Religion & Law

Birmingham, Alabama loses case against pro-life group protesting abortions

Posted on July 08, 2010
LifeNews: "Officials in this Alabama city are backing down after facing a lawsuit from a pro-life legal group, Life Legal Defense Fund. LLDF says several Birmingham police officers engaged in 'outrageous civil rights violations' against nine pro-life advocates who were arrested last year...

Argentina same-sex ?marriage? row serves broader government aim

Posted on July 08, 2010
Reuters: "Argentina's government is fighting to get a gay marriage bill through Congress to shore up its leftist credentials ahead of a 2011 vote and to steal the limelight from opposition-led proposals. ... But even if opponents and religious groups succeed in blocking the bill, the debate has allowed the government to divert attention from popular opposition proposals that could become a major headache for President Cristina Fernandez, such as a steep hike in pension payments...

Ontario: Religious issue in Catholic school board election

Posted on July 08, 2010
Brant News: "The Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association and the Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board want a controversial candidate declared ineligible for nomination in the municipal election because they say he is not Catholic...

SUU?s Mormon-themed ad campaign raises questions

Posted on July 08, 2010
Salt Lake Tribune: "Southern Utah University?s recent ad campaign frames its Cedar City campus as a place that supports Mormon cultural values, raising questions about whether a public school should play on faith to recruit students."

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Arkansas: AG backs mandated religious observance

Posted on July 08, 2010
The Arkansas Times posts a press release from the office of the Attorney General: "Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked a federal appeals court today to uphold a federal law that directs the president to annually declare a National Day of Prayer. McDaniel and fellow attorneys general from across the country urged the Seventh U...

Chicago: Thomas More Society secures agreement to allow pro-life demonstration tomorrow

Posted on July 08, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Today, attorneys from the Thomas More Society, on the eave of seeking emergency injunctive relief in federal court, secured an agreement from the city of West Chicago to allow a pro-life protest to proceed there tomorrow morning."

N.C. attorneys fight revision to rules of conduct

Posted on July 08, 2010
The Christian Post: "Attorneys are challenging a proposed policy revision by the North Carolina Bar Association that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ... 'Christian attorneys shouldn?t be penalized for abiding by their beliefs,' said ADF Senior Counsel [Joseph P...

?Presbyterian leaders approve gay clergy policy?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Associated Press: "Presbyterian leaders voted Thursday to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy, approving the first of two policy changes that could make their church one of the most gay-friendly major Christian denominations in the U...

Erroneous court decision strikes down federal definition of marriage

Posted on July 08, 2010
Family Research Council: "Family Research Council (FRC) Senior Vice President Tom McClusky released the following statement in response to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro declaring the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act DOMA was enacted in 1996 by an overwhelming majority of 342-67 in the House and 85-14 in the Senate and was then signed by President Bill Clinton...

U.S. Judge rules Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

Posted on July 08, 2010
"A U.S. judge in Boston has ruled that a federal gay marriage ban is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define marriage."

Racial, gender quotas in the financial bill?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Diana Furchtgott-Roth writing at RealClearMarkets: "I was searching the bill for a provision about derivatives. What did I find but Section 342, which declares that race and gender employment ratios, if not quotas, must be observed by private financial institutions that do business with the government...

NC: Pastor says prayer got him banned from legislative session

Posted on July 08, 2010
"'I was told that my services would no longer be needed if I could not offer the opening prayer in the manner prescribed by the House of Representatives, rather that in the manner my biblical faith requires,' Baity said."

Michael New: Pro-life groups right about health care law contraception coverage issues

Posted on July 08, 2010
Dr. Michael New writing at LifeNews: "Tuesday?s Washington Post included an article that shows how health-care reform may result in a contraceptive-coverage mandate on health insurers. ... [T]his article nicely shows why the pro-life movement has good reasons to oppose health-care-reform legislation: The contraceptives that might be covered could include abortifacients...

Somali Islamists execute Christian convert

Posted on July 08, 2010
Christian Today: "A human rights organisation has learned that members of the Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, publicly executed a Christian convert from Islam. The execution occurred in Hudur district, Somalia, on July 1. International Christian Concern (ICC) reported that Muhammad Guul Hashim Idiris, a Christian convert from Islam, was travelling from Kalafo, an Ethiopian border town...

Philadelphia evangelist jailed again for ?disorderly conduct?

Posted on July 08, 2010
OneNewsNow: "This past weekend, Repent America President Michael Marcavage, along with fellow evangelists Mike Stockwell and Ken Fleck, were sharing the gospel and singing hymns outside an Islamic mosque in Philadelphia. The three were approached by a security guard from the University of Pennsylvania who told them they could not preach on the public sidewalk...

