Religion & Law

Poll: 7 in 10 Americans oppose Ground Zero mosque

Posted on August 13, 2010
The Christian Post: "According to the new survey, which came out Wednesday, nearly 70 percent of all Americans oppose the controversial plan to build the 15-story Cordoba House just two blocks from the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. Just 29 percent, meanwhile, favor construction of the Muslim facility...

Sears ignores calls to stop selling porn

Posted on August 13, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Retail giant Sears, which was exposed last week for marketing pornographic posters through their website, could be facing a boycott if they continue their refusal to remove the products."

Mark M. Trapp: A marriage proposal

Posted on August 13, 2010
Mark M. Trapp writing in The American Spectator: "I hereby propose the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: Section 1 Marriage in each of the individual states shall be defined by the elected legislature of that state, or by the people thereof, except that marriage shall not be defined to include more or less than two persons...

?Judge doubts gay marriage ban?s backers can appeal? ? Dale Carpenter comments

Posted on August 13, 2010
The Raw Story: "'We are confident we do have standing to seek the appellate review here, and we realize this case has just begun and we will get the decision overturned on appeal,' said [Jim Campbell], an Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who is part of the legal team defending Proposition 8 ...

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Obama Administration clears itself on illegally lobbying for abortion in Kenya

Posted on August 13, 2010
LifeNews: "The Obama administration has cleared itself of illegally lobbying for abortion in Kenya when it spent $23 million financing groups participating in the Yes campaign supporting the draft constitution Kenyans approved earlier this month that would essentially allow unlimited abortions...

Dr. Jim Garlow: Losses and consequences ? the Cal. marriage ruling

Posted on August 13, 2010
Dr. Jim Garlow writing at Renewing American Leadership: "Once the government has a vested interested in affirming and protecting so-called gay 'marriage,' three losses become apparent. First, there is a loss of personal freedoms; secondly, there is a loss of parental rights; and thirdly, there is a loss of religious liberties...

China: Pastor Wang Dao interrogated and released; Liangren church forced to move again

Posted on August 13, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Following two years of repeated evictions and harassment, Liangren House Church faced more uncertainty this week, when the church was evicted from the Zhuying Hotel on August 11th, and head Pastor Wang Dao was harassed, detained, and interrogated...

ADF backs up Boy Scouts

Posted on August 13, 2010
Christian Web News: "ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said, 'Groups such as the Boy Scouts shouldn?t be punished because of their beliefs. The First Amendment simply does not allow it. The ACLU?s disinformation letter badly distorts the recent decision from the U...

Alan Sears on Focus on the Family Radio Broadcast

Posted on August 13, 2010
ADF News Center: "You may have just heard [Alan Sears] on the Focus on the Family radio broadcast. As he explained on the program, religious freedom in America is under attack by advocates of the homosexual agenda. The goal of these radical activists is to silence and punish Christians so that they can force their agenda on our families, schools, churches, and even our military...

The problem with billionaire philanthropists

Posted on August 13, 2010
The Huffington Post: "Philanthropy is vital to fill the gaps in a fraying safety net and keep arts organizations afloat, especially in hard times. But this giving can also bankroll sharply ideological groups or fund large-scale efforts to revamp public policy - allowing the rich to exert influence on top of the vast sums they already spend to sway elections ...

Fox News poll: Same-sex ?marriage,? immigration, WikiLeaks

Posted on August 13, 2010
Fox News: "Despite a majority opposing gay marriage specifically, most believe there should be some form of legal recognition for same-sex marriages (66 percent). Thirty-seven percent of voters think gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry legally, up from 33 percent in 2009 and 20 percent in 2004...

Tim Wildmon: A biased ruling on ?gay marriage? in California

Posted on August 13, 2010
Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association, writing in the Los Angeles Times: "The Constitution envisioned a system in which the judiciary would serve to check the excesses of the legislative or executive branches. But today, federal judges have far exceeded their intended role, becoming little gods in our republic...

Singapore launches ?dating campaign? to counter low birth rate

Posted on August 13, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The government of Singapore announced that it has asked for tenders from communications agencies to produce a television commercial to "promote dating and come up with a 'unique dating concept' to get singles to interact" in a bid to deal with the city-state's low birth and marriage rates...

Defenders of Calif. marriage amendment will appeal judge?s decision on motion for stay

Posted on August 12, 2010
"The Protectmarriage.com legal team will appeal immediately to the 9th Circuit to stay the trial court?s decision until this case is concluded."

?Judge keeps gay marriages in California on hold?

Posted on August 12, 2010
"A federal judge has ruled that gay marriages in California should remain on hold until at least Aug. 18."

