Religion & Law

UK: ?MPs concerned over home school probe?

Posted on June 10, 2009
The Christian Institute reports: "Writing ahead of a Westminster Hall debate on the issue which took place yesterday, Mark Field MP said: 'There is deep concern that the Badman review will result in closer monitoring of home educating families.'"

Netherlands: Christian schools allowed to dismiss homosexual teachers

Posted on June 10, 2009
NIS News Bulletin: "Schools are allowed to exclude practising homosexual teachers if this behaviour is against their religious principles. So says the Council of State in as yet confidential written recommendations to the cabinet, Nederlands Dagblad newspaper reported yesterday...

AZ Senate to vote on two major pro-life bills

Posted on June 10, 2009
Center for Arizona Policy: "Two major pro-life bills are ready for debate and vote by the Arizona Senate. The Abortion Consent Act (SB 1206) and Partial-birth Abortion Ban (SB 1138) will be up for full Senate vote early next week."

FIRE Releases New Short Documentary on Freedom of Conscience Case at Missouri State, Announces Student Video Contest Winners

Posted on June 10, 2009
FIRE: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is pleased to announce the release of a new video on DVD and online called "Threats, Coercion, and Bullying at Missouri State." The short documentary covers FIRE's case at Missouri State University (MSU), where social work student Emily Brooker was threatened with expulsion after she refused (as a matter of personal belief) to send a signed letter to the Missouri state legislature in favor of homosexual foster parenting and adoption.

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Christians in Nepal defy extremists? demand to leave country

Posted on June 10, 2009
Christian Telegraph: "Hindu extremists in Nepal have demanded that the country?s one million Christians leave the country, prompting churches to reject threats of violence."

Idaho: Same-sex couple, kids denied family rate at pool

Posted on June 10, 2009
AP: "A same-sex couple and their three foster children were denied a reduced admission price to a pool in eastern Idaho because the Lava Hot Springs State Foundation says the five don't fit the definition of a family."

Jordan Lorence on Hugh Hewitt: The Blackstone Fellowship and a marriage battle update

Posted on June 10, 2009
Yesterday, ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the marriage battle and the Blackstone Fellowship. The mp3 is online here. Jordan appears in the last third of the broadcast.

UCLA allows student to thank Jesus at graduation

Posted on June 10, 2009
Mercury News (AP) reports: The student affairs adviser for the department objected to the Jesus reference and asked her to substitute it with "I want to thank God" instead, according to the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious-freedom group that took up Popa's cause ...

Citizen Link Video: VFW Cross Under Attack

Posted on June 10, 2009
Citizen Link Turn Signal: The U.S. Supreme Court soon could decide whether an 8-foot memorial cross can remain in the Mojave National Preserve in California. Kelly Shackelford, founder of the Liberty Legal Institute, is on the case.

Vermont School District Funds Gender Program

Posted on June 10, 2009
Citizen Link: "This year, Vermont became the first state to legalize homosexual 'marriage' through the Legislature, which makes it easier for this kind of promotion of homosexuality and 'transgenderism' in public schools."

School Censors Second-Grader?s Talent Show Performance

Posted on June 10, 2009
Pacific Justice Institute: "The parents of a seven-year-old are questioning a school's decision not to allow their daughter to participate in the school talent show all because she chose a religious song."

Hundreds Watch DC Marriage Referendum Hearing

Posted on June 10, 2009
Washington City Paper: After gaveling the hearing to order this morning, the board heard approximately 90 minutes of testimony from proponents of the referendum. They heard first from Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, a ?legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation...

UCLA Flip-Flops: Says Student Can Thank Jesus After All

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeSiteNews: Christian students shouldn?t be silenced when expressing their beliefs at public universities and are entitled to the same rights as all other students,? said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Heather Gebelin Hacker. Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom had urged officials in a letter Friday afternoon to refrain from violating her free speech rights.

Rejecting Men, Embracing Children

Posted on June 10, 2009
Helen Alvare writes at the Culture of Life Foundation: "The recent news of the nearly 40% out of wedlock birth rate in the United States should pretty much rock our world as citizens and as Catholics. According to the Centers for Disease Control report, this means 1...

