Concerning the founding and upcoming meeting of the European Academy of Religion, the Executive Council of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) stands by the joint statement issued by the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) and International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) (posted here). As an IAHR member society, we are in strong agreement that the academic study of religion constitutes a specific approach to the study of religion that is not only worth identifying in distinction from others but also supporting.