Religion & Law

How declining fertility keeps women from high-power jobs

Posted on December 30, 2010
The Globe and Mail: "New research out of the University of Laval and CIRPÉE asks the question: Can women have it all? Or is the disproportionate representation of men in high-power jobs explained by women choosing to invest earlier in the marriage market rather than risk not being successful in that market later in life?"

Strapped cities hit nonprofits, churches with fees

Posted on December 30, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "Facing budget gaps and an aversion to new debt and taxes, states and local governments are slapping residents with an array of new fees?and some are applying them to nonprofits. That marks a sharp departure from long-standing tax exemptions mandated by state law or adopted on the theory that churches, schools and charitable organizations work alongside governments to provide services to the community...

NRO: The future of an illusion ? ?Same-sex marriage is the ?civil-rights movement? that can?t survive speaking the truth.?

Posted on December 30, 2010
National Review Online editorial: "As we have noted before, liberalism has found the perfect division of labor: Elected officials can pretend to oppose same-sex marriage, secure in the knowledge that courts will pretend to interpret the law. Same-sex marriage is the 'civil-rights movement' that can?t survive speaking the truth...

Fr. Frank Pavone: No easy decision, indeed ? MTV

Posted on December 30, 2010
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life, writing at The Washington Post / On Faith: "It is certainly no secret to us, to the Church, or to those who work in the pro-life movement that these decisions are not easy. It is also no secret that women do not get abortions because of freedom of choice...

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Atheists protest Polk sheriff?s donation of county equipment to churches

Posted on December 30, 2010
Orlando Sentinel: "Atheists of Florida wrote a letter to Judd asking him to donate basketball equipment from county jails to other county organizations instead of the handful of churches currently designated to receive the materials."

So you think you?re middle class? Fewer Americans reach hallmarks

Posted on December 30, 2010
New York Times: "It was only after many of these social innovations had been put into place that the great majority of American households were able to achieve the three hallmarks of a secure middle class life: (1) the ability to earn a living through stable, steady and productive work; (2) the ability to form stable marriages as the basis of child-rearing and family life; and (3) the ability to save and to build assets for future goals and for giving to others...

Gunmen target Christian homes in Baghdad, 2 killed

Posted on December 30, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "Militants attacked at least three Christian homes Thursday night with a combination of grenades and bombs, killing two people and sending fear into the already terrified tiny Christian community."

Macedonian religious leaders seek constitutional block to same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on December 30, 2010
Winnipeg Free Press: "Macedonia's religious leaders are urging the government to prevent same-sex weddings by changing the constitutional definition of marriage."

Iowa GOP ready to push hard on social issues in 2011

Posted on December 30, 2010
"Legislation to end or curb same-sex marriage and abortion is beginning to take shape as the Iowa General Assembly prepares for a busy 2011 session."

Gallup: Belief that religion is losing its influence on American life hit 50-year peak after inauguration of Obama

Posted on December 30, 2010
CNSNews: "In polling done Dec. 14-16, 2001 (the first Gallup survey on the question after the 9/11 attacks), 71 percent of Americans said they thought religion was increasing its influence on American life, and 24 percent said they thought religion was losing its influence on American life...

Planned Parenthood launches ?social change initiative? to educate children about sex, homosexuality, and masturbation

Posted on December 30, 2010
CNSNews: "Specifically, Planned Parenthood's Web site announced the group is preparing to launch a nationwide 'social change initiative' to end the 'stigma and shame about sex' in American culture."

DADT repeal could foreshadow GOP generational split

Posted on December 30, 2010
Erin McPike writing at RealClearPolitics: "Of the eight Republican senators who voted for repeal, five are among the youngest in the upper chamber - and they're not all moderates . . . LaSalvia said that younger generations of Republicans are becoming increasingly familiar with issues affecting homosexual Americans...

ADF Alliance Alert Publication Schedule

Posted on December 30, 2010
The ADF Alliance Alert will not be published on Friday, December 31, 2010. Happy New Year!

Faith healing: Woman charged in 9-year-old son?s death

Posted on December 30, 2010
KOCO: "The mother, Susan Grady, is a member of The Church of the First Born, a religious group that often practiced faith-based healing methods rather than relying on medicine . . . Officers said they are now trying to find Susan Grady's whereabouts to serve her arrest warrant...

Log Cabin Republicans preparing for major push in New York

Posted on December 30, 2010
The New York Observer: "The New York chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans just sent out a missive saying that they are preparing a major effort next year, beginning on the first day of 2011."

