on Religious Freedom. Political leaders, Drinan argues, must create international covenants enforced by newly created world courts. He recognizes the difficulties in winning assent for his proposal. Moslem states will resist any international agreement that grants non-Moslems rights to proselytize within their boundaries, and Western leaders may balk at granting greater liberties to religious groups that condemn homosexuality and exclude women from leadership. Secretive and coercive cults pose special problems for those who advocate religious freedom. Still, Drinan hopes far-seeing diplomats will surmount the difficulties as they find ways to safeguard the deepest of all freedoms: the freedom of the conscience. Bryce Christensen

Copyright © American Library Association



272 pages

Publisher: Yale University Press (November 11, 2005)

Language: English