Religion & Law

FRC Comments on NIH Shifting Stem Cell Guidelines

Posted on March 26, 2010
FRC Blog: "In February, the NIH proposed to redefine the meaning of ?embryonic stem cells? in their Guidelines. The primary purpose is to make more embryos, including younger embryos, available for research. The move continues the patients and successful adult stem cells ...

Mark Steyn: U.S. business could be cooked in a VAT

Posted on March 26, 2010
Mark Steyn has this commentary in the Orange County Register discussing hidden taxes in "health care" reform and the possibility of a forthcoming VAT tax. He concludes: "Which is to say that right now the future lies somewhere between the certainty of decline and the probability of catastrophe...

UK: Charity Commission ordered to pay Catholic Care legal costs

Posted on March 25, 2010
Civil Society: "The Charity Commission has been ordered to pay initial legal costs of £50,000 to Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) after losing its case in the High Court last week. The final amount has yet to be decided as the case still ongoing, with the Commission set to reassess its position on whether the charity can change its objects in order that it can refuse to allow homosexual couples to use its adoption services...

AZ: House zoning bill unites religious organizations

Posted on March 25, 2010
KPHO: "[House Bill 2596] would give churches the ability to locate wherever they choose, regardless of local zoning rules . . . 'It's about creating a level playing field so that churches are not discriminated against,' said Deborah Sheasby, legal counsel for the Center For Arizona Policy...

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Anti-porn statute to remain law of the land in Indonesia

Posted on March 25, 2010
The Jakarta Globe: "The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled to maintain the controversial 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, but failed to put an end to a debate that has divided the nation for years . . . The law defines pornography as 'sexual material made by people in the forms of pictures, sketches, illustrations, photos, writings, voice, sounds, motion pictures, animation, cartoons, poems, conversations, body movements and other forms of communication through various mass media or public displays that can arouse sexual desires and/or violate public moral values...

Australian Liberal Party: ?I support gay relationships?

Posted on March 25, 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald: "Tony Abbott has told a gay radio station he regrets his choice of words on homosexuals and says he supports same-sex relationships. The socially conservative opposition leader has been criticised for telling the 60 Minutes program he would probably feel a bit 'threatened' by homosexuality...

UK: Regulator keeps conscience clause for religious pharmacists

Posted on March 25, 2010
Christian Today: "The General Pharmaceutical Council has decided to uphold the right of pharmacists in the UK to refuse to dispense treatments that conflict with their religious beliefs. The new pharmacy regulator said it would retain an existing code of ethics when it replaces the Royal Pharmaceutical Society as the regulator of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians later this year...

Episcopal Paper: ?Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church?

Posted on March 25, 2010
Christian Post: "A panel of theologians in The Episcopal Church released on Wednesday a draft document on the divisive issue of same-sex relationships, detailing the positions of the 'traditionalists' and the 'liberals.' . . . The 95-page paper . . . 'Same-Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church' was drafted by the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops ...

Irish pubs to open on Good Friday for 1st time

Posted on March 25, 2010
Boston Globe: "As long as Ireland has had pubs, Good Friday has been off-limits as a 'dry' holy day -- until now."

Calif. voters could legalize pot in Nov. election

Posted on March 25, 2010
AP: "When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again - this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults."

CLAAS calls on Pakistan to end abuse of blasphemy law

Posted on March 25, 2010
Christian Today: "The director of CLAAS UK, a Christian organisation supporting the persecuted church in Pakistan, says the country's blasphemy law is being misused by extremists to harass Christians in spite of the government's promises to protect the rights of minorities...

Eric Cantor blames Democrats for ?fanning flames? on threats

Posted on March 25, 2010
Politico: "House Minority Whip Eric Cantor blamed top Democrats for 'fanning the flames' regarding threats to members of Congress ? and says his office in Richmond was shot at earlier this week."

Pro-Life Lawmakers Shot At, Threatened For Opposing Pro-Abortion Health Bill

Posted on March 25, 2010
LifeNews: "Two pro-life Republican lawmakers announced today that they were the victims of harassment and violence from people upset that they voted against the pro-abortion health care bill. Rep. Eric Cantor's Richmond campaign office was shot at while Rep...

305 parents, children sue Spain over anti-Christian education

Posted on March 25, 2010
Mandatory classes with highly sexual, church-bashing content has nation in uproar; ADF, Professionals for Ethics file suit with ECHR

PA: Judge denies divorce for same-sex couple

Posted on March 25, 2010
The state Supreme Court, Lash wrote, has described a 'fundamental right' as '"inherent in man's nature," among the "basic rights of human beings," and among the "Hallmarks of Western Civilization."' The argument that a same-sex marriage passes such a test is 'unsupportable,' the judge continued...

