Academic Articles
Can For-Profit Corporations Be Religious?
“A key factor in discerning whether an institution, even a for-profit corporation, is religious is whether it does things that are shaped by a religious commitment. Does it do (some) things differently from other corporations? The fact that a for-profit corporation seeks to make a profit so it can continue to exist does not preclude it from integrating other guiding principles, including religiously based ones, into its ethos and operations. Many profit-making bodies commit themselves to support goals such as environmental stewardship, combatting climate change, as well as supporting charities, that might adversely affect their bottom line.”
Many examples “illustrate that even for-profit corporations can have religious duties and embody religious convictions. Accordingly, for-profit entities that are authentically shaped by religious ground-motives deserve religious freedom protections along with their non-profit, NGO, and congregational counterparts. In other words, they are due the rights and protections of institutional religious freedom”
July 22, 2020 Cornerstone Forum
The World Needs Clarity on Human Rights
A more theoretical piece I wrote on the report pf the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights
“The reaction to the report of Commission on Unalienable Rights has often been a politicized and shallow one (in our present divided political climate, obviously no surprise) but the notion of human rights is now so confused that it needs clarity….
If any notion of human rights is to be preserved, we must distinguish between politically desirable outcomes and human rights. Otherwise, rights will lose their special cachet, intrinsic importance, and ability to trump or rightfully override mundane, even if vitally important, policy choices. If governments do not make this distinction, human rights will necessarily dissolve into our usual policy fights. If everything properly desired is a human right, the notion of human rights has eroded and disappeared. A right becomes simply a desired political outcome.
I have not sought to state what is and is not a human right, but to show some of the variety and differences between what are called human rights. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights subjects rights to different limiting conditions; some are non-derogable while others are not. The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights presents its rights as necessary goals rather than limiting conditions. The rights that stem from government restraints can be enacted by almost any functioning government, whereas there may be legitimate reasons why a government cannot fulfill other rights at a particular time.
Rather than treating the report as another salvo in our culture wars and subjecting it to America’s current culturally contingent proliferation of rights, we need to address the substantive issues it raises.
The important thing is not to get distracted by words such as hierarchy or subordination, but to realize that there are many different types of things in the family of international human rights.”
July 30, 2020 Providence
What the Coronavirus and Lockdowns Can Teach Us about Politics
“Politics is inevitably judging between not only legitimate and illegitimate demands but also between legitimate demands, which are usually much harder to dismiss. And we are often, probably usually, judging based on uncertain information, even ignorance—akin to Clausewitz’ description of military decisions necessarily made in the blindness of the “fog of war.
I could list many politicians whom I think are doing stupid things, which we should criticize…. But rest assured there is no right answer to these complex issues lying out there in some neo-Platonic universe waiting simply to be found and implemented. Politics is itself hard: it is arguing and competing and fighting over contested, often differently valued, and often underinformed, issues and policies.
But if you want to abandon the jarring messiness of politics, then Vladimir Lenin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Xi Jinping would be happy to suggest some alternatives.”
May 16, 2020 Providence
“Religious Freedom” in Christianity in East and Southeast Asia
I received a notice that this has been published but there will be no copies in North America for a few months and I can give more information then. It is part of a multivolume world survey of Christianity that it likely to be a standard work.
March 2020 Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, March 2020. Edited by Kenneth R. Ross, Francis Alvarez, Todd M. Johnson.
Do Government Restrictions on Larger Church Gatherings Violate Religious Freedom?
Extensively commented on in Eugene Yapp, “COVID-19 and the Right to Freedom of Religion and Belief,” SHAPE-SEA Program (Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN/Southeast Asia) March 30, 2020. Read Here Also published in Juicy Ecumenism. Read Here
March 27, 2020 Providence
Why Religious Freedom Must Be a Top Priority
Policy in Public, Volume 4, No. 4, 36-46
The Disjunction of Liberal Theory and Liberal Polities
Following on the debates about “Liberalism,” (see my “Robert Kagan and the Many Meanings of Liberalism” above), I also published “The Disjunction of Liberal Theory and Liberal Polities,” stating that “the confounding of contentious liberal theories with actual concrete polities stems from the assumption that liberal democratic states are somehow the product of liberal theories.”
November 8, 2019 Providence
Rights, Institutions, and Religious Freedom: Toward Clarity in the Midst of Controversy
I am part of a research project run by the Religious Freedom Institute and funded by the Templeton Foundation which is working on the issue of institutional religious freedom—that is the freedom not only of individuals but also the right to run religiously-oriented schools, colleges, hospitals, adoption agencies and the like. I am the chair of the project’s working group that is focused on the fundamental nature of religious freedom.
