Religion & Law

Toronto: Woman jailed for abortion counseling acquitted, set free

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Mary Wagner, the young woman who was jailed earlier this year for entering an abortion clinic and counseling women and abortion workers, has been acquitted of all charges and freed from jail."

Israel: National Association of LGBT in Israel sues religious website

Posted on July 28, 2010
Haaretz: "A gay rights group is suing a local website for NIS 100,000 for publishing an article calling for the indictment of the leaders of a 'deviant' center for gay youth rather than of the gunman who killed two people in a shooting at the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Association last summer...

CT: Fairfield zoning commission says no to Jewish Home zoning amendment

Posted on July 28, 2010
Minuteman News Center: "The Jewish Home for the Elderly was denied the zoning amendment that it proposed, while St. Pius X Church was granted its request for a 'special exception,' when the Town Planning and Zoning Commission met on Tuesday night at McKinley Elementary School...

Full face veil banned in Egyptian universities

Posted on July 28, 2010
Epoch Times: "Egyptian minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research has issued an unofficial decree banning full face niqab veils on Egypt?s University campuses this fall, according to the Egypt Daily News."

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Utah judge orders Aug. 18 hearing for sect leader

Posted on July 28, 2010
Dallas Morning News (AP): "A southern Utah judge has set an Aug. 18 date for a hearing on a request that polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs be granted a speedy trial."

South Korea looks at legalizing abortion

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Early-term abortion may be legalized in South Korea, according to a Ministry of Justice committee considering changes to the law, reports the Korean journal JoongAng Daily."

Majority of North Carolinians disagree with House prayer policy

Posted on July 28, 2010
Raleigh Conservative Examiner: "This month?s Civitas Poll shows that a majority of voters in North Carolina disapprove of the House of Representatives? policy that forbids the use of the name of Jesus in prayer opening House Session."

Congressional Research Service Report: Health care bill allows abortion funding

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeNews: "The Congressional Research Service has released a new report verifying the analysis the pro-life movement gave about the national health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law. The CRS report affirms the national health care program will contain abortion funding despite protests to the contrary...

Alan E. Sears: When even thinking Christian thoughts is ?wrong? ?

Posted on July 28, 2010
ADF President Alan E. Sears, writing at Inside the Issues with Alan Sears: "There?s a new class you have to ace if you want to graduate with a masters degree from the counseling program at Augusta State University: Religious Cleansing 101. That particular academic requirement came as news to 24-year-old Jennifer Keeton, who only found out about it after university officials threatened to expel her ? for being a Christian who follows Scripture...

?Women bishops will sink the Church of England as they have done in the Episcopal Church?

Posted on July 28, 2010
David W. Virtue writes at VirtueOnline: "The Synod of the Church of England voted to consecrate women to the episcopacy. They also voted summarily not to allow any sort of delegated episcopal pastoral oversight for Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics who in conscience do not want to have a woman bishop reign over them ...

New Russia holiday marked as Kremlin boosts Church

Posted on July 28, 2010
The New York Times: "Russia officially celebrated a new holiday on Wednesday marking its conversion to Christianity in 988, the latest Kremlin boost to an Orthodox Church that has grown increasingly powerful since the fall of Communism."

Canadian man gets 11 years for sex tourism charges

Posted on July 28, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "The B.C. Superior Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, sentenced Kenneth Klassen on Wednesday to 10 years for 14 counts of sex tourism and one year for one count of importing pornography." | B.C. Supreme Court recent judgments

Marriage debate unfolds at two Minnesota rallies

Posted on July 28, 2010
KEYC (AP): "The fight over gay marriage played out at the Minnesota capitol on Wednesday, with simultaneous rallies on both sides of the issue."

Cinderella Congress: Marriage is worth a real fight

Posted on July 28, 2010
Chuck Donovan writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: "Perhaps the biggest news out of last week?s reaction to a federal judge striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was pundits? response to the way the Obama Administration 'threw the fight...

Abortion rights becoming a factor in several state elections

Posted on July 28, 2010
Medical News Today: "Abortion politics are influencing state races in Georgia, Massachusetts and South Dakota."

Two Christians play dead to survive attack in India

Posted on July 28, 2010
The Christian Post: "Two evangelists said they survived an attack in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, by playing dead last week when suspected Hindu extremists surrounded them and severely beat them. The six assailants accused Mahindra Kharoley, 20, and 30-year-old Munshi Prasaad Bahey of 'forced conversion...

