Religion & Law

New York-born Muslim man arrested in Hawaii in terror case

Posted on October 26, 2010
CNSNews: "A New York City-born man was ordered to return from Hawaii where he was arrested on charges he tried to join the U.S. military at a Times Square recruiting station so he could he could be deployed to Iraq, desert and fight with anti-American insurgency forces...

Ex-Muslim: Proposal that Islam is tolerant is fallacious, dangerous

Posted on October 26, 2010
Christian Post: "The Prophet Muhammad defined the state of peace and tolerance as a moment when the entire world submits to Allah and embraces Islam, said Hirsi Ali, who fled from her Muslim family and an arranged marriage in her early twenties and sought asylum in the Netherlands...

Pastors preach politics from the pulpit on eve of US vote

Posted on October 26, 2010
Al hdod: "Sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal group, the event was aimed at challenging the Internal Revenue Service, in hopes of sparking a legal battle on the constitutionality of the law enacted in 1954."

Congressional report casts doubt on constitutionality of Obamacare?s individual mandate

Posted on October 26, 2010
CNSNews: "The CRS report finds that the two primary defenses of the mandate ? that it is a tax and that Congress can impose it under the Commerce Clause ? to be problematic . . ."  (Read the report here: Requiring Individuals to Obtain Health Insurance - A Constitutional Analysis)

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Elton John to convert Rush Limbaugh on same sex ?marriage??

Posted on October 26, 2010
Telegraph: "Earlier this year [Elton John] caused outcry among the gay community when he performed, for a reported fee of $1 million, at the wedding of the splenetic right-wing American commentator Rush Limbaugh . . . Limbaugh, he says, is against gay marriage ? 'But then so is President Obama...

Obama restores the ?Creator? to his recitation of the Declaration of Independence

Posted on October 26, 2010
CNSNews: "On the campaign trail for Democrats in recent days, President Barack Obama said the word 'Creator' when quoting the Declaration of Independence, although he omitted the word in several earlier speeches this year. The addition of 'Creator' came after press reports noted the omission in Obama's earlier speeches...

Huge increase in abortion drugs entering Ireland

Posted on October 26, 2010
Irish Central: "Over 1,000 packages of abortion drugs were seized by Irish authorities last year as evidence emerges that significant numbers of pregnant woman are taking illegal drugs to induce abortion in Ireland."

Joel Olster on the G. Gordon Liddy Show: Right to a Christian roommate?

Posted on October 26, 2010
ADF attorney Joel Oster appeared on the G. Gordon Liddy Show to discuss this: Mich. woman accused of civil rights violation for seeking Christian roommate at church. | MP3 audio 12:42 mins

Survey reveals Muslim attitudes to polygamy

Posted on October 26, 2010
Middle East Online: "SingleMuslim.com, an online interactive community of more than 500,000 members seeking potential marriage partners, recently polled its members to find out what they think about polygamy. The results revealed Tuesday show that 26...

Serving two masters: Sharia law and the secular state

Posted on October 26, 2010
"The conflict between religious imperatives and the legal obligations one has as a citizen of a secular state ? a state that does not take into account the religious affiliations of its citizens when crafting laws ? is an old one . . . but in recent years it has been felt with increased force as Muslim immigrants to Western secular states evidence a desire to order their affairs, especially domestic affairs, by Shariah law rather than by the supposedly neutral law of a godless liberalism...

UK: Muslim preaches at Oxford college chapel

Posted on October 26, 2010
Asian Image: "For the first time in Pembroke College?s 500-year history, a Muslim, Dr Taj Hargey ? from the Summertown Islamic Congregation in Oxford ? was welcomed to deliver a sermon at its chapel."

Headscarf ban relaxed in Turkey but row rages on

Posted on October 26, 2010
AFP: "The relaxing of a ban on Turkish students wearing the Islamic headscarf to college has done little to silence a debate about the limits to the enforcement of secularism on campus."

Judge upholds fines against Baptists in Uzbekistan

Posted on October 26, 2010
Associated Baptists Press: "A judge in Uzbekistan refused Oct. 14 to overturn fines against five Baptists convicted of illegal worship, an international news service that specializes in religious freedom coverage reported Oct. 26."

Wilders anti-Islam message has European Jewish leaders worried

Posted on October 26, 2010
The Jewish Chronicle: "Populists 'want a Sweden for the Swedes, France for the French and Jews to Israel,' says Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress . . . Ron van der Wieken, the chairman of Amsterdam?s liberal Jewish congregation, says that 'perhaps more Jews support Wilders than they openly admit,' but 'when his party fiercely opposes halal slaughter, kosher butchering will not exist much longer as well...

