Religion & Law

Mass. court approves sale of Caritas hospitals; deal likely to close within a month

Posted on October 29, 2010
Boston Herald: "Caritas Christi Health Care expects to close its $895 million sale to New York private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management within a month following today?s final regulatory approval from the Supreme Judicial Court. Associate Justice Francis Spina?s declaratory judgment allows the Boston-based chain of six Catholic hospitals to convert to a for-profit business - the state?s largest for-profit hospital chain - under a new Cerberus affiliate called Steward Health Care System...

Swiss parish condom campaign not church sponsored

Posted on October 29, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Human Life International (HLI) Switzerland pointed out that headlines saying the 'Catholic Church' is handing out condoms in parishes are misleading . . . 'The official Swiss Catholic Church is not responsible for this action. Only the "Catholic Church of Lucerne," a local Catholic State organisation, is responsible for the distribution of the condoms...

EU Parliament rejects coercive abortion/sterilization funding

Posted on October 29, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Parliament of the European Union has rejected a proposal to fund forced abortion and sterilization programs in overseas 'family planning' projects. The campaign group, Care for Europe, has announced that an amendment has passed that they put forward to the European Commission's annual budget this week...

Countries slam attempts to create new ?right? to sexual education at UN

Posted on October 29, 2010
C-FAM: "Angry delegates took to the UN floor this week to denounce a report that promotes a new human right to explicit sexual education for young children . . . The report claims a new human right to sexual education citing non-binding recommendations and other UN reports including the controversial UNESCO guidelines on sexual education and the Yogyakarta Principles...

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Canada: Ex-bureaucrat fights to keep quarter-century-old ?gay rights? case alive

Posted on October 29, 2010
CTV (The Canadian Press): "The fate of an ex-bureaucrat's sexual discrimination complaint against the federal government hinges on Trudeau-era memories and good old-fashioned record-keeping . . . The latest round of Richard's fight for redress is slated to be heard Monday in the Federal Court of Appeal...

Mass. chief justice to delay retirement

Posted on October 29, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall has agreed to delay her retirement until a nominee to the court is confirmed . . . Marshall was first appointed to the bench in 1996 and became chief justice three years later...

UK: Teach Christian history in our schools, says bishop

Posted on October 29, 2010
Michael Nazir-Ali writing in Standpoint Magazine: "We must ensure that the teaching of history is not just about a number of significant events and personalities and that there should be a connected narrative. But how is this to be achieved and what is the 'golden chain of harmony' that can provide the connection? Surely, this has to do with a world-view that underlies the emergence of characteristically British institutions and values: the Constitution itself ('the Queen in Parliament under God'); a concern for the poor; a social security net, based on the parish church, which goes back to the 16th century; and personal liberties as enshrined in the Magna Carta...

UK: MP calls for introduction of abortion counseling

Posted on October 29, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Women should be made fully aware of the psychological risks associated with abortions before they choose to have a termination, an MP has proposed. The proposal was made by Therese Coffey, a Conservative MP, in an Early Day Motion (EDM) which she tabled earlier this month...

UK: Bibles burned, hymnbooks slashed in Bradford attack

Posted on October 29, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Yobs in West Yorkshire burned Bibles and slashed hymnbooks in an attack against a Methodist church in a village near Bradford. The distressing attack on Birkenshaw Methodist Church was discovered earlier this week when an art group went to the church to hold their meeting...

UK: Concern as Durex sponsors school sex education survey

Posted on October 29, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The judgement of headmaster and school-governor groups has been cast into doubt after they took part in a sex education study sponsored by a condom company. The controversial decision, which comes amidst increasing concern about the content of sex education, has been slammed by family campaigners...

Christian convert from Indonesia granted asylum in U.S.

Posted on October 29, 2010
ACLJ: "I am pleased to report that an ACLJ legal team has successfully obtained asylum in the United States for a 22-year-old woman from Indonesia - a woman who left the Muslim faith and converted to Christianity. As a result, she faced grave danger - including the threat of death - if she returned to her home country...

Vander Plaats predicts ?clean sweep? of Iowa judges

Posted on October 29, 2010
Sioux City Journal: "Conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats on Friday predicted a 'clean sweep' in ousting three Iowa Supreme Court justices - an outcome that he hopes will build pressure on Republican Terry Branstad to issue an executive order halting same-sex marriages if he succeeds in defeating Democrat Chet Culver for governor in next Tuesday's election...

Joel Oster: Michigan woman facing federal investigation for seeking a Christian roommate

Posted on October 29, 2010
ADF Attorney Joel Oster writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "We at ADF are representing this lady. We are prepared to defend her fundamental rights as far as needed until common sense can be restored. Surely, the officials at HUD and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights have more pressing matters than investigating a young woman for seeking a Christian roommate!"

Is there confusion regarding the phrase ?separation of church and state??