5th Circuit strikes down part of university?s free-speech policy

Posted on July 28, 2010
First Amendment Center: "A federal appeals court said universities cannot require a security fee for speaking on campus without any guidelines for what security is needed. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Southeastern Louisiana University's free-speech policy is unconstitutionally vague on that point...

Ousted Evangelical reflects on faith, future

Posted on July 28, 2010
NPR: "For 10 years, the Rev. Richard Cizik was the chief lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents roughly 30 million constituents across the United States. But he was forced out of that position in December 2008, after remarks he made on Fresh Air about his support of gay civil unions, among other things...

?Vicar of Rome to gay priests: Come out and get out?

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "With the Vatican reeling from another sex scandal, this time in the heart of the Eternal City, the Vicar of Rome is sending an unequivocal message to homosexual priests: come out of the closet, and get out of the priesthood. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the prelate in charge of administering the Rome diocese, the episcopal see of Pope Benedict XVI, made the statements in response to an exposé by Panorama...

Sacramento Bishop: Catholics must realize Church teaching on marriage benefits society

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento also said that there is a need for the Catholic Church to correct the pervasive 'confusion about sexuality in general' in order to rekindle an appreciation of true marriage as a positive message for Catholics and non-Catholics alike ...

?Eggsploitation? documentary reveals secrets of infertility industry

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A new documentary, 'Eggsploitation,' just released by The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (CBCN) reveals shocking information about the infertility industry. The documentary exposes what the makers of the film label the 'deceptive advertising, large monetary incentives and appeals to altruism' that are used by the infertility industry to entice college women to engage in human egg donation, a practice that the CBCN claims exploits them and puts them at 'considerable' health risk...

New Irish Supreme Court appointee called the ?unjust judge? by pro-life advocates

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "This month?s appointment of High Court Judge Liam McKechnie to the Irish Supreme Court has alarmed some Irish pro-life advocates who have compared him to the 'unjust judge' of the New Testament parable, who 'neither feared God nor had respect for people...

Another counseling student harrassed for Christian beliefs appeals court ruling

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "'Christian students shouldn?t be expelled for holding to and abiding by their beliefs,' said Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) Senior Counsel [David French], who argued before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan last month...

St. Louis Archbishop: Can?t be pro-abortion Catholic, no Communion for abortion backers

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeNews: "The head of the Archdiocese of St. Louis says it is 'clear and unambiguous' that Catholics who want to remain in good standing with the Church can't support abortion. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson also says those who support legalized abortion should voluntarily opt out of receiving community...

Judicial watchdog wants Kagan disbarred over abortion distortions

Posted on July 28, 2010
LifeNews: "Larry Klayman, the judicial watchdog who is the founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch USA, says he is filing papers to have Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan disbarred. He says he wants to see that happen because he believes Kagan misled the Senate Judiciary Committee during her hearings...

GOP Sen. Snowe to support Kagan for Supreme Court

Posted on July 28, 2010
Associated Press: "Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe says she plans to vote to confirm Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court justice. The Maine lawmaker's announcement makes her the fourth Republican to break with her party to back President Barack Obama's high court nominee...

Legislative leaders meeting on Mass. casino bills

Posted on July 28, 2010
Associated Press: "Senate leaders tried Wednesday to break a legislative logjam over a proposed gambling expansion in Massachusetts, offering two options to their House counterparts."

?In God We Trust? again upheld by Federal Appeals Court

Posted on July 28, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "In a 3-0 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, DC, ruled that the National Motto, 'In God We Trust,' is constitutional and does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment...

Plans for Kennedy Senate institute unveiled, taxpayers to contribute millions

Posted on July 28, 2010
Associated Press: "Architectural plans have been unveiled for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, which will sit adjacent to his brother's presidential library in Boston."

Jordan Lorence: Federal Defense of Marriage Act does not violate states? rights

Posted on July 28, 2010
. . . If states have authority under the 10th Amendment to define marriage, why are federal courts, like the one in San Francisco, not immediately upholding state constitutional definitions of marriage, such as the one currently under attack in California? Is it because California voters chose to define marriage the 'wrong' way as one man and one woman? ...

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