Religion & Law

UN restores sexual orientation reference to violence measure

Posted on December 22, 2010
Reuters: "The United States succeeded on Tuesday in getting the United Nations to restore a reference to killings due to sexual orientation that had been deleted from a resolution condemning unjustified executions." | Statement by the [White House] Press Secretary on Adoption of U...

Indonesia: Radical Islamic groups gain strength on the sly

Posted on December 22, 2010
Jakarta Globe: "While the antics of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front frequently make headlines, other radical groups are working quietly behind the scenes to build a wide base of support, a nonprofit has said. The Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace on Wednesday released a report detailing how radical Muslim groups were shoring up their support by forging political alliances and embracing more liberal groups and moderate clerics...

Defectors testify to near zero freedom of religion in North Korea

Posted on December 22, 2010
Korea Times: "Some 99.5 percent of defectors living in Seoul said that they had not had religious freedom in North Korea."

Beijing sneers at Vatican?s ?dangerous? complaints over state-appointed Catholic bishops

Posted on December 22, 2010
The Globe and Mail: "China fired back at the Vatican on Wednesday after the Holy See's recent criticism of Beijing's religious appointments, calling such a move 'dangerous' and harmful to the Catholic church's development in China."

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Phillip Blond: Why the Church of England is a force for good

Posted on December 22, 2010
Phillip Blond writing at the BBC: "I hope to show that . . . church establishment in England creates a more diverse political and social life, prevents religious extremism and helps to minimise partisan conflict and secular violence . . . The religious heart of the British nation has helped to prevent Britishness from meaning any sort of merely ethnic racial identity...

Obama signs DADT repeal, says its upholds ?ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend?

Posted on December 22, 2010
"Declaring that members of the military will no longer be asked to lie, President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign promise Wednesday and signed a landmark law repealing the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the armed services."

EU won?t legislate on communist crimes

Posted on December 22, 2010
BBC: "The European Commission has rebuffed a call from several former Soviet bloc countries for the EU to legislate against the condoning or denial of totalitarian crimes."

Ex-Planned Parenthood director?s new book exposes abortion biz

Posted on December 22, 2010
LifeNews: "In 'UnPlanned,' Johnson tells the dramatic story of the journey that unfolded as a result of that fateful day in September 2009 and how she literally 'crossed the fence' from Planned Parenthood leader to an advocate fighting for women in crisis ? and the lives of their unborn babies...

?Over 30 and single? Try polygamy?

Posted on December 22, 2010
ynetnews.com: "Local Bedouin newspaper sparks calls on single Bedouin women who are over 30 to consider polygamous marriages, saying 'it's the Sharia solution' . . . As polygamy is illegal in Israel, the people behind the ad campaign refuse to reveal their identities, but sign the ad as The Negev Committee for Women's Rights...

Why did cultural conservatives lose the battle over DADT?

Posted on December 22, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Andrew Stiles at National Review Online observes in a Dec. 20 analysis of Burr?s 'surprising vote' that the GOP caucus did not put up a vigorous defense of DADT. He quotes Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) admitting to NRO that repeal was 'something people knew was going to happen...

Jennifer Roback Morse: Reclaiming the rainbow

Posted on December 22, 2010
Ruth Institute Blog: "Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse of the San Diego-based Ruth Institute rightly argues that the rainbow is a sign of God?s covenant with man, and she says proponents of Proposition 8 ? California?s measure that passed in 2008 to define marriage as between a man and a woman ? are the original 'rainbow coalition...

Supreme Court petition to watch: Do Equal Terms and Unreasonable Limitations provisions of RLUIPA violate Establishment Clause

Posted on December 22, 2010
SCOTUSblog: Title: Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County, Colo. v. Rocky Mountain Christian Church Docket: 10-521 Issue(s): Whether the Equal Terms and Unreasonable Limitations provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 expand the scope of legal protection granted to religious exercise beyond that established by the First Amendment and thus violate the Establishment Clause and Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

WSJ: Sebelius?s health care price controls

Posted on December 22, 2010
Wall Street Journal editorial: "Under the 136-page rule, the federal government will now decide what counts as an 'unreasonable' rate increase, and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to Governors yesterday urging them 'to prevent unjustified and excessive health insurance premium growth...

Mass. gov nominates Asian-American to SJC who supports same sex ?marriage? ruling

Posted on December 22, 2010
Boston Globe: "Governor Deval Patrick, deepening his imprint on the state?s highest court, nominated what would be its first Asian-American justice yesterday, declaring that the highest ranks of a state?s government should reflect the diversity of its people...

Hindu fundamentalist attacks on India?s Christians mount as Christmas approaches

Posted on December 22, 2010
Catholic Culture: "A week ahead of Christmas, half a dozen brutal attacks on Christian targets by Hindu fundamentalists have been reported from different parts of India."

