Freedom of Religion: Resources

Department of State, Washington, DC.

• InfoUSA, US Government, Introduction to the US System Overview.
• Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy: Freedom of Religion.

Marshall, Paul and Shea, Nina. Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide (Oxford University Press: 2011).

National Convention Center
“West Virginia v. Barnette: The Freedom Not to Pledge Allegiance”

Roosevelt, Franklin D. "The Four Freedoms." Speech before U.S. Congress, Jan. 6, 1941.

Pew Research Center.

• “The Changing Global Religious Landscape,” April 2017.
• “About Three in Ten Adults Are Religiously Unaffiliated,” Dec. 14, 2021.
• “Globally, Government Restrictions Reach Peak in 2021,” March 5, 2024.

Thomas Jefferson
"Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom" (1786).

United Nations

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (1966).

U.S. State Department

• Office of International Religious Freedom.
• International Religious Freedom Report. See links for Annual Reports.

Economist
“Is America Dictator-Proof,” May 16, 2024. Leader (editorial) and Article.

The New York Times

• “The Supreme Court Creates a Lawless Presidency,” Opinion, July 2, 2024.
• “Supreme Court Sides With Postal Carrier,” June 29, 2023.
• “Reading Hobby Lobby in Context,” Opinion, Linda Greenhouse, July 9, 2014.

The Washington Post
“My Plan to Reform the Supreme Court,” Opinion by Joseph R. Biden, July 29, 2024.

Freedom in the World 2024 United States Country Study.

Human Rights Watch: 2024 United States Country Report.

Other Resources

Jefferson, Thomas.
“Letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802).” Library of Congress.

Kraft, Emilie.
"Ten Commandments Monument Controversy." Encyclopedia of Alabama, May 12, 2008.

Levitsky, Steven and Ziblatt, David
    How Democracies Die (Crown Publishing: New York, 2018). PDF Version.
    Tyranny of the Minority (Crown Publishing Group: New York, 2023).

Library of Congress.
"Religion and the Founding of the American Republic." July 23, 2010.

Luttig, Michael and Tribe, Lawrence
"Supreme Betrayal: A Requiem for Section 3 of the 14th Amendment," The Atlantic, March 14, 2023.

National Archives (link).
Charters of Freedom (links to U.S. Constitution for Article VI and First Amendment). See also Teachers’ Resources.

Pew Research Center.
America’s Changing Religious Landscape. May 2015.

Schwartzberg, Steven J.
Arguments Over Genocide: The War of Words in Congress and the Supreme Court over Cherokee Removal (Ethics International Press, Ltd., UK: 2023).

Tocqueville, Alexis de. "How Religion in the United States Avails Itself of Democratic Tendencies." Chapter 5. Democracy in America, volume II, 1835.

Tribe, Lawrence
“The Trump Decision Reveals Deep Rot in the System,” Opinion, The New York Times, July 1, 2024.

US Supreme Court Decisions (see also US Supreme Court or FindLaw: U.S. Supreme Court for other cases referenced in United States Country Study).

• Abington v. Schempp, 347 U.S. 203 (1963). On school prayer.
• Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). On state funding for nonpublic schools.
• Moore v. Glassroth, 335 F.3d 1282 (11th cir. 2003). On Ten Commandments monument in Alabama state courthouse.
• Trump v. United States, No. 23-939, 2024. On Presidential Immunity.
•  Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars of the Founding Era in support of respondent (US Government).

Willentz, Sean
    “The ‘Dred Scot’ of Our Time,” New York Review of Books, Aug. 15, 2024.
 

Economist magazine. Topics Index: Nigeria.

The New York Times. Times Topics: Nigeria. See, e.g.:

• “Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Moment,” June 11, 2024.
• "Boko Harem Deadliest Terror Group for 2014.” Nov. 21, 2015.
• “In Nigeria, An Election To Believe In.” Op-Ed. April 9, 2015.
• “Tales of Escapees in Nigeria,” May 14, 2014 and
• "What's So Scary About Smart Girls" by Nicholas Kristof, May 11, 2014.

Freedom in the World 2024 Nigeria Country Study

Human Rights Watch 2024 Nigeria Country Study.
See also Nigeria country page.

Other Resources

Fund for Peace. Failed States Index: Nigeria.

Sahara Reporters. Independent reporting on Nigeria and Africa.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

U.S. Department of State Human Rights Country Reports (go to current year Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and scroll down to Africa/Nigeria.) 

Economist magazine. Topics Index: Vietnam. See, e.g.:

• “Vietnam’s Head of State Leaves Under a Cloud,” March 27, 2024.
• “Religion in Vietnam: Higher Powers.” September 26, 2015.

The New York Times. World Topics: Vietnam. See, e.g.:

• “Death of Top Leader Raises Questions of Succession,” July 27, 2024.
• “Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam’s Powerful Leader, Is Dead at 80,” July 20, 2024.
• “Environmentalists Jailed in Civil Society Crackdown,” Nov. 28, 2023.

Freedom in the World 2024 Vietnam Country Study 2024

Human Rights Watch 2024 Vietnam Country Report.
See also Vietnam country page.

Other Resources

UN Council on Human Rights. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief Statement on Visit to Vietnam (2022).

U.S. Department of State Human Rights County Reports (go to current year Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and scroll down to East Asia and Pacific/Vietnam.)