Religion & Law

Montreal community to challenge daycare religion ban

Posted on January 03, 2011
Canadian Jewish News: "The Association of Child Care Centres of the Jewish Community along with Quebec Jewish Congress (QJC), Federation CJA and the Association of Jewish Day Schools are looking at their options to challenge the new regulations, announced Dec...

Complaint throws Yakima?s council prayers into question

Posted on January 03, 2011
The News Tribune: "Lawyers for the city are reviewing the council's practice of opening meetings with an invocation after a local resident's complaint was supported with a challenge from a national group that opposes prayer in government."

?Democrats to push bill protecting gays in Virginia?

Posted on January 03, 2011
Washington Post: "Democrats in Virginia are hoping to translate momentum from the successful national repeal of the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy into new traction for legislation that would explicitly ban discrimination against gays in the state workforce...

Website aims to be Facebook for ?gays? in military

Posted on January 03, 2011
Reuters: "After nearly two decades of hearing 'don't ask, don't tell,' gay U.S. military men and women are now hearing, 'do ask, do tell,' and even, 'find a friend' from a new social network website, Out Military."

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Law school not worthwhile for many: American Bar Association

Posted on January 03, 2011
PRlog: "The ABA has issued an analysis warning students that going to law school may not be worth it because the huge debt may not be recouped by high salaries, and that the 'high debt can limit career choices . . . or delay home ownership or marriage...

?Hopes for gay-rights gains shift to courts?

Posted on January 03, 2011
The Boston Globe: "Gay-rights activists, acknowledging they will lose momentum for their agenda in Congress when Republicans assume control of the House this week, are pinning their hopes for further gains in 2011 on a series of incremental measures and a host of federal court cases...

NH: Same-sex ?marriage? threatened

Posted on January 03, 2011
Nashua Telegraph: "One of the bills, still in its initial phases, would revert state law to civil unions rather than full marriage rights, legislators say, while another would call for a full constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman...

2011 R.I. Assembly: Expect battles on taxes, slots, ?gay marriage?

Posted on January 03, 2011
Providence Journal: "The drive to legalize same-sex marriage, turn the state?s slot parlors into full-fledged casinos and impose a 1-percent sales tax on food, clothing and prescription drugs ? among other items ? has set the stage for months of late-night hearings and high-stakes battles at the State House...

US approves new trial of embryonic stem cells

Posted on January 03, 2011
Breitbart (AFP): "US biotech company Advanced Cell Technology said Monday it was cleared by the government to start its second trial using human embryonic stem cells to treat blindness, this time in older people."

Researchers treating religious, moral obsessions

Posted on January 03, 2011
KJCT 8: "A new treatment for people suffering a psychological condition that causes an obsession with morality and religion is being studied at Utah State University."

Canada: Catholic school board found guilty of religious discrimination against UFO cult

Posted on January 03, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Catholic school board to compensate three members of a prominent UFO cult after finding the board guilty of religious discrimination."

?Gay and lesbian characters are popping up on shows for young people?

Posted on January 03, 2011
Los Angeles Times: "As it becomes more common for teenagers to realize ? and then tell others ? that they are gay or lesbian, there is also a growing number of teen characters on TV programs geared toward teens going through the same thing."

New fight brews over judge selection process in Tennessee

Posted on January 03, 2011
Tennessean: "Currently, appeals court judges are appointed by the governor and run for re-election every eight years. The races are uncontested, but residents are asked to vote yes or no on whether the judges should be kept on the bench . . . The Tennessee Plan will expire in 2012...

Former Idaho charter school poised for Bible fight

Posted on January 03, 2011
My San Antonio (AP): "'I have never been aware of any case that includes such a broad-based censorship,' said [David Cortman], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. 'In our opinion, it violates the federal constitutional rights of the teachers and the students...

Italy: Minister Frattini to bring the case of persecuted Christians before the next Council of EU Foreign Ministers

Posted on January 03, 2011
ISRIA: "Minister Frattini has called for discussion at the next meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, to be held on 31 January, of the themes of violence and discrimination against Christians around the world."

Ireland: Call to bring same-sex law in line with North

Posted on January 03, 2011
Irish Times: "The next government should upgrade the Civil Partnership Act to bring it into line with same-sex legislation in Northern Ireland, the Church of Ireland Changing Attitude Ireland group has said."

