PSC 3970 001: Religion and Freedom – Honors Section
Instructor: Allen Hertzke, Professor of Political Science
 Office: 231 Cate Center 4 (just south of Cate Food Court), Phone: 405-325-4713
 Office Hours: Tuesday 1:15-2:15 and Wednesday 2:00-4:00, and by appointment or dropin, or schedule a drop by lunch at Cate Foot Court (I am around a lot).
 Email: ahertzke@ou.edu
Description: This course will explore the global issue of the relationship between religion and
the development and preservation of freedom. That is, it will explore the conditions under
which different religious traditions inhibit or contribute to the construction and diffusion of
freedom in its political, religious, social, and economic dimensions. This exploration will
encompass crucial features of free societies, such as democratic governance, independent civil
society, civil liberties, religious liberty, and rule of law. The course will explore the impact of
different religions and ideas on democratic freedoms, but also how free societies in turn shape
theologies, religious practices, and inter-faith relations. The course is global in scope and will
draw upon a research project the instructor is co-directing through the Berkley Center for
Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Format: The course will involve weekly written reactions to the readings and intensive
discussion of the issues raised in the readings. Each week different students will take the lead in
presenting the arguments of the readings and raising questions. Students will also conduct
independent research projects and will make oral presentations on their papers in class.
Readings: In addition to a number of articles, book chapters, and NGO reports, the following
books are core texts and available for purchase:
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World Religions and Democracy, edited by Larry Diamond, Marc Plattner and Philip
Costopoulos. This book contains chapters on the connections between different world
religions and democracy.
The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First
Century, Brian Grim and Roger Fink. This book develops an empirical theory about
religion-state relations and religious strife.
The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges, Edited by Allen D. Hertzke. This
book contains 15 chapters by international scholars from different disciplines focused on
religious liberty, law, and constitutionalism. I have placed a couple of copies of this book
on reserve at the library so you do not need to purchase it.
Grading:
Weekly Reactions
20%
Midterm
20%
Final Research Paper
30%
(about 15 pages or so, double spaced, 12 point font, further details to be provided)
Final Exam
25%
Participation
5% and definitive in borderline cases
Weekly Reactions:
Due in the D2L Dropbox by Wednesday evening before midnight, 2-3 pages.
University Policies:
Accommodation Policy: The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable
accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require
accommodations in this course are requested to speak with the professor as early in the semester
as possible. Prior to receiving accommodations in this course, students with disabilities must be
registered with the Disability Resource Center, located in Goddard Health Center, Suite 166,
325-3852.
Beyond this university policy statement, if anything is impeding your ability to participate fully in
this course, please see the instructor.
Academic Integrity: Academic integrity means honesty and responsibility in scholarship.
Professors have to obey rules of honest scholarship, and so do students. For more information
about academic integrity, including a statement of what constitutes academic misconduct and
plagiarism, see OU’s “A Student’s Guide to Academic Integrity” at
http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity/
Religious Obligations: It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that
result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of
examinations and additional required class work that may fall on religious holidays.
OU Cares: We want you to succeed, not only in this course but in your career at OU. There are
a host of programs and services aimed at facilitating that success, including tutoring, study skills,
counseling, and financial aid. A great resource to access these resources is the clearinghouse OU
Cares: oucares@ou.edu 325-0841.
Course Outline: I will adjust this outline a bit as we go along, particularly to insert select
documents, congressional testimony, and papers from the Georgetown project.
Week 1, August 22: Introduction
What is Freedom?
What is Religion?
What subjects do students want to cover?
Global Religious demographics
Week 2, August 29: Secularization and “The Great Separation”
Mark Lilla, “The Politics of God,” New York Times Magazine, August 19, 2007
Mark Lilla, The Stillborn God, Chapter 2 excerpt on D2L
Discussion Board for questions and comments
Week 3, Sept. 5: De-secularization
Tony Blair, “Protecting Religious Freedom Should be a Priority of All Democracies,” Review of
Faith & International Relations, Fall 2012, from a speech he delivered in Milan 2011.
