Jan Michiel Otto is professor of law and governance in developing countries and director of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is an expert on Shariah and edited the book Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries […]

This July 25, 2013, explainer from the Religion News Service answers common questions about Shariah.

Survey results released Aug. 6, 2013, by the Pew Research Center indicate that most Americans would not choose to dramatically increase their life spans even if scientific breakthroughs made that possible. A slim majority, in fact, said radical life extension would be bad for society. Pew also released two companion reports, “To Count Our Days: […]

See a list of the policies of different Christian denominations on homosexuality at ReligiousTolerance.org, which also maintains a list called “Homosexuality and religion: Policies of non-Judeo-Christian religions.”

FindLaw.com offers a history of legal cases (scroll toward bottom of page) on same-sex marriage.

The Constitutional Law Prof blog highlights legal cases involving same-sex marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act and other matters dealing with sexual orientation.

Lamba Legal lists countries and states that allow gay couples to marry or that recognize or provide protections for same-sex relationships through other means. Note that the publication was last updated in September 2011, so it doesn’t reflect recent changes.

Gallup conducts a “values and beliefs” survey each May. Read about the 2013 results, which found a record 59 percent of Americans saying that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable. A Gallup/USA Today poll released in December 2012 found that religious beliefs were the reason most often cited as the basis for opposing same-sex marriage.