Posted on October 29, 2010
Alliance Defense Fund ? Q&A with Dr. Wayne Grudem talking about his new book "Politics according to the Bible." Question: Is there confusion regarding the phrase "separation of church and state?"

Casey Mattox: FIRE gives UVA green light for student speech

Posted on October 29, 2010
ADF Attorney Casey Mattox writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "Of the nearly four hundred public colleges and universities whose policies are assessed by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the University of Virginia is now one of 13 schools given FIRE?s coveted 'green light,' meaning that the school?s policies respect constitutionally protected student speech...

Texas parents retreat, won?t force daughter to have abortion

Posted on October 29, 2010
LifeNews: "The parents of a 16-year-old girl have backed down and are retreating from their attempt to force their daughter to have an abortion. They signed a court order Wednesday agreeing to not force their daughter to have an abortion against her will after she obtained legal help from the Alliance Defense Fund pro-life legal group ...

Malaysia women group gets to keep ?Islam? in name

Posted on October 29, 2010
Businessweek: "The High Court struck out an application by the Malaysian Assembly of Muslim Youths, which demanded that Sisters in Islam change its name because it was allegedly misleading people to believe that the group speaks for all Muslims, said Ratna Osman, program manager of the women's group...

IL: County Board may put Ten Commandments monument to popular vote

Posted on October 29, 2010
Daily Register: "The board held off on a final decision about a public referendum in April until the Nov. 17 meeting, when County Clerk Willie McClusky is expected to tell board members when the deadline falls for putting referendums on the April ballot...

Muslim group wants Delta investigation of religious profiling claims

Posted on October 29, 2010
Minneapolist St. Paul Business Journal: "The state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) said recent Muslim profiling claims against the biggest carrier at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport call for an investigation of company policies, according to a news release...

The persuasiveness of natural law

Posted on October 29, 2010
John Creech writing at The Imaginative Conservative: "This past Wednesday night, Dr. Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideas and Institutions at Princeton University, gave the keynote address at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston?s annual Red Mass ...

Bill Whittle on natural law

Posted on October 29, 2010
YouTube: "What makes some laws worth obeying, while others demand to be overturned? In Part 4, Bill examines the difference between Natural Law and Political Law."

Cert. petition filed on scope of the ministerial exception

Posted on October 28, 2010
Eugene Volokh writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "Prof. Doug Laycock ? one of the leading Religion Clauses scholars in the nation ? and the Becket Fund have just filed an excellent petition for certiorari asking the Court to review EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor (6th Cir...

Sex.com sold for $13 million

Posted on October 28, 2010
Eric Sinrod writing at FindLaw: "Sex sells, right? And that is true when it comes to domain names, and in particular the domain name sex.com, which reportedly just sold for $13 million."

ellaOne an abortifacient, not ?birth control?

Posted on October 28, 2010
OneNewsNow: "A coalition of pro-life groups has launched EllaCausesAbortions.com to emphasize the dangers of the new "morning-after" pill, ellaOne."

Andy McCarthy: Retired O?Connor still making trouble

Posted on October 28, 2010
Andy McCarthy writing at National Review Online: "The decision in the case, Gonzalez v. Arizona, was not actually rendered by Ninth Circuit judges, only one of whom agreed with it . . . the deciding vote was cast by the supposedly retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O?Connor...

UK: ?Mohammed? is the top boys? name because Muslims are becoming more religious, not because there are more Muslims

Posted on October 28, 2010
Damian Thompson writes at the Telegraph: "These religious young Muslims are more likely than their parents to name their boys after the man they (and the ever-respectful BBC) refer to simply as 'the Prophet'. This is a function of the Islamification of Britain?s Pakistani community, which was encouraged by the last government to identify itself by faith rather than national background...

Is it true that ?1 in 10 teens has had a same-sex partner??

Posted on October 28, 2010
Kevin DeYoung writing at The Gospel Coalition: "The only problem with this revelation is that it?s false . . . AOL speaks of 1 in 10 teens; the original article concludes 9.3% of sexually active adolescents reported a same-sex partner. There?s a big difference ...

Progressive bloggers? Q and A with the President about DADT and same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on October 28, 2010
Ann Althouse links to the transcript and comments at her blog: "He wonders why the Log Cabin Republican are pursuing their court case, when they could instead try to get a few Republican Senators to vote for repeal. He says he doesn't 'understand the logic of' using the courts when you could go to Congress, but of course he does...

Ind. parents told drop disabled kids at shelters

Posted on October 28, 2010
Associated Press: "Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can't be cared for at home, parents and advocates said."

FFRF wants prayer discontinued at Rowlett, TX council meetings

Posted on October 28, 2010
Rowlett Lakeshore Times: "The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to Rowlett Mayor John Harper on Aug. 27 requesting that that the council disallow invocations during city council meetings."

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