Religion & Law

In U.S., confidence in newspapers, TV news remains a rarity

Posted on August 16, 2010
Gallup: "Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news -- with no more than 25% of Americans saying they have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007...

Suit challenges library meeting room rules

Posted on August 16, 2010
Religion Clause: "Last week, Ilene Vick, author of the book Personality Based Evangelism, filed a federal lawsuit against the Putnam County, Tennessee Library challenging its rules on use of its meeting rooms . . . Alliance Defense Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit...

9th Circuit puts brakes on decision that struck down Calif. marriage amendment

Posted on August 16, 2010
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Monday put the brakes on an Aug. 18 implementation date for U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker?s order overthrowing the will of 7 million California voters with regard to marriage."

Princeton to host ?vigorous? abortion debate

Posted on August 16, 2010
Zenit: "A conference at Princeton University will draw together people from opposite sides of the abortion issue to engage in 'vigorous debate' and explore ways of bridging the divide. Jennifer Miller, executive director of Bioethics International, who is co-chairing the conference, noted that most of the people who have already registered stand on the pro-choice side...

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?Gay member of Catholic nonprofit told he cannot be president because he?s gay?

Posted on August 16, 2010
Post-Dispatch (St. Louis): "A board member of a Catholic nonprofit organization who was told he could not become board president because he is gay is trying to rally support to modify the group's rules. Jeffrey Goldone, who has been a vice president on the Society of St...

Yakima to set Sept. 7 for strip club project appeal

Posted on August 16, 2010
Yakima Herald-Republic: "The Yakima City Council is expected to set a date of Sept. 7 to hear an appeal from a businessman who was denied an adult business license for a strip club."

IL: Ten Commandments monument in Marion?

Posted on August 16, 2010
WSIL TV: "Marion is considering a project that could spark some controversy. A local man wants to put a monument in the city square inscribed with the Ten Commandments."

SC: Spartanburg County Council adopts prayer policy

Posted on August 16, 2010
WSPA: "Monday night, Spartanburg County Council voted 4 to 3 in favor of adopting a prayer policy . . . The new policy says an invocation will continue, however, 'no person shall proselytize or advance any one faith or disparage any other faith.'"

Questions and answers on mosque near ground zero

Posted on August 16, 2010

Alan Sears: Perry verdict is calculated not just to change, but to eliminate marriage

Posted on August 16, 2010
Inside the Issues with Alan Sears: "If allowed to stand, Judge Walker?s opinion will drastically rewrite all existing understandings of marriage. It states that, 'Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage,' and asserts the U.S. Constitution provides a fundamental right to same-sex 'marriage...

Senator Reid opposes NY Muslim center site

Posted on August 16, 2010
Reuters: "The U.S. Senate's senior Democrat broke with President Barack Obama on Monday over the proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque in New York City, with Senator Harry Reid saying it should be built elsewhere."

Same-sex parents in Dutch textbooks

Posted on August 16, 2010
Sueddeutsche.de [Google translation]: "Papa and Dad buy a guinea pig. The pet store is the price of ? 17.95 a discount of 20 percent. How much [muset] Jan's fathers pay? Similar [word problems could] in [the] future be in Dutch mathematics [textbooks] ...

Same-sex civil unions becoming more popular in Stuttgart, Germany

Posted on August 16, 2010
Sudwest Presse [Google Translation]: "Contrary to the nationwide rule that same-sex couples can close their partnership only to District Offices, the responsibility was transferred [in] Stuttgart [to] the registry office . . . 'It is the logical step [toward] the equal treatment of all people,' says Klaus-Peter Murawski Mayor Administration...

Christian group promises to keep evangelizing at mosque

Posted on August 16, 2010
Connecticut Post: "After igniting a firestorm of controversy last week, a Christian gospel outreach group, Operation Save America Connecticut, said Friday it is not done preaching the gospel outside a Fairfield Avenue mosque."

Namibia: Mother on trial for abortion ?wanted to regulate bleeding?

Posted on August 16, 2010
Allgemeine Zeitung [Google Translation]: "Ester Amunyela (21) . . . who last week allegedly initiated the birth of her seven months old fetus and . . . disposed of [the baby] in a garbage can, was [made her case before the] Magistrate Court in Swakopmund...