Feds eye CA district?s handling of bullying claim

Posted on December 22, 2010
Associated Press: "Federal education officials are investigating a school district in a Central California town where a 13-year-old boy committed suicide after allegedly being harassed by classmates because he was gay, a spokesman for Education Secretary Arne Duncan confirmed Tuesday...

Turkish man goes on trial for plot to kill rabbis and Eastern Orthodox Patriarch

Posted on December 22, 2010
Associated Press: "A Turkish news agency says a court has released a man whom prosecutors accuse of plotting to murder Jewish rabbis and the Istanbul-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians."

Canada PM Harper chided for vote on forced abortion bill

Posted on December 22, 2010
LifeNews: "In the aftermath of the vote in the Canadian House of Commons on a bill the prevent forced and pressured abortions, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is coming under fire for opposing the measure . . . The legislation would have made it illegal for anyone to coerce a woman into an abortion through threats of violence, withdrawal of financial resources or denial of a place to live...

Greg Baylor: ?Potentially Evangelical?: How to lose a job offer without even trying

Posted on December 22, 2010
ADF Attorney Gregory S. Baylor writing at Speak Up Movement / University: Did the University of Kentucky commit religious discrimination? It sure looks that way . . . It appears as though a candidate?s unwillingness to wholeheartedly embrace absolute atheism renders him or her ineligible to do scientific work at the University of Kentucky ...

John Fund: The net neutrality coup

Posted on December 22, 2010
John Fund writing in the WSJ: "The Federal Communications Commission's new 'net neutrality' rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations. The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by regulations that treat the Internet like a public utility...

Kansas town tries to tax church attendance

Posted on December 22, 2010
Charisma Mag: "'No one should be taxing church attendance, but that?s what this tax does: it punishes churches based on their attendance,' says ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley]. 'Cleverly disguising a tax as a fee is just another way to penalize churches and other non-profit organizations and charities by subverting their tax exemptions so the government can collect more money...

Churches charged for attendance?

Posted on December 22, 2010
OneNewsNow: "'The City of Mission has called this a "fee," but in reality, this is actually a disguised property tax, and churches should be exempt,' explains ADF attorney [Erik Stanley]. 'But what the City of Mission has done is . . . an end-run around the property tax exemption of churches and tried to apply this fee to churches, when in reality, the churches should be exempt...

ADF defending constitutional Christmas celebration

Posted on December 22, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is trying to encourage two locales that anti-religious groups have no constitutional standing to remove Christian aspects from Christmas . . . 'Teachers can't wish students "Merry Christmas;" they have to use the generic "Happy Holidays...

Religious legal group challenges ?driveway tax?

Posted on December 22, 2010
The Kansas City Star: "Mission?s so called 'driveway tax' is coming under legal assault from an Arizona legal group that advocates religious freedom. Two local local churches, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, have sued the city of Mission over a new fee intended to help pay for street improvements ...

Joe Infranco on the Janet Mefford Show: Swedish seizure of homeschooled child

Posted on December 22, 2010
ADF attorney Joe Infranco appeared on the Janet Mefford Show to discuss this: Swedish government?s 18-month-long seizure of 9-year-old boy pushing parents to emotional brink. | MP3 audio 19:17 mins

ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg and Grahm Zelinski of the WI Democratic Party on WWIB: DADT repeal

Posted on December 22, 2010
ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg and Grahm Zelinksi, Communications Director of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, appeared with Mark Halvorsen on WWIB (Wisconsin) to discuss the repeal. | MP3 audio 21:17 mins

ADF on the radio: Its Okay to Say Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 22, 2010
ADF attorney Bradley Abramson appeared on WCHE with Mike Raffaele (Chester Co., PA).  MP3 audio 8:03 minutes. | ADF attorney Matt Sharp appeared on WFLA (Orlando, Fla.). MP3 audio 11:36 mins | ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on the Zeb Bell Show (Idaho)...

ADF defends Christianity, Christmas against atheist groups

Posted on December 22, 2010
Christian Post: "Nontheist and Freedom From Religious Foundation co-president Annie Gaylor joined atheists in Oklahoma to decry city council prayers . . . 'It?s ridiculous that people have to think twice about whether it?s okay to publicly celebrate Christmas...

Court: No right to abortion in Europe

Posted on December 22, 2010
Baptist Press: "[Roger Kiska], legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in Europe, said in a written release, '[I]t's regrettable that Ireland lost on the third count despite such a lack of judicial record, physician consultation, or recourse to Irish courts...

Judge rules Planned Parenthood center broke Ohio law

Posted on December 22, 2010
Townhall (Baptist Press): "An Ohio judge has ruled a Planned Parenthood affiliate violated a state law involving an under-age girl in another example of misconduct uncovered among the abortion giant's centers . . . 'The health and safety of young girls is more important than Planned Parenthood's desire to perform an abortion,' said Brian Hurley, an Alliance Defense Fund-affiliated lawyer who is representing the girl's parents in the case...

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