Religion & Law

DADT: The aftermath

Posted on January 05, 2011
Tom Neven writing at First Things / First Thoughts: "What will happen will show up first in the chaplain corps . . . Along with the muffling of chaplains, others who oppose open homosexuality will be the next to be silenced . . . The repeal of DADT is already being used as a narrow edge of a wedge to try to change other policies, particularly with regard to same-sex marriage ...

Iowa Judicial Watch formed to grade Iowa judges, recruit ?constitutionalist attorneys?

Posted on January 05, 2011
"Iowa Judicial Watch will try to alter the current merit-based selection system used to pick state Supreme Court justices during the legislative session that begins Jan. 10, Executive Director Nathan Tucker said Tuesday."

NH House panel recommends against same-sex ?marriage? repeal

Posted on January 05, 2011
"The Judiciary Committee also voted Tuesday to recommend that the House kill a proposed constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman."

Capt. Honors: First Sacrifice on the Homosexual Altar

Posted on January 05, 2011
If you are astute, you have probably noticed by now that the majority of the angst over these videos is over the ?anti-gay slurs,? not their generally lewd nature or most importantly the appropriateness of such behavior from a commanding officer.

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A Tale of Two Queens: Christmas 1957 v. Christmas 2010

Posted on January 05, 2011
The Thinking Housewife has pointed out the contrast between the 1957 message in which "a sober 31-year-old queen reflects on the unsettling pace of technological change and warns of grave moral peril" and the 2010 message in which "the Queen makes no mention of moral decline, though 1957 seems innocent and virtous by comparison...

Indiana: Muslim group urges rejection of anti-Sharia bill

Posted on January 05, 2011
Chicago Tribune: "A leading Muslim advocacy group is calling on Indiana legislators to reject a proposal a bill that would deny recognition of the Islamic legal system Sharia in the state."

Prof. Donald R. McConnell: Why do many Protestants Christians fail to believe in natural law?

Posted on January 05, 2011
Donald R. McConnell, Professor of Law at the Trinity Law School of Trinity International University, writing at Trinitarian Don: "One of the strange questions in Christian legal philosophy is why most Protestant Christians no longer believe in the doctrine of natural law ? the idea that there is an unwritten identical trans-cultural objective moral standard accessible to all human beings ...

China military eyes preemptive nuclear attack in event of crisis

Posted on January 05, 2011
Kyodo News: "The Chinese military will consider launching a preemptive nuclear strike if the country finds itself faced with a critical situation in a war with another nuclear state, internal documents showed Wednesday."

Mauritania: Activists? trial puts spotlight on anti-slavery law

Posted on January 05, 2011
IRIN: "Six anti-slavery activists are in prison in Mauritania in a case rights experts say points to the challenges of ensuring a 2007 law criminalizing slavery is more than just words on paper."

The states versus ObamaCare

Posted on January 05, 2011
Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, writing in the Wall Street Journal: "As new state attorneys general take office in the coming week, I fully expect an increase in the ranks of the states fighting ObamaCare in court. Our lawsuit, together with a similar lawsuit filed by Virginia's attorney general, has exposed the health-care law's threat to individual liberty and to the constitutional structure that the Founders designed as a means of protecting that liberty...

9th Circuit: Mt. Soledad war memorial cross is unconstitutional

Posted on January 04, 2011
The Supreme Court?s framework for evaluating monuments on public lands and for resolving Establishment Clause cases under the First Amendment leads us to conclude that the district court erred in declaring the Memorial to be primarily non-sectarian, and granting summary judgment in favor of the government and the Memorial?s supporters.

9th Circuit seeks guidance from Cal. Supreme Court in Prop 8 marriage case

Posted on January 04, 2011
"In a brief order filed Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked the California Supreme Court to decide if the backers of ballot propositions can step in to defend voter-approved measures in court when state officials refuse to do so...

2nd Circuit: TV can?t be fined for ?NYPD Blue? nude shot

Posted on January 04, 2011
"A federal appeals court says the Federal Communications Commission cannot fine broadcasters for showing a woman's nude buttocks on a 2003 episode of 'NYPD Blue.'"

HHS buys ?ObamaCare? Google rankings

Posted on January 04, 2011
Politico: "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has bought a Google advertisement to steer people searching for 'ObamaCare' to a page that is customized to detect searchers' locations and steer them both to local health insurance information and to a list of 'what's in the law for you...