President Obama to speak at Catholic Xavier University

Posted on August 16, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "President Obama is slated to speak at Louisiana's Xavier University, a Catholic institution of higher education, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina August 29 . . . However, a watchdog organization for Catholic higher education, the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), has criticized the university?s decision to provide a platform for the strongly pro-abortion president...

?Court halts Calif gay marriages pending appeal?

Posted on August 16, 2010
"Same-sex weddings in California are on hold indefinitely after a federal appeals court blocked the unions Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban."

Haaretz report on Ground Zero mosque move is ?complete misinformation?

Posted on August 16, 2010
New York Daily News: UPDATE from our Sam Goldsmith, who's been following this issue and just got off the phone with Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the project: 'That's complete misinformation. That's crazy,' El-Gamal said. 'That's totally totally wrong...

Boston Catholic weddings plunged 55% over decade

Posted on August 16, 2010
Eagle-Tribune: "According to statistics from the Archdiocese of Boston, only 3,727 couples were married in Catholic churches last year, less than half the 8,343 marriages celebrated in 2000. Across the border in New Hampshire, figures from past years weren't immediately available, but church officials said the 403 weddings celebrated last year in the Diocese of Manchester also represented a steep decline...

Target rejects ?gay? demands

Posted on August 16, 2010
Associated Press: "Target Corp. has decided against giving money to gay-friendly causes to quiet the uproar over a $150,000 donation that helped support a Minnesota governor candidate who opposes gay marriage, a national gay rights group said Monday."

Religious Freedom Coalition chairman takes Obama to task on mega mosque at Ground Zero

Posted on August 16, 2010
Religious Freedom Coalition chairman William J. Murray: "I am a personal witness to the double standard of forced Islamic domination in a large part of the world coupled with a demand for special rights fir Muslims that goes beyond tolerance in the United States...

ACLU again refuses to ask Supreme Court to review Ten Commandments case

Posted on August 16, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "The ACLU has allowed the time to expire without filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting review of the Ten Commandments case in ACLU v. Grayson County, Kentucky. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which upheld the Ten Commandments in the 'Foundations of American Law and Government Display,' now stands...

Wisconsin ?God Squad? gets cease-and-desist letter from Best Buy

Posted on August 16, 2010
Associated Press: "Father Luke Strand at the Holy Family Parish in Fond Du Lac says he has received a cease-and-desist letter from the electronics retailer. At issue is Strand's black Volkswagen Beetle with door stickers bearing the name 'God Squad' in a logo similar to that of Best Buy's Geek Squad, a group of electronics troubleshooters...

Turkey?s Christians hold historic church service

Posted on August 16, 2010
Christian Today: "Turkey allowed Christians to hold a rare service at a politically sensitive monastery for the first time since the modern-day country's creation nearly nine decades ago."

Will pornography rule private domains or will online gaming get its own domain as well?

Posted on August 16, 2010
Breitbart: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has recently granted the pornography industry with a domain dedicated solely to pornographic sites. Analysts are wondering if the same thing will happen in the online gambling industry as well...

Study: ?Teen sex not that bad an idea?

Posted on August 16, 2010
The Money Times: "Parents need not worry about their teenagers' sex lives as long as the relationship is with the committed romantic partner, findings of a new research suggest . . . Such youngsters perform similar to the ones who abstain from having sex...

Men who earn less than women more likely to cheat: study

Posted on August 16, 2010
Breitbart: "Men who earn less than their female partner are more likely to cheat on her, a study published Monday found. Cheating may be a man's way of trying to restore his gender identity when he feels it is under threat, Christin Munsch, a sociology doctorate candidate at Cornell University, says in the study, which she authored and presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association...

Pollster: Most ?gay marriage? polls skewed

Posted on August 16, 2010
Michael Foust reports at Baptist Press: "A leading pollster whose company favors liberal causes says most polls on "gay marriage" can't be trusted because Americans -- not wanting to be labeled intolerant -- are hesitant to state their position on the issue to a live interviewer ...

Agreement reached in DADT litigation

Posted on August 16, 2010
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network: "Victor Fehrenbach's attorneys have reached an agreement with the Air Force and DOJ. There are three key points: 1) The Secretary (or his designee) cannot reach a discharge decision until after August 27; 2) If the decision is discharge, Fehrenbach will have 21 day notice...

Video ? Alliance Defense Fund Weekly Update ? 2010 August 16

Posted on August 16, 2010
ADF?s Weekly Update is on YouTube here:

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