Religion & Law

Pentagon: No ?gays? were discharged in past month

Posted on November 23, 2010
Associated Press: "No U.S. service members have been discharged for being openly gay in the month since the Defense Department adopted new rules surrounding the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, a Pentagon spokeswoman said Monday."

Montana High Court OK?s valedictorian?s religious references

Posted on November 23, 2010
Religion Clause: "In a 6-1 decision last week, the Montana Supreme Court held that school officials violated the free speech rights of a graduating senior when it censored on the basis of viewpoint her proposed valedictory remarks. Griffith v. Butte School District No...

Catholic officials describe climate of terror in Iraq, call for justice

Posted on November 23, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "The situation for Christians in Iraq is becoming bleaker. The violence directed against them is no longer limited to the capital city Baghdad, but has been spreading throughout the country."

In Rome, Church of England head clergyman meets privately with Pope

Posted on November 23, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "The head of the Church of England, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury met privately in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 18 . . . Asked about the Pope?s invitation to Anglicans and his creation of personal ordinariates, Archbishop Williams said: 'I don?t see it as an aggressive act, meant to destabilize the relations of the churches, and it remains to be seen just how large a movement we?re talking about...

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Images of abused maid rattle Indonesia

Posted on November 23, 2010
Associated Press: "She arrived in Saudi Arabia a high-spirited 23-year-old, eager to start work as a maid to help support her family back home. Four months later, Sumiati was Indonesia's poster child for migrant abuse, alone and staring vacantly from a hospital bed, her face sliced and battered...

FBI releases 2009 ?hate crimes? data; incidents, victim numbers down

Posted on November 23, 2010
Religion Clause: "Of the 6,598 single-bias incidents in the latest report, 19.7% were motivated by religious bias. Of these 1303 incidents motivated by religious bias, 931 were anti-Jewish, 107 were anti-Islamic, 51 were anti-Catholic, 38 were anti-Protestant and 10 were anti-Atheist/ Agnostic...

Cal Thomas: Is the American Dream over?

Posted on November 23, 2010
Cal Thomas writing at Townhall: "Setting aside war, which was imposed on America, the eclipse of liberalism's American dream has been largely caused by expanding, encroaching, over-taxing, over-spending and over-regulating government. This has produced a country of government addicts with an entitlement mentality...

Jindal: An American solution for energy independence

Posted on November 23, 2010
Bobby Jindal writing at Townhall: "The problem is that many Washington decision makers are either seriously misinformed or willfully ignorant about energy. Republicans seem instinctively to oppose cultivating energy sources favored by the environmental movement, such as solar and wind power...

DOJ won?t use arguments that offend ?gay? groups

Posted on November 23, 2010
CitizenLink: "We all knew that President Obama?s Department of Justice was doing everything it could to undermine federal law prohibiting open homosexuality in the military, as well as the Defense of Marriage Act. But to hear DOJ Assistant Attorney General Tony West openly admit that they are vetting their arguments with their 'liaison' to the gay activist community, and promising not to make any 'offensive' arguments, goes beyond the pale...

Ramesh Ponnuru: Linda Greenhouse and the persistent power of abortion myths

Posted on November 23, 2010
Ramesh Ponnuru writing at National Review Online / The Corner: "She's still at it. According to Harvard Magazine, in a lecture earlier this month ?Greenhouse reminded the audience that at the founding of the country, abortion was not a crime.? Wrong. Abortion after quickening was considered a crime everywhere...

WI: Menomonie adult business zoning ban advances

Posted on November 23, 2010
Leader-Telegram: "City Plan Commission members agreed Monday that adult-oriented businesses should be prohibited from locating in one zoning category."

Body scanner CEO accompanied Obama to India

Posted on November 23, 2010
The Raw Story: "The CEO of one of the two companies licensed to sell full body scanners to the TSA accompanied President Barack Obama to India earlier this month, a clear sign of the deep ties between Washington politicians and the companies pushing to have body scanners installed at all US airports...

Iowa: Council Bluffs residents voice opposition to potential abortion clinic

Posted on November 23, 2010
Radio Iowa: "About 300 people packed Monday night?s city council meeting in Council Bluffs to voice opposition to the possibility a parcel of land might be sold to a man looking to build a clinic where abortions would be performed. Dr. LeRoy Carhart, of Bellevue, Nebraska, who once performed late-term abortions in Nebraska, recently said he plans to open an abortion clinic in Council Bluffs...

Thanksgiving Day Proclamation from President Obama

Posted on November 23, 2010
Full text via the Christian Science Monitor. An excerpt: "A beloved American tradition, Thanksgiving Day offers us the opportunity to focus our thoughts on the grace that has been extended to our people and our country. This spirit brought together the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe ? who had been living and thriving around Plymouth, Massachusetts for thousands of years ? in an autumn harvest feast centuries ago...

