Religion & Law

Pro-life leaders worldwide sign petition against pro-abortion Kenya Constitution

Posted on July 22, 2010
LifeNews: "With two weeks left before residents of Kenya vote on a proposed constitution that would overturn the nation's historic pro-life protections for women and unborn children, 171 pro-life leaders from 21 nations have signed a petition urging a no vote on the document...

RI: Cranston will ?likely? amend words on prayer banner

Posted on July 22, 2010
Associated Press: "School officials say since they can't afford a court battle, they will likely amend the wording of a banner in the Cranston High School West auditorium that the American Civil Liberties Union says is a prayer."

More than 110,000 divorces take place each year in Spain, institute reports

Posted on July 22, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "The Institute for Family Policy issued a report this week showing that Spain has the highest rate of divorce in Europe, with more than 110,000 cases taking place each year."

House panel charges Rangel with ethics misdeeds

Posted on July 22, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "A House investigative committee on Thursday charged New York Rep. Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations, dealing a serious blow to the former Ways and Means chairman and complicating Democrats' election-year outlook."

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Belgrade loses fight over Kosovo independence

Posted on July 22, 2010
Independent: "Kosovo scored a significant victory in its struggle to be recognised as a full and legitimate state yesterday when the UN's highest court ruled that its 2008 declaration of independence did not break international law. Serbia denounced the judgement ? more than a decade after it fought a civil war over its former province ? and warned the ruling would encourage separatist movements around the world...

TX: Local push for Ten Commandments monuments

Posted on July 22, 2010
News Channel 10: "A group of people from all over the panhandle are starting a movement to put Christian monuments in front of county courthouses all across Texas. They're pushing for monuments like the one that sits in front of the Moore County Courthouse, with the Ten Commandments on top and quotes from our founding fathers on the side...

Arkansas: ACLU settles with North Little Rock on prayer

Posted on July 22, 2010
Arkansas Times: "The Arkansas chapter of the ACLU says it is satisfied with North Little Rock's response to a complaint about the sectarian prayers that have routinely opened City Council meetings. ... 'The city responded to the ACLU and indicated that it would use a system of rotational prayer that would include other faiths as well as non-sectarian prayer...

Staten Island Catholic Church board blocks sale of old convent building for Muslim mosque

Posted on July 22, 2010
NY Daily News: "The board of trustees of a Staten Island Catholic Church has rejected the controversial sale of an old convent building to a Muslim group to build a mosque. The sale had sparked two months of angry rallies when word got out that Father Keith Fennessy of Saint Margaret Mary church had quietly agreed to sell the vacant building to the Muslim American Society for $750,000...

Argentinean Health Minister in hot water following attempt to ?depenalize? abortions

Posted on July 22, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Blasted by representatives of Argentina's pro-life majority, and threatened with legal action, Argentinean Health Minister Juan Manzur is distancing himself from a new 'guide' issued by his agency that would permit women to obtain abortions by signing an oath that they have been raped, and would allow minors to receive abortions against their parents' will...

Augusta State U. is accused of requiring a counseling student to accept homosexuality

Posted on July 22, 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education: "In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday . . . Jennifer Keeton argues that faculty members and administrators at the university have violated her First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion by threatening with her expulsion if she does not fufill requirements contained in a remediation plan intended to get her to change her beliefs...

Christian student fights for her beliefs

Posted on July 22, 2010
OneNewsNow: "'It's in essence [telling her] "you do not have the correct beliefs, we are going to re-educate you into the correct beliefs,"' explains [David French], senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. 'And unless she completes this -- quote -- "remediation plan" to their satisfaction, then she can be thrown out of [the school's counseling program]...

David French: Jennifer Keeton, in her own words

Posted on July 22, 2010
ADF Attorney David French writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "Today, the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit against officials at Augusta State University on behalf of counseling student Jennifer Keeton. ... You can read Jennifer?s Complaint and her Preliminary Injunction Motion to learn more...

David French: ?Get thee to a gay-pride parade!?

Posted on July 22, 2010
ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: "Late yesterday afternoon, the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of Augusta State University counseling student Jennifer Keeton. Her tale has to be read to be believed...

