Religion & Law

Pakistani governor opposing blasphemy law killed

Posted on January 04, 2011
"The governor of Pakistan's wealthiest and most populous province was shot dead in the capital Tuesday by one of his own guards, who later told interrogators that he was angry about the politician's stance against the country's blasphemy law, officials said...

Pro-family groups get involved in RNC debates

Posted on January 04, 2011
Christian Post: "This year, the pro-life lobby Susan B. Anthony List and the pro-family group National Organization for Marriage both elected to play an active role in this cycle?s RNC chairman race. Both groups have used the race as way to lobby for traditional marriage and an end to abortion...

Obama ready to deploy executive powers against GOP Hill

Posted on January 04, 2011
Washington Examiner: "President Obama challenged congressional Republicans to embrace the 'shared responsibility' of governance even as the White House appears ready to use unilateral executive powers to battle Capitol Hill."

Kyle Olson: Kids aren?t cars; schools shouldn?t be assembly lines

Posted on January 04, 2011
Kyle Olson writing at Townhall: "By bringing the auto manufacturing mentality into our public school system, it has turned teaching from a hard-earned, highly-respected career into a blue-collar, see-you-on-the-picket-line endeavor. Taxpayers deserve better...

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Cal Thomas: Constitutionalists vs. ?Interpretationists?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Cal Thomas writing at Townhall: "The Constitution, according to liberal thinking, was written at a time when people -- including some of its signers -- owned slaves and so we moderns must interpret and regularly update it, like computer software. These 'interpretationists' are like people who appeal to biblical authority when it appears to support their earthly agenda, but ignore it when it offends secular pursuits...

AALS Panel: ?Ideological diversity and discrimination in American law schools?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Ilya Somin writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "The first will be on 'Ideological Diversity and Discrimination in American Law Schools,' along with John McGinnis (Northwestern), Bill Nelson (NYU), James Phillips (UC Berkeley), and panel organizer George Dent (Case Western)...

Heritage Foundation: The fight for the filibuster

Posted on January 04, 2011
The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: "This Wednesday, the United States Senate is set to meet for its first 'legislative day' of the new Congress, and a group of progressive Senators are expected to introduce changes to the Senate rules designed to limit the use of the filibuster...

GOP governors poised to play key role in healthcare battle

Posted on January 04, 2011
The Hill: "As newly-elected Republican governors plot ways to push back against the healthcare law, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) is preparing an organized effort aimed at helping governors fight its implementation."

Don Marquis and Michael Tooley discuss abortion on Philosophy TV

Posted on January 04, 2011
Philosophy TV: "According to Tooley, abortion is morally permissible: a fetus is not a person, so it cannot have a right to continued existence. To support his view, he defends a neo-Lockean account of personhood grounded in psychological continuity. Against Tooley, Marquis defends an animalistic view of personhood, and argues that most instances of abortion are wrong for the same reason that killing you or me would be wrong: an abortion deprives a fetus of a future of value...

Underlying tensions behind Egyptian church bombing discussed

Posted on January 04, 2011
Religion Clause discusses the underlying tensions behind the New Year's Eve bombing of the Coptic Church of the Saints in Alexandria, Egypt.

Severed head hung from bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, tunnel to U.S. found

Posted on January 04, 2011
Associated Press: "The severed head of a young man was found hanging from a bridge in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Monday."

?Uganda court rules media cannot out gay Ugandans?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Associated Press: "Uganda's High Court has ruled that the media should not publish the names and photos of gay Ugandans following a vitriolic campaign in the east African country which urged citizens to hang those featured."

Delay sought in DADT repeal litigation

Posted on January 04, 2011
SCOTUSblog: "The Obama Administration has asked the Ninth Circuit Court to put on hold, for 90 days or more, its review of the constitutionality of the 1993 federal law that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. In a motion filed Wednesday, Justice Department lawyers said the Pentagon needs time to implement the new law that will repeal the ban but not immediately...

Daniel Pipes: Is Saudi Arabia opening up?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Daniel Pipes: "[T]oday, thanks in large part to Abdullah's efforts to 'tame Wahhabi zeal,' the most retrograde country has taken some cautious steps to join the modern world. These efforts have many dimensions, from children's education to mechanisms for selecting political leaders, but perhaps the most crucial one is the battle among the ulema, the Islamic men of religion, between reformers and hardliners...

