Religion & Law

CWA: Kagan is a liberal political soldier, not an impartial jurist

Posted on June 24, 2010
Concerned Women for America: "Contrary to the 'blank slate' the White House media machine has tried to sell the American people, an objective review of Elena Kagan?s record reveals a surprisingly clear picture of who she is. Kagan?s record is that of a liberal political soldier, not an impartial jurist...

MA school district under fire for condom policy

Posted on June 24, 2010
Associated Press: "Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says he objects to a new policy in Provincetown allowing even elementary school students to receive free condoms, and to do so without telling their parents."

Goldman Sachs sold $250 million of BP stock before spill

Posted on June 24, 2010
The Raw Story: "According to regulatory filings, RawStory.com has found that Goldman Sachs sold 4,680,822 shares of BP in the first quarter of 2010. Goldman's sales were the largest of any firm during that time. Goldman would have pocketed slightly more than $266 million if their holdings were sold at the average price of BP's stock during the quarter...

Judge refuses to delay ruling on Gulf drilling ban

Posted on June 24, 2010
Associated Press: "A federal judge in New Orleans has refused to delay his decision to strike down a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

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Clinton, Obama compete: Who loves homosexuality more?

Posted on June 24, 2010
"In a continuation of their presidential-primary struggle for the position of strongest supporter of homosexuality, both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have been straining in recent months to show their supporters that they will march in step with the full gamut of the 'gay rights' agenda...

Congress votes this afternoon on grassroots muzzle, ?DISCLOSE Act?

Posted on June 24, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "According to House Republican sources, the House began meeting at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business and are now taking up [H.R. 5175], the 'Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act' that has pro-life, pro-family groups, and even the ACLU crying foul...

Richard Dawkins interested in setting up ?atheist free school?

Posted on June 24, 2010
Telegraph: "The author of The God Delusion, who has previously described religious education provided by faith schools as a form of child abuse, said he would want pupils to be taught to be skeptical and to appreciate the value of evidence rather than receive 'indoctrination' about atheism...

Polls show Kagan?s support doesn?t run deep

Posted on June 24, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll and a separate poll by C-SPAN affirm earlier readings that suggested a plurality of Americans support Elena Kagan?s nomination to the Supreme Court, but the support isn?t deep. The Journal?s poll finds 29% of Americans support Kagan, while 23% are opposed...

Conference: Shi?i Eschatology and the Iranian Vision

Posted on June 24, 2010
Ethics and Public Policy Center: "According to Dr. Timothy Furnish, while many Muslims in the Islamic Republic of Iran prepare for the return of the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam, many in the international community worry that Islamic extremists will use the acquisition of nuclear bombs or other weapons of mass destruction to "hot-wire the apocalypse...

Irvine community and Jewish groups react to Muslim Student Union suspension

Posted on June 24, 2010
Reut Cohen writing at Pajamas Media: "UCI's administration made an unprecedented decision to suspend the MSU for a full year. The decision was made after a school investigation found that the organization planned disruptions during a February speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren...

North Korea threatens harsher punishment for US detainee

Posted on June 24, 2010
Yahoo (AFP): "North Korea threatened harsher punishment Thursday for a jailed US citizen unless Washington drops a campaign to censure it for the sinking of a South Korean warship. ... Aijalon Gomes, a former English teacher in South Korea and reportedly a devout Christian, was arrested in January -- the fourth US citizen in less than a year to be detained for illegal entry...

Christian students sue high school for discrimination against pro-life messages

Posted on June 24, 2010
Liberty Counsel: "Late yesterday, Liberty Counsel filed a complaint in federal court in New Mexico to stop the unconstitutional censorship of a group of students at Roswell High School and Goddard High School called 'Relentless in Roswell.' ... School officials never objected to the group?s activities until one day before class, students handed out small rubber models of preborn babies...

Top Republican: Filibuster of pro-abortion Elena Kagan still possible

Posted on June 24, 2010
LifeNews: "The leading Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says there is still a possibility that Republicans will mount a filibuster against pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. She has drawn strong opposition from a number of pro-life organizations that cite her support for abortion, human cloning, and assisted suicide...

New survey reveals high school students? views on American citizenship

Posted on June 24, 2010
Education News: "A new nationwide survey of nearly 3,000 high school students, released today by the Bill of Rights Institute, Arlington, VA, provides a glimpse into what the nation?s future leaders think about American citizenship: what civic values they admire, who their political heroes are, and which of our Founding documents inspire them the most...

The real ?L? word ? laboratory

Posted on June 24, 2010
ADF Attorney Austin R. Nimocks writing at The Christian Post's Advancing Religious Liberty blog: "'I felt like, being a part of this project, that the message was really greater than my relationship is.' These are the words of Nikki, one of the star characters of Showtime's new series, The Real L Word, and she is 100 percent correct in her sentiments...

Ban of evangelist at Pride festival is sought

Posted on June 24, 2010
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "Twin Cities Pride festival attorneys on Wednesday asked for a court order barring evangelist Brian Johnson from distributing Christian literature construed as anti-gay in Loring Park during this weekend's gay pride event. ....

Rasmussen: 48% See Government Today As A Threat to Individual Rights

Posted on June 24, 2010
Rasmussen: "Most Republicans (74%) and unaffiliateds (51%) consider the government to be a threat to individual rights. Most Democrats (64%) regard the government as a protector of rights."

