Religion & Law

Senate Democrats ready to defeat healthcare repeal effort

Posted on February 02, 2011
The Hill: "Senate Democratic leaders said they are prepared to defeat an amendment repealing the healthcare law that Republicans are trying to attach to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization bill."

GOP leader McConnell to force Senate vote on healthcare repea

Posted on February 02, 2011
"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will force an up-or-down vote on the repeal of healthcare reform on Wednesday, testing the unity of Democrats who had promised the rollback would never see the light of day in their chamber."

Commercialized Sex and Human Bondage

Posted on February 02, 2011
Ellyn Arevalo and Mark Regnerus write at Public Discourse: "The American sex trade--strip clubs, prostitution, and the booming pornography business--feeds on and fuels modern-day slavery."

Obama, Not Egypt, is Biggest Threat to U.S. Energy Prices

Posted on February 02, 2011
Heritage Foundation Morning Bell: "Secretary Chu is right: Oil does sell on a world market. But transportation and other distribution factors do segment oil markets somewhat. In fact, the United States is currently paying about $10 less for a barrel of oil than European and Asian nations are...

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Giving Workers a Union Choice

Posted on February 02, 2011
Wall Street Journal (full access via Google): "One of the under-appreciated fault lines in the U.S. economy is between the 22 "right-to-work" states and the rest of the country. The former have tended to do much better economically. Now some non-right-to-work states such as Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan are thinking about joining this club that allows workers to opt-out of union membership...

The uneasy ties of Americans and their government

Posted on February 02, 2011
AP: "Back when the big health care law was little more than a dream, a prominent figure spoke out against the idea of forcing people to get health insurance. He said that would be like solving homelessness by passing a law making people buy a house."

Number of Muslims in Canada predicted to triple over next 20 years: study

Posted on February 02, 2011
National Post: "The current number of Muslims ? 940,000 ? comprises 2.8% of the Canadian population. A recent report from the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life said they will increase both in number and proportion of the country ? 2...

OH: Lambda Legal argues former lesbian partner should have parental rights

Posted on February 02, 2011
Lambda Legal: "Today the Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments in Lambda Legal's case defending Michele Hobbs, a lesbian mother who was denied access to her child when she and her former partner, the biological mother, ended their relationship." | In Re S...

6th Circuit: Courtroom Ten Commandments held unconstitutional

Posted on February 02, 2011
A federal appeals court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a local trial judge in Ohio has no constitutional right to hang in his courtroom a poster of the Ten Commandments along with his own pointed comments about "moral relativism" and the rule of law.

Int?l Pro-Family Group Defends Chick-fil-A in Marriage Controversy

Posted on February 02, 2011
Christian Post: "International pro-family group World Congress of Families is stepping into the fray, defending Chick-fil-A against gay rights advocates who have accused the fast food chain of financially supporting the anti-gay marriage movement. The Congress?s managing director Larry Jacobs criticized gay activists that are attacking Chick-fil-A as attempting to ?crush? any dissenting views of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement...

ND: Questions raised over abstinence sex education bill

Posted on February 02, 2011
Bismark Tribune: "The House Education Committee met Tuesday to consider a bill that would force health teachers to push saving sex until marriage. House Bill 1229 . . . "

Iowa marriage amendment is in the hands of the Senate Democratic Caucus

Posted on February 02, 2011
The effort to undo the April 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision in Varnum v. Brien that struck down the state ban on same-sex marriage now is in the hands of the Senate Democratic caucus, which has a 26-24 majority, Carroll said.

Children banned on planes! Airlines are urged to introduce adult-only flights to keep business class travellers happy

Posted on February 02, 2011
Daily Mail: "Families could be segregated from other passengers on planes or banned from flying on certain flights if campaigners hoping to persuade airlines to introduce adult-only flights get their way."

Religious liberty and SSM in Maryland

Posted on February 02, 2011
Tom Berg, Marc Stern, Ed Gaffney, Robin Fretwell Wilson, Carl Esbeck, and Rick Garnett have forwarded this letter to the Maryland legsilature. (via Mirror of Justice)

Louisville Sends Sexually Oriented Businesses Packing

Posted on February 02, 2011
Citizen Link: "Several years ago, Louisville, Ky., was home to 175 sexually oriented businesses ? one of the highest concentrations in the country. Last year, the number had fallen to 63. And starting Tuesday, it could drop even lower."

Does the physician?s right of conscience encompass a right against compelled speech?

