Religion & Law

Resolution by Gilbert town council in reference to home bible studies

Posted on March 23, 2010
AZfamily.com: "Council members approved a motion to change the current ordinance that says 'public and private schools and religious assembly are not permitted in single family residential structures.' It discussed four different options which include changing the definition of religious assembly and regulating all gatherings from Cub Scout meetings to Superbowl parties ...

Flood of challenges rising against ?Obamacare?

Posted on March 23, 2010
WorldNetDaily: "Congress will be accused in a coming flood of lawsuits of trashing the Constitution through President Obama's plan to nationalize health care, according to several groups that already have cases in the works . . . Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund also were on top of a related situation, moving forward in four different lawsuits to ensure that conscience protections ? the right to decide a procedure is objectionable and to not perform it ? is maintained for doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others...

Gilbert holds meeting over church gatherings

Posted on March 23, 2010
KSAZ FOX 10: "The Town of Gilbert is holding a meeting Monday night about zoning verbiage, stemming from a church meeting issue . . . About two months ago, the Gilbert Town Council recognized that the zoning codes were being interpreted by some members of staff to prevent small church groups from assembling in their own homes for religious worship ...

Obama signs healthcare into law

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Hill: "President Barack Obama signed healthcare reform into law on Tuesday, capping a legislative victory Democrats have sought for decades."

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David French: Professors? opinion columns not protected by the First Amendment?

Posted on March 23, 2010
ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: "The most crucial aspect of the court's ruling was its finding that Mike's Townhall.com columns were work-related speech and not protected by the First Amendment because he mentioned that he was a columnist in his application to become a full professor at the University ...

Women and medical professionals ask court to intervene in federal case to protect the right to conscience

Posted on March 23, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Representing Concerned Women for America, America's largest women's advocacy group and four other groups of pro-life medical professionals, attorneys with Advocates International filed a joint motion to lift stay and at last permit their intervention in three lawsuits commenced on January 15, 2009 that seek to invalidate a final federal regulation protecting medical professionals from discrimination because they refuse to participate in abortions ...

Taliban fighters being taught at secret camps in Iran

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Times: "What they can say is that in camps along the border between Afghanistan and Iran, Taliban recruits are being taught how to ambush British, American and other Nato troops using guns and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)."

The Social Costs of Pornography

Posted on March 23, 2010
P. Langdale Hugh writes at The Witherspoon Institute: "In December 2008 a diverse collection of scholars, medical practitioners and journalists gathered in Princeton, New Jersey, to begin an initial inquiry into the social toll of the consumption of pornography on men, women and children...

NY college reverses course, allows free speech

Posted on March 23, 2010
Community college officials agree to allow student to hand out fliers after receiving letter from ADF attorneys

KidsCare repeal said to jeopardize Ariz. funding

Posted on March 23, 2010
AP: "A controversial decision by Arizona lawmakers to eliminate a health insurance program for poor children puts it at risk of losing billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding under the historic health care bill approved by Congress."

Internet firm in China stops using Google services

Posted on March 23, 2010
AP: "An Internet company run by one of Asia's richest men said Tuesday it has ended its affiliation with Google Inc. as the American search giant stopped censoring the Internet in violation of Chinese regulations . . . "

Gilbert OKs meetings to discuss religious meetings ban

Posted on March 23, 2010
Arizona Republic: "The Gilbert Town Council on Monday night took the first step toward removing a regulation that has prohibited religious groups from meeting in private homes . . . The council 'has been very responsive to the very important issue of protecting the rights of people to freely exercise their religion in their home,' [Douglas Napier] said...

Indonesia: Failure to revise blasphemy law would ?limit role of religion?

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Jakarta Post: "Two more experts recommended Friday that the controversial 1965 Blasphemy Law be revised as critics warned of civil conflict if the law was changed . . . The court has been holding hearings since early February. Several human rights activists and pluralism supporters have contested several articles in the law, which stipulates the state?s authority to dissolve religious groups whose teachings are deemed heretic by religious authorities...

Pro-life Democrats, R.I.P.

Posted on March 23, 2010
William McGurn writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Bart Stupak's vote for the health bill shows that in the end you can't count on prolife Democrats."

3rd Circuit lifts ban on media ownership restrictions

Posted on March 23, 2010
AP: "A federal court has at least temporarily lifted government rules that blocked media companies from owning a newspaper and a broadcast TV station in the same market . . . "

Obama Administration Awarded Hundreds of Thousands in Airport Grants to Stupak?s District Two Days Before Vote

Posted on March 23, 2010
"Three airports in the district of infamous fence-sitting and ultimately kowtowing Democrat Bart Stupak were awarded $726,409 in grants by the Obama Administration just two days before a vote on Obama and Pelosi?s government takeover of healthcare."

