Professor W. Cole Durham Jr., a world-renowned expert on law and religion, has been named this year’s recipient of the International Society’s Distinguished Service Award. This award is presented each year to an individual who, during their years of service, has made far-reaching contributions to the world.
Cole Durham is Emeritus Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University and Founding Director of the Law School’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies; he also served as its director for many years. He is currently the President of the G20 Interfaith Forum Association and has served in a number of prestigious positions around the world related to law, scholarship, and religion.
David Kirkham, president of the International Society, presented the award to Professor Durham at a luncheon during the International Society’s 34th annual conference. “W. Cole Durham, Jr. has been a pioneer in protecting and promoting freedom of religion and belief throughout the world,” he said. “He is widely recognized by leaders of Church, state, and academia for the remarkable leadership he shows in this arena.”
Reflecting on the many years he has known Professor Durham, Kirkham said, “I used to think greatness was just about having vision and the power to recruit others to a good cause […] and Cole is all those things. But my association with Cole tells me it’s also about someone who walks fast, sleeps little, is willing to apologize when necessary, and truly sees the dignity of humanity everywhere he goes.”
In his remarks, Durham spoke about human dignity and religious freedoms. "The ideal of human dignity, which is integrally linked to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, is critical to stabilizing just social orders," he said. "But this axiom is paradoxical in key respects. It entails requiring members of society to respect the rights of others to hold beliefs that may be deeply different from their own. This in turn means that social structures cannot be based on specific sets of commonly held values, except the reciprocally recognized right for different groups and individuals, subject only to strictly limited restrictions, to choose and act on their own values."
He also spoke on how, in these increasingly polarized times, it can appear more and more unlikely that a society that is both pluralistic and stable can exist. To understand and respond to such doubts, he said, it is vital "first, to remember that common misperceptions exaggerate the role that religion plays in social conflict, and second, [...] to deepen our understanding of the role that freedom of religion or belief has in achieving, stabilizing and strengthening social peace, including its role in protecting dignity, anchoring the rule of law, and making stable families possible."
He spoke about his work with the International Center for Law Religious Studies and with the G20 Interfaith Forum, then discussed three fundamental points about the latter's approach to freedom of religion. First, he said, "one of the matters on which we have strong empirical evidence is that countries that have higher levels of religious freedom and protection have higher levels of numerous other social goods. The social science data is largely based on correlations, but we now have data extending over longer and longer time periods and it's becoming increasingly possible to show causal effect as well as correlations. Thus, work on the various sustainable development goals is likely to be much more effective if there are strong religious freedom protections."
Second, he said, "in our polarized world, direct defense of religious freedom is often not nearly as effective as leading with other social objectives, such as those identified by the UN and recognized as important objectives by most religious communities." He gave the example of a collaboration with a Muslim group. "We have been able to learn from them how to strengthen our initiatives aimed at protecting children and women from various kinds of abuse. But it is fair to say that if we have tried to initiate a partnership working on freedom of religion, we would not have been nearly as successful. We would not have got off the ground."
Finally, he said, "in a world in which religious freedom has become suspect in various ways as a mask of bigotry [...] it is often helpful to start with concepts other than religious freedom per se. When we named the International Center for Law Religious Studies, it was not 'the Center for International Religious Freedom' because we knew that it would never go in the Muslim world. In general, many people have difficulty understanding the importance of religious freedom because, quite frankly, they don't understand the importance of religion. Work on advancing concepts such as those that fit naturally into the G20 Interfaith agenda involves working on issues with broad social appeal."
Durham's full remarks will be printed in the conference proceedings, which will be available to International Society members soon. Want to join the International Society to gain access to those proceedings and to previous years? Visit international-society.org/signup.