Unhappy New Year for Religious Liberty

Commentary
Inside the First Amendment

By Charles C. Haynes
First Amendment Center senior scholar

Good riddance to the aughts, naughts or ohs. By whatever name, the first decade of the 21st century has been devastating for religious liberty in much of the world.

The statistics are numbing. According to a study released this month by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, nearly 70% of the world’s 6.8 billion people now live in countries…