AZ: Gilbert not alone in home-church debate

Posted on March 23, 2010
" . . . Meanwhile, a House bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, aimed at defining the kinds of zoning restrictions municipalities can put on places of worship is opposed by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, on grounds that it gives any person the ability to locate anywhere in the name of religious practice, regardless of neighborhood impact ...

KS: House passes bill to narrow late-term abortion rules

Posted on March 23, 2010
Kansas City Star, Prime Buzz: "Mental distress or illness would no longer justify a late-term abortion in Kansas under legislation passed by the House Tuesday. The vote, 89-33, sends [HB 2166] to the Senate."

UK: Christian street preacher case dismissed by judge

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A district judge has thrown out the case of a Christian street preacher in Colchester who was arrested by police because of comments he made about homosexual conduct."

Nigeria to Prosecute Hundreds of Suspects in Christian Slaughter

Posted on March 23, 2010
Christian Post: "The suspects were detained after a number of predominantly Christian villages in the Jos area were attacked by machete-wielding Muslim extremists on March 7. While police estimate that more than 100 people were killed, persecution watchdogs say the death toll was up to 500...

KY: Religious Billboards Debated In Frankfort

Posted on March 23, 2010
WFPL.org: "In the waning days of the 2010 Kentucky General Assembly, environmentalists find themselves in the sensitive position of challenging legislation aimed at protecting religious billboards. Along I-65 in LaRue and Hart counties are two billboards bearing religious messages like 'Hell is Real,' and the Ten Commandments...

UK: ?Homophobic hatred? law comes into force today

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A controversial new 'homophobic hatred' law comes into effect today, but religious liberty will be protected by a free speech shield included in the law. Critics of the original proposal feared that disagreeing with same-sex conduct may have been caught by the new offence, but Conservative peer Lord Waddington tabled an amendment to protect free speech...

Christian genocide in Burma continues to be ignored

Posted on March 23, 2010
Mission Network News: "The Karen people of Burma have been fighting for independence for over 60 years. Far from gaining freedom, though, the Karen people have instead become the victims of massive genocide. Many of the Karen people are Christians, and it has become apparent that the ethnic cleansing taking place at the hands of the Burmese government is a direct attack against Christians...

53.4% of Italian households have no children

Posted on March 23, 2010
ANSA: "The Italian population is [made up of registered families] without children (53.4%). The figure emerges from the report of the International Center family studies, presented today in Milan with the participation of [President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies] Gianfranco Fini...

Italy: Constitutional Court opens same-sex ?marriage? hearings

Posted on March 23, 2010
ANSA: "The supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday opened public hearings on the legitimacy of several articles in Italy's civil code which prohibit same-sex marriage . . . The Constitutional Court, one of Italy's two supreme court along with the Cassation Court, may decide as early as Tuesday whether or not to take up the suit...

Italians debate whether ?gay? is an insult

Posted on March 23, 2010
Global Post: "Last week . . . one of Italy's highest courts issued a ruling that states calling someone gay can be an insult if it?s done with the intention to denigrate. The ruling sparked a debate among the country?s homosexual community: Will the decision, which aimed to protect gay rights, hurt not help?"

Egyptian Copt killings trial postponed

Posted on March 23, 2010
Maktoob News: "An Egyptian court on Sunday postponed the trial of three Egyptian Muslims accused of gunning down six Coptic Christians and a police officer in southern Egypt in January, the Egyptian Gazette reported. 'The trial will resume on April 18 to hear the prosecution witnesses,' Chief Judge Mahmoud Abdel Salam was quoted as saying...

Foreign prostitutes rent Malaysian husbands for visas

Posted on March 23, 2010
Reuters: "Foreign sex workers in Malaysia are paying local men up to $1,500 a month to become their husbands so that they can stay on in the country to ply their trade, the New Straits Times newspaper said on Tuesday."

?Anti-abortion activists intensify efforts after health care reform?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Religion Dispatches: "The Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society -- in contrast to other religious right legal groups which are challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the reform bill, even though conservatives admit it's a long shot -- are planning legal challenges claiming that the conscience rights of health care workers who are opposed to abortion are inadequately protected in the law...

OK: House clears 3 bills restricting abortion

Posted on March 23, 2010
KJRH.com (AP): "The first bill prohibits abortions based solely on the sex of the child, while a second allows health care professionals to refuse to participate in abortions. The third makes it illegal for anyone other than a physician who is physically present to administer the chemical abortion pill, RU-486...

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