September 26, 2019 Cornerstone Forum
Robert Kagan and the Many Meanings of Liberalism
In this article, I want to address how Westerners, especially Americans, including Christians, are currently addressing politics. The level of discourse is now quite abysmal (much worse than even two decades ago). One major problem for many is that politics is reduced to a simplistic binary—liberal/non liberal—while Christians often lack any theory of the task of government.
May 1, 2019 Providence
*Western Christians’ Responses to Denials of Religious Freedom
2018 pp. 428-455 of Daniel Philpott and Timothy Shah, eds., Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution (New York: Cambridge University Press).
Conflicts in Indonesian Islam
May 31, 2018 Current Trends in Islamist Ideology
The Ambiguities of Religious Freedom in Indonesia
March 6, 2018 The Review of Faith & International Affairs, Volume 16, Number 1, 85-96 (Online).
Saudi Influence and Islamic Radicalism in Indonesia
There were various commentaries on this article, for example read here.
This is a listing of most of my more academic writings, journal articles, book chapters and so forth. The boundary line between scholarly and popular articles is not a sharp one, so these range from articles in refereed journals to writings in periodicals such as First Things that have subsequently appeared in books. Articles that have appeared in refereed publications are marked with an asterisk *.
September 2017 Lausanne Global Analysis, Volume 6 / Issue 5.
Western Christians’ response to Denials of Religious Freedom
Spring 2017 Review of Faith and International Affairs,” Vol. 15, Number 1
*Patterns and Purposes of Contemporary Anti-Christian Persecution
2016 pp. 58-86 of Allen D. Hertzke and Timothy Samuel Shah, eds., Christianity and Freedom: Volume 2, Contemporary Perspectives (Cambridge University Press).
Politics and Democracy
The book is for the 100th anniversary of the Maluku church.
pp. 75-88 of Elizabeth Maarantika et al, eds., Delapan Dekade GPM: Teologi GPM dalam Praksis Berbangsa dan Bermasyarakat, (Salatiga, Satya Wacana Press), 75-88.
Conceptual Issues in Religious Freedom Research
Winter 2011 International Journal for Religious Freedom, Volume 6, Issue 1/2, 20137-16
The Travails of Evangelical Politics
2009 28-40 of Roger N. Overton, Ed., God and Governing: Reflections on Ethics, Virtue, and Statesmanship (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications).
Possible Dimensions of Religious Freedom
2009 International Journal for Religious Freedom, Vol. 2 issue 2, 127-138.
*Misunderstanding Al Qaeda
2009 pp.31-46 of Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Roberta Green Ahmanson, eds., Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion (New York: Oxford University Press).
The Current State of Religious Freedom
2008 In my Religious Freedom in the World (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008).
The Nature of Religious Freedom
2008 in my Religious Freedom in the World (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield)
A Checklist of Religious Freedom
2008 In my Religious Freedom in the World (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield).
“Religious Freedom” & “Persecution and Martyrdom”
2008 in William A. Dyrness, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, eds. Global Dictionary of Theology (Downer’s Grove: Inter Varsity Press).
The Significance of Religious Freedom
2008 in my Religious Freedom in the World (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield).
Living with Islamism
September 2006 Comment
Jim Wallis’ Politics—Or Lack Thereof
Spring 2006 pp. 49-52 of Review of Faith and International Affairs.
Martyrdom
2006 In W. C. Campbell-Jack, Gavin J. McGrath, C. Stephen Evans, eds., A New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity) 417-419.
Understanding Radical Islam
2006 pp. 29-40 of Bradley C. S. Watson, ed, The West at War (Oxford UK: Lexington Books) pp.29-40. Revisions reprinted in Pro Rege, Vol XXXVIII, no. 3, March 2010, 22-27.
The Islamists’ Other Weapon
2006 (reprinted from Commentary, April 2005) in Kurt Finsterbusch, ed., Social Problems 06/07 (Dubuque: McGraw-Hill)
Perseguição Religiosa No Mundo
2005 13-26 of Liberdade Religiosa Em Questão, Cadernos Adenauer, Ano V, No. 04, Fundação Konrad Adenauer, Rio de Janeiro
Persecution of Christians 4.3
2005 in Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan Milic Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Lukas Vischer, eds., Encyclopedia of Christianity Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans-Brill). This is the English-language edition of the standard German-language work Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon.