WI Justices clash in adopting new recusal rule

Posted on July 08, 2010
Gavel Grab: "The Wisconsin Supreme Court, bitterly divided 4-3, has formally issued new rules stating that lawful campaign donations from a litigant shall not alone require a judge?s recusal in a case. The new rules were accompanied by stinging, dueling statements in which justices on opposing sides belittled each other...

Nebraska Sen. Johanns no fan of Kagan

Posted on July 08, 2010
WOWT: "Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has announced he will not support the President?s nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a news release, the Nebraska Republican described Kagan?s background as alarming, disturbing and troubling."

More Senators oppose Elena Kagan

Posted on July 08, 2010
LifeNews: "More senators announced their opposition to pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Wednesday. The list now includes eight senators who officially oppose Kagan, including Senator John McCain of Arizona who wrote an editorial in USA Today...

ADF confirms yesterday?s WSJ article on the Village of Hope deportations in Morocco

Posted on July 08, 2010
ADF Attorney Roger Kiska writing at The Christian Post: "The Wall Street Journal reported on July 6, following Congressional hearings on the subject of the mass deportation of Christian volunteers in Morocco, on the continuing and tragic situation of the Village of Hope orphanage deportees: http://www...

Presbyterians move toward same-sex ?marriage?

Posted on July 07, 2010
UPI: "Committees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have recommended the church allow same-sex marriages and non-celibate gay clergy. If the first proposal is approved by the General Assembly, the church would be the largest denomination in the United States to marry gay and lesbian couples, the (Louisville, Ky...

Missouri Lt. Gov. sues to block federal health care law

Posted on July 07, 2010
BusinessWeek: "Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder filed a lawsuit Wednesday over the federal health care overhaul, accusing Congress of overstepping its authority, trampling on state sovereignty and attempting to interfere with consumers' health decisions...

Lawsuit filed against Chicago?s new gun laws

Posted on July 07, 2010
Associated Press: "A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Chicago asking the city's new gun control ordinance be declared 'null and void.'"

Gov. Bobby Jindal signs bills allowing guns in church, changing sex-solicitation penalty

Posted on July 07, 2010
Times-Picayune: "Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law one of the more controversial bills from the recent legislative session, one allowing guns to be carried into houses of worship. ... Burns' bill would authorize persons who qualified to carry concealed weapons having passed the training and background checks to bring them to churches, mosques, synagogues or other houses of worship as part of a security force...

Louisiana: Jindal OKs abortion restrictions

Posted on July 07, 2010
"Women getting abortions in Louisiana will be required to get ultrasounds, and doctors who perform elective abortions won?t be covered under medical malpractice laws under bills Gov. Bobby Jindal signed Tuesday."

NY: ?With blitz of mailings, gay rights group puts Stachowski on hit list?

Posted on July 07, 2010
The Buffalo News: "A gay rights group is joining the campaign against Democratic State Sen. William T. Stachowski of Lake View by blanketing Erie County voters with a mailing that urges his defeat. ... The flier makes no specific mention of Stachowski?s vote against legalizing same-sex marriage but indicates that his re-election would not be expected to yield a different result...

Australia: Christian Brethren?s resort denies it refused youth group because they were ?gay?

Posted on July 07, 2010
Herald Sun: "A Christian group's refusal to allow a gay youth support project to use its campsite had nothing to do with sexual orientation, a Victorian tribunal has heard. In fact, many groups with homosexual members have used the Christian Brethren's resort on Phillip Island, Greg Garde, a lawyer for the religious group, told the Victorian Civil and Administration Tribunal today...

PA: Jackson Township topless bar back in court

Posted on July 07, 2010
Pocono Record: "Thrills bar and restaurant in Jackson Township was back in court on Tuesday as township officials seek a permanent court order banning the bar from operating an 'adult cabaret.' Last month a judge granted the township's request for a temporary order banning the adult cabaret part of the bar's business...

Parents in Philippines objecting to sex education program targeting children

Posted on July 07, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Despite suffering a legal setback, a group of 30 parents in the Philippines is pushing ahead in its appeal of the country's implementation of a United Nations-backed sex education program, which is aimed at children as young as nine years old...

When Kagan played doctor

Posted on July 07, 2010
William Saletan writing at Slate: "Elena Kagan doctored a statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Conservatives think this should disqualify her from the Supreme Court. They understate the scandal. It isn't Kagan we should worry about...

Sen. McCain to oppose Kagan for high court

Posted on July 07, 2010
Associated Press: "Republican Sen. John McCain says he plans to vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. ... McCain says Kagan is unlikely to exercise judicial restraint, based on her decision as dean of Harvard Law School to bar military recruiters from the campus career services office because of the ban on openly gay soldiers...

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