Religion & Law

Beer Boycott to Resume after MillerCoors Again Supports Sadomasochistic Sex Fair

Posted on September 29, 2008
LifeSiteNews.com reports: “When LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) last week contacted Mike Setto, the Michigan party store owner who helped spark a nationwide protest of Miller (now MillerCoors) beer in October 2007, following their sponsorship of the Folsom Street Fair, he was stunned to hear that MillerCoors had purchased a centerfold advertisement in this year’s program...

Pass/Fail grading: Will it change the legal selection process?

Posted on September 29, 2008
David Bernstein writes on the Volokh Conspiracy: “Harvard and Stanford are joining Yale in moving to a pass-fail system of grading . . . With no grades to go on, law firms seemed to use proxies. My classmates who went to the very top undergraduate colleges–Harvard, Yale, Amherst, Princeton–procured firm jobs...

Special Prosecutor Named in Attorney Firings Case

Posted on September 29, 2008
The NY Times reports: “Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey appointed a special prosecutor on Monday to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and other officials in connection with the firings of nine of United States attorneys in 2006...

How Should the Law Respond When Health Care Providers? Obligations Conflict with their Religious Beliefs?

Posted on September 29, 2008
In this column, Part Two of this series, we will focus on recent regulations proposed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (45 CFR Part 88) that are intended to protect healthcare workers from being compelled by their employers or by the force of law to violate their religious beliefs ...

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Massive Hindu Temple Erected in Chicago

Posted on September 29, 2008
Chicago Tribune reports:  More than 300 people gathered Sunday at the 32,000-square-foot temple, a mix of prairie-style and classic Hindu architecture, to see the new shrine room consecrated by a priest dressed in white, who burned incense while surrounded by seated monks in ocher robes, Parlato said...

IRS to Churches: Want tax exemption? Give up your fundamental rights!

Posted on September 29, 2008
"If the surrender of fundamental rights can be demanded in return for government benefits, we're headed in a pertty unpleasant direction -- especially given the increasing involvement of the state in our everyday lives . . . "

Scientists Report Advance in Stem Cell Alternative

Posted on September 29, 2008
The Washington Post carried this report on Friday that begins:  Scientists reported yesterday that they have overcome a major obstacle to using a promising alternative to embryonic stem cells, bolstering prospects for bypassing the political and ethical tempest that has embroiled hopes for a new generation of medical treatments...

State wants review of Iowa nude dancing case

Posted on September 29, 2008
The Des Moines Register reports: “The state attorney general’s office has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that nude dancing is an art. In August, a Fremont County judge ruled in favor of a nude dancing club owner charged with violating the state’s public indecent exposure law...

YouTube Pulls Video of Eduardo Verástegui Denouncing Obama on Abortion

Posted on September 29, 2008
LifeNews.com reports: “No sooner had the video gone up of popular Hispanic actor Eduardo Verástegui denouncing presidential candidate Barack Obama on abortion than YouTube officials took it down. The video sharing site removed the full version of the video, which showed graphic images of abortions...

Virginia: Monks File Suit Against City to Worship at Home

Posted on September 29, 2008
"Buddhist monks and their followers have filed a federal lawsuit in the hopes of forcing the city to let them resume worshipping at their home in rural Pungo. The suit, filed Thursday, complains that the city of Virginia Beach violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ...

Orlando?s Ordinance Restricting Feeding Homeless In Parks Held Unconstitutional

Posted on September 29, 2008
The Religion Clause Blog reports: “In First Vagabonds Church of God v. City of Orlando, (MD FL, Sept. 26, 2008), a Florida federal district court found that Orlando’s Large Group Feeding Ordinance violates the speech rights of an activist group that feeds the poor and infringes the free exercise rights of a church that holds Sunday services, [...

Tax exemption churches? right

Posted on September 27, 2008
ADF attorney Erik Stanley has this commentary in the Montgomery Advertiser. He writes: With all of the discussion swirling about whether church leaders can speak freely about electoral candidates from the pulpit, one question frequently comes to the fore: If a church wants to talk about the positions of electoral candidates, it can just give up [...

Does the IRS go too far with churches? (Part 5)

Posted on September 27, 2008
Barry W. Lynn says the IRS generally cuts ministers too much slack. Erik Stanley says that any action taken by the IRS goes too far.

Operation Rescue Denounces ACLU Carpetbaggers in South Dakota

Posted on September 26, 2008
Operation Rescue has issued this press release on the Christian Newswire with this subcaption: “ACLU will pay outside pro-abortion agitators to influence the vote against Measure 11, the proposed abortion ban.” Visit Site » Share This

Protect Marriage Campaign to Release First TV Spot

Posted on September 26, 2008
Protect Marriage has issue this press release on the Christian Newswire reporting on their first TV ad due to be released on Monday. Visit Site » Share This

Las Vegas Style Casinos to Hit Miami Beach?

