Religion & Law

Muslim mob kills wife, children of Christian in Pakistan

Posted on July 08, 2010
Christian Post: "A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources."

?U.S. attacks Egypt over homosexual rights at UN?

Posted on July 08, 2010
C-FAM: "At the United Nations (UN) last month, several U.S. representatives attacked Egypt for asking for further investigation into a homosexual advocacy organization which has applied for special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council...

Kenyan court ?has power to hear constitutional suit?

Posted on July 08, 2010
KBC: "The Interim Independent Dispute Resolution court on Thursday ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear any matter that touches on the proposed constitution. The Committee of Experts, Attorney General and the Interim Independent Electoral Commission had sought to have a case seeking to have the referendum postponed dismissed arguing that the court had no power to hear the suit...

Hawaii Gov. protects state from sneak attack on marriage

Posted on July 08, 2010
"Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed House Bill 444 Tuesday, which would have given all of 'the same rights, benefits and responsibilities' of married couples to same-sex couples. Lingle stated that such an important issue impacting all families across the Islands should be decided by voters, not by elected officials or in the courts...

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Will Obama keep his abortion promise?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Robert Maginnis writing at Human Events: "The Democratic congressional majority will soon decide whether taxpayers should subsidize abortions at military hospitals. Their decision will test President Obama?s trustworthiness and the voters? patience. ...

ACLU presents inaccurate image of Catholic hospitals on abortion, say experts

Posted on July 08, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "A recent letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to investigate and take action against Catholic hospitals who refuse to provide abortions. However, critics have said that the letter misrepresents the Church's teaching in its claim that Catholic hospitals are violating their patients' right to health care...

Ireland ?failing? on child trafficking

Posted on July 08, 2010
Irish Times: "Ireland is among the worst performing states in the EU in combating child sex trafficking, a new report has found. The report, Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People , published by ECPAT International found that only Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal performed worse than Ireland when it came to showing progress in ending sex trafficking of children...

Turkey: Christians in danger

Posted on July 08, 2010
John F. Cullinan writing at National Review Online: "There are fewer than 60 Catholic priests in all of Turkey, and yet Bishop Luigi Padovese was the fifth of them to be shot or stabbed in the last four years, starting with the murder of Fr. Andrea Santoro in 2006, also by an assailant shouting, 'Allahu Akbar!' ...

Embassies supporting homosexual protests in Peru

Posted on July 08, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Seven foreign embassies in Peru have expressed support for protests organized by homosexual activists groups demanding the legalization of same-sex unions by claiming they are being discriminated against. The statement of support was signed by the Embassies of Australia, Belgium, the United States, Holland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS...

UK study: Only one in seven parents sees smacking children as ?very high risk?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Telegraph: "The poll by The Children?s Society also found that only a third of adults thought being slapped posed a 'high risk' to young people. A similar proportion thought that being hit by their parents had little effect on children, with pensioners particularly likely to think that it was physically or emotionally damaging...

Northern Ireland Charity Commission puts proposals on hold

Posted on July 08, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) has been forced to delay its controversial proposals after concerns were raised over its legality. Last month church leaders in Northern Ireland warned that the Charity Commission?s plans could pose a threat to the charitable status of churches...

PCUSA Assembly approves changes to adapt to 21st Century

Posted on July 08, 2010
Christian Post: "The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s highest legislative body voted Wednesday to approve a new Form of Government that will help the denomination adapt to the 21st century. ... The revisions do not change the denomination's constitutional standards but they are intended to return the Form of Government to its role as a constitution rather than a regulatory manual...

Sotomayor?s GOP ?yea? votes remain mute on Kagan

Posted on July 08, 2010
USA Today: "Eight Republican senators who voted in favor of President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee last year are not yet ready to say what they are going to do about the second. A USA TODAY survey of the Senate offices Wednesday found none of Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Republican supporters ready to commit on Elena Kagan's lifetime appointment...

US program to detect cyberattacks on companies, agencies

Posted on July 08, 2010
AFP: "The United States is launching a program to detect cyberattacks on private US companies and government agencies running critical infrastructure such as the electricity grid and nuclear power plants, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday...

Poll: Guatemalans reject same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Angus Reid: "The vast majority of people in Guatemala oppose the notion of allowing homosexuals to marry, according to a poll by Cid-Gallup. 85 per cent of respondents disagree with same-sex marriage."

