Religion & Law

Saudi clerics exempt women from wearing veils in France

Posted on July 26, 2010
Haaretz: "Two Saudi clerics have declared Muslim women are exempt from wearing full veils in France, which is planning to ban them, but added they should avoid visiting it as tourists." | Via Religion Clause

Moscow: Scientologists charged with extremism

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Moscow Times: "Prosecutors have opened a criminal case against a Scientology center in the town of Shchyolkovo, 13 kilometers northeast of Moscow, on charges of inciting hatred, punishable with up to five years in prison. Investigators have decided that documents and literature confiscated at the center promoted extremism, a law enforcement official told Interfax, without elaborating...

Got news? Supreme prayer files

Posted on July 26, 2010
Brad A. Greenberg writing at GetReligion.org: "It?s difficult to understand why only FOX News Radio and World Net Daily thought this was news. ... 'According to [Nate Kellum], senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, a police officer "abruptly" interrupted the prayer and ordered the group to cease and desist...

Plano?s Liberty Institute expands reach from candy cane pens to Palin, prayer, cross on federal land

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Dallas Morning News: "In recent years, Liberty has moved to extend its reach and has tapped into the growing field of Christian legal advocacy. It has become involved in national conservative causes from a Mojave Desert cross to the National Day of Prayer...

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San Jose? City College settles case for firing professor over homosexual comments

Posted on July 26, 2010
Evangelical Examiner: "'Professors shouldn?t be fired simply for doing their jobs as educators. Professionally addressing both sides of an academic issue according to the class curriculum is not grounds for dismissal; it?s what a professor is supposed to do,' said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel [David J...

School group told not to pray on U.S. Supreme Court steps

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Philadelphia Bulletin: "'Christians shouldn?t be silenced for exercising their beliefs through quiet prayer on public property,' said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Nate Kellum]. 'The last place you?d expect this kind of obvious disregard for the First Amendment would be on the grounds of the U...

?Augusta State U student sues, claims school penalized her for anti-gay views?

Posted on July 26, 2010
Huffington Post: "The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian coalition, represents Ms. Keeton and has taken up a series of similar cases. The group's website reports that it recently won a settlement for a biology professor at the San Jose City College who was terminated for allegedly offensive comments on homosexuality...

Steven H. Aden: ?Allowed in Washington state: Your friendly neighborhood pharmacy?

Posted on July 26, 2010
ADF Attorney Steven H. Aden writing at Allowed in Washington State: Your Friendly Neighborhood PharmacyThe Christian Post / Advancing Religious Liberty: "After more than three years of bouncing around in federal trial and appeals courts, Washington State pharmacists and patients both came out winners...

?D.C. marriage victory: Supreme Court and Congress still loom?

Posted on July 26, 2010
Keen News Service: "But the ruling may not be the end of the battle for Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court and Congress may have the final word. ... The [Alliance Defense Fund] issued a statement after the ruling, indicating it is considering whether to petition the Court of Appeals decision to the U...

Students support professor?s conservative stand

Posted on July 26, 2010
OneNewsNow: "Students and faculty have rallied behind the professor, and at last count, nearly 6,000 people have joined the 'Save Dr. Ken' Facebook group. Members are planning a prayer vigil on the university's quad, and students are also organizing a mass boycott of all university religion courses unless Howell is reinstated by the fall...

Spain: Judge removed for resisting ?gay? adoption required to return ?100,000 in pay

Posted on July 26, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Fernando Ferrín Calamita, a Spanish judge who was fined and removed from the bench for failing to grant an adoption to a homosexual couple, has now been ordered to return almost ?100,000 (130,000 USD) in pay that he received while he was suspended from his duties and awaiting the outcome of his trial...

NCA revocation appeal hearing Aug. 11 in Pocatello

Posted on July 26, 2010
Idaho Press-Tribune: "The Idaho State Board of Education will hear Nampa Classical Academy's charter revocation appeal Aug. 11 in Pocatello. Board of Education members will hear from both sides on the issue at the meeting on the Idaho State University campus...

NJ Supreme Court rejects demand to redefine marriage . . . for now

Posted on July 26, 2010
"The New Jersey Supreme Court issued an order Monday rejecting a recently filed motion in a long-ago-resolved lawsuit that attempted to force New Jersey legislature to redefine marriage."

IVF children more likely to develop cancer

Posted on July 26, 2010
Telegraph: "Swedish researchers used records of more than 26,000 children born after IVF treatment and linked them to registers of cancer diagnosis. They found 53 children developed cancer, ranging from a very young age, up to 19-years-old, against an expected number of 38...

Goldman reveals where bailout cash went

Posted on July 26, 2010
USA Today: "Goldman Sachs sent $4.3 billion in federal tax money to 32 entities, including many overseas banks, hedge funds and pensions, according to information made public Friday night. Goldman Sachs disclosed the list of companies to the Senate Finance Committee after a threat of subpoena from Sen...

