Religion & Law

Indianapolis responds to complaints about bakery not serving ?gay? customer

Posted on September 28, 2010
Fox 59: "The City of Indianapolis is responding to a complaint that a local bakery refused to make cupcakes for a gay customer. 'It's unacceptable. They are in the City Market, it's an equal accommodations establishment,' said Robert Vaden, spokesperson for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard (R)...

FL: ?Gay rights? fight keeps ramping up in Orange County

Posted on September 28, 2010
Orlando Sentinel (Central Florida Political Pulse): "Orange County commissioners Linda Stewart and Bill Segal could have an awkward lunch date Thursday. The pair of Democrats plan to meet and discuss the best way to get a human rights ordinance passed that includes protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as an extension of domestic partner benefits to county workers...

UK lesbian mother wins child support court battle in European Court of Human Rights

Posted on September 28, 2010
Metro.co.uk: "The woman, known as JM, was awarded £2,550 in damages and £15,275 in costs after the European Court of Human Rights ruled there was no justification for the discrimination . . . Her child maintenance payments to her ex-husband were assessed in 2001 ? but she was told a reduction if the absent parent had entered into a new relationship, whether married or not, did not apply to same-sex couples ...

The Christian Institute on Ed Miliband, new Labour Party leader

Posted on September 28, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Critics have raised concerns about Mr Miliband?s stance on traditional marriage after he pledged last month to redefine marriage and impose it on society . . . Mr Miliband says he is 'angry' that there is a free speech law that allows people to express their opposition to homosexual conduct...

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Jordan Lorence: Seven reasons why the NYT is wrong to criticize Iowa retention vote on justices who imposed same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on September 28, 2010
ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at Inside the Issues: "The New York Times in its Sunday edition criticized efforts in Iowa to remove three state supreme court justices for voting to redefine marriage to include same sex couples . . . 1. One court decision by judges can be so outrageous that the only appropriate response by voters is to remove them from office ...

U.S. should implement working group recommendations, says ACLU

Posted on September 28, 2010
ACLU: "The U.N. Working Group on the Rights of People of African Descent reported that, while the U.S. government has taken some steps to promote the rights of people of African descent, much more needs to be done to bring the U.S. into compliance with international treaty obligations...

Holy See upholds parental role in sex education

Posted on September 28, 2010
Zenit: "The Holy See is stressing the necessary role of parents in the lives of their children, especially in the area of education on sexuality. This was one of the points underlined by the Holy See delegation to the 2010 U.N. World Youth Conference in Leon, which took place Aug...

Controversy over ABA positions on marriage and immigration

Posted on September 28, 2010
Politico: "The American Bar Association, which was dogged for decades by criticism over a perceived liberal bent, is risking reigniting that debate by taking bold stands on a pair of hot-button social issues . . . Critics contend that the back-to-back moves on the polarizing issues of gay marriage and immigration show that the ABA is again sliding to the left politically and putting its reputation at risk...

Abortion opponents heating up Kansas Supreme Court races

Posted on September 28, 2010
"Abortion opponents are trying to remake the Kansas Supreme Court by ousting four of its seven justices."

100 pastors stand for freedom

Posted on September 28, 2010
Dakota Voice: "The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that pastors from approximately 100 churches nationwide participated in the Alliance Defense Fund?s third annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept 26." (includes pastors list)

?HRC & Courage Campaign reveal the real National Organization for Marriage?

Posted on September 28, 2010
Human Rights Campaign: "[T]he Human Rights Campaign, in collaboration with the Courage Campaign, unveiled 'NOM Exposed,' a live, interactive website which reveals NOM's deep anti-gay affiliations, its long connections to the Mormon and Catholic churches and its quest to keep voters in the dark about its financing...

Ill. Congresswoman calls for repealing Hyde Amendment; backs assertion that abortion is safer than childbirth

Posted on September 28, 2010
CNSNews: "Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion except in certain cases, should be repealed, and also said 'there?s no evidence' that increasing access to abortion services encourages people to get abortions...

Investigate racism in the Obama Justice Department

Posted on September 28, 2010
Andrew C. McCarthy writing at National Review Online: "In hair-raising testimony that named names, Coates described the Obama-Holder Justice Department?s policy of racially biased civil-rights enforcement. In so doing, he corroborated the prior account of his fellow whistleblower, J...

Axelrod: Abortion will ?certainly be an issue? in the election

Posted on September 28, 2010
The Huffington Post: "White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said on Monday that the debate over abortion -- specifically, the extreme views of some Republican candidates on the procedure -- will 'certainly be an issue' for Democrats in the fall elections...

