Religion & Law

Doug Napier on Focal Point at AFR: The California Marriage Trial

Posted on January 18, 2010
ADF attorney Doug Napier appeared on Focal Point at AFR with Bryan Fischer to discuss the Proposition 8 trial in California. The MP3 runs just under 13 minutes.

The wave of anti-Christian violence

Posted on January 18, 2010
"A recent wave of violent attacks on Christian worshippers and churches in countries across the Muslim world is intensifying . . . "

Payments to states emerges as major obstacle to healthcare reform

Posted on January 18, 2010
The Hill: "Some House Democrats believe their states would get shortchanged in the overhaul of the nation?s healthcare system and the funding issue is fast becoming a major hurdle to getting a bill signed into law."

Rating drops below 50% for Nelson

Posted on January 18, 2010
Omaha World-Herald: "Nelson, who once enjoyed some of the highest job performance marks in the U.S. Senate, has now seen his approval rating dip below 50 percent in Nebraska, according to The World-Herald Poll."

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Matt Bowman: Coakley wrong on conscience rights of pro-lifers

Posted on January 15, 2010
The conscience battle is waging. Its advocates are unapologetically trying to strip away the laws that still exist to protect conscience rights, even laws which they themselves are supposed to be enforcing.

Healthcare talks in race with Massachusetts?s special election

Posted on January 15, 2010
The Hill: "Democrats are rushing to finalize healthcare legislation as their hold on the 60th vote in the Senate appears to be slipping."

In a gender shift, more moms become breadwinners

Posted on January 15, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "The number of working moms who are the sole breadwinners in their families rose last year to an all-time high, and the number of stay-at-home dads edged higher, in a shift of traditional gender roles caused partly by massive job losses...

Europe?s Decadent Education

Posted on January 15, 2010
L. Brent Bozell, III writes at CNSNews: "In their press statements, the 'human rights' activists advocate freedom of expression and denounce the spreading of stigmas. But when it comes to traditional faith and values and parental rights in Europe, the freedom of expression flows only toward the decadent sexual 'progressives,' and the stigmas blow back on any parents who object...

Canada: ?Ontario Bishops Reject High School ?Gender Studies? Course?

Posted on January 15, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario have rejected a 'Gender Studies' course that is being promoted by the Ontario Ministry of Education."

Prop. 8 Ruling: High court?s broadcast ruling under microscope

Posted on January 15, 2010
Robert Barnes writes at the Washington Post: "It was a hastily written ruling by Supreme Court standards, and it carried a dissent almost equal in length to the majority's opinion. But the 5 to 4 decision the court issued late Wednesday blocking the broadcast of a federal trial about the constitutionality of same-sex marriage is being scoured by legal analysts and activists for deeper meaning...

Delaware to appeal sports betting limits

Posted on January 15, 2010
Delaware Online: “Gov. Jack Markell on Thursday announced the surprise decision to appeal an August ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that drastically limited the state’s ability to offer sports betting.” Visit Site »

Israel raids polygamist compound

Posted on January 15, 2010
New York Times: "Mr. Ratzon, considered the 'savior of the universe' by his followers, has aroused the curiosity of the public, the police and the social services for years, and was the subject of a television documentary last year. But so far he has not been charged with any crimes...

Is Justice Kennedy Libertarian?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Ilya Shapiro writes at the Cato Institute Blog: "Early last year, Cato hosted a book forum for Helen Knowles?s The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty . . . Knowles makes the provocative argument that Justice Kennedy?s jurisprudence is 'modestly libertarian...

Appeals Court Upholds Religious Objection To Autopsy On Executed Prisoner

Posted on January 15, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Johnson v. Levy, (TN Ct. App., Jan., 14, 2010), the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the state Chancery Court (see prior posting) and rejected the request of the county Medical Examiner to conduct an autopsy on executed murderer Cecil Johnson...

Russia: Supreme Court ban on Jehovah?s Witnesses begins to bite

Posted on January 15, 2010
Forum 18: "Although 34 Jehovah's Witness publications described as extremist have not yet been added to the Federal List of Extremist Materials, public prosecutors in several Russian regions have begun issuing extremism warnings to Jehovah's Witness communities, Forum 18 News Service has learnt...