ADF Attorney Nate Kellum on The Drew Mariani Show: Students prohibited from praying outside the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on July 22, 2010
ADF Attorney Nate Kellum appeared on The Drew Mariani Show to discuss the situation involving Arizona students prohibited from praying outside SCOTUS. | MP3 7:06 mins

Jordan Lorence on In the Market with Janet Parshall to discuss the firing of Dr. Kenneth Howell

Posted on July 22, 2010
ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on In the Market with Janet Parshall to discuss the firing of Dr. Kenneth Howell by the University of Illinois. | MP3 19:05 mins

Couple claims arrest was religious persecution as Colorado City tensions rise

Posted on July 22, 2010
ABC 4 News: "The Hainlines were trying to clear out the work shed of items left by a previous occupant. They were instructed by the Mohave County Sheriff to place the items in a storage unit and then simply give the key to the unit to the old occupant...

Sex trafficking in Spain linked to prostitution ads

Posted on July 22, 2010
AolNews.: "A week after Spain's prime minister angered many of the country's newspaper publishers by calling for a ban on lucrative prostitution ads, one of the few national dailies that refuse to take such ads has launched a three-day front-page investigation linking the ads to sex traffickers...

Some Internet porn sites in China now accessible

Posted on July 22, 2010
Tampa Bay Online (AP): "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...

Argentina president signs same-sex ?marriage? legislation

Posted on July 22, 2010
JURIST: "Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Wednesday signed a same-sex marriage bill into law. The signing ceremony comes one week after the bill was approved by the legislature, making Argentina the first Latin American nation to legalize same-sex marriage...

OR: Faith healing parents indicted over daughter?s health

Posted on July 22, 2010
KATU: "KATU News has confirmed that an Oregon City couple, who are members of the Followers of Christ Church, will be indicted on a charge of criminal child mistreatment. A grand jury has indicted the couple and Clackamas County Prosecutors tell KATU the indictment should be filed by sometime next week...

IN: South Bend Council considers ?sexual orientation? and ?gender identity? language for ordinance

Posted on July 22, 2010
South Bend Tribune: "The South Bend Common Council is considering an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance which would prohibit discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation or gender identity. The amendment should be enacted because the city has full legal authority to pass and enforce this legislation...

Half of Brazilians reject adoption by same-sex couples

Posted on July 22, 2010
Angus Reid: "Half of people in Brazil oppose allowing gay couples to adopt children, according to a poll by Datafolha published in Folha de Sao Paulo. 51 per cent of respondents share this opinion, while 39 per cent disagree."

Russian lesbian couple appeal to ECHR after being denied right to tie knot in Moscow

Posted on July 22, 2010
Rianovosti: "A Russian lesbian couple appealed to the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday after a registry office in Moscow declined to register their same-sex marriage."

Israel: Arab guilty of rape after consensual sex with Jew

Posted on July 21, 2010
Guardian: "A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after telling a woman that he was also Jewish."

Kagan and the Military: What Really Happened

Posted on July 21, 2010
Peter Hegseth writes at the Wall Street Journal access via Google: "Her intellectually dishonest opposition to our armed forces during a time of war shows bad judgement. She doesn't belong on the Supreme Court."

MA: Panel recommends pledge be led at Arlington schools

Posted on July 21, 2010
The Boston Globe: "Responding to a student?s fight to have the Pledge of Allegiance said at Arlington High School, a school board subcommittee has recommended the pledge be led every day so that it can be recited on a voluntary basis in all schools. ...

Maryland High Court orders referendum to proceed on casino zoning measure

Posted on July 21, 2010
"The Court of Appeals order reversed a lower court ruling last month that concluded the local ordinance was part of an appropriation package for maintaining state and local government and thus is not subject to a referendum."

NJ: Same-sex ?marriage? supporters, protesters prepare for Supreme Court battle

Posted on July 21, 2010
NJ.com: "With same-sex marriage legislation having failed in the state Senate, Gov. Chris Christie on record opposing it and a proposal to put the question to voters going nowhere fast, hundreds of supporters and opponents of gay marriage descended on Trenton Tuesday to prepare for the next expected front in the battle: the state Supreme Court...

Study: Marriage patterns drive fertility decline

Posted on July 21, 2010
Physorg.com: "Researchers at the University of Sheffield have applied an evolutionary 'use it or lose it' principle when studying past marriage patterns, to show that marriage can influence the evolution of age-patterns of fertility. ... Duncan Gillespie from the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said: 'In today's society, family-building appears to be increasingly postponed to older ages, when relatively few women in our evolutionary past would have had the opportunity to reproduce...

Americans United urges IRS to investigate OK religious group that promoted candidate

Posted on July 21, 2010
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, charging that the organization violated federal law by promoting a candidate?s campaign rally...

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