Religion & Law

Irish Court Upholds Regulation of Sale of Mass Cards

Posted on December 18, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "RTE News and IOL News report that a High Court judge in Ireland yesterday upheld the constitutionality of Section 99 of the 2007 Charities Act that bans the sale of any Mass card except pursuant to an arrangement with a bishop of the Church or a provincial of a religious order...

Switzerland Federal Court rejects minaret ban challenges

Posted on December 18, 2009
World Radio Switzerland: "The Federal Court has rejected two legal challenges against the ban on constructing new minarets in Switzerland, which was approved in a nationwide vote last month. It says the challenges are 'clearly outside the jurisdiction of the court...

PhotoDNA will be used by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to identify child pornography.

Posted on December 17, 2009
Citizen Link: "PhotoDNA will be used by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to identify child pornography."

Paying Off ?La Raza?

Posted on December 17, 2009
Ben Shapiro writes at Townhall: "If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism? President Obama just did."

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James Bopp, Jr.: ?Setting the bar for political wannabes?

Posted on December 17, 2009
James Bopp, Jr., Attorney and member of the Republican National Committee, writes at the Washington Times: "We got here because governing became all about power and not about Republican principles, leading to out-of-control government spending, deficits, earmarks and finally bailouts during the George W...

Baptist Bible College: ?Glen Lavy in the Spotlight: Faith in Action?

Posted on December 17, 2009
In October, Baptist Bible College carried this spotlight interview with Glen Lavy. It begins: A practicing attorney for nearly 20 years, Glen joined the Alliance Defense Fund in 2001. He has served there for nine years as Senior Vice President of the Marriage Litigation Center and as Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President of Allied Coordination and Funding...

Obama vs. the Banks: Why make risky loans when you can exploit the Fed-Treasury interest rate spread?

Posted on December 17, 2009
Gerald P. O'Driscoll writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Wall Street fat cats are always a convenient political target, but bankers are responding to the incentives generated by the economic policies of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. First and foremost is the Fed's policy of near-zero interest rates...

?School District Seeks Gag Order to Limit Media Access in Pregnancy Test Case?

Posted on December 17, 2009
Pacific Justice Institute: "The lawsuit is being brought on behalf of a 12-year-old student in Nevada City who was allegedly pulled out of class and forced to take a pregnancy test by a school counselor, without her parents' knowledge or consent."

LA Times: Hastings Law is on shaky legal ground versus CLS

Posted on December 17, 2009
The LA Times carries this editorial: "The issue for the court is whether Hastings is denying the Christian group access to university facilities because of its beliefs, not its conduct. On this point, the Christian Legal Society has a strong case."

Fight for freedom for Muslims

Posted on December 17, 2009
Mats Tunehag writes at the Varlden Idag: "Those who leave Islam run a risk of being killed by the state, their family or other Muslims. Ex-Muslims in Europe face this danger as well. One billion Muslims have less religious freedom ? in one significant respect ? than Christians who live in the Muslim world...

NJ: Marriage redefinition would have broad impact

Posted on December 17, 2009
Alfred L. Ball writes at MyCentralJersey.com: "Regardless of which side you are on in the same-sex marriage debate, it is important that we acknowledge that legalization of same-sex marriage will impact everybody, including churches and religious organizations, and at least the public schools ...

Colorado: Innovation Schools Raise Learning Outcomes for Students

Posted on December 17, 2009
National Center for Policy Analysis: "The Innovation Schools Act, passed by the Colorado legislature in 2008, permits public schools, groups of schools and school districts to escape some of the heaviest state regulations and the most restrictive collective bargaining agreements and to develop new, creative teaching models for delivering high-quality education to schoolchildren, says Liv Finne, Education Director for the Washington Policy Center ...

D.C.: Archdiocese may limit services when bill passes

Posted on December 17, 2009
WTOP.com: "The Archdiocese of Washington has said it might have to stop offering social services in D.C. once a gay marriage law is passed because complying with the law would mean offering same-sex benefits to employees."

?D.C. Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill; Next Stop, Congress?

Posted on December 17, 2009
". . . it may still face obstacles in Congress ? namely the House ? which oversees D.C.?s budget. Both Republicans and conservative Democrats in the House are considering a variety of legislative methods to block the bill, including adding a rider to future appropriations bills...

