Religion & Law

Mike Pence may leave GOP leadership

Posted on October 27, 2010
Politico: "House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana is considering stepping down from his post in the GOP leadership in preparation for a possible bid for president or governor in 2012."

Kansas Supreme Court quashes subpoenas seeking abortion records

Posted on October 27, 2010
Courthouse News Service: "Kansas health employees are not required to hand over abortion records to former state Attorney General Phill Kline or testify about the contents of those reports, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled." | Kansas v. Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, No...

Robert Wright: ?Islamophobia and homophobia?

Posted on October 27, 2010
Robert Wright writing in The New York Times / Opinionator: "[H]owever 'natural' this irrational fear, it's dangerous. As Islamophobia grows, it alienates Muslims, raising the risk of homegrown terrorism ? and homegrown terrorism heightens the Islamophobia, which alienates more Muslims, and so on: a vicious circle that could carry America into the abyss...

2008 ?Girls Gone Wild? lawsuit morphs into free speech test case

Posted on October 27, 2010
"At issue before the appeals court are not the facts of the original case but whether attorneys for the women can keep their clients? names private as they pursue the original litigation. The original complaint, which was filed in a Florida court in March 2008, identified the plaintiffs by their initials only...

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MI: Pro-life advocates push for proper burial of ?aborted fetuses?

Posted on October 27, 2010
Detroit Free Press: "Anti-abortion activists who recovered the remains of identifiably human aborted fetuses from trash dumpsters outside an abortion clinic in Lansing earlier this year called today for legislation requiring cremation or burial of all such remains...

UK atheists launch census campaign

Posted on October 27, 2010
Politics.uk: "Atheists are set to launch a campaign calling on people who are not religious to explicitly say so during the next census. Data from the last census is constantly used by journalists and politicians too promote and defend various policies, but secular groups are concerned that many Brits describe themselves as Christian because of their cultural heritage...

Red tape rising

Posted on October 27, 2010
Conn Carroll writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: "[I]f you total up all of the new regulations already passed by the Obama administration last year, using their own cost estimates, fiscal 2010 saw the largest increase in regulatory burdens placed on the U...

UK: Advocates unite for final push on marriage redefinition

Posted on October 27, 2010
Politics.uk: "The new unity among gay rights groups comes as the Equal Love campaign, which is designed to trigger a court battle on the issue, began its first stage of action. Campaign group Stonewall, arguably the leading gay rights group, announced that it would now start to campaign for gay marriage this afternoon after months of controversy...

FRC Lecture by Pat Fagan on Oct. 27th: Christian chastity vs Sex in the City: America?s future

Posted on October 27, 2010
One of the greatest strengths of Western civilization (which comes straight from Christianity) is monogamy. This marital relationship became the DNA of the whole social structure of the West and all its societies. But for the last 200 years, there's been an assault on monogamy as part of the agenda to change our culture...

Eastern Europe versus Soros? Open Society Institute

Posted on October 27, 2010
Srdja Trifkovic writing at Chronicles Magazine: "George Soros can claim, more than any other individual, that his endeavors have helped turn the lands of 'Real Socialism' in central and eastern Europe away from their ancestors, their cultural and spiritual roots...

October 27th: International Religious Freedom Day

Posted on October 27, 2010
VOA News: "On October 27th, we observe International Religious Freedom day and reaffirm a basic tenet of human rights: Freedom of Religion. The idea of Freedom of Religion is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that 'everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance...

Planned Parenthood President: Fewer people saves gov?t money

Posted on October 27, 2010
LifeNews: "'I think it?s important, Bill, to understand that unlike some other issues of cost, birth control is one of those issues that actually saves the government money,' said Richards, according to Lifesite. 'So an investment in covering birth control actually in the long run is a huge cost savings because women don?t have children that they weren?t planning on having and all the sort of attendant cost for unplanned pregnancy...

FRC Action Vote: Congressional Scorecard

Posted on October 27, 2010
Vote Scorecard: Examining the pro-family voting record of your members of Congress.

California funds less embryonic, more adult stem cell research

Posted on October 27, 2010
LifeNews: "The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) again seems to realize that adult stem cells have a distinct advantage over embryonic stem cells, including the best opportunity of helping patients."

Germany hopes to make forced marriage a crime

Posted on October 27, 2010
Associated Press: "Germany's government on Wednesday proposed criminalizing forced marriage, a tradition that some Muslim immigrant families impose on their children, even ones who were raised in Germany's more liberal society."