New population study shows NY to lose two seats, Florida to gain two

Posted on September 28, 2010
CQ Politics: "Using population estimates released this summer by Esri, a demographic research company, the report finds that Missouri now appears likely to lose one of its nine seats and Minnesota will stay at eight seats instead of losing one. New York is now expected to lose two seats instead of one, with Florida gaining two instead of one...

Supreme Court to decide corporate privacy rights

Posted on September 28, 2010
ABC News: "The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would decide whether corporations like AT&T Inc can claim personal privacy to prevent the disclosure of government records about them under the freedom of information law."

IRS should investigate Okla. church that endorsed candidate, says Americans United

Posted on September 28, 2010
Common Dreams: "The Internal Revenue Service should investigate an Edmond, Okla., church whose pastor endorsed a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State . . . Blair issued the endorsements as part of 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday,' an annual event sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)...

Obama questioned on abortion, why he is a Christian

Posted on September 28, 2010
CNN: "'I am a Christian by choice,' Obama began, standing beneath a blazing sun, when asked why he is a Christian . . . The same questioner also asked Obama about regulations on early and late-term abortion, a politically charged issue in the abortion debate...

?A defense of free speech by American and Canadian Muslims?

Posted on September 28, 2010
From The American Muslim: "We, the undersigned, unconditionally condemn any intimidation or threats of violence directed against any individual or group exercising the rights of freedom of religion and speech; even when that speech may be perceived as hurtful or reprehensible...

U.S. House considers resolution condemning Mojave memorial theft

Posted on September 28, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "Liberty Counsel stands in support of U.S. House Resolution 1378, which condemns the theft of the Mojave Desert Cross Memorial."

Eight house churches shut down in Northern Syria

Posted on September 28, 2010
Christian News Today: "International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least eight evangelical churches in northern Syria have been closed by the Syrian government."

Temporary marriages stir Iraqi sensitivities

Posted on September 28, 2010
Middle East Online: "For a generation of women left widowed or unmarried by conflict, and for a generation of men who are unwilling or unable to take them as wives, mutta has emerged as a controversial alternative to conventional wedlock. 'Today's youth find it harder to afford marriage and build a family,' said Adel...

Jewish landlord alleges religious bias in Postville, Iowa

Posted on September 28, 2010
Leagle: "Menahem alleges that the city denied him due process because he is Jewish and that comments by city officials disparaging Jewish and Hispanic residents provided tacit approval of discrimination."

New York town wants local Muslims to dig up their cemetery

Posted on September 28, 2010
Huffington Post: "'What we would not want is an unauthorized cemetery," says Bob McCarthy, town supervisor of the Delaware County town of Sidney, population 5,993. 'We're taking care of a bunch of cemeteries, and they just came in and buried the bodies, and didn't go through ...

Dutch to complete talks on cabinet backed by anti-Islamist Freedom Party

Posted on September 28, 2010
Bloomberg: "The Dutch Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Alliance intend to reach an agreement today on forming a government with support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party, creating the Netherlands? first minority administration since World War II...

Charles J. Chaput: Religion, Journalism, and the New American Orthodoxy

Posted on September 27, 2010
Public Discourse has the text of an address by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver to the Religion Newswriters Association: "In practice?at least in the eyes of ordinary people I hear from every week?a new body of ideas seems to shape the limits of acceptable thought in American public life...

Twitter feeds and blogs tell hidden story of Mexico?s drug wars

Posted on September 27, 2010
Guardian: "A small army of bloggers and tweeters is filling the gaps left by traditional media in Mexico that are increasingly limiting their coverage of the country's drug wars because of pressure from the cartels . . . One editor on a regional paper ? who does not want to be named for security reasons ? has meticulously followed directives from the dominant local traffickers ever since a story she published about a shoot-out, based on an official report, earned her a death threat a couple of months ago...

National Organization for Marriage Puts Rhode Island?s Election Laws to the Fire

Posted on September 27, 2010
In Rhode Island, NOM wants to communicate with citizens and spend money to support the advancement of current issues by placing ads on the radio and TV and by posting content to its website. Rhode Island, however, through a series of laws, restricts the ability of groups such as NOM to act as a voice even though the Freedom of Speech clause in the Constitution guarantees this right...

Jim Towey: Pastors For ObamaCare?

Posted on September 27, 2010
Jim Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives for President George W. Bush from 2002-2006, writing in the Wall Street Journal, "Pastors For ObamaCare?" [full text via Google News]: "[O]n Tuesday President Obama and his director of faith-based initiatives convened exactly such a meeting to try to control political damage from the unpopular health-care law ...

Dearborn, MI: 4 missionaries acquitted of inciting crowd

Posted on September 27, 2010
Detroit Free Press: "A jury acquitted on Friday four Christian missionaries who were accused of inciting a crowd while videotaping themselves proselytizing to Muslims at the Dearborn Arab International Festival in June."

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