?Stop Funding Pro-Abortion Groups in Our Country?: Peru Bishops to Canadian Bishops

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "In a May 28 letter, the Bishops Conference of Peru has ?formally? requested that the bishops of Canada cease funding pro-abortion groups in Peru via the Canadian Catholic Organization of Development & Peace (D&P)."

?NY Senate fight may lead to gay marriage vote? next week?

Posted on June 10, 2009
The leader of an insurgent coalition of Republicans and two Democratic dissidents says that vote could be as early as next week.

11th Circuit: A Second Blush for Dirty Words in Workplace

Posted on June 10, 2009
Fulton Co. Daily Report: "The issue is whether being subjected to sexually charged language at work can give a female employee a cause of action under federal discrimination law when the language isn't directed at the plaintiff specifically but permeates the atmosphere of the workplace ...

Amnesty International Continues Attacks on Dominican Republic Over Abortion

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeNews: "Amnesty International, the human rights group that disappointed supporters when it adopted a pro-abortion, is continuing its attacks on the Dominican Republic. The group is attacking the Caribbean nation for its proposed protections for unborn children in its draft constitution and in the country's penal law...

Boston Mayor shifts to advocate charter schools: ?We?ve got to make real changes?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Boston Globe: "Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who for years has expressed deep reservations about one of the most fundamental innovations in public education, abruptly shifted course yesterday and said he wants to turn the city's poorly performing schools into new charter schools...

Pro-Life Advocates to Protest National Education Association Convention Next Month

Posted on June 10, 2009
LifeNews: "As they have in past years, pro-life advocates will again protest the National Education Association and its pro-abortion policies at its annual convention."

Equality California unveils legislative agenda with 14 pieces of legislation

Posted on June 09, 2009
Equality California has published this pdf setting forth its legislative agenda for 2009.

When Same-Sex Couples Adopt: Problems of Interstate Recognition

Posted on June 09, 2009
Joanna L. Grossman writes at Findlaw: "The basic legal questions raised by same-sex parenting range from whether someone can adopt the biological child of a same-sex partner, to whether a same-sex spouse is entitled to a presumption of parentage for children born to the other during the marriage, to whether a same-sex couple can jointly adopt a child that is biologically related to neither of them...

ADF: UCLA confirms student can thank Jesus in graduation statement

Posted on June 09, 2009
Officials from the University of California, Los Angeles, confirmed Tuesday that they will permit a Christian student?s graduation statement to include a word of thanks to Jesus Christ after first saying they would not allow the sentence.

New Republican Senate leader in New York wants a vote on marriage redefinition?

Posted on June 09, 2009
"The new New York State Senate President Pedro Espada, Jr., who took power in the coup that occurred yesterday afternoon, said today that he would like to see marriage equality brought to a vote in the state."

Harry R. Jackson, Jr.: Restoring America?s Marriages

Posted on June 09, 2009
Harry R. Jackson, Jr. writes at Townhall: "Last week marked a nadir in the battle for biblical marriage. Two huge events occurred. First, former VP Dick Cheney voiced his support for same-sex marriage. Second, New Hampshire became the sixth state in the Union to legalize gay marriage...

77 Suspects Arrested on Child Pornography Charges in Florida, 5 Young Victims Rescued

Posted on June 09, 2009
AP: "State, local and federal authorities have arrested 77 suspects on child pornography charges and rescued five young victims."

ADF attorneys consider appeal of Ten Commandments ruling

Posted on June 09, 2009
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are reviewing possible options for appeal after . . . the 10th Circuit Monday reversed a lower court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments display at the Haskell County, Oklahoma, Courthouse.

UNFPA Gives Awards to Nicaraguan Pro-Abortion NGO, ?Reproductive Rights? Advocate

Posted on June 09, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "This week, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) hosted its annual population award ceremony at the United Nations (UN) to honor an individual and an organization for ?outstanding contribution? in the population field, including family planning and ?reproductive rights? advocacy...

Tiller?s Abortion Facility to Close Forever

Posted on June 09, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "In a statement released today, the attorneys of late-term abortionist George Tiller confirmed that his Wichita abortion facility would shut its doors permanently, following Tiller's murder last month."

Family Advocates Grow Increasingly Concerned by Sotomayor

Posted on June 09, 2009
Citizen Link: "The more pro-family leaders learn about Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama?s Supreme Court nominee, the more concerns they have about her."

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