The 21st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium can now be remembered in many ways.
- Audio and video recordings of individual presentations and entire sessions, some of them in as many as 14 languages, are now available on the website.
- The Photo Album is available here.
- Reports of individual sessions, prepared by our students and by volunteer reporters, are available here.
- See the Symposium on Facebook, and join the discussion!
Reports of individual sessions of the 21st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, prepared by our students and by volunteer reporters, appear here as they become available. We are grateful to those who have performed this important service.
The 21st annual International Law and Religion Symposium, this year featuring 80 invited delegates, from 40 countries, addressed the theme "Varieties of Secularism, Religion, and the Law." The Symposium opened Sunday evening, 5 October, with welcoming remarks by BYU Law School Dean, James R. Rasband, and President of Brigham Young University, Kevin J Worthen. The Keynote Address was given by United States Senator for Utah Orrin Hatch, who also was presented with the Center's Distinguished Service Award, by Professor W Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
This year's delegates included scholars, government officials, journalists, and religious and civic leaders from Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United... more
The 21st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium opened on Sunday evening, October 5, 2014, in the Moot Court Room of the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Those in attendance and listening in via live webinar were welcomed by Law School Dean James R. Rasband and Brigham Young University President Kevin J Worthen. Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the Symposium's sponsoring organization, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, presented the Center's Distinguished Service Award to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who... more
Center Supporters Robert Orton and Helen Leon
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the delegates to its 2014 International Law and Religion Symposium are grateful for the indispensable help of a group of outstanding people who volunteered to assist in hosting the delegates and making them feel welcome. A great many delegates come from half a world away, and many do not speak English. The kind attention of the Center's generous friends makes the Symposium an unparalleled cultural and academic experience. The Hosting Committee was chaired once again this year by Linda Nearon and Lynn Anderson, who with their husbands, David Nearon and Gary Anderson, have given much support for many years to the Center and its guests.
Others serving the delegates at the Symposium include the members of the Center's International Advisory Council (IAC). The Center notes especially the continued service of members of the IAC Executive Committee and of the current Committee Chair, David Christensen, and his wife, Mary, and of Immediate Past Chair, Duane Madsen, and his wife, Erlyn Gould Madsen. The Center also notes with gratitude the help of the staff, faculty, and administration of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, as well as the contributions of volunteer Research Advisors, especially Jordan Pendergrass and Gaylee Coverston, who along with IAC members Sandy Cook and Page Johnson and members of the Center's Student Management Board assisted in preparing reports of Symposium sessions.
To all of these people, and to many other generous friends, old and new, the Center expresses gratitude for making the Symposium such a memorable experience for all who attend.
Participants at the October 5, 2014 opening session of the 21st Annual International Law and Religion Symposium were pleased to hear a Keynote Address from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Also at the opening session, held in the Moot Court Room of the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the Symposium's sponsoring organization, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, presented the Center's Distinguished Service Award to Senator Hatch.
In commenting upon the selection of Senator Hatch as a recipient of the award, BYU Law School Associate Dean and ICLRS Associate Director Brett G. Scharffs said, "Over his lengthy career, Senator Hatch has been a consistent and articulate defender of religious freedom. From his work on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which is the most important legislation in the last half century dealing with freedom of religion,... more