Religion & Law

Troopers not immune in pro-life suit

Posted on October 22, 2010
OneNewsNow: "The [4th Circuit] recently [denied] several state police officers' request for immunity from a lawsuit that stems from an incident in August 2008 when they handcuffed and arrested a group of peaceful pro-lifers. . . . [ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg] says that request was made before his group 'even had a chance to undergo discovery...

Grand Rapids woman accused of civil rights violation for roommate search

Posted on October 22, 2010
WZZM 13: "The Alliance Defense Fund, a group of Christian attorneys and other organizations, is representing the woman. The group's lawyers argue it is absurd to penalize a woman for privately seeking a Christian roommate at her church."

Jeremy Dys: That pesky First Amendment also covers Christians

Posted on October 22, 2010
Jeremiah G. Dys, president and general counsel of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, writing in The Charleston Gazette and at the Engage Family Blog: "Christians should never be penalized for expressing their religious beliefs. They have the same First Amendment rights as everyone else...

CA: Principal alleges religious discrimination against Goleta Union School District

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Santa Barbara Independent: "Said ADF Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco], 'It?s ridiculous to punish and fire a Christian administrator simply because he wanted to honor teachers at an event that includes prayer. The district?s contention that he was somehow violating the Constitution is not only unfounded, but absurd, as the video itself demonstrates...

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School prayer ban ignites backlash

Posted on October 22, 2010
Chattanooga Times Free Press: "Praying silently, in secret or off school property won't cut it for a group of vocal protesters upset over this week's ban of public prayer at Hamilton County high school football games . . . Brown said he is waiting to hear back from both the Christian Law Association in Seminole, Fla...

Book review: The wheel of history turns to the gods: Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?

Posted on October 22, 2010
At Discover Magazine, Razib Khan reviews Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth by Eric Kaufmann: "The central idea of the book is derived from the fact that the endogenous growth rates of religious segments of developed societies can often be rather high...

No ?Christian? roommate for churchgoer

Posted on October 22, 2010
WOOD TV: "The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan filed a housing discrimination charge against a Grand Rapids woman who advertised for a Christian roommate on her church bulletin board. The 31-year-old woman's attorney, who works for the Alliance Defense Fund , said this is a blatant violation of her First Amendment right to freely associate...

Parents stopped from forcing Texas teen to have abortion

Posted on October 22, 2010
Alliance Defense Fund allied attorneys representing a 16-year-old girl secured a temporary restraining order Monday from a Texas court that blocks her parents from forcing her to have an abortion against her will.

Do churches violate the tax code by speaking out on judicial retention votes?

Posted on October 22, 2010
Well, in this case, I?m not so sure that the church is violating the tax code by speaking out on judicial retention . . . In this issue, with judicial retention, it is not clear to me that the Justices up for a retention vote are ?candidates.?

Advocates speak out against abortion in Pasadena

Posted on October 22, 2010
San Gabriel Valley Tribune: "About a dozen people stood outside a Pasadena Planned Parenthood to speak out against abortions on Friday. 'We just wanted to come here to share the gospel and show ladies there are other options,' said Evelyn Vane, a sophomore at Province Christ College...

PA: Newborn child taken away because of a bagel

Posted on October 22, 2010
ABC: "Child protective services in Pennsylvania were at her doorstep, taking her 1-day-old baby because they thought Liz was abusing drugs . . . Jameson Hospital in New Castle, Pennsylvania, tests mothers of newborns for drugs. State law allows it, but what the hospital did not consider more closely was poppy seeds...

Republicans pledge to oppose normalization of homosexual behavior in the military

Posted on October 22, 2010
CNSNews: "The Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate have said they will continue to oppose any attempt to repeal the legislative ban on homosexuals serving in the military."

Iowa Justice Cady defends same-sex ?marriage? decision

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Messenger: "Justice Mark Cady, of Fort Dodge, said Thursday night that Iowa and the United States has over the years held onto some practices, like segregation, that are eventually discarded as knowledge and attitudes change."

Average student debt increases

Posted on October 22, 2010
New York Times: "College seniors who graduated in 2009 had an average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6 percent from 2008, according to an annual report from the Project on Student Debt."

In the military, racial integration and sexual liberation are not the same thing

Posted on October 22, 2010
Peter Sprigg writing at the FRC Blog: "Homosexuality is a behavioral characteristic; being black is a superficial matter of skin color. The racial integration of the military was successful precisely because it proved that the behavior of black soldiers did not differ from that of whites...

Australia: Abortion clinic raided after Hep C infections

Posted on October 22, 2010
ABC News: "Police in Melbourne are executing a warrant at an abortion clinic, linked to a doctor suspected of infecting dozens of women with hepatitis C."

