Panel Discussion on "Belief in Law: Religious Identity and National Policy"

Date	20 February 2008
Time	11am - 2.15pm
Location:	Faculty Lounge, AS7, Shaw Foundation Building, FASS

• Principal Investigator: A/PJohn Whalen-Bridge
• Speakers: A/P Greta Austin, Department of Religion, University of Puget Sound;
  Dr. Julius Bautista, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore;
  Dr. Nandini Chatterjee, Department of History, King’s College London;
  Dr. Katherine Hoffman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University;
  A/P John Whalen-Bridge, Department of English Language and Literature, National University of Singapore
  

Programme:

1100 – 1230: First session
“Limited Civility: the Religious History of India’s Civil Marriage Law” by Dr. Nandini Chatterjee
“Family Planning, Or a ‘Culture of Death’?  Population Growth and the Philippine Catholic Church” by Dr. Julius Bautista
“Authenticity in an Age of ‘Spiritual Tourism’: a Multi-dimensional Approach to the Singapore Buddha’s Tooth Controversy” by A/P John Whalen-Bridge

 1315 – 1415: Second Session
 “The Western Religious Roots of the Western ‘Rule of Law’:  Doing Unto Others as You Would Have Done Unto You” by A/P Greta Austin
 “Islamic and Berber Customary Law through French Colonial Eyes” by Dr. Katherine Hoffman

"Belief in Law" reviews moments in the history of religion to explore the codependent origination of legal codes and religious beliefs.  Drawing on disciplines such as anthropology, history, law, and even dentistry, these papers explore the dialectical relationship between religious belief and legal authority. Presenters will examine church/state relationships in India, Singapore, Morocco, Catholic Europe, and the Philippines.

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