Human Rights
2005 in Ronald J. Sider, Diane Knippers, eds., Toward an Evangelical Public Policy: Political Strategies for the Health of the Nation (Grand Rapids: Baker) 307-324.
Patterns and Contexts of Religious Freedom and Persecution
Winter 2004-2005 27-34 of Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Vol. 2, issue 3.
An Islamic Counter-Reformation?
August-September 2004 First Things. Reprinted in John Wilson, ed., The Best Christian Writing 2006 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), 63-71.
Religious Freedom and the Role of NGOs
2003 107-112 of Tajeldin Hamad, Anne Smart, Frederick Swarts, eds., Culture of Responsibility and the Role of NGOs (St. Paul: Paragon).
Religious Freedom
2002 pp. 345-356 of Liam Gearon, ed., Human Rights and Religion: A Reader (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press).
Religious Freedom and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2001 1-11 of by Teresa R. Wagner and Leslie Carbone, eds., Fifty Years After the Declaration (Lanham: University Press of America).
Keeping the Faith: Religion, Freedom and International Affairs
2000 131-140 of Calvin M. Logue and Jean DeHart, eds., Representative American Speeches 1998-1999 (New York: H. W. Wilson Company). Reprinted as 295-304 of Douglas A Jeffrey, ed., Educating for Liberty: The Best of Imprimis 1972-2002 (Hillsdale: Hillsdale College Press, 2002). Reprinted USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education) January, 2000.
Present Day Persecution of Christians
2000 Evangelical Review of Theology, vol. 24, no. 1, pp.19-30
China’s Persecuted Churches
1998 Religion, State and Society, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 11-16. Reprinted in Anglican and Episcopal History, vol. 67, no. 2, 1998, pp. 152-160.
Human Rights and Religious Toleration
1999 Journal of the Henry Martyn Institute, vol. 18, no. 1. pp. 21-56.
Disregarding Religion
Summer-Fall 1998 SAIS Review (School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins), , 13-18.
Current Persecution of Christians
January 1998 International Bulletin of Missionary Research
“Nationalism”; “Power”; “Politics”; “Civil Disobedience”
1997 articles for R. Banks and P. Stevens, eds., The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity (Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press).
Religious Toleration and Human Rights
1997 In D. Gill, ed., Should God Get Tenure? Essays on Religion and Higher Education (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 74‑85.
Their Blood Cries Out
Spring 1997 Mission and Ministry, vol. XI, no.2, 30-36.
*Liberalism, Pluralism and Education
1997 in T. Cooling and J. Shortt, eds., Agenda for Educational Change (Leicester, U.K.: Apollos), 45-56.
On the Universality of Human Rights
1996 in Luis Lugo, ed., International Morality in the Post Cold War Era (Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield), 153-175.
Rights Talk and Welfare Policy
1996 in J. Skillen and S. Carlson‑Thies, eds., Welfare in America: Christian Perspectives on a Policy in Crisis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 277‑297. Reprinted in Orientation, (December, 1995), 496‑517.
“Rights”; “Work”; “Power”; “Theonomy”; “Real Politik”; “Theocracy”; “Grotius”; “Tyrannicide,”
1995 in David. J. Atkinson and David H. Field, eds, New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology (Leicester, U.K.; InterVarsity Press).
The Importance of Group Rights
1994 Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, eds., Contemporary Political Issues 2nd. ed. (Toronto: Nelson), 90‑99. Reprinted in Orientation, (December, 1995), 518‑526.
*Quentin Skinner and the Secularization of Political Thought
Fall 1993 Studies in Political Thought vol.2.1, 85‑104.
*Does the Creation Have Rights?
Summer 1993 Studies in Christian Ethics (vol. 6.2), 31‑49.
*Two Types of Rights
December 1992 Canadian Journal of Political Science, XXV:4, 661‑676.
Moral Imperatives of Economic Life
1992 (in English and Russian) in M.R. Elliott and S. Lingenfelter, eds., Ethics in the Russian Marketplace (Wheaton, Ill.; Institute of East‑West Relations, Wheaton College), 49‑53.
Religion and Canadian Culture
1992 Aileen Van Ginkel, ed., Shaping a Christian Vision for Canada (Toronto: Faith Today), 1‑24.
Toward a Christian View of State and Economy
1992 Jon Chaplin, ed., Politics and the Parties (Leicester, U.K.: Inter‑Varsity Press), 36‑70. Sections reprinted in Orientation, (December, 1995), 560‑574.
*Innate Rights and Just Relations
Fall 1991 Koers, 56 (2), 139‑149.
