Religion & Law

Maine: Ethics panel seeking NOM donor names

Posted on January 21, 2011
Portland Press-Herald: "The state ethics commission continues to seek the names of people who donated to the National Organization for Marriage in 2009 -- an inquiry the organization continues to oppose."

NSW, Australia: New program to tackle ?homophobia? in schools

Posted on January 21, 2011
ABC: "The $250,000 dollar pilot program aims to fight abuse and negative attitudes faced by gay teens, and will be implemented at 12 schools in Sydney, the Hunter and on the Central Coast."

Peru: Former President proposes marriage redefinition

Posted on January 21, 2011
Living in Peru: "Former President Alejandro Toledo will push for legalization of gay and lesbian civil unions if he is elected, his campaign chief told daily El Comercio. The proposal is included in Toledo?s government plan under the eighth point titled 'All Peruvians are Equal...

Americans give U.S. moral climate low marks

Posted on January 21, 2011
Christian Post: "More than a third of Americans would grade the country's moral climate with a D or F, a new survey found."

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Sebelius: ?There is no taxpayer funding for abortion?

Posted on January 21, 2011
The Hill: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the Democrats? sweeping healthcare reform law does not fund abortions, and that no president?s administration has since the Hyde Amendment passed more than 30 years ago."

In Norway, an awakening to the Islamist danger

Posted on January 21, 2011
Hege Storhaug writing at Pajamas Media: "In terms of values, 2010 was a red-letter year for Norway. Our innocence was destroyed. From one end of the country to the other, and in no uncertain terms, Islamists proclaimed their sinister message. Henceforth, only those in deep denial will insist that our freedom is not endangered...

Roy Moore and Foundation for Moral Law file brief defending DOMA

Posted on January 21, 2011
ChristianNewsWire: "Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, and theFoundation for Moral Law, a religious liberties legal organization in Montgomery, Alabama, filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit today defending the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by Congress in 1996...

ACLU: Allow anti-Israel bus ads in Seattle

Posted on January 21, 2011
UPI: "The American Civil Liberties Union, representing a group critical of Israel, filed a lawsuit against a Washington county for canceling a controversial bus ad."

Atlanta school board votes not to move graduation from local church

Posted on January 21, 2011
Fox News: "The Cherokee County School Board voted Thursday night not to move its graduation ceremony from First Baptist Church of Woodstock, MyFoxAtlanta.com reports."

Prayer before all El Paso County Commissioner meetings

Posted on January 21, 2011
News First 5: "El Paso County Commissioners are now saying a prayer before the start of every meeting. It's something new Commissioner Peggy Littleton called for, and other commissioners agreed to, 'Deep in the heart of this nation's history and in this nation's future lays a belief that we cannot be a free nation without the blessings of the almighty,' says Littleton...

Title X ?family planning,? Obamacare funds on chopping block in GOP plan to slash $2.5 trillion

Posted on January 21, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "A GOP plan to drastically reduce spending and place the United States on a path to fiscal responsibility would eliminate money for both Title X 'family planning' and the administration costs of implementing the pro-abortion national health care reform law...

Brewer signs Ariz. bill on Medicaid waiver request

Posted on January 21, 2011
Associated Press: "Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer signed an emergency bill Friday allowing the cash-short state to seek a federal waiver to temporarily remove nearly 300,000 people from its Medicaid rolls in the first such request by a state."

Share of Fed income swallowed by deficit-coverage borrowing jumps 566% in 3 years, IRS reports

Posted on January 21, 2011
CNS: "The federal government?s reliance on borrowed money to carry out its functions more than doubled between fiscal year 2008 and 2009, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Also, between fiscal year 2007 and 2009, borrowing as a percentage of federal income increased by 566 percent...

NH House could delay marriage fight

Posted on January 21, 2011
Boston.com (AP): "New Hampshire's House Republican leader said Friday he will ask that the fight to repeal gay marriage be postponed until 2012."

Will judicial nominees need new hearings?

Posted on January 21, 2011
The Blog of LegalTimes: "Leaders on the Senate Judiciary Committee are in discussions about whether to hold second confirmation hearings for some of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, aides say."

?Replacing openly gay troops cost Pentagon $193 million over 6 years?

Posted on January 21, 2011
Washington Post: "The military spent about $193.3 million from fiscal 2004 to 2009 to replace approximately 3,660 troops discharged under the policy known as 'don't ask, don't tell,' according to an audit."