CMDR Scott Whitefield USN (ret.): The disaster that is the repeal of DADT

Posted on December 30, 2010
CMDR Scott Whitfield, USN (ret.) writing at Catholic Phoenix: "More pragmatically and rather problematically, the repeal concerns the role of military chaplains. What is to become of Catholic chaplains, who minister to servicemen and -women everyday, as well as preach each Sunday on the evils of immoral behavior, including the intrinsic evil that is homosexual behavior? Military chaplains have been imbedded with US forces since the American Revolution...

China shuts over 60,000 porn websites this year

Posted on December 30, 2010
Reuters: "China shut down more than 60,000 pornographic websites this year, netting almost 5,000 suspects in the process, a government spokesman said on Thursday, vowing no let-up in its campaign against material deemed obscene."

10 al-Qaida suspects detained in Turkey

Posted on December 30, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "Police have detained 10 people suspected of links to the al-Qaida terror network and accused of preparing to stage an attack before New Year's Eve, the state-run Anatolia news agency said Thursday."

US teen birth rate still far higher than W. Europe

Posted on December 30, 2010
Associated Press: "The rate of teen births in the U.S. is at its lowest level in almost 70 years. Yet, the sobering context is that the teen pregnancy rate is far lower in many other countries. The most convincing explanation is that contraceptive use is much higher among teens in most Western European countries...

?Gay rights activists? outlook somber as euphoria over DADT repeal subsides?

Posted on December 30, 2010
Sam Stein writing at The Huffington Post: "Whereas conventional wisdom holds that legislative victories beget future ones, there was no clear sense that the president's signing of DADT's repeal would have such a domino effect."

TX: Abortion procedures to include mandatory sonogram

Posted on December 30, 2010
Victoria Advocate: "If Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Rep. Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, have their way in 2011, Texas will require healthcare facilities to provide no-cost sonograms for pregnant women before an abortion procedure."

Is the Jewish church-state focus fading?

Posted on December 30, 2010
The Jewish Week: "Almost two years into the administration of President Barack Obama the faith based initiatives created by his predecessor are mostly still in place, and groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State are howling mad...

Muslim family sues Ill. forest preserve for discrimination

Posted on December 30, 2010
ABC Local: "The Cook County Forest Preserve is being sued by a Muslim family who claims religious discrimination because they were denied admission to a swimming facility."

TX: ?Prayer controversy distracts Bulverde City Council?

Posted on December 30, 2010
My San Antonio: "The Bulverde City Council passed a resolution Dec. 14 that allows the offering of prayer before the meetings convenes, but not everyone is happy with the outcome."

Pro-life leaders want Congress to overturn death panel regs

Posted on December 30, 2010
LifeNews: "Although the advanced directives apparently can?t be used for facilitate an assisted suicide, there is concern physicians will pressure or persuade patients to make decisions that would ration care or withdraw lifesaving medical treatment."

Traditional Marriage?s Enduring Virtues

Posted on December 30, 2010
However, despite the insistence by the educated elite that the traditional definition is bigoted and unreasonable, it is clear today more than ever that it is rationally superior to the modern conception.

Elizabeth Marquardt: The spirituality of children of divorce

Posted on December 30, 2010
Elizabeth Marquardt writing at The Huffington Post: "Young people from divorced families felt just as spiritual as those from intact families, but their spiritual journeys were more often characterized by loss and suffering. For children, there is a kind of elemental wholeness in being with both of your parents, an experience that evokes the place where God is present...

UK: Christian health worker faces sack over pro-life booklet

Posted on December 22, 2010
Telegraph: "Margaret Forrester passed the booklet to family planning staff at the health centre where she works because she felt that the NHS was not offering patients enough information about the risks associated with terminating a pregnancy. But Ms Forrester, 39, said she was suspended from her job as a psychological wellbeing practitioner based in Westminster because managers at Central North West London Mental Health Trust disagreed with her personal beliefs...

Indian woman discovers her husband is actually female

Posted on December 22, 2010
Telegraph: "For six months, Minati Khatua, 27, from Rourkela, Orissa, India, was told by her husband, who gave the name Sitakant Routray, that they could not consumate their marriage because 'he' was observing a religious ritual."

UK: Mall blocks Christmas song to avoid ?religious bias?

Posted on December 22, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Sheffield?s Meadowhall shopping centre ? one of Europe's biggest ? has blocked a performance of a classic Christmas song because it claims it must be 'impartial on religion.'"

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