Religion & Law

Office of Personnel Management proposes regulations extending limited benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees

Posted on September 15, 2009
Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry Blog: "OPM's proposed regulations would extend long-term care insurance, and certain types of leave, to same-sex partners of federal employees." GovernmentExecutive.com: Draft rule opens long-term care, leave programs to domestic partners

Operation Rescue says it?s broke, may shut down

Posted on September 15, 2009
Boston Globe (AP): "Operation Rescue has told its supporters it is facing a 'major financial crisis' and is very close to shutting down unless emergency help arrives soon."

More Evidence that Rationing is an Inescapable Reality

Posted on September 15, 2009
Americans United for Life Blog: "As the American public debates the inclusion of a public (or government) option in any health care reform package, NHS?s abject failure to care for premature infants gives us yet another example of how government-run healthcare all too often does not protect or respect life...

?Indiana?s ban could create more issues for gay, lesbian couples seeking divorce?

Posted on September 14, 2009
Indianapolis Star: "Gay and lesbian couples from Indiana can get married in more places than ever, but they could face a legal dilemma after they return home. If the relationship sours, the lack of recognition for such unions in Indiana law presents couples with a classic Catch-22: They can't obtain a divorce in their home state because their marriage is void here, and they can't easily seek one where they were married because of residency requirements for divorce...

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From McCain-Feingold to Madison

Posted on September 14, 2009
George Will writes at Townhall: "Last March, during the Supreme Court argument concerning the Federal Election Commission's banning of a political movie, several justices were aghast. Suddenly and belatedly they saw the abyss that could swallow the First Amendment...

UK: Majority of teachers don?t want to promote ?brainwashing? patriotism to pupils

Posted on September 14, 2009
EdNews: "Three-quarters of teachers in Britain's schools believe they should warn pupils about the dangers of patriotism - which some regard as a form of 'brainwashing', researchers have found."

Barney Frank won?t back Marriage Act repeal

Posted on September 14, 2009
Politico: "Efforts by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act have suffered a setback with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) ? the most powerful gay pol on the Hill ? expressing opposition to Nadler?s tactics. 'It?s not anything that?s achievable in the near term,' Frank told the Washington Blade, echoing remarks made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif...

Vietnam birth trend may fuel sex work, trafficking-UN

Posted on September 14, 2009
Reuters: "The ratio of boys born in Vietnam compared with girls has grown at an unusually rapid pace in recent years and could lead to a rise in sex work and trafficking, the United Nations said."

Obama school-safety chief: How to jam homosexuality

Posted on September 14, 2009
EdNews: "President Obama's choice to monitor school safety once boasted that he introduced homosexual advocacy into the school system in Massachusetts by manipulating the message presented to lawmakers."

Man vs. God: ?Where does evolution leave God??

Posted on September 14, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "We commissioned Karen Armstrong and Richard Dawkins to respond independently to the question "Where does evolution leave God?" Neither knew what the other would say. Here are the results . . . Karen Armstrong says we need God to grasp the wonder of our existence ...

8th Circuit Says No Damage Claims Against States Under RLUIPA Prisoner Provisions

Posted on September 14, 2009
Religion Clause Blog reports: ". . . The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has joined the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Circuits in holding that while RLUIPA's prisoner provisions are an appropriate use of Congress' spending power, states do not waive their sovereign immunity from damage claims under the Act by accepting federal prison funds...

Suit Challenging Star of David In US Supreme Court Dismissed As Frivolous

Posted on September 14, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In Smith v. Roberts, (IN Ct. App., Sept. 8, 2009), an Indiana state Court of Appeals rather easily dismissed as frivolus an unusual lawsuit filed by an Indiana resident against U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts."

Religious Homeless Shelter and Treatment Program Not Limited By Fair Housing Act

Posted on September 14, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "In Intermountain Fair Housing Council v. Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82459 (D ID, Sept. 10, 2009) . . . also held that both in the homeless shelter and in the Rescue Mission's second component-- a residential recovery program for individuals with drug or alcohol dependency-- the Religious Freedom Restoration Act bars application of the Fair Housing Act to prohibit the Rescue Mission's religious activities or religious favoritism of certain participants...

Cass Sunstein?s Views About Organ Donation: When is a ?Nudge? Illegitimate?

Posted on September 14, 2009
Sherry F. Colb writes at Findlaw: "In this column, I will consider the "organ removal" position that Sunstein has articulated and then evaluate the views of those who would challenge his suitability for public office on the basis of the position."

