Religion & Law

Prayer Day should remain on calendar

Posted on April 28, 2010
The Optimist: "Joel Oster, senior counsel to the Allied Defense fund, spoke out against the ruling. 'The National Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according to their own faith,' he said. 'It does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and this decision should be appealed...

Advocates for Life

Posted on April 28, 2010
Jennifer Roback Morse writing at the Ruth Institute Blog: "A new group is forming for pro-life law students. Advocates for Life is sponsored by Americans United for Life, and hopes to have chapters in law schools across the country . . . The idea was hatched by Fiedorek and several other participants in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, an annual summer school for 110 second-year law students put on by the Alliance Defense Fund ...

Baptist Bulletin world news for April 28

Posted on April 28, 2010
The Baptist Bulletin: "A federal judge in Arizona has struck down a Phoenix noise ordinance against sounds generated by religious worship, reports WorldNetDaily. 'Churches shouldn?t be targeted and punished for ringing their bells as a public expression of faith that?s been done for centuries,' said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund...

Retired chaplains oppose DADT repeal

Posted on April 28, 2010
God and Country: "The Alliance Defense Fund has previously stated its position that the 'repeal' of DADT would ultimately result in untenable conflicts between the moral, religious positions of military Chaplains and the new policy. The ADF is now publicizing a 6-page letter signed by 41 'distinguished' Chaplains opposing the policy change...

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Federal court strikes down National Day of Prayer statute

Posted on April 28, 2010
Regent Law Family Restoration: "Despite this ruling, President Obama, at the urging of the Alliance Defense Fund, will issue a prayer proclamation to allow Americans to pray together nationally."

High court gives cross backers partial win

Posted on April 28, 2010
Baptist Press: "Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), told reporters outside the court building, 'The decision is favorable as far as it goes, but the Supreme Court didn't go far enough. The box needs to come off that cross...

Supreme Court: Mojave Desert veterans cross stays!

Posted on April 28, 2010
Evangelical Examiner: "Today, in a 5 - 4 majority opinion filed today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the continued display of a lone cross in the Mojave Desert memorializing veterans of World War I. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, Advocates for Faith and Freedom, and the American Legion Department of California filed a friend-of-the-court brief in June 2009 that argued for the lifting of a court order which required the memorial to be covered up...

Conservatives say ?Don?t Ask? repeal would hurt military chaplains

Posted on April 28, 2010
CBS News, Political Hotsheet: "Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian non-profit group, said that repeal would mean that military policy will for the first time be 'at odds with the major tenets of the major religions represented in the armed services...

MI: Health care effect shown in opening of Planned Parenthood clinic

Posted on April 28, 2010
"An early sign of health care reform's impact is Planned Parenthood's decision to open a new Oakland County clinic within the next 18 months, adding to 15 locations, including Detroit, Warren and Livonia. Unlike other Detroit area centers, the new location is likely to include abortion services...

Louisiana abortion ultrasound abortion bill advances in Senate

Posted on April 28, 2010
"Any woman seeking an abortion in Louisiana would first be required to undergo an ultrasound examination under legislation that cleared a Senate committee this afternoon after nearly three hours of testimony."

Gerald V. Bradley: Proselytism and religious freedom

Posted on April 28, 2010
Gerard V. Bradley writing at The Immanent Frame, a blog hosted by the Social Science Research Council: "Proselytizing is often criticized under the generic rubric of 'interfering' and even 'attacking' other religions, usually indigenous ones honeycombed with folk traditions...

PA House panel approves bill on sex ed in schools

Posted on April 28, 2010
WFMJ (AP): "A bill that would require Pennsylvania's public schools to provide sex education to students is on its way to the state House of Representatives." | HB 1163. Today's Education Committee Roll Calls can be viewed here. | For more information on Pennsylvania and "sex ed" see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www...

Illinois lawmakers send sexting bill to governor

Posted on April 28, 2010
Chicago Tribune: "Teens who forward or post online racy pictures of their underage classmates would get juvenile court supervision that could result in mandatory counseling or community service, under legislation sent to Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday." | HB 4583 | For more on this legislation see the ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www...

Second Ban on Abortion Funding Goes to Miss. Governor

Posted on April 28, 2010
The Daily News (AP): "Mississippi lawmakers on Wednesday sent Gov. Haley Barbour a bill to ban public funding for most abortions, a move that critics said is unnecessary because it repeats what's been in state law the past eight years."

Fla. Senate passes abortion ultrasound measure

Posted on April 28, 2010
"A final vote on the bill could come Thursday."