UK: ?Parliament urged to encourage gay MPs?

Posted on January 15, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Political parties should do more to get gay MPs into Parliament, according to a report from a conference chaired by Commons Speaker John Bercow. In a bid to increase the number of women MPs the report contains controversial plans to impose legal quotas for female parliamentary candidates on parties...

France moves closer to banning full Muslim veil

Posted on January 15, 2010
AP: "A top French lawmaker submitted a draft law this week that would ban such Islamic dress anywhere in public, a measure that would set a European precedent and trap thousands of women between their religious convictions and the law of the land."

Status of face-covering veils Muslim around Europe and other places

Posted on January 15, 2010
The AP provides summaries of the legal status of face-covering veils in various countries around the world.'

Russia OKs reform of European human rights court

Posted on January 15, 2010
AP: "Russian lawmakers on Friday ended years of resistance and ratified an international agreement intended to strengthen and speed up the work of the European Court of Human Rights."

In W.Va., Plans to Reshape Supreme Court

Posted on January 15, 2010
ABCNews (AP): "Gov. Joe Manchin and the state Supreme Court hope to shore up public confidence in a West Virginia judicial system that has been scrutinized by the nation's highest court and branded a 'hellhole' by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Manchin wants to allow for public financing for the two state Supreme Court elections in 2012 ...

Patrick J. Buchanan: Is a U.S. default inevitable?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Patrick J. Bucanan writes at Townhall: "Penner and Walker believe it imperative to get the deficit under control. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see how, politically, this can be done. Consider. The five largest elements in the budget are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense and interest on the debt ...

Living in sin

Posted on January 15, 2010
WORLD Magazine: "A good friend recently told me about a talk she?d heard in London, given by Jeff Ventrella, an attorney and executive with the Alliance Defense Fund. Thanks to the kind people at Sovereign Grace Church in Gilbert, Ariz., where Ventrella first gave this talk, I was able to listen to it on a podcast...

ObamaCare vs. Marriage

Posted on January 15, 2010
Stephen Moore writes at the Wall Street Journal: "The Senate bill contains steep "marriage penalty" taxes and provides an incentive to stay single."

Netherlands: Scientists turn stem cells into pork

Posted on January 15, 2010
AP: "Call it pork in a petri dish - a technique to turn pig stem cells into strips of meat that scientists say could one day offer a green alternative to raising livestock, help alleviate world hunger, and save some pigs their bacon."

Attorney: Prop. 8 detractors struggling

Posted on January 15, 2010
OneNewsNow: "Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Douglas Napier tells OneNewNow that proponents of homosexual "marriage" have presented witnesses in an effort to establish an historical basis for it. 'But through effective cross-examination, our defense team has been able to get them to admit that marriage has always been between one man and one woman, and that it has always been something that the state has an interest in,' he shares...

NY Times: ?Same-Sex Marriage Case, Day 4: Economics?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Malia Wollen at the NY Times offers this description of Prop. 8 Litigation developments over the last few days days.

ADF update on Prop 8 trial: Day 3

Posted on January 15, 2010
ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing in the Christian Post: "Professor Chauncey also had a frustrating habit of falsely linking the motivations of those who supported Proposition 8 to those who supported racial segregation a half century ago . . . A chilling moment came when San Francisco city attorney Therese Stewart had Professor Chauncey read official doctrinal statements from the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church that both generally restated what the Bible says about the definition of marriage as one man and one woman...

LA Times can?t tell the difference between heterosexual and homosexual ?marriage?

Posted on January 15, 2010
LA Times: "Not because we believe there is necessarily anything different about same-sex relationships, but because it doesn't matter if there is."

Iowa Republicans introduce marriage amendment

Posted on January 15, 2010
The resolution was assigned to the 11-member Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which is chaired by Gronstal and has seven majority Democratic members . . .

?Police force first Mr Gay China pageant to close?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Washington Post: "Police canceled what would have been China's first gay pageant just an hour before it was to start Friday, the event's organizer said."

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