Religion & Law

Slovakian Court Upholds Religion Law?s Registration Requirement

Posted on February 05, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "Radio Slovakia International today reports that the Plenary Session of Slovakia's Constitutional Court has rejected a constitutional attack on the provision in Slovakia's religion law that requires 20,000 signatures of members for a church to obtain registration ...

North Korea Says It Will Release U.S. Christian Activist

Posted on February 05, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "According to Voice of America, North Korea today said it will release Robert Park, the U.S. Christian activist who crossed into North Korea from China on Christmas day carrying a Bible and a letter urging North Korean leader Kim Jong II to embrace God and close political prison camps ...

Tyrannical tactics adopted in Geert Wilders trial?

Posted on February 05, 2010
[T]hree Islam experts proposed by [Dutch MP Geert] Wilders [in his defence against charges of discrimination and inciting hatred] will be heard behind closed doors, the judges said on Wednesday afternoon . . .

Reactions Cool to Year One of Obama?s Faith-Based Office

Posted on February 05, 2010
Christian Post: "President Obama?s Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships will mark its first anniversary Friday, but it?s hard to determine whether the office has been successful or not."

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Filipino Congress sets aside pro-abortion bill, leaves the matter for the next government

Posted on February 05, 2010
Spero News (AsiaNews): "The debate over the Reproductive Health Bill is over after four years. Had it been adopted, the draft legislation would have encouraged the use of contraceptives among the population and limited families to two children. Congress ended its session without a consensus...

Killing abstinence

Posted on February 05, 2010
Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, writing at NRO: "Obviously, abstinent teens are not going to get pregnant or contract an STD. But the research shows that, in general, they also will be happier and less depressed than their permissive peers...

Gallup: 36% of Americans and 53% of Dems view socialism positively

Posted on February 05, 2010
"The Gallup Poll reports that a majority of Democrats, 53%, have a 'positive' image of socialism . . . In total, more than one-third of Americans, 36%, have a positive image of socialism."

Democrats send conflicting signals on repealing DADT policy

Posted on February 05, 2010
The Hill: "While President Barack Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) agree the Clinton-era law should be repealed, it remains unclear whether that will happen this year or next . . . And if it doesn?t happen this year, changing the law will be far more difficult in 2011, when there are likely to be fewer Democrats in Congress...

CMR Charts Results of Proposed ?LGBT Law? for the Military

Posted on January 29, 2010
Center for Military Readiness: "The flow-chart diagrams demonstrate how radical and problematic mandatory implementation the new LGBT Law would be."

Senate Passes ?Unhealthy Youth Act? to detriment of WI youth

Posted on January 29, 2010
WI Family Action: "Yesterday the Senate passed AB 458, 18-15, on party lines with all the Democrats in favor and all the Republicans opposed. The Republicans offered six amendments, only one of which the Democrats passed. The bill would require all school districts in Wisconsin that elect to have a Human Growth and Development program, which is the vast majority of districts, to teach the misnamed 'comprehensive sex ed' approach, including the proper use of barrier methods of contraception...

?CBS rejects gay dating site?s Super Bowl ad?

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Hollywood Reporter: "CBS has rejected a Super Bowl ad submitted by a gay dating Web site that shows two male football fans making out."

Gill Action Fund COO transitions to position as Victory Fund deputy executive director

Posted on January 29, 2010
GayPolitics.com: "Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe said Brand?s return to a key leadership role comes at pivotal moment in gay politics. 'Electoral politics is an important and growing part of the fight for LGBT equality.'"

NY Times: ?Ending ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell??

Posted on January 29, 2010
The NY Times calls for politicians to end "don't ask, don't tell."

GOP: Maryland AG playing politics with timing of same-sex ?marriage? opinion

Posted on January 29, 2010
"The opinion was requested in May, and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has not yet ruled, prompting Del. Don H. Dwyer of Anne Arundel County to say the lengthy deliberation process has 'become political in nature.'"

?Rep. Polis introduces legislation to protect LGBT students from harassment in public schools?

Posted on January 29, 2010
MetroWeekly: "Citing 'relentless harassment and discrimination' and 'life-threatening violence' faced by students 'based on their sexual orientation,' U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) today introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit such discrimination, as well as that based on gender identity, in public schools in the United States...

Qatar: ?Cross about cross-dressing: Is it a wicked Western habit that should be stopped??