Philip Costopoulos, “Introduction,” World Religions and Democracy
Alfred Stepan, “Religion, Democracy and the Twin Tolerations, World Religions and
Democracy
Daniel Philpott, “Explaining the Political Ambivalence of Religion,” American Political Science
Review, August 2007.
Toft, Philpott, and Shaw, Chapters 1-2 of God’s Century, on D2L
Week 4, September 12: Protestantism, pluralism, and religious markets
Selections from Locke, “A Letter Concerning Toleration”
Selections from Roger Williams, “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution”
Woodberry and Shah, “Pioneering Protestants,” World Religions and Democracy
Theodore Malloch, “Free to Choose: Economics and Religion,” in Marshall, ed., Religious
Freedom in the World 2007, D2L
Anthony Gill, “Religious Pluralism, Political Incentives, and the Origins of Religious Liberty,”
The Future of Religious Freedom
Brian Grim, “God’s Economy: Religious Freedom and Socio-Economic Well-Being,” in
Marshall, ed. Religious Freedom in the World 2007, D2L
Peter Berger, “Christianity: The Global Picture,” World Religions and Democracy
Grim and Finke, The Price of Freedom Denied, Chapter 1
Counterpoint: Elizabeth Prodromou, “The Ambivalent Orthodox,” World Religions and
Democracy
Week 5: Sept 19: Catholicism, Democracy, and Freedom
Nostra Aetate (Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, 1965)
Dignitatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom, Second Vatican Council, 1965)
Robert P. George and William L. Saunders, Jr., “Dignitatis Humanae: The Freedom of the
Church and the Responsibility of the State,” in K.Grasso, et al, Catholicism and Religious
Freedom: Contemporary Reflections on Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty (Rowman
and Littlefield, 2006), D2L
Daniel Philpott, “The Catholic Wave,” World Religions and Democracy
Toft, Philpott, Shah, God’s Century, Chapter 4, D2L
Week 6, Sept 26: Islamic Challenges
Grim and Finke, Chapter 6
Abdullah Saeed, Religion, Apostasy, and Islam, short selections
Boroumand and Boroumand, “Terror, Islam, and Democracy,” World Religion and Democracy
Marshall and Shea, Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom
Worldwide, Chapter 1
Pew Forum, “Global Restrictions on Religion” on-line report
Week 7, Oct. 3: Islam, Human Rights, and Democracy
From World Religions and Democracy:
Abdou Filali-Ansary
Abdelwahab El-Affendi
Masmoudi
From The Future of Religious Freedom:
Kuru
Senturk
Toprak
Kucukcan
Week 8, Oct, 10 – Midterm
Week 9, Oct. 17: Judaism and Eastern Religions
Present initial paper ideas
Section II: Eastern Religions, World Religion and Democracy
Fradkin, Judaism and Political Life
David Novak, “Religious Human Rights in Judaic Texts,” in John Witte, et al, Religious Human
Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives (Martinus Nijhoff, 1996), D2L
Week 10, Oct. 24: Religious Freedom Challenges
The Future of Religious Freedom
Chapters by Hertzke, Durham, Wu Howard, Grim, Yang, Lunkin, Luxmoore Seiple and Hoover,
And Farr. We may divvy up a bit.
Week 11, Oct. 31: A Theory of Religious Persecution and Religious Freedom
Grim and Finke, Chapters 2,3, and 7; divvy up case studies in chapters 4 and 5
Week 12, Nov. 7: Religious Mediating, Peacemaking, and post-conflict reconciliation
Doug Johnston: Religion: The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, selections
Daniel Philpott, The Politics of Past Evil, selections
Toft, Philpott, and Shah, Chapter 7
All on D2L, we will divvy up case studies
Week 13: Nov 14: Religious Advocacy for Human Rights and Humanitarian Causes
Hertzke, Freeing God’s Children, Chapter 7 and Trafficking case
Short Selections on NGOs
Week 14: Nov. 21 Student Project Presentations (Papers due in the drop box Nov 26)
Week 15: Dec 5 – Final Exam