Oil drilling stalled by bureaucracy even after ban is lifted

Posted on January 04, 2011
Wall Street Journal: "More than two months after the Obama administration lifted its ban on drilling in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, oil companies are still waiting for approval to drill the first new oil well there. Experts now expect the wait to continue until the second half of 2011, and perhaps into 2012...

Obama prayer leads to sergeant being suspended

Posted on January 04, 2011
WTSP: "Something called 'The Obama Prayer' has landed a Manatee County corrections sergeant in hot water. According to an internal affairs report, Sergeant Matthew Neu highlighted a verse in a bible that reads, 'Let his days be few - and let another take his office...

CA: Lake Forest to consider moratorium on adult businesses

Posted on January 04, 2011
Orange County Register: "The City Council on Tuesday will consider an interim ordinance establishing a moratorium on permits for adult businesses following the rezoning of land from business park to homes and commercial uses."

Rep. Peter King has ?nothing but contempt? for New York Times

Posted on January 04, 2011
The Hill: "Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, ripped into The New York Times Tuesday for telling him in a weekend editorial to tone down his rhetoric."

King makes resolutions in Christian flag controversy

Posted on January 04, 2011
Yahoo Associated Content: "Last summer, residents of King, NC, were challenged for flying the Christian flag, but today, they seem to be enjoying a sort of victory . . . The Alliance Defense Fund was involved in helping King make this crucial decision ...

Judge Reinhardt?s memorandum opinion explaining his decision not to recuse himself in Prop 8 case

Posted on January 04, 2011
Memorandum regarding motion to disqualify in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, No. 10-16696 (9th Cir. Jan. 4, 2010) | Excerpt: "My wife has no tangible interest in this case?s outcome, and I do not believe that my impartiality in this case can reasonably be questioned on the basis of either her public statements or the ACLU/SC?s involvement in any judicial proceedings...

European nations begin seizing private pensions

Posted on January 04, 2011
Christian Science Monitor: "People?s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don?t want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends...

Rasmussen: Voter Concern About Economy Hits Highest Level In Over Two Years

Posted on January 04, 2011
Rasmussen Reports: "With a new Congress scheduled to swing into action this week, the number of voters who rate the economy as a Very Important issue has reached its highest level since early August 2008."

IRS extends tax filing deadline to April 18

Posted on January 04, 2011
Reuters: "The Internal Revenue Service kicked off the U.S. tax filing season, announcing on Tuesday that taxpayers will have until April 18, 2011 to file their 2010 returns and pay their tax bills because of a holiday on April 15."

Feminist backlash to Ross Douthat?s column on abortion

Posted on January 04, 2011
Atlantic Wire: "Douthat wrote that while some women long to have children but are biologically unable, others find themselves contemplating abortion in the midst of an unwanted pregnancy. He went on to note that adoption rates have declined since 1973--the year Roe v...

Kansas: Citizens fight to keep strip club out of Jefferson County

Posted on January 04, 2011
KTKA ABC 49: "The owners of the Oasis were trying to be annexed by the city. Meriden has no zoning that would restrict operation of an Adult Entertainment Establishment. When the City declined to annex, they fell under County zoning rules, and had to apply for a permit...

TX: Strip clubs challenge Fort Worth law on exterior paint

Posted on January 04, 2011
Courthouse News Service: "Three strip clubs challenge the constitutionality of a Fort Worth law that demands that sexually oriented businesses be painted in a single 'achromatic' color with a single 'achromatic' trim, 'both colors consisting of a neutral earth tone color only...

Alan Sears: Mission?s impossible agenda: Taxing churches, based on attendance

Posted on January 04, 2011
ADF President and CEO Alan Sears writing at Inside the Issues: "In Mission, Kansas, local officials are hitting churches going and coming for so-called 'driveway fees' that effectively tax religious groups, non-profits, and charities normally immune to taxation...

Iran arrests Christian missionaries: official

Posted on January 04, 2011
Associated Press: "Iran has arrested a number of Christian missionaries in Tehran province and vowed to detain more of them, the provincial governor was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday."

Vatican responds to Egyptian imam: ?No war may be waged in God?s name?

Posted on January 04, 2011
CatholicCulture.org: "Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, has responded to criticism of Pope Benedict by the former grand mufti of Egypt."

The Economist: Evan Wolfson and Maggie Gallagher debate same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on January 04, 2011
Evan Wolfson and Maggie Gallagher debate same-sex "marriage" at The Economist. Excerpt from the moderator's remarks: "On the other side of the debate, Ms Gallagher argues that the 'key purpose of marriage in both law and culture' is the creation and raising of children...

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