Religion & Law

Alan Sears on the Hugh Hewitt Show: Building the Infrastructure of Freedom

Posted on February 26, 2010
ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss ADF's ongoing efforts to "build the infrastructure of freedom." The MP3 runs approx. 25 minutes. More information: For attorneys: ADF National Litigation Academy For law students: Blackstone Legal Fellowship

NY Gov. Paterson won?t seek new term

Posted on February 26, 2010
NY Daily News: "The source said the governor has agreed not to seek election, but he will not resign - opting to serve out the remainder of his term."

The faith-based initiative 2.0: Obama?s new approach

Posted on February 26, 2010
Religion Link: "After months of work, President Barack Obama?s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships is about to send him dozens of proposals on revamping the White House?s faith-based program. The proposals will also set priorities for the office and will renew debate ? and media coverage ? of this controversial initiative...

Roger Kiska on the Michael Medved Show: Swedish Home School case

Posted on February 26, 2010
ADF attorney Roger Kiska appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss this: Swedish government seizes child from home-schooling family The MP3 runs approx. 33 minutes.

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Confession of a homophobe

Posted on February 26, 2010
Otis Page writes at New Times SLO: "The major implication for many young people is they will increasingly experiment with same-sex sex as a consequence. That is where a certain monstrous social issue resides?for once the moral divide is crossed, there may not be a turning back?especially when turning back may be called a manifestation of homophobia...

Tax Reform Bill Would Legalize Internet Gambling

Posted on February 26, 2010
Citizen Link: "A Senate bill has been amended to include two other bills that would repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Faces Abortion Lecture at Congressional Hearing

Posted on February 26, 2010
LifeNews: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before a Congressional committee on Thursday where two pro-life members of Congress presented her with a long lecture on abortion and how it hurts women. Clinton appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to talk about the International Affairs Budget...

Liberal Paranoia About Christian Conservatives

Posted on February 26, 2010
David Limbaugh writes at Townhall: "The left's paranoia about the intersection of Christianity and the public square continues unabated. It's amazing how much they fear something that represents such a little threat to them."

Top US Marine rejects Obama plan to repeal gay ban

Posted on February 26, 2010
Reuters (AFP): "The head of the US Marines said on Thursday he opposed ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, the first top officer to break openly with President Barack Obama over the issue."

Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ

Posted on February 26, 2010
CNN: "Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and found that, on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs...

Court Says School Can Insist Valedictorian Remove Religious References From Talk

Posted on February 26, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "A Montana trial court this week upheld the action of Butte High School officials in refusing to let one of the class' ten valedictorians speak at her 2008 graduation when she refused to remove religious references from her remarks...

Iran: Pastor among nine Christians arrested

Posted on February 26, 2010
AdnKronos International: "An evangelical priest was among nine Christians arrested in central Iran on Friday as authorities continued a crackdown against Christians in the Islamic country. The Christians' evangelical church in the city of Isfahan was closed down last month, according to advocacy group International Christian Concern...

It?s time Britain had the porn conversation

Posted on February 26, 2010
Janice Turner writes at Times Online: "For the past decade the default setting for pornography ? into our homes, on to our screens and newstands, into the mainstream of our culture ? has been 'on'. And parents were expected to guard their children from a tide of imagery...

Pakistan intends to alter blasphemy law

Posted on February 26, 2010
Reuters: "The Pakistani government plans to change its blasphemy law to check its misuse by extremist groups, officials said on Thursday. The law, which carries the death penalty for insulting Islam or its prophet, is a highly sensitive issue in Pakistan, which is more than 95 percent Muslim...

Swiss face ?holy war? with Gadhafi?s Libya

Posted on February 26, 2010
AP: "Although Gadhafi's jihad declaration late Thursday was widely viewed as a stunt by a leader given to outlandish behavior, the danger was difficult to dismiss in an era of Islamic-Western foment over issues ranging from headdress bans in Europe to faraway Middle East disputes, Iran's nuclear program and Nordic newspapers' caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad...

5,416 (and counting) Petitions Hand-Delivered to WV Senate

Posted on February 26, 2010
Family Policy Council of West Virginia: ?'I?m voting for marriage' petitions introduced during Friday?s floor session, thousands more call in support of marriage as one man, one woman . . . The West Virginia Senate has until early Monday morning to move SJR 14 from the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to the Senate floor ...