Survey: ?Canadians and Britons are more open on same-sex relations than Americans?

Posted on July 26, 2010
Vision Critical: "A comprehensive three-country survey on attitudes towards homosexuality reveals that Canadians and Britons are more inclined to support the legal recognition of same-sex couples than Americans. The online survey of representative national samples of 1,003 Canadian adults, 1,002 American adults, and 1,980 British adults shows that younger generations are clearly more accepting of same-sex relations...

Traditional marriage group goes on 23-city campaign

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Christian Post: "The National Organization for Marriage, founded in 2007 amid state battles on the definition of marriage, has so far visited ten cities on its bus tour called the 'Summer for Marriage Tour 2010: One Man One Woman.' By the end of this week, NOM will have completed another five cities...

Alaska abortion advocates spending big to stop parental notification vote

Posted on July 26, 2010
LifeNews: "Planned Parenthood is bringing in the big bucks in its campaign to persuade Alaska voters that they should not support a ballot measure in August that would allow parents to know when their minor daughters are considering an abortion. Jim Minnery, the chairman of Alaskans for Parental Rights, is battling back...

Sociologist debunks myths on U.S. Christianity

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Christian Post: "Things aren't as bad in American Christianity as many say it is, according to one sociologist. Christianity isn't on the brink of extinction, divorce rates of Christians aren't equal to that of non-Christians and churches are not losing young people ? at least not to the extent that some fear...

ACLJ asks commission to make N.Y. building a landmark to keep mosque from being built

Posted on July 26, 2010
CNSNews: "Jordan Sekulow, attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice, said the group has filed written testimony with the New York Landmark Preservation Commission to try to halt the joint plan of the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement to build a mosque to replace a building just two blocks from Ground Zero...

Uniform education standards: Momentum grows as more states sign on

Posted on July 26, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have signed on to the so-called Common Core standards, which were released in the spring. Several more were poised to do so by early August. Some 40 states are likely to have signed on by next spring...

Vice president of Paraguay voices opposition to same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on July 26, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "The vice president of Paraguay, Federico Franco, said this week that if he were president, he would veto any law allowing same-sex 'marriage,' because of the harm it would bring children raised in such an environment."

Missouri governor sets new discrimination policy

Posted on July 26, 2010
KansasCity.com (AP): "Under the order ? which applies to the executive branch of state government ? people cannot be treated differently based on sexual orientation or veteran status for jobs and various state services such as licensing, job training and financial assistance...

Australia: Openly lesbian gov?t minister opposes same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Australian: "Openly lesbian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong is under fire from the gay community after declaring her opposition to gay marriage. ... 'On the issue of marriage, I think the reality is there is a cultural, religious and historical view around that which we have to respect,' she said...

China censors ease up on pornographic websites

Posted on July 26, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle: "The country had been in the midst of highly publicized anti-pornography sweeps, and there had been no announcement of any change in government policy. Yet eight weeks later, the porn sites are still accessible. Still unanswered are questions about whether it's an official change in policy, a technical glitch or some sort of test by the usually disapproving Chinese Internet police...

Muslim cleric accuses Pakistani Christian minister of committing blasphemy

Posted on July 26, 2010
Christian Today: "Allama Ahmed Mian Hammadi, a Pakistani Muslim cleric, has claimed that Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minorities has himself committed blasphemy by branding the recently murdered Christian brothers as victims of Pakistan blasphemy laws...

Global population study launched by Royal Society

Posted on July 23, 2010
BBC (July 12): "The UK's Royal Society is launching a major study into human population growth and how it may affect social and economic development in coming decades. The world's population has risen from two billion in 1930 to 6.8 billion now, with nine billion projected by 2050...

Irish senator calls for a secular constitution at atheist group?s AGM

Posted on July 23, 2010
National Secular Society: "An Irish Senator has called for the country to adopt a secular constitution. Labour Party Senator Ivana Bacik told the AGM of Atheist Ireland last weekend that there was now an appetite for constitutional reform in Ireland now that it is no longer dominated by Catholicism...

Religious leaders and the EU take tentative first steps

Posted on July 23, 2010
Reuters: "Top European Union officials held talks this week with religious leaders, part of a policy of holding consultations with religious groups that was enshrined in the EU?s Lisbon reform treaty, which came into force last December. But not everyone supports the move...

Islamic hardliners target Indonesian Christians

Posted on July 23, 2010
The Sydney Morning Herald: "A surge in anti-Christian violence in the satellite cities that ring Jakarta, almost always unpunished, has exposed alarming new fissures in Indonesian society. It has also raised concerns about the commitment of the police and the government to the country's founding principle of religious freedom...

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