Religion, Law and Security

Global security and stability force us to face challenges and controversies that are extremely urgent. But they are also supremely sensitive and generate conflict and social breakdown.

Religions bring their own historical bodies of law, usually seen as sacred, which may create conflicts with secular law and authority. This raises questions for the sustainability of communities when religious individuals and communities negotiate the challenges of living under two codes of law.

Since 2001 global security and international terrorism have been inseparable from questions of religious ideology. A new, highly uncomfortable relationship exists between government bodies and communities of faith. Without the intellectual background to understand the complexity of religious force-fields, it is difficult to analyse threats accurately or create effective responses.