CO: Editorial urges school district to drop rosary case

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Gazette (Colorado Springs): "Mann Middle School officials, standing firm on an odd new policy, are placing the taxpayers of District 11 in needless danger of expensive litigation the district will almost certainly lose. It?s all because school administrators don?t want students wearing rosaries outside of their shirts...

FRC fears Iowa marriage ruling sets precedent

Posted on October 22, 2010
Des Moines Register: "'This is a bigger issue, not just about Iowa,' [FRC president Tony Perkins] said in an interview. 'What you see happening here is a precedent being set, and other states will feel comfortable following it.'"

Finland: Supreme Court fines male pastor fined for refusing to work with female pastor

Posted on October 22, 2010
Helsingen Sanomat: "The Finnish Supreme Court found on Friday that a conservative clergyman of the Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland, who was a guest pastor at a Sunday service of the Hyvinkää congregation of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, had been guilty of gender discrimination when he refused to work alongside a woman pastor, Petra Pohjanraitio, in 2007...

Canada: ?Fate of banned anti-gay activist rests with judge?

Posted on October 22, 2010
Calgary Herald: "A judge will have to decide whether University of Calgary security had the authority to charge a man with trespassing for distributing anti-gay pamphlets on campus two years ago . . . Fedorchuk said the issue is freedom of speech and this incident is connected directly to a similar charge on Jan...

Florida AG: No appeal to keep same-sex adoption ban

Posted on October 22, 2010
"Attorney General Bill McCollum announced his decision today, the last day he could ask the Florida Supreme Court to review the 3rd District Court of Appeal's decision."

Polish bishops debate discipline for Catholic lawmakers who support in vitro fertilization

Posted on October 22, 2010
CatholicCulture.org: "Poland?s bishops are apparently divided on the appropriate disciplinary treatment for Catholic lawmakers who support a bill that would provide government support for in vitro fertilization."

Former Muslim: Mullahs, imams coming to Christ in West Africa

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Christian Post: "Hundreds of imams and mullahs from West Africa have been coming to Christ in the past decade and in turn sharing the Gospel with their peers, said a former Muslim who witnesses to Muslim scholars and clerics."

Church of Ireland bishop: protect religious freedom

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Religious freedoms should not be relegated below other rights, a Church of Ireland bishop has said. Bishop Kenneth Good warned that as values of pluralism and the promotion of equality and diversity are 'considered to be paramount', religion can be reduced to simply a personal matter...

UK: Christian BA worker takes cross case to Europe

Posted on October 22, 2010
UKPA: "A Christian British Airways employee from south west London who has waged a long legal battle with the airline over the wearing of a cross is to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights, it has been revealed." | For more information, see this post at The Christian Institute.

Kenya: Christian colleges use discriminatory criteria (acc. to new Constitution) in admitting new students

Posted on October 22, 2010
Daily Nation: "Nearly two months after the new Constitution became law, Christian colleges continue to publish admissions information that suggests they are still discriminating against applicants who do not subscribe to their faith. It?s against the Constitution to discriminate in admission on the basis of religion or belief...

Indonesia: Buddhist statue draws Islamists? ire

Posted on October 22, 2010
Jakarta Globe: "Buddhists are the latest minority religious group to feel the heat, being at the center of a festering row over a large Buddha statue on the roof of a temple in the North Sumatran city of Tanjung Balai. City council chief Surya Dharma said on Friday the governor and the foundation in charge of the temple had agreed to remove the statue after complaints from an Islamic group...

CT: Churches exempt from some employment laws

Posted on October 22, 2010
Connecticut Law Tribune: "[In Thibodeau v. American Baptist Churches of Connecticut, 120 Conn. App. 666 (2010),] Timothy Thibodeau, an ordained Baptist minister, claimed that American Baptist Churches of Connecticut (Baptist Churches), which provides placement services to Baptist ministers, committed several torts when it declined to recommend him to congregations seeking ministers ...

Historic Conn. town says synagogue might be too revolutionary

Posted on October 22, 2010
Deseret News (LA Times): "The scenic village green of Litchfield has long symbolized the charms of Connecticut small-town life. Settled in 1721, it hosts tourists drawn by its Revolutionary War history . . . This summer, a federal judge ruled that sufficient evidence of 'discrimination against Jewish people' may exist, warranting a trial over the Borough of Litchfield's denial of a Hasidic group's application to build a synagogue on the west end of Litchfield Green...

Expelled Christians remain separated from Moroccan foster kids

Posted on October 22, 2010
The Christian Post: "Seven months after being kicked out of Morocco, more than a dozen Christian parents have still been unable to see their foster children. And the chances that they'll ever be reunited with them seem very slim . . . They claim that the Village of Hope was legally registered and thus mass deportations of its workers violated the protections afforded to associations under the North African country's administrative law, [Roger Kiska], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, explained...

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