Australia: Two thirds of Queensland voters support abortion law change

Posted on September 14, 2009
Courier Mail: "Almost two-thirds of Queenslanders support the decriminalisation of abortion, according to an exclusive Galaxy opinion poll."

Religion reporting: An endangered beat?

Posted on September 14, 2009
Michael Paulson reporting in the Boston Globe: "There have been reductions in the number of reporters who write about religion full-time at all of the nation?s biggest newspapers --- the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times (and even at the Globe, where for a brief period we had two religion writers) ? and the religion news beat has disappeared from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Orlando Sentinel, the Palm Beach Post, the Grand Rapids Press, the Chicago Sun-Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the St...

Taking the Right seriously at Berkeley: ?Conservatism is a tradition, not a pathology?

Posted on September 14, 2009
Mark Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University, writing at The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The unfortunate fact is that American academics have until recently shown little curiosity about conservative ideas, even though those ideas have utterly transformed American (and British) politics over the past 30 years...

Faith based double standards

Posted on September 14, 2009
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway writing in the Wall Street Journal: "Now that Mr. Bush is gone, however, no one seems particularly worried about the entanglement of the federal government with religious organizations . . . Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was a vocal critic of Mr...

Congress of South African Trade Unions calls for prostitution to be decriminalized

Posted on September 14, 2009
Independent Online: "COSATU has called for prostitution to be decriminalised and unionised in a draft document due to be discussed at the union's 10th conference in Midrand on September 21. The union even went so far as to say that sex work should be 'part of the broader campaign of job creation...

Ukrainian official refuses to let Elton John adopt

Posted on September 14, 2009
London Evening Standard: "Sir Elton John's plans to adopt a Ukrainian baby were shot down by the country's government today . . . Yuriy Pavlenko stated that under Ukaianian law adoptive parents must be married and Ukraine does not recognize homosexual unions as marriage even though Sir Elton and Furnish have undergone a civil partnership in Britain...

Abortion opponents try for no-exception ban

Posted on September 14, 2009
MSNBC (AP): "[Personhood] Amendment language has been cleared, with petition drives under way, in Colorado, Mississippi, Montana and Nevada. Amendment language will be filed later this month in California and Florida."

Proposed Texas social studies curriculum change angers conservatives

Posted on September 14, 2009
Dallas Morning News (AP): "A proposal for new social studies curriculum in Texas public schools removes a mention of Christmas in a sixth-grade lesson, replacing it with a Hindu religious festival, a change that has riled conservatives who say it's another battle in the 'war' against the Christian holiday...

Iowa: Gubernatorial candidates target same-sex unions

Posted on September 14, 2009
Des Moines Register: "Republican candidates for governor denounced same-sex marriage Saturday at a conservative fundraising dinner in Des Moines."

Wisconsin judicial elections to be studied

Posted on September 14, 2009
Chicago Tribune: "Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and other leaders in the legal community will be examining the integrity of the state's judicial elections on Thursday."

NH: ?Telegraph editorial missed the mark in home-schooling case?

Posted on September 14, 2009
ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons writing in the Nashua Telegraph: "What this case boils down to is a judge?s intolerance of a 10-year-old girl?s Christian faith. It?s about the limited role of courts, the expansive rights of parents, and the constitutional protection of religious liberties ...

Christian attorneys defend First Amendment at schools

Posted on September 14, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is expanding its program to declare college and university campuses free-speech zones . . . 'There has been an unprecedented $9.2 million gift to ADF that ADF is committed to matching for a total number of just under $20 million to restore the marketplace of ideas to campus, to roll back censorship against Christian students and Christian professors on campus,' [David] French says...

Slain pro-life advocate Jim Pouillon known as the peaceful abortion sign guy

Posted on September 14, 2009
LifeNews: "Steven H. Aden, the senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, represented Pouillon in the case. 'Jim Pouillon was a courageous friend of both unborn children and the First Amendment right to speak up on their behalf, and he will be sorely missed,' Aden told LifeNews...

Creating a Culture of Marriage in the Face of Church Apathy

Posted on September 14, 2009
"This past week I spoke with my friend, Kelly Shackelford of the Free Market Foundation about my desire to abolish no-fault divorce and the FMF?s ongoing efforts to do the same in the Texas state legislature."

Federal DOMA repeal has 69 co-sponsors

Posted on September 14, 2009
". . . the sponsors expect to get over 100 sponsors and hope the sheer volume of support will force leadership to change tack, staffers say."

NY school district agrees to recognize Christian club

Posted on September 14, 2009
The Lindenhurst Union Free School District has granted official recognition to a student-led Christian club following a settlement with the Alliance Defense Fund.

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