University Communications
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322

Release date: Nov. 8, 1999
Contact: Elaine Justice, Assistant Director, 404-727-0643, or ejustic@emory.edu

Law & Religion Program Publishes New Book Series on Religious Proselytism in World's Emerging Democracies

Emory University's Law and Religion Program recently wrapped up a three-year research project that took the most comprehensive and in-depth look ever at religious proselytizing in emerging democracies of sub-Saharan Africa, the former Soviet bloc and Latin America. Now the results of that research are being published as part of a multi-book series, two of which are currently available, says John Witte, director of the Law and Religion Program and editor of the series.

o "Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls," co-edited by Witte and Michael Bourdeaux of the Keston Institute at Oxford, brings together the latest scholarship on the new Russian laws regarding religion; it also suggests guidelines for foreign missionaries in Russia.

o "Religious Freedom and Evangelization in Latin America," edited by Paul Sigmund of Princeton University, explores the growing religious pluralism of the region, which Sigmund says is one of the reasons why the trend toward democracy may endure. The book addresses a range of issues confronting the continent, from both Catholic and Protestant perspectives, along with analyses of the situation in specific countries.

Forthcoming in the series are: "Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism," edited by Witte and Emory's Richard Martin; and "Proselytism and Communal Self-Determination in Africa," edited by Emory's Abdullahi An-Na'im; "Religion, Beliefs and International Human Rights," by human rights jurist Natan Lerner; "Rights of Peculiar Democracy," by T. Jeremy Gunn; and two books edited by An-Na'im, "Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa" and "Women and Land in Africa."

Funded by a $490,000 grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the proselytizing project has brought together 125 scholars and activists from around the world to conduct and publish research on the growing clashes between indigenous religions and foreign missionizing religions in the world's emerging democracies. Since the Emory project began in 1994, at least four new major efforts have sprung up to address the issue, by the World Council of Churches, The Helsinki Committee, the U.S. Department of State, and the OSCE.

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