NY: Two Convicted of Denying Access to Abortion Clinic

Posted on April 28, 2010
NY Times: "For the first time in New York City, federal prosecutors have used the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act to secure a conviction in a case where access was blocked to a clinic that provides abortions . . . The men, Richard R. Dugan and Theodore A...

Video: Military chaplains opposes ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? repeal

Posted on April 28, 2010
Speakupmovment.org: "Military chaplains who have volunteered to defend the liberties protected in our Constitution shouldn't be denied those very same liberties. Watch Wednesday, April 28th at 2 p.m. EDT as distinguished military chaplains announce opposition to overturning 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law...

?Not so fast in Doe v. Reed: A partial dissent from some early reactions to today?s oral arguments?

Posted on April 28, 2010
Tom Goldstein writing at the SCOTUS Blog: "I happened to be in the courtroom today for the argument in Doe v. Reed, which was Justice Stevens? last argued case. Early reporting and commentary on the decision ? with which I agree entirely ? has been that the Court will affirm by a wide margin the Ninth Circuit?s refusal to grant the particular injunction now before the Court...

Putin: Return religious items to church

Posted on April 28, 2010
UPI: "Legislation is being drafted to return icons and other religious art seized after the Russian Revolution to churches and convents."

Filipino alert nabs Canadian pornographer

Posted on April 28, 2010
UPI: "A Manitoba man pleaded guilty to child pornography charges after a woman in the Philippines alerted police to explicit Internet photos, officials said."

VA: McDonnell rescinds State Police prayer policy

Posted on April 28, 2010
Virginian-Pilot: "A Virginia State Police directive issued more than a year ago that bars troopers who serve as chaplains from making specific faith references in public prayers they deliver while representing the law enforcement agency has been rescinded at the behest of Gov...

Court skeptical on keeping petitioner IDs private

Posted on April 28, 2010
Washington Post: "Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday about keeping secret the names of people who signed a petition to repeal Washington state's gay rights law, suggesting citizens cannot always hide behind anonymity if they want to be heard ...

UK campaign gaffe: Brown calls voter a bigot

Posted on April 28, 2010
AP: "Brown walked into a political train wreck Wednesday after forgetting to turn off his microphone. He described a loyal Labour voter as a bigot for asking about immigration, blamed advisers for a 'disaster' ahead of next week's election, then rushed back to the voter's house to beg her forgiveness...

Sonoma County embroiled in lawsuit over same-sex couple?s rights

Posted on April 27, 2010
KTVU: "Sonoma County officials claimed they were protecting a victim in what has become a lawsuit involving visitation rights and the personal property of same-sex couples while embroiling the county in a national controversy."

No abortion in Canada initiative

Posted on April 27, 2010
UPI: "Abortion will not be included in Canada's Group of Eight maternal healthcare initiative for developing countries, the Canadian government said."

Newt Gingrich: How America became a ?secular-socialist machine?

Posted on April 27, 2010
Newt Gingrich writes at the Washington Post: "It was precisely my effort to place the Obama-Pelosi-Reid team in some historic context that led me to conclude that this is, indeed, a secular-socialist machine. While clarity may make some uncomfortable, such language is appropriate in explaining a movement of big government, high taxes, big bureaucracy, massive deficits and huge debt run from a politician-centric system of power...

One-Fourth of Nonprofits Are to Lose Tax Breaks

Posted on April 27, 2010
NY Times: "As many as 400,000 nonprofit organizations are weeks away from a doomsday. At midnight on May 15, an estimated one-fifth to one-quarter of some 1.6 million charities, trade associations and membership groups will lose their tax exemptions, thanks to a provision buried in a 2006 federal bill aimed at pension reform ...

Sex Trade Big Business for Craig

Posted on April 27, 2010
NBC Bay Area: "Craigslist revenue grew 22 percent last year, to $122 million, largely on the strength of increasing fees for "adult" advertising and no longer sending that money to charity." NY Times: Sex Ads Seen Adding Revenue to Craigslist

Botswana: High Court orders Kgafela to leave church alone

Posted on April 27, 2010
Mmegi Online: "In an interim ruling issued yesterday following an urgent application by both the EFB, as the first applicant and FoG, as the second applicant, Justice David Newman of the High Court ordered Kgafela and his regiments to lay their hands off the Family of God Church and all evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Kgatleng...

Kan. legislature considers bill to regulate sexually oriented businesses

Posted on April 27, 2010
Nebraska.tv: "The measure would put new restrictions on the locations of adult businesses such as strip clubs and stores that sell adult sex products. It has already passed the House and is scheduled for debate Wednesday in the Senate . . . "

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