Center for Reproductive Rights granted TRO in challenge to Louisiana abortion restrictions

Posted on August 12, 2010
Center for Reproductive Rights: "Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights has been granted a temporary restraining order in the federal challenge we recently filed against two abortion restrictions passed by the Louisiana state legislature."

Benedictine monks suing state over casket sales

Posted on August 12, 2010
KLFY (AP): "An order of Benedictine monks sued Louisiana regulators Thursday for blocking them from selling handmade caskets because the monks are not licensed funeral directors." | Institute for Justice Web Release and video

Bus tour opposing abortion in health care raises ire of ?pro-life? Democrats

Posted on August 12, 2010
LifeNews: "The bus tour the Susan B. Anthony List is sponsoring through the Midwest to highlight the way in which some 'pro-life' Democrats voted for the pro-abortion health care bill is raising the ire of the House members from Indiana and Ohio. They are responding to the criticism with assertions pro-life groups aren't pro-life...

Arizona to appeal ruling on same-sex health benefits

Posted on August 12, 2010
The Arizona Republic: "Arizona will appeal a federal judge's ruling that Arizona cannot deny family health insurance to employees' same-sex partners, officials said Wednesday."

ADF rebuts ACLU demand that Colo. school district exclude Boy Scouts

Posted on August 12, 2010
The Alliance Defense Fund sent the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education a letter Thursday debunking false claims made by the American Civil Liberties Union that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows the district to deny the Boy Scouts access to its public school campuse

Heritage Foundation Prop 8 ruling round up ? more experts find Walker?s opinion unpersuasive

Posted on August 12, 2010
Heritage Foundation | The Foundry: "What has been most surprising is the developing consensus from prominent legal experts and analysts, including many who support the redefinition of marriage, who find Judge Walker?s opinion unpersuasive."

Federal court tosses out Mount Rushmore rules on grounds of free speech

Posted on August 12, 2010
Rapid City Journal: "[Nate Kellum] of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Boardley, said: 'The First Amendment is the only permit a Christian or any American needs to engage in free speech on public property . . . Certainly, it made no sense to enforce unconstitutional regulations that deny free speech at the foot of Mount Rushmore - a place where four men who championed America's freedoms are immortalized in stone...

Polygamist leader may face tougher case in Texas

Posted on August 12, 2010
Aolnews.: "Utah will have to wait in line before it gets a chance to retry polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. First he's going to a state where prosecution has been more vigorous. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he believes the case against Jeffs is stronger in Texas, where he will be extradited...

Poland?s religious right digs in heels over cross

Posted on August 12, 2010
Deutsche Welle: "Supporters of late Polish President Lech Kaczynski's Law and Justice Party have remained defiant in their vigil at the site of a cross erected in memory of their late hero - despite calls from church leaders to allow its removal. Those loyal to the former president see him as defender of Polish Roman Catholic values and say that the cross should remain outside the presidential palace in a Warsaw square until a more permanent structure is found for the site...

Moscow concerned about future of Serb shrines in Kosovo

Posted on August 12, 2010
Interfax: "The handover of Kosovo's Serbian shrines under the control of the territory's government may fuel tensions in the region, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko." | Kosovo police to protect Serb monasteries

Afghan clerics seek return to strict Islamic law

Posted on August 12, 2010
Reuters: "Afghanistan's largest gathering of clerics, who met to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban, has called for the revival of strict Islamic law as the country seeks ways to win militants away from a growing insurgency."

UK: St Luke?s Church bid to run Camden?s first ?free school?

Posted on August 12, 2010
Camden New Journal: "St Luke?s Church, in Kidderpore Avenue, has drawn up plans for a new primary school with plans to have lessons in its church hall . . . Promising to be a school for children 'of all faiths and none,' St Luke?s Primary would allocate the majority of places based on geographical need, regardless of religious beliefs...

Over 23 million Christians in China, official survey shows

Posted on August 12, 2010
Christian Today: "Christians in China now number just over 23 million, according to the results of the communist country?s first official faith survey. Although that figure amounts to only 1.8% of the total population, it represents 73 per cent of China?s religious population...

Pastor loses battle with Seventh-Day Adventists

Posted on August 12, 2010
Courthouse News Service: "The pastor of a 'breakaway' Seventh-day Adventist church failed to convince the 6th Circuit that the name of his church, A Creation Seventh Day & Adventist Church, does not violate the main church's trademarks because it was divinely inspired...

Indonesia and religious violence

Posted on August 12, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "Indonesia notched another big victory in the antiterror fight this week with the re-arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir, the al Qaeda-linked spiritual leader linked to the 2002 Bali bombings, as the Australian National University's Greg Fealy explains on a nearby page...

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