*Rethinking Christianity and Culture
1991 R.E. Vandervennen, ed., Church and Canadian Culture (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America), 1‑9.
Substance and Method in Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic
January 1991 Tydskrif vir Christelike Wetenskap, 27 (1‑2), 40‑56.
Is There a Calvinist Political Theory?
September l990 Tydskrif vir Christelike Wetenskap 26 (3‑4), 81‑103.
*Justice and Rights: Ideology and Human Rights Theories
l990 S. Griffioen and J. Verhoogt, eds., Norm and Context in the Social Sciences (Lanham, Md: University Press of America), l29‑150. Reprinted in Orientation, (December, 1995), 461‑495.
*Liberalism, Pluralism and Christianity: A Reconceptualization
October l989 Fides et Historia, vol. 23, No. 3, 4‑17. Revised version published in P. Marshall and J. Chaplin, eds., Political Theory and Christian Vision, 143‑162.
Politics not Ethics: A Christian View of the State
1989 H. Antonides, ed., Servant or Tyrant? The Task and Limits of Government (Toronto: Work Research Foundation), 7‑24. Korean translation in Selected Essays, 3‑14. Reprinted in Orientation, (Dec., 1995), 304‑323.
Some Political Implications of the Abortion Decision
1988 D. O’Leary, ed., The Issue is Life (Burlington: Welch), 14‑27.
Anglo‑Canadian Perspectives on the United States Constitution
1987 Ronald A. Wells and Thomas A. Askew eds., Liberty and Law: Reflections on the Constitution in American Life and Thought (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 65‑80.
*Dooyeweerd’s Empirical Theory of Rights
1985 C.T. McIntire, ed. The Legacy of Herman Dooyeweerd (Lanham, Md.; University Press of America), 119‑142.
Is Technology Out of Control?
September 1984 Crux, 3‑9. Reprinted in the Newsletter of the UCCF Engineer’s Group, (Winter 1985‑86). Reprinted as “Modern Technology: Idol or Divine Gift?” Evangelical Review of Theology, vol. 10, no. 3, 1986 pp.258-269. Korean translation, published in Selected Essays, 42‑49. Reprinted as a separate booklet, Modern Technology: Gift or Idol? (Taegu: Christian University Press, 1989) (3rd. printing,1992).
The Basis of Human Rights in Canada
1981 Foundations of Human Rights (Toronto: Work Research Foundation), 1‑8.
*Mathematics and Politics
July 1979 hilosophia Reformata, Vol. 44, No. 2, 113‑136
*Some Recent Conceptions of Operationalism and Operationalizing
March, 1979 Philosophia Reformata, vol. 44, No. 1, 46‑68. Abstract appears in Philosopher’s Index, Vol. 13, No. 3, (April, 1979). Reprinted in Journal of Integrative Studies, 5(2), (July, 1992), 67‑114 (with Korean abstract).
Exporting Blasphemy Restrictions: The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the United Nations
Summer 2011 The Review of Faith and International Affairs, Vol. 9 No. 2
Calling, Work and Rest
This article was selected by Christianity Today in the “Ethics” category of the best theological articles in 1987.
1988 M. Noll and D. Wells, eds., Christian Faith and Practice in the Modern World: Theology from an Evangelical Point of View. Reprinted in J.I. Packer, ed., The Best of Theology, vol. III (Carol Stream: Christianity Today, 1989), 193‑212. Korean translation in Selected Essays (Seoul: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 28‑41. Selections in Together: A Journal of World Vision International, (March, 1986), 9‑14; Reformed Journal, (June, 1988), 9‑14: Third Way, (Sept. l990); Reforma, 2.0, Epocha/no.1 (1991), 8‑13 (In Spanish); James D. Bratt, ed., Viewpoints: Exploring the Reformed Vision (Grand Rapids: C.R.C. Publications, 1992), 178‑181 https://www.amazon.com/Viewpoints-Exploring-Reformed-Selected-Readings/dp/1562120247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543353520&sr=8-1&keywords=Viewpoints%3A+Exploring+the+Reformed+Vision; Poimen (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), (July/Sept., 1994), 9‑17. Published as a booklet by the Institute for Reformational Studies, Potchefstroom, l99l.(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 199‑217, 324‑328
The Shape of the Modern Work Ethic
1986 J. Peters, ed., Work in Canada (Waterloo: Interdisciplinary Research Seminar, Wilfrid Laurier University, 5‑2.
John Locke: Between God and Mammon
March 1979 Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 12, No. 1