?Historic lesbian marriage in Boston Cathedral unites top clergy of Episcopal church?

Posted on January 03, 2011
Yahoo / PRWeb: "The historic marriage of Episcopal Divinity School, dean and president, the Very Reverend Katherine Hancock Ragsdale and Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, took place today at the Cathedral Church of St Paul in Boston."

Thomas Farrell: ?The questionable ethical teachings of the Catholic bishops regarding abortion in the first trimester should be debated?

Posted on January 03, 2011
Thomas Farrell writing at opednews.com: "But where exactly does the chilling effect of Bishop Olmsted's actions come from? The chilling effect comes from the questionable ethical teachings advanced by the Catholic bishops regarding abortion. Therefore, those of us who are concerned about the chilling effect of his example should debate the questionable ethical teachings advanced by the Catholic bishops regarding abortion...

Iowa State Bar President: ?Call to impeach judges is just wrong?

Posted on January 03, 2011
"Bob Vander Plaats and three newly elected state legislators are absolutely wrong to call for the resignation or impeachment of Iowa's Supreme Court justices. Fellow legislators should refuse to support these views."

GA: Charter schools find homes on church campuses

Posted on January 03, 2011
Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Across metro Atlanta, church campuses are becoming sanctuaries for cash-strapped start-up charter schools. The partnering has provided classrooms for hundreds of Georgia public school students. Charter schools save on rent and churches get help covering expenses...

Robert Knight: Tyranny by decree

Posted on January 03, 2011
Robert Knight writing in the Washington Times: "Over the past year, it has become obvious that what leftists cannot win at the ballot box, they will accomplish via bureaucratic dictate . . . The new House should propose legislation and hold hearings as soon as possible, before the sticky web of bureaucratic tendrils gets too dense to penetrate...

Texas fiercely resists EPA air, water standards

Posted on January 03, 2011
Washington Times: "A long-standing tit-for-tat between Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over how to regulate pollution has grown fierce in recent months, leaving industry frustrated and allowing some plants and refineries to spew more toxic waste into the air, streams and lakes than what is federally acceptable...

Christians, police clash after Egypt church bomb

Posted on January 01, 2011
"Christians clashed with Egyptian police in the northern city of Alexandria on Saturday, furious over an apparent suicide bombing against worshippers leaving a New Year's Mass at a church that killed at least 21 people. It was the worst violence against the country's Christian minority in a decade...

Lebanon: Labor minister drafts law preventing inter-religious property and land sales

Posted on December 30, 2010
Daily Star: "Labor Minister Butros Harb has authored a draft law that would prevent Christians and Muslims from selling property to each other for a period of 15 years, in order to 'safeguard national coexistence.'"

IHOP withdraws lawsuit against KC religious group

Posted on December 30, 2010
Kansas City Star: "IHOP, the California-based restaurant chain, recently filed notice that it voluntarily had dropped the suit it filed last fall against the Kansas City-based International House of Prayer over its use of the IHOP acronym."

Hong Kong voting committee to add religious electors

Posted on December 30, 2010
Union of Catholic Asian News: "The Hong Kong government has proposed increasing the number of voters in religious sub-sectors on the Election Committee that will select the territory?s Chief Executive in 2012 . . . According to the proposed arrangement, representation from each of the six designated bodies in the religious subsector will increase to 10 seats...

Effort to abolish Catholic schools in Alberta

Posted on December 30, 2010
Calgary Herald: "Nearly a month after a former education minister launched a petition to eliminate Alberta's separate school system, 646 people have signed on to his call for a referendum into government-funded Catholic schools."

Leftist blogger Ezra Klein: Constitution confusing because it?s over 100 years old

Posted on December 30, 2010
Breitbart.tv

Church of Scotland faces threat of split in row over ?gay ministers?

Posted on December 30, 2010
Scotsman: "Desperate efforts are under way to prevent the Church of Scotland splitting over the issue of gay ministers. New official figures suggest a clear majority of Kirk representatives in Edinburgh would back a more liberal attitude. A special commission is due to report to the General Assembly in May on whether practising gays and lesbians should be accepted into the ministry...

W. Bradford Wilcox: Why the ring matters

Posted on December 30, 2010
W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, writing in the New York Times: "But a growing body of social scientific evidence strongly suggests that cohabitation and children don?t mix, even though more than 40 percent of American children will spend some time in a cohabiting household...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.