State question seeks to ban Sharia law in Oklahoma

Posted on October 26, 2010
ocolly.com: "State Question 755 seeks to prevent Oklahoma courts from using international or Sharia law as precedents in deciding cases." | Ballotpedia: Oklahoma "Sharia Law Amendment", State Question 755 (2010)

Feds offer anti-bullying guidance to educators

Posted on October 26, 2010
The Morning Sentinel (ME): "The U.S. Department of Education issued guidance today to support educators in combating bullying in schools by clarifying when student bullying may violate federal education anti-discrimination laws." | Department of Education Press Release

Minn. district clarifies ?anti-bullying? policy

Posted on October 26, 2010
Crookston Times: "The board of the Anoka-Hennepin School District changed the anti-bullying and harassment policies to clearly list the protected classes, including race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, age, poverty and sexual orientation...

Finland decides not to regulate male circumcision

Posted on October 26, 2010
YLE: "Finland has decided not to regulate male circumcision. A bill legalising the practice has been in the works for seven years, but Minister of Health and Social Services Paula Risikko has decided not to bring it before Parliament. In Finland circumcisions are carried out for religious purposes by members of the Jewish, Muslim and Tartar communities...

Democratic ad: Catholic Church more concerned about abortion than poor

Posted on October 26, 2010
LifeNews: "A campaign postcard the Minnesota Democratic Party sent to voters in the Midwestern state is causing a strong reaction from pro-life advocates. It claims the Catholic Church is more concerned with abortion than helping the poor. The postcard features a large photo of a older but faceless Catholic priest holding a Bible and wearing the clearly-seen Roman Catholic collar...

Joanna L. Grossman: ?Will gays and lesbians in Florida finally gain the right to adopt children??

Posted on October 26, 2010
Joanna L. Grossman writing at FindLaw: "Florida's Attorney General just announced that the state will not appeal a recent ruling in which an appellate court struck down the state's longstanding ban on adoption by gays and lesbians. This ruling, In re Adoption of X...

Sen. Coburn: GOP should repeatedly attempt to repeal health reform

Posted on October 26, 2010
The Hill: "Senate Republicans should repeatedly offer bills to repeal health reform even if it's in vain, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Tuesday."

The irrelevant churches

Posted on October 26, 2010
Rev. Michael P. Orsi writing at CNSNews: "Religion has traditionally acted as a moral compass for society. Priests, ministers and rabbis at one time led crusades against public displays of indecent sexual expression. These interventions were welcomed since they helped enforce standards for good human behavior ...

ADF attorney Joel Oster and Nancy Hanes of the Fair Housing Ctr. of W. Michigan on the Frank Beckman Show: Civil rights violation for seeking Christian roommate?

Posted on October 26, 2010
ADF attorney Joel Oster and Nancy Hanes with the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan appeared on the Frank Beckmann Show to discuss this: Mich. woman accused of civil rights violation for seeking Christian roommate at church. | MP3 audio 17:29 mins

Book review of ?When Gay People Get Married?

Posted on October 26, 2010
William C. Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation and Ruth Institute Board Member, reviews "When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage" by M. V. Lee Badgett: "The economist seems to think that personal interviews with thirty-four homosexuals, representing nineteen couples, can provide a quantitative understanding of the social consequences of Netherlands? experiment with same-sex marriage ...

?Lambda Legal urges court: Do not reinstate DADT?

Posted on October 26, 2010
Lambda Legal: "Lambda Legal today filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to leave in place pending appeal the injunction a federal district court judge issued against enforcement of the U.S. military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, saying that the policy's impact extends far beyond those in uniform and that continuing it would do irreparable harm to lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans...

Trafficking, sexual exploitation of Haitian children in the Dominican Republic on the rise

Posted on October 26, 2010
Miami Herald: "Since the earthquake more than 7,300 boys and girls have been smuggled out of their homeland to the Dominican Republic by traffickers profiting on the hunger and desperation of Haitian children, and their families. In 2009, the figure was 950, according to one human rights group that monitors child trafficking at 10 border points...

Prop 8 ban on same-sex ?marriage? has no legitimate basis, Americans United tells Appeals Court

Posted on October 26, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "In a friend-of-the court brief, Americans United advised the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that opposition to marriage equality for gay couples reflects the same baseless and inappropriate considerations that once were used to deny marriage rights to slaves and interracial couples...

NC: Voter reports problem with ballot machine

Posted on October 26, 2010
Sun Journal: "A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended."

Sharia hysteria? Some in U.S. call for ban on Islamic law

Posted on October 26, 2010
Religion Link: "Anxieties over Muslims in America have emerged in a spate of hate crimes as well as in high-profile controversies like the one over the construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero. Now some politicians and activists say Islam?s legal code, known as shariah, is another threat to the United States that must be countered...

ACLU calls Illinois recall proposal ? what else? ? unconstitutional

Posted on October 26, 2010
The Daily Caller: "Under constituents? heat to deal with corruption exemplified by the multiple-count indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), Illinois legislators on Oct. 15 approved placing a recall of governors law on the November 2 ballot. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is rattling its sword, however, warning that the measure would lead to expensive litigation ...

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