?Let?s stop the attacks on Christians,? says Italian Foreign Minister

Posted on February 26, 2010
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Putting together a 'manual' for EU countries? embassies in 'nations where persecution is a risk.' Drawing on the experience gained in the appeal against the ruling on crucifixes to promote 'a group of like-minded countries who take to heart the right of Christians to profess their faith anywhere in the world...

Sweden?s ?mass expulsion? of Christian refugees from Iraq

Posted on February 26, 2010
Assyrian International News Agency: "Despite Sweden's reputation as one of the most generous countries in the world in accepting Iraqi refugees, less than half of the Iraqi asylum-seekers already in the country have actually been allowed to stay. The others, more than 10,000, many of them Christians or from other religious minorities, are forced back to a country where religious persecution and ethnic and religious cleansing is well documented...

Chicago father faces jail for bringing daughter to church

Posted on February 26, 2010
ABC: "Joseph Reyes faces jail time for taking daughter, Ela, to a Catholic church in defiance of a temporary court order forbidding him from exposing the child to any religion but Judaism."

UK: ?Home-schooled children said more at risk?

Posted on February 26, 2010
UPI: "Children being educated at home are twice as likely to be abused and should be closely monitored by social services, a British educator said Friday."

Same-sex benefits a no-go at Western Kentucky University

Posted on February 26, 2010
Bowling Green Daily News: "In an 8-6 vote, the committee for the second time since last August voted down the proposal last week. Tony Glisson, director of WKU Department of Human Resources and a member of the Benefits Committee, said the committee?s decision is based largely on the fact that Kentucky does not legally recognize same-sex marriage...

Prop. 8 suit closing arguments may be televised

Posted on February 26, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle: "Despite a rebuff from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bay Area's federal judges are again proposing to allow cameras in their courtrooms, a plan that could lead to telecasting of closing arguments in a suit challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage...

Russia court rules civil cases tried in Europe rights court must be reconsidered

Posted on February 26, 2010
JURIST: "The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation ruled Friday that Russian courts must reconsider civil cases decided by the European Court of Human Rights, ordering legislative amendments."

Christianity Today?s Political Advocacy Tracker

Posted on February 26, 2010
Christianity Today's Political Advocacy Tracker is a "roundup of what Christian activist organizations have been talking about over the last week." Today's edition includes some commentary on GOProud at CPAC: "CPAC was cosponsored by many social conservative organizations such as Alliance Defense Fund, American Center for Law and Justice, Americans United for Life, Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family Action, and Prison Fellowship...

NY high school sued for disbanding Christian student club

Posted on February 26, 2010
FOX News: "The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund claims the Christian club, called Ichthus, was cancelled without notice after being in operation for four years . . . 'This is pure and simple a case of viewpoint discrimination against Christian students,' Cortman told Fox News...

Colorado lawsuit challenges $18 million in illegal Planned Parenthood contracts

Posted on February 26, 2010
LifeNews: "A lawsuit filed by a pro-life legal group is challenging $18 million in what the Alliance Defense Fund calls illegal contracts the Planned Parenthood abortion business entered into with the state of Colorado . . . 'The people of Colorado felt strongly that no taxpayer should be forced to pay for a procedure that takes innocent human life...

Free speech victory in Whatcott v. Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal

Posted on February 26, 2010
In a decision released February 25, the 3-member court ruled that William Whatcott did not violate section 14(1)(b) of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code by distributing flyers to oppose the teaching of homosexuality in Saskatoon?s public schools.

Same-sex couple accuses Austria of discrimination

Posted on February 26, 2010
AFP: "A gay couple accused Austria before Europe's top rights court yesterday of discriminating against homosexuals in adoption and other matters despite a new law allowing same-sex unions . . . The couple, who filed their petition before the European Court of Human Rights in 2004, claim 'that the nation of marriage had evolved over time thus having to be understood nowadays as a permanent union encompassing all aspects of life,' the Strasbourg-based court said in a statement...

Chicago Public Schools could face $975 million hole

Posted on February 26, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times: "To get ahead of what could be a $975 million deficit next school year, Chicago Public School officials Thursday announced 500 central office and citywide job cuts ? and three weeks of furlough days for those left behind."

Muslim Groups Demand Closure of Large, Legal Church

Posted on February 26, 2010
Christian Post: "Hundreds of Muslims from outside the area where a 600-member church meets in West Java staged a protest there to call for its closure this month in an attempt to portray local opposition . . . "

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