D.C. marriage vote puts pressure on Maryland

Posted on December 17, 2009
". . . and it increases the urgency for Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler to rule on whether the state is permitted to recognize same-sex marriages from other states."

Groups spend $9.6 m in Maine marriage vote

Posted on December 17, 2009
Nashua Telegraph: "And the side that successfully argued to revoke the gay marriage law last month spent $3.8 million, less than the $5.8 million spent by those supporting the law."

President Obama: Federal Government ?Will Go Bankrupt? if Health Care Costs Are Not Reined In

Posted on December 17, 2009
ABC (includes video): "President Obama told ABC News? Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government 'will go bankrupt.'?

Gulf petro-powers to launch currency in latest threat to dollar hegemony

Posted on December 17, 2009
Telegraph: "The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate."

Self fulfilling prophecy? Americans believe U.S. in decline and China will soon be top power

Posted on December 17, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "A majority of Americans believe the U.S. is in decline. And a plurality now say the U.S. will be surpassed by China in 20 years as the top power."

Ontario HRC lawyers: Christian groups can ?discriminate? in hiring only when purpose is spreading the faith

Posted on December 17, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Lawyers for the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), presenting their case before a three-judge panel hearing the appeal by Christian Horizons against an OHRC ruling, are arguing that faith-based groups may only use a provincial human rights code exemption allowing them to discriminate when hiring if their main objective is spreading their faith...

Vast majority of the world faces restrictions on religion, study finds

Posted on December 17, 2009
CNN: "The study charted publicly reported incidents of religious violence, intolerance, intimidation and discrimination in 198 countries and territories from mid-2006 to mid-2008, its authors said. Brian Grim, the lead researcher on the project, said he worked on the study for more than three years...

Oklahoma abortion law ?invasive,? critics say

Posted on December 17, 2009
NPR: "In Oklahoma, a new law requires any woman seeking an abortion to first answer dozens of personal questions, including why she wants the procedure. That information, names omitted, would eventually be posted on a state Web site."

?Obama?s judicial appointment strategy isn?t working?

Posted on December 17, 2009
David Fontana writing in The New Republic: "The lesson here for Obama is simple: If Republicans are going to obstruct even moderate nominees, and if Senate Democrats are sometimes going to have to break filibusters to stop them, then why keep appointing generally moderate judges meant to appeal to Republicans? Why not try to put your own philosophical stamp on the courts?"

2009 saw most federal ?hate crime? cases since 2001

Posted on December 17, 2009
Associated Press: "The Justice Department has brought more federal hate crimes cases this year than in any year since 2001, and an Obama administration official said Thursday he was "shocked" by the dropoff in prosecutions during the Bush years."

Israel severs link between religious school and IDF

Posted on December 17, 2009
The Jewish Chronicle: "Defence Minister Ehud Barak?s decision to end the Har Bracha yeshivah?s hesder arrangement ? which allows 18-year-olds to combine Torah studies with army service ? has sent reverberations through the IDF and the network of yeshivahs which have, for decades, enjoyed close relations with the military...

Facebook bans online gambling ads

Posted on December 17, 2009
OnlineCasino.org: "It has recently come to light that the hugely popular social networking site Facebook has decided to restrict certain services from advertising with them. Spy equipment, smoking productions and weapons are already on the list, but now gambling is among the prohibited content...

Ohio school to drop ?belief in God? from mission statement

Posted on December 17, 2009
FOX News: "The Lake Local school board near Canton has voted to delete the reference to belief in God. A final vote is planned next month."

Bipartisan group of Senators demand up-or-down vote on D.C. vouchers

Posted on December 17, 2009
"According to a letter signed by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Robert Byrd (D-WV), George Voinovich (R-OH), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and John Ensign (R-NV), the OSP has 'provided a lifeline to many low-income children in the District of Columbia...

Congress ends abstinence programs, allows needle exchanges

Posted on December 17, 2009
Minnesota Independent: "An appropriations bill passed by Congress last weekend is being hailed by public health advocates for ending funding for abstinence-until-marriage sex education and eliminating the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs...

Georgia to use federal loans to pay unemployment to more than 260,000

Posted on December 17, 2009
CNSNews: "Georgia must use $70 million in federal loans to sustain the state's dwindling unemployment insurance trust fund or it will be without money by next week to pay benefits to more than 260,000 unemployed state workers, state labor officials say...

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