Posted on January 29, 2010
Economist: "CROSS-DRESSING is on the rise among young Qataris. The local press says that more tradition-minded locals are upset by the growing number of young women affecting a masculine style of dress, baggy trousers, short hair and deep voices."

Proposed NM contribution ban draws ACLU opposition

Posted on January 29, 2010
Business Week: "A proposed ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists, state contractors and those seeking government subsidies has run into opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union."

Gender Gap Persists at Supreme Court Bar, Posits Panel

Posted on January 29, 2010
Law.com (National Legal Journal): "Justice O'Connor said women are still underrepresented as Supreme Court law clerks -- 11 out of 38 this term -- and in the solicitor general's office, and when she asked Kagan, 'What are we doing about it?' Kagan did not offer an answer...

Patrick F. Fagan: Pornography ? and marriage

Posted on January 29, 2010
Patrick F. Fagan writing at The Catholic Thing: "It would be wonderful if a massive class-action suit could be brought by wives and children against the pornographers who made their money by addicting and warping their husbands and fathers. If massive multi-billion dollar damages have been procured from tobacco companies, why not from pornographers who also do demonstrable damage to our society? Where are those class-action attorneys when we really need them for something worthwhile?"

The Ongoing Proposition 8 Trial: Three Key Points About the Evidence and Arguments

Posted on January 29, 2010
Vikram David Amar writes at Findlaw: "In this column, I offer some analysis of the federal bench trial on California's Proposition 8 that is winding down in San Francisco this week. As readers likely know, Proposition 8 is the state's voter-enacted ban on same-sex marriage...

New Drug Ellaone Billed as Better Morning After Pill, But It Causes Abortions

Posted on January 29, 2010
LifeNews: "Abortion advocates are pushing a new drug that they say is an expanded morning after pill, or emergency contraception . . . "

Manslaughter ruled out in Scott Roeder?s Kansas murder trial

Posted on January 29, 2010
MSNBC: "The judge in the trial of a man accused of murdering an abortion doctor dealt the defense a major setback Thursday, ruling that the jury cannot consider a lesser charge of manslaughter. The ruling came hours after Scott Roeder took the stand in his own defense and admitted killing Dr...

UK MP Duncan Smith: Christians in authority face a tough time

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Christians in public office are made to feel as though they must apologise for their faith, Iain Duncan Smith has said."

Md. delegate says refusal to redefine marriage is not discriminatory

Posted on January 29, 2010
The Daily Times: "Delegate Emmett Burns, D-Baltimore County, said Thursday that his bill barring recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages was 'not discriminatory.' Burns dismissed criticism by gay-rights advocates at a packed House Judiciary hearing on his bill, citing his longtime commitment to civil rights for African-Americans...

UK gov?t: Govt: Teach about ?sexual development? from seven

Posted on January 29, 2010
Christian Institute: "Children as young as seven should be taught about their 'sexual development,' new Government guidance says. The guidance is designed as a document for schools in England to consult when drawing up their sex and relationships education (SRE) plans...

Jury finds Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder in death of George Tiller

Posted on January 29, 2010
Wichita Eagle: "The jury has found Scott Roeder guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Wichita abortion provider George Tiller."

Wisconsin: Building Permit Charges Against Amish Farmer Dismissed on Free Exercise Grounds

Posted on January 29, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The court concluded: 'The town has failed to establish a compelling governmental interest in requiring signed applications from the Amish and, therefore, may not enforce the ordinance against them.'"

Air Force Academy Adds Chapel Space For Earth-Centered Faiths; Talks With Secular Student Group

Posted on January 29, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "The U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel is adding a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions, such as Wicca and Druidism."

Bishop sentenced to jail for ringing bells; three Phoenix churches sue city over vague noise ordinance restricting age-old practice

Posted on January 29, 2010
ADF attorneys are defending Bishop Rick Painter of Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church in State of Arizona v. Painter, a criminal case on appeal. They are also representing St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish, First Christian Church of Phoenix, and Christ the King Church in a civil suit in federal court that challenges the noise ordinance as unconstitutional.

Christian in Egypt: ?They try to kill us?

Posted on January 29, 2010
FOX News, LiveShots Blog: "Egyptian Maher El-Gowhary and his 15 year old daughter Dina never pray twice at the same church, never stay longer than a month in any one apartment. They are constantly under threat, always on the run because they converted to Christianity in a largely Muslim country...

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