Media effort to implicate the Pope in the sex scandals escalates

Posted on March 25, 2010
The ongoing media effort to implicate the Pope in sex abuse allegations many of which date back decades has caused The Catholic League to issue a series of press releases in response. See the links below for a sampling of this battle.

Religious liberty up for grabs

Posted on March 25, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in what some say is one of the most important religious liberty cases before the high court in the past decade . . . 'What's at stake is the freedom of religious student groups to operate on campus -- to be student religious groups,' [Greg Baylor] states...

Obama Admin Urged to Not Expand Embryonic Stem Cell Research Further

Posted on March 25, 2010
LifeNews: "Attorneys with Americans United for Life are urging the Obama administration not to expand embryonic stem cell research beyond the ways in which it has already promoted the life-taking and ineffective research . . . "

NY student allowed to share pro-life views

Posted on March 25, 2010
OneNewsNow: "A New York college has reversed course and will now allow a student to distribute a pro-life newsletter on campus . . . [Travis Barham] says the college, which did not have a policy on students distributing literature on campus, responded favorably to ADF...

Unsound and Unfit: Goodwin Liu is President Obama?s worst judicial nominee . . . so far.

Posted on March 25, 2010
"Liu . . . argues that judges (usually in an 'interstitial' role) may legitimately invent constitutional rights to a broad range of social 'welfare' goods . . . "

Live Action responds to community college?s censorship of its pro-life magazine

Posted on March 25, 2010
PRWeb: "Kingsborough Community College has reversed their ban on student Joseph Hayon?s distribution of a pro-life magazine after receiving a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund . . . Lila Rose, UCLA student and President of Live Action, comments: 'We are encouraged that Joseph used his voice for voiceless preborn children and was not silenced even when threatened...

Poll: ?For First Time, 50 Percent of Californians Favor Same-sex Marriage?

Posted on March 25, 2010
Public Policy Institute of California: "Among all Californians, residents are more likely to favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage for the first time in the PPIC Statewide Surveys." Public Policy Institute of California: "Among all Californians, residents are more likely to favor (50%) than oppose (45%) same-sex marriage for the first time in the PPIC Statewide Surveys...

State GOP Leader Wants NC to Sue Over Health Care

Posted on March 25, 2010
Fox 8: "A state GOP leader is urging North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper to join 13 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health care reform law."

GA: Gov. will sue feds over health care on his own

Posted on March 25, 2010
Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Gov. Sonny Perdue said Thursday he will appoint a 'special attorney general' to challenge federal health care legislation signed into law this week by President Obama. Perdue made the announcement a day after state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat running for governor, told Perdue, a Republican, he would not pursue a lawsuit ...

ACORN, ACLU will continue to sue Md. as panel rejects settlement

Posted on March 25, 2010
MarylandReporter.com: "The state is refusing to accept a $60,000 agreement that the Office of the Attorney General reached with the American Civil Liberties Union and ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The Board of Public Works Wednesday rejected the settlement that would have resolved a long-standing dispute over an Ehrlich-administration Maryland Transit Administration prohibition on political activity at public transportation properties...

Islamic extremists in Somalia kill church leader, torch home

Posted on March 25, 2010
Compass Direct News: "Islamic militants in Somalia tracked down an underground church leader who had previously escaped a kidnapping attempt and killed him last week, Christian sources said."

Biggest mosque in Poland to be built in Warsaw

Posted on March 25, 2010
Polskie Radio: "The Centre of Islamic Culture, designed by KAPS Architekci, will be located in the close vicinity of the Blue City shopping centre, at the Zeslancow Syberyjskich roundabout just to the west of the city centre. The three-story building will have an 18-metre high minaret...

Australia: Trepidation over Victoria?s Equal Opportunity Bill

Posted on March 25, 2010
CathNews: "An Equal Opportunity Bill debated in the Victorian State Parliament could force religious institutions and schools to secularise or disband, some religious groups fear. 'This sets up the (Equal Opportunity Commission) to be judge, jury and executioner with unparalleled powers,' Australian Christian Lobby state director Rob Ward was cited saying in a report in The Age...

Hungary: Court grants property and inheritance rights to same-sex couples

Posted on March 25, 2010
Politics.hu: "The Constitutional Court yesterday upheld the same rights regarding property and inheritance for same-sex couples as for those in conventional marriages."

Tax dispute flairs between Cyprus gov?t and Orthodox Church

Posted on March 25, 2010
Reuters: "A furious dispute has erupted in Cyprus after the ruling communists set their sights on the island?s wealthy Orthodox Church of Cyprus to help plug a runaway deficit. The island?s government says it wants to start a dialogue with the Church regarding the millions it says the church owes in unpaid taxes...

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