Thailand: Pills seized in abortion raid

Posted on November 23, 2010
Bangkok Post: "Abortion pills worth more than 30million baht have been seized from a Bangkok shophouse in a raid led by the Public Health Ministry. The operation in Bang Kae district yesterday, led by Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, was part of extended action following the discovery of 2,002 foetuses at Wat Phai Ngern Chotanaram in Bangkok last week...

TSA: Some gov?t officials to skip airport security

Posted on November 23, 2010
Yahoo (AP): "Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details."

Illinois: False CLE certification charged

Posted on November 23, 2010
Legal Profession Blog: "The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging that an attorney falsely certified that he had completed online CLE courses (including several on ethics topics). According to the complaint: 'Each online course set forth above, required the user to respond to prompts during the course, at approximately ten minute intervals, to insure that the user was actively participating in the course...

Lesbian advocate to ?consult? with Marquette on ?gay issues?

Posted on November 23, 2010
Marquette Warrior: "Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a college administrator and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) activist will be coming to campus on Thursday, October 28th to meet with various members of the Marquette community."

Catholic leaders: IL civil unions bill may threaten Catholic colleges

Posted on November 23, 2010
Cardinal Newman Society: "Yesterday Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago and former President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Illinois legislature to reject a 'same-sex union' bill that could violate the religious liberty of Catholic colleges and other religious institutions...

Egyptian police crack down on Muslim Brotherhood before elections

Posted on November 23, 2010
Los Angeles Times: "Its members handcuffed and taken to prison, the Muslim Brotherhood is facing an extensive police crackdown that appears certain to weaken the standing of Egypt's largest opposition group in Sunday's parliamentary elections."

Stanford study shows Muslim job discrimination in France

Posted on November 23, 2010
Stanford: "In France, a Christian citizen is two-and-a-half times more likely to get called for a job interview than an equally qualified Muslim candidate, according to new research by political science professor David Laitin."

Northern Ireland: Democratic Unionist Party ?fearful of Catholic schools?

Posted on November 23, 2010
Belfast Telegraph: "Catholic education is seen as a threat by some members of the DUP, their partners in government have claimed . . . "

Chillicothe, OH: Second law for sexually oriented businesses approved

Posted on November 23, 2010
Chillicothe Gazette: "The law would require anyone operating a sexually oriented business, such as a strip club, to obtain a license. The law also would require workers to register with the city and get a license to perform."

Pakistan will not repeal blasphemy law, says gov?t minister

Posted on November 23, 2010
Reuters: "Pakistan will not repeal its controversial blasphemy law but may amend it to prevent abuse because scrapping the legislation could fuel Islamist militancy, a government minister said on Tuesday."

People for the American Way: ?ADF tried to blame ACLU, AU for its unpopular proposal in King, SC?

Posted on November 23, 2010
People for the American Way, Right Wing Watch: "The proposed solution that they hit upon is to create a lottery through which residents can request to fly any flag approved by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs at one week intervals . . . Local residents clearly are not happy wtih the proposal and [Joe Infranco], the ADF attorney assisting the town, responded by blaming the entire thing on the ACLU and Americans United...

IL: Evanston aldermen put church-limit plans on hold

Posted on November 23, 2010
Evanston Review: "Aldermen will give religious leaders a chance to suggest language changes on a controversial proposal that seeks to make worship centers subject to special zoning in the city's business and commercial districts." Related: Evanston debates special use permits for churches

NY Ground Zero Mosque developer seeks federal funding

Posted on November 23, 2010
CNN: "The developer behind the controversial Islamic community center and mosque planned for Lower Manhattan has requested federal funding through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to support the project known as Park51."

Texas Legislature to debate the presence of the Ten Commandments in classrooms

Posted on November 23, 2010
The Shorthorn (University of Texas at Arlington): "Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, pre-filed a bill which would allow prominent display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms around the state . . . 'The bill gives them an opportunity to display it if they want to,' Flynn said...

Gettysburg: Chapel order code issue, not religious

Posted on November 23, 2010
Gettysburg Times: "Four days after a Texas-based legal firm launched a campaign to save a Civil War chapel in Gettysburg, the nine-member Borough Council voiced displeasure Monday night with misinformation in the national media . . . 'It?s not an issue with God...

PA: Catholic worker sues Home Depot claiming religious discrimination

Posted on November 23, 2010
Trading Markets: "An Ohio man filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against Home Depot, claiming the company discriminated against him because his religious beliefs don't allow him to work on Sundays."

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