Michael E. Lee is associate professor of theology at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in New York. He teaches a course in liberation theologies and discussed his views on the subject in the March 2010 issue of U.S. Catholic.

Thia Cooper is associate professor of religion at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., and the author of Controversies in Political Theology: Development or Liberation?

Gustavo Gutierrez is John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His book A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation is considered a foundational work on Latin American liberation theology, and he contributed an essay to The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology.

Retired Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin held many posts during his Army career, including commander of the Green Berets and deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence. He is now an ordained minister and a conservative Christian political activist, serving as a leader of the North Carolina-based Kingdom Warriors Ministries. Boykin has generated controversy for […]

Robert Vischer is dean and professor of law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. His research interests explore the intersection of law, religion and public policy, and his books include Conscience and the Common Good: Reclaiming the Space Between Person and State.

Read a March 2012 article by law professor Robert K. Vischer in the journal First Things. He argues that anti-Shariah laws set a dangerous precedent that could damage religious liberty for all, not just for Muslims.

The Pew Research Center released a report April 8, 2013, examining how major Christian denominations, as well as other faith groups, apply their religious laws to internal matters. Examples include Roman Catholic diocesan tribunals, which rule on marriage annulments, and Protestant disciplinary hearings for clergy who violate denominational rules about officiating at same-sex weddings.

A survey released April 30, 2013, by the Pew Research Center explores the views of Muslims in 39 countries regarding Shariah.

Read a Sept. 3, 2009, BBC backgrounder on Shariah.