Wyoming House gives early nod to bill rejecting out-of-state same-sex ?marriages?

Posted on January 21, 2011
Billings Gazette: "The Wyoming House on Thursday advanced legislation that would stop recognition of out-of-state gay marriages. The proposal, which previous legislatures have killed, passed on its first hearing with 34 votes. The bill, House Bill 74, must now pass two additional House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration...

Polygamy widespread in Turkey, study shows

Posted on January 21, 2011
Euractiv: "Nearly 187,000 women in Turkey, a candidate country for EU membership, are in polygamous marriages despite the practice being illegal in the country, a report has revealed."

Gov?t teaching farmers to participate in ?carbon markets? that don?t exist yet

Posted on January 21, 2011
CNS: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is teaching farmers how to participate in 'carbon markets' despite the fact that such markets do not exist and Congress ? in rejecting cap and trade legislation last year ? has refused to create them."

ADF President Alan Sears comments on the passing of former ADF board member Sam Ericsson

Posted on January 21, 2011
Sears says colleague was a ?pillar of faith, service, and the law?

David French on the Mike Gallagher Show: WVU-Parkersburg student prayer vote

Posted on January 21, 2011
ADF attorney David French appeared on the Mike Gallagher Show to discuss this: Insult to injury: WVU-Parkersburg cuts all student speakers at graduation after students? plea to reinstate prayers.  | MP3 audio 7:17 mins

CLS Prayer Request: In Memoriam of Sam Ericsson

Posted on January 21, 2011
Sam Ericsson went to be with the Lord this morning after battling cancer for eleven years. Sam served as CLS's Executive Director from 1985-1991 and Director of the Center for Law and Religious Freedom from 1980-1985. In 1991, he founded Advocates International, a network of international religious liberty attorneys spanning the globe.

HUD proposes sexual orientation and gender identity rules

Posted on January 21, 2011
"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today proposed new regulations intended to ensure that its core housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

European Parliament: MEP?s adopt resolution condemning attacks against Christians

Posted on January 20, 2011
Vatican Radio: "Members of the European Parliament today adopted a resolution condemning persecution and discrimination based on religion. In particular MEP?s condemned attacks against Christians in countries including Egypt, and Iraq."

Religious hospitals? restrictions sparking conflicts, scrutiny

Posted on January 20, 2011
Rob Stein writing in The Washinton Post: "Economic pressures are spurring greater consolidation in the hospital industry, prompting religiously affiliated institutions to take over or merge with secular ones, imposing church directives on them. At the same time, the drive to remain competitive has led some medical centers to evade the directives...

Idaho: Lawmaker proposes bill to exempt end-of-life decisions from conscience law

Posted on January 20, 2011
Magic Valley Times-News: "Legislation introduced Wednesday by Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls, would keep those decisions in the hands of those facing this question: If I enter a vegetative state, do I want to die or continue on life support? Smith?s bill, if passed, would amend a law passed by the Legislature last year that gave health care professionals the right to opt out of providing any care they object to based on religious, moral or ethical principles...

Philippines: Palace prepares ?responsible parenthood? bill

Posted on January 20, 2011
GMA News: "To come up with a win-win solution on the much-debated reproductive health (RH) bill, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III decided to have his own version and called it the 'responsible parenthood' (RP) bill."

NH: Temporary signs matter of debate

Posted on January 20, 2011
Merrimack Journal: "Under the proposal introduced last year by the planning board, businesses could post temporary signs for no more than 30 days, and religious and non-profit organizations would be forced to keep all signs off the streets and on their own property ...

New restrictions on alcohol a test for secular Turkey

Posted on January 20, 2011
Haaretz: "Guests at an Istanbul film premiere were among the first victims of new curbs on alcohol that have raised secularist fears Islamic strictures may be encroaching on everyday life."

Islamic headscarves in legal limbo: The controversy over religious symbols in Bulgaria?s public schools

Posted on January 20, 2011
Balkanalysis.com: "In 2006 this controversy hit home in Bulgaria: the EU member state with the largest Muslim minority (estimated between 13-15%) . . . The Commission?s decisions in two key cases as to whether girls should be allowed to wear headscarves in schools have created a legal limbo wherein the state has abdicated its responsibility for interpreting the Bulgarian constitution...

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