Chilean court to rule on same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Bay Windows: "Following a referral from the Santiago Court of Appeals, Chile?s Constitutional Court will take up a same-sex marriage case this week."

?Not all gay activists support gay marriage?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Ben-Peter Terpstra writing at The Daily Caller: "The Against Equality collective ? a group of gay activists who oppose gay marriage ? has been 'quietly assembling a digital archive to document the critical resistance to the politics of inclusion.' The result? A compelling pocketbook, Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage...

Iowa?s Branstad: Judicial disregard for the Constitution isn?t grounds for impeachment

Posted on January 04, 2011
"Gov.-elect Terry Branstad says he doesn't believe an effort to impeach four remaining Iowa Supreme Court justices over a gay-marriage ruling is the appropriate remedy. Instead, he says people should have a chance to vote them out when they come up for retention...

Dying with dignity hearings set to resume in Quebec

Posted on January 04, 2011
CTV: "Emotionally charged hearings into the controversial issues of dying with dignity and euthanasia are set to resume in Quebec."

Switzerland: Doctor acquitted of assisting suicide

Posted on January 04, 2011
Swiss Info: "The acquittal of a doctor accused of euthanasia has rekindled the debate on assisted suicide in Switzerland, ahead of votes at the cantonal level on the issue."

Philippines: Foetus found in plane bathroom

Posted on January 04, 2011
ABC News: "A foetus has been found in the bathroom of a plane that arrived in the Philippine capital of Manila."

Malta: Gift of Life objects to incentives for embryo freezing

Posted on January 04, 2011
Times of Malta: "Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia's statement that he would be allocating part of his MP salary rise towards fiscal incentives to encourage couples to implant or adopt frozen human embryos left over after IVF treatment is being strongly objected to by the Gift of Life Foundation...

Italian court: Lesbian mother cannot be denied custody

Posted on January 04, 2011
Life in Italy (ANSA): "A Sicilian court on Wednesday turned down a separated father's appeal for exclusive custody of his children on the grounds that his ex was living with another woman."

?NC official stands by gay predators remark?

Posted on January 04, 2011
UPI: "A North Carolina county official, faced with criticism that has spread nationwide, says he is standing by his denunciation of gay people as 'sexual predators.'"

Bill Saunders: Give parents perinatal hospice option instead of abortion

Posted on January 04, 2011
Bill Saunders writing at LifeNews: "Many mothers and fathers find themselves in this situation after they receive the results of a prenatal test; they are then given the option to either continue the pregnancy with routine medical care or to terminate the pregnancy...

Malaysia: PM?s aide blamed over Christmas crucifix removal

Posted on January 04, 2011
CathNews Asia: "A directive to remove crosses, other religious symbols and the ban on hymns at the 2010 Christmas Day celebration at the residence of Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was the 'arbritrary decision' of an aide, reports say...

NYC rabbi sues Army over no-beard policy

Posted on January 04, 2011
Army Times: "A rabbi from Brooklyn, N.Y., is suing the Army over its 'no-beard' policy, claiming the service violated his religious freedoms when it rejected him because he refuses to shave."

UK: Ex-top judge warns against penalising Christian beliefs

Posted on January 04, 2011
"The legal system may have gone 'too far' in restricting the right of Christians to live out their faith, Britain?s former top judge has cautioned. Lord Woolf?s comments came after the Bishop of Winchester warned that the demise of 'religious literacy' had created an imbalance in the way Christians are treated by the courts...

?Sexting? minors are target of S.C. bill

Posted on January 04, 2011
Miami Herald: "A pair of bills were pre-filed last month in the House and Senate, prohibiting minors ages 12-17 from electronically transmitting photographs depicting themselves or other teens 'in a state of sexual activity or a state of sexually explicit nudity...

WA: Everett bans nearly-nude coffee servers

Posted on January 04, 2011
WLTX: "Officials in Washington state report the year-old rule against nearly-nude coffee servers is a success. After complaints about too-bare baristas, city and county officials in the Everett-area adopted regulations requiring a license to run an 'adult-business' coffee stand...

The ACLU?s untold Stalinist heritage

Posted on January 04, 2011
The Daily Caller: "Noted author Paul Kengor has unearthed declassified letters and other documents in the Soviet Comintern archives linking early leaders of the ACLU with the Communist Party."

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