Malaysia appoints 1st female Islamic court judges

Posted on July 08, 2010
Boston.com (AP): "Malaysia's Islamic Shariah courts have appointed their first female judges -- a move praised by women's rights activists Thursday as a boost for a judicial system often accused of favoring men."

Cameroon denies homosexuals face persecution

Posted on July 08, 2010
BBC: "Cameroon's government has rejected the claim by a gay asylum seeker in the UK that he would face persecution if he returned home. ... 'Homosexuality is forbidden by the law, there is not doubt. But what I can emphasise is the fact that no homosexual is persecuted in Cameroon,' Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma said...

Sark to lower homosexual age of consent

Posted on July 08, 2010
BBC: "Sark's homosexual age of consent will be lowered from 21 to 16, the same as the heterosexual age of consent."

China court rejects ?gay? lawsuit over blood donation

Posted on July 08, 2010
AFP: "A court in Beijing has thwarted attempts by a Chinese man to sue a Red Cross centre in the capital after his blood donation was turned down because he was gay, state media reported Thursday."

Development & Peace apologizes to pro-life group after legal threat

Posted on July 08, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "In a letter made public today, the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development & Peace (D&P), the official development arm of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued an apology to Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). The letter comes in response to an April 20 CLC lawyer?s letter noting slanderous statements in a document produced by D&P and threatening legal action...

11th Circuit upholds limits on feeding large groups in parks

Posted on July 08, 2010
Religion Clause: "The majority held that the feeding activities do not amount to symbolic expression under the First Amendment because a reasonable observer would not see them as communicative. It rejected a Free Exercise challenge, finding the Ordinance to be a neutral law of general applicability that serves a rational basis...

WA Pharmacy Board backs down on rules in pre-trial compromise

Posted on July 08, 2010
"[T]he Board told the court that on June 29 it had begun a rule-making proceeding to adopt an amended rule that would permit facilitated referrals for all pharmacies and pharmacists when they are unable or unwilling to fill a prescription for any reason, including conscientious reasons...

Legal group: ?Gays shouldn?t answer Pentagon survey?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Associated Press: "The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said Thursday that troops could be accidentally exposed by answering the survey and that the Defense Department has not agreed to grant immunity should that happen. ... The Pentagon says the survey is confidential and is being done by an outside contractor who will strip out all identifying data...

Greg Baylor on Chris Fabry Live: CLS v. Martinez

Posted on July 08, 2010
ADF attorney Greg Baylor appeared on Chris Fabry Live to discuss Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. | mp3 9:53 mins.

Elena Kagan?s ?Don?t Ask Don?t Tell? sharia policy

Posted on July 08, 2010
Andrew C. McCarthy writing at National Review Online: "While Kagan was at the law school, her patron, Harvard?s president Larry Summers, accepted a stunning $20 million donation for the creation of a program of studies to lionize Islam?s history and jurisprudence...

Another voter fraud scandal involving the Justice Department

Posted on July 08, 2010
John Fund writing in the Wall Street Journal: "J. Christian Adams . . . made some news yesterday in testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. ... [He] leveled an even more explosive charge beyond the Panther case. He testified that last year Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes made a jaw-dropping announcement to attorneys in Justice's Voting Rights section...

Egypt top court overturns Coptic remarriage ruling

Posted on July 08, 2010
AFP: "Egypt's highest judiciary body on Wednesday overturned a ruling ordering the Coptic church to allow its faithful to remarry, the official MENA news agency said, in a move welcomed by the church."

Travis Barham: In Brooklyn, college officials give conservative students a Bronx cheer

Posted on July 08, 2010
ADF Attorney Travis C. Barham writing at Speak Up Movement / University: "Hayon?s first brush with Kingsborough came last March, when officials blocked him from distributing pro-life newsletters on campus to other students. Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter affirming Hayon?s constitutionally protected right to do so, and college administrators quickly backed down...

SD: Pennington county hits church with property taxes

Posted on July 08, 2010
Dakota Voice: "'Government officials should not be allowed to ignore the law, the Constitution, and supporting court precedents to target a church for exorbitant taxes it doesn?t truly owe,' said Stephen J. Wesolick, one of nearly 1,800 attorneys in the ADF alliance...

SD: Municipality ignores law, hands church $17,000 tax bill

Posted on July 08, 2010
CitizenLink: "[Joe Infranco], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), has seen a marked uptick in the number of cases handled by ADF?s 1,800 allied attorneys, who represent churches free of charge. 'Whether out of ignorance or malice, (municipalities) are slowly chipping away at the Church?s tax exemption when and where they are able,' said Infranco...

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