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Online Casino Advisory reports: “The Miami Herald reported today that Florida developers are building a plan to allow Las Vegas-style casinos in Miami. The entrepreneurs behind the planned twenty-five acre Miami Worldcenter are considering pushing for an amendment to the state Constitution to grant casino licenses ...

Congress sending child porn bills to president

Posted on September 26, 2008
The AP reports: “. . . The House on Friday passed by 418-0 a measure clarifying that images obtained over the Internet were subject to federal interstate commerce laws. The bill was in response to a federal court ruling that prosecutors must show that images kept on a computer had crossed state lines ...

?Lambda Legal, HIV and Medical Groups Fear Expansion of Federal Religious Exemptions Threatens Public Health?

Posted on September 26, 2008
Lambda Legal has issued this press release that begins: “Proposed expansions to federal rules prohibiting discrimination against healthcare workers could in fact increase discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-positive patients, according to comments submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services by Lambda Legal and the National Coalition for LGBT Health, [...

?Federal Court Says Lambda Legal?s Lawsuit Defending First Amendment Rights of Transgender Student Excluded From Prom Can Move Forward?

Posted on September 26, 2008
Lambda Legal has issued this press release that begins: “Late yesterday the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana denied Gary high school’s motion to dismiss a case brought by transgender former student Kevin  “K...

Oxnard man faces 210-year sentence for sexually abusing Cambodian girls

Posted on September 26, 2008
The LA Times reports: “The seven girls who were drugged, beaten and raped at his Phnom Penh compound were brought to the U.S. to speak at his sentencing hearing. Former ambassador urges maximum penalty.” Visit Site » Share This

Arlen Specter Reaffirms McCain?s Support for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Posted on September 26, 2008
CNSNews reports: “Sen. John McCain?s presidential campaign has enlisted the aid of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in reaffirming McCain?s support of taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research in the face of an Obama for President campaign radio ad that accuses McCain of not supporting stem cell research...

CLS Supports Religious Liberty Housing Bill

Posted on September 26, 2008
Greg Baylor has this post on the CLS Blog. The bill would make it unlawful: [t]o establish a rule or policy that prevents a person from displaying on the basis of that person’s religious belief, a religious symbol, object, or sign on the door, doorpost, entrance, or otherwise on the exterior of that person’s dwelling, or [...

2008-2009 TV season to more than double homosexual characters

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Christian Telegraph reports: “America’s major broadcast networks are upping their promotion of the homosexual movement, doubling the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual scripted characters for the 2008-2009 broadcast schedule since last year, reports Tim Waggoner, LifeSiteNews...

Libraries one-sided on topic of homosexuality

Posted on September 26, 2008
OneNewsNow.com reports: “Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX) says most libraries stock pro-homosexual books, but when it comes to books on the truth about homosexuality and materials on how one can be freed from the homosexual lifestyle, censorship seems to be fair play...

Fighting Against Eugenic Abortions: Federal Legislation Protecting Down Syndrome Babies Passes Senate and House

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Americans United for Life Blog reports: The Senate-approved S. 1810, ‘Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act’ passed the House yesterday, and awaits President Bush?s signature . . . The passage of S. 1810 in both the Senate and House is a great victory for disabled children and for parents who learn that their unborn children [...

Stanford Adopts ?Retroactive? Honors Policy: Students Complain In Real Time

Posted on September 26, 2008
Above the Law reports: “Harvard Law School also just announced changes to its grading system that will make it more like the Yale and Stanford systems.” They are transitioning to pass/fail hybrid systems. Visit Site » Share This

ACLU opposes freedom of conscience regs for pro-life docs

Posted on September 26, 2008
The ACLU has issued this press release that begins: “The American Civil Liberties Union and all its state affiliates, including Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services asking the administration to rescind regulations that could seriously undermine access to reproductive health services, including birth control and abortion...

Kansas: Second soldier sues over religious freedom issues

Posted on September 26, 2008
The AP reports: “An atheist soldier sued Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday, alleging he was forced to participate in public prayers and that the military systematically violates the religious freedoms of its personnel. Spc. Dustin Chalker, who has served in Korea and Iraq, is the second soldier at the northeast Kansas post to file [...

McCain will go to debate

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Politico reports: “Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ended three days of suspense on Friday morning and announced that he will leave bailout negotiations in Washington and fly to Oxford, Miss., for tonight’s opening presidential debate.” Visit Site » Share This

PepsiCo Foundation grants $500,000 to PFLAG

Posted on September 26, 2008
PageOneQ reports (warning objectionable ads): “In a move that may upset conservative organizations and leaders, the PepsiCo Foundation has given a grant of $500,000 to Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to support Straight for Equality, a national education campaign, and to fund training and chapter support...

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