Posted on February 02, 2011
Mirror of Justice: "My post of Mark Rienzi's new paper arguing that physicians have a constitutional right not to be required (by the state) to participate in abortions triggered this comment from Kevin Walsh: What about laws that enlist doctors to provide scripted information about fetal development for women that seek to obtain abortions?"

Obama Justice Department Colluded with ACLU to Attack Arizona?s SB 1070

Posted on February 02, 2011
Corruption in Government: "Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today announced that it has received documents from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that show DOJ worked hand-in-hand with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in mounting their respective legal challenges to SB 1070, Arizona?s get-tough illegal immigration law...

LAUSD allows Christian 5th-grade student in talent show same day ADF files for temporary restraining order

Posted on February 02, 2011
ADF attorneys move forward with lawsuit to make sure district doesn?t exclude, censor religious content in future school-related student activities

Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr.: Chick-Fil-A Controversy is Anti-Christian Bigotry

Posted on February 02, 2011
The problem in society today is not hatred of homosexuals, but hatred by homosexuals of anyone who refuses to say ?amen? to their sexual behavior.

The Constitutional Moment: Judge Vinson introduces ObamaCare to Madison and Marshall

Posted on February 01, 2011
"Federal Judge Roger Vinson opens his decision declaring ObamaCare unconstitutional with that citation from Federalist No. 51, written by James Madison in 1788. His exhaustive and erudite opinion is an important moment for American liberty, and yesterday may well stand as the moment the political branches were obliged to return to the government of limited and enumerated powers that the framers envisioned...

Israel shocked by Obama?s ?betrayal? of Mubarak

Posted on February 01, 2011
Reuters (includes video): "Political commentators expressed shock at how the United States as well as its major European allies appeared to be ready to dump a staunch strategic ally of three decades, simply to conform to the current ideology of political correctness...

Muslim Brotherhood: ?Prepare Egyptians for war with Israel?

Posted on February 01, 2011
Jerusalem Post: "A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt told the Arabic-language Iranian news network Al-Alam on Monday that he would like to see the Egyptian people prepare for war against Israel, according to the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcali...

Durbin to chair hearing on healthcare law?s constitutionality

Posted on February 01, 2011
The Hill: "Not long after a federal judge struck down Democrats? healthcare reform law Monday for exceeding congressional power, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he would chair a hearing this week about the law?s constitutionality."

11th Cir. Panel: Minor girls in ?Wild? video to remain anonymous

Posted on February 01, 2011
AP: "A federal appeals court has ruled that two underage girls can keep their names under wraps in their lawsuit against "Girls Gone Wild" producer Joe Francis." | Plaintiff B v. Francis, No. 10-10664 (11th Cir. Feb. 1, 2011)

Chicago Sun-Times: ?Gay Marine?s husband surprised at respect shown by Naval Academy?

Posted on February 01, 2011
Chicago Sun-Times: The USNA alumni association sent Ketterson a letter expressing condolence for the loss of his husband. The USNA says Fliszar?s interment followed standard operating procedure. ?His next of kin was treated with the same dignity and respect afforded to the next of kin of all USNA grads who desire interment at the Columbarium,? said Jennifer Erickson, a spokesperson for the academy...

France: Polls and Communists favor marriage redefinition

Posted on February 01, 2011
The Independent: A recent one by Canal Plus TV found 58 per cent of respondents believed gays should be able to marry ? a double-digit percentage point increase from a poll five years ago ? while 35 per cent believe they should not. The Communist Party criticised the ruling, saying: "France has retained its dunce's cap over the right for people of the same sex to marry, when many other European countries remedied this inequality a long time ago...

McConnell to Propose Health Law Repeal as Amendment in Senate

Posted on February 01, 2011
Fox News: "Republicans are acting quickly to capitalize on a federal judge's sweeping ruling against the new health care law, renewing a push for a repeal vote in the Senate while clamoring for the Supreme Court to weigh in."

11th Circuit upholds Manatee County, Fla. SOB ordinance

Posted on February 01, 2011
Peek-a-Boo Lounge of Bradenton v. Manatee County, Fla, No. 09-16438., 2011 WL 182819 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2011)

?Firefighters harassed at gay parade in the U.S. Supreme Court win trial?

Posted on February 01, 2011
CNA News (Spanish edition - translation by Google): Attorney Joseph Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund, in charge of the defense of the firefighters, expressed hope that "this decision terminates the city's efforts to defend his conduct to compel people to participate in events of a sexual nature that are against their personal and moral convictions...

Calif. school bans Christian 5th grader?s talent show performance

Posted on February 01, 2011
L.A.-area elementary school blocks religious content, tells student to pick song that ?does not say Jesus so many times?

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