France?s parliament approves pension reform

Posted on October 27, 2010
Houston Chronicle (AP): "France's parliament granted final approval Wednesday to a bill raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, a reform that has infuriated the country's powerful unions and touched off weeks of protests and strikes."

New report issued on impact of blasphemy laws

Posted on October 27, 2010
Freedom House Press Release: "Domestic blasphemy laws, far beyond their clear violation of freedom of expression, are responsible for broad violations of human rights, particularly when applied in weak democracies and authoritarian systems, according to a study released by Freedom House today...

Bloody video games may get same age curbs as porn in Supreme Court case

Posted on October 27, 2010
Bloomberg: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 2 will consider whether the First Amendment permits a California law that would bar the sale of 'Postal II' and other violent video games to minors . . . A ruling favoring California could mark a major shift in the high court?s reading of the First Amendment...

Dollar printing feeding China inflation: minister

Posted on October 27, 2010
Breitbart: "Rampant issuance of dollars by the United States is saddling China with 'imported inflation', Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday."

Needing students, Maine school hunts in China

Posted on October 27, 2010
New York Times: "Faced with dropping enrollment and revenue, the high school in this remote Maine town has fixed on an unlikely source of salvation: Chinese teenagers."

Obama admin?s bullying agenda

Posted on October 27, 2010
EducationNews.org: "Today's article shows how the Obama administration is deliberately taking the Title IX federal law and distorting the verbiage to include gender identity . . . the Obama administration is threatening public school educators with the USDOE?s misinterpretation of the Title IX law and making educators fear prosecution unless they promote the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) lifestyle as normal...

Liberty Counsel asks Supreme Court to hear case on Ten Commandments display

Posted on October 27, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "Today Liberty Counsel filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, requesting that the Court take on a case it heard in 2005 involving the 'Foundations of American Law and Government' display ('Foundations Display'), which includes the Ten Commandments, on two county courthouse walls in McCreary and Pulaski Counties in Kentucky...

Bucks County, PA residents cry foul over ballots

Posted on October 27, 2010
Bucks County Courier Times: "A trio of Bucks County residents backed by the county Republican committee say they have evidence linking Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy's campaign to a scheme to flood the county voter registration office with fraudulent applications for absentee ballots...

Video: US woman faces fine for ?Christian roommate? ad

Posted on October 27, 2010
The Christian Institute: "An American woman who advertised at her church for a Christian roommate is facing a legal case and massive fines after her action was branded 'illegal' . . . [Joel Oster], from ADF, said: 'Clearly this woman has a right to pick and choose who she wants to live with'...

Group asks IRS to probe Christian voter guides

Posted on October 27, 2010
Christian Post: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) submitted the request Tuesday, accusing The Pray in Jesus Name Project of passing out overtly partisan guides that rate politicians as faith-friendly or anti-Jesus . . . The probe request comes weeks after ...

Federal Judge repeals DADT policy

Posted on October 27, 2010
Fourth Estate Newspaper: “Federal Judge Virginia Phillips ruled the ?don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy of the U.S. military be discontinued Oct. 12, which instituted a worldwide ban on enforcing the policy . . . According to Alexander Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, a similar constitutional case in August showed the government is not forced [...

Court: Students? circulate your flyers?Christians, too

Posted on October 27, 2010
A federal court ruled Tuesday that Holly Area School District officials can no longer unconstitutionally prohibit an elementary school student and his mother, represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, from distributing invitations for other students to attend a Christian summer camp.

In recent years, DOJ declined to fight for federal laws at least 13 times

Posted on October 27, 2010
At the constitutional level, defending acts of Congress is viewed as part of the president's Article II duty to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," presumably including laws with which the president disagrees. And allowing a law to die simply because a single judge strikes it down is also viewed as bad form -- a backdoor way for a president to veto a law...

Court: Mich. student can hand out church flyers

Posted on October 27, 2010
Christian Post: "Applauding the ruling, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel David Cortman commented, 'Christians shouldn?t be discriminated against and silenced because of their beliefs. The court made the right decision by acknowledging students? and community groups? free speech rights and ruling that the district?s viewpoint-based ban on the distribution of literature with a religious theme is unconstitutional...

UK: Mohammed is now the most popular name for baby boys ahead of Jack and Harry

Posted on October 27, 2010
Daily Mail: "Mohammed is now the most popular name for newborn boys in England and Wales ahead of Jack and Harry, it emerged today. The name, when 12 different spellings were included, was given to 7,549 youngsters in 2009, official statistics revealed...

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