MN: Fired Prison Chaplain States Valid 1st Amendment Claim

Posted on June 24, 2010
Religion Clause Blog: "In Holmgren v. State of Minnesota, (MN Ct. App., June 22, 2010, a Minnesota state appellate court held that a former prison chaplain's First Amendment free expression may have been violated when she was fired for speaking out against a new program being considered by the state which she believed would violate the Establishment Clause...

Canada: Proms for LGBT students growing into social phenomenon

Posted on June 24, 2010
Times Colonist: "To help make them feel accepted and welcomed, schools and youth groups across the country are increasingly turning to so-called queer proms. At least a dozen cities, including Halifax, Toronto, Kitchener, Ont., Hamilton, Edmonton and Vancouver, are holding high school graduations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students...

Idaho: Lawsuit to continue whatever NCA?s fate

Posted on June 24, 2010
Idaho Press-Tribune: "Attorneys for Nampa Classical Academy say a lawsuit to allow the school?s use of religious texts will continue even if a state commission votes to take the school?s charter away. ... 'It is a state-wide issue that affects every public school at every level,? Alliance Defense Fund attorney [David Cortman] said in an e-mail to the Idaho Press-Tribune...

Ruling coming today on whether evangelist can hand out Bibles at Pride fest

Posted on June 24, 2010
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "A federal judge is expected to decide Thursday afternoon whether a Wisconsin evangelist may hand out Bibles without a vendor license at this weekend's Twin Cities Pride festival in Minneapolis' Loring Park. ... Johnson's attorney, [Nate Kellum], who was present via teleconference during the hourlong hearing before a full courtroom, argued that Pride is attempting to keep Johnson from distributing materials at the festival 'because they don't like his message...

Daniel Blomberg: How harming the military will harm America

Posted on June 24, 2010
ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "So what if Congress forces the military makes homosexual behavior normal? Isn?t that just a military issue? Why should average Americans care at all? Because this change will change America...

?Freedom of worship?: New religious freedom rhetoric within the Obama administration draws concern

Posted on June 24, 2010
Christianity Today: "'Freedom of worship' has recently replaced the phrase 'freedom of religion' in public pronouncements from the Obama administration. Experts are concerned that the new rhetoric may signal a policy change. ... Freedom of worship means the right to pray within the confines of a place of worship or to privately believe, said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom and member of the commission...

ACLU of Kentucky challenges campaign contribution limits

Posted on June 24, 2010
ACLU of Kentucky: "The ACLU of Kentucky today filed suit in federal court onbehalf of two plaintiffs challenging Kentucky?s $100 limit on campaigncontributions in school board elections. The law prevents individuals from contributing more than $100 to anycandidate for school board...

Supreme Court speaks with divided tongue: Doe v. Reed

Posted on June 24, 2010
New York Law School Professor Arthur S. Leonard analyzes Doe v. Reed, No. 09-559 (U.S. June 24, 2010) at LeonardLink: "My quick summary - Concur by Sotomayor with Ginsburg and Stevens - it should be difficult for plaintiffs to keep the names confidential; Concur by Alito - it should be easy for the plaintiffs to keep the names confidential; Concur by Stevens and Breyer - it should be difficult for plaintiffs to keep the names confidential; Concur by Scalia - originalist view of the First Amendment and characterization of petition signers as actually being involved in 'legislating' means there is only a weak First Amendment interest, if any, in keeping these names confidential...

US bishops back Olmsted in Arizona abortion drama

Posted on June 24, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "After Bishop Thomas Olmsted publicly condemned an abortion authorized by Sr. Margaret McBride in a Catholic hospital in Arizona, and after much public outcry, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Doctrine has released a statement supporting the Phoenix bishop's decision...

850 Orthodox Rabbis: Kagan not kosher for any court, threatens Jewish security

Posted on June 24, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "While any number of our co-religionists would represent the undeniable, historic Torah values shared by Orthodox and traditional Jews, we are devastated and broken-hearted by the choice of Elena Kagan. According to the Torah perspective adhered to by our 850-plus member Rabbis, as well as hundreds of thousands of Orthodox and traditional Jews, MS...

Preachers too timid when preaching on giving, says report

Posted on June 24, 2010
Christian Post: "Churches risk losing out on large amounts of donations because pastors and church leaders are too timid when it comes to preaching about financial needs and the importance of giving, according to a new report out this week. The report, 'Why Christians Give,' was compiled by McConkey Johnston International U...

Divorce law in early days: a whole lot different

Posted on June 24, 2010
Metropolitan News-Enterprise: "'The marriage relation is the foundation of all society, and is not to be severed on slight ground or for trivial causes. The policy of the law, therefore, is against granting divorces.' That pronouncement came in a 1902 California Supreme Court opinion...

CWA: The DISCLOSE Act is the work of tyrants

Posted on June 24, 2010
Concerned Women for America: "Penny Nance, CEO of Concerned Women for America, stated: 'The DISCLOSE Act is designed to stifle Americans? legitimate right to political speech and carves out exceptions for powerful special interest groups and unions. It places onerous regulations on small business owners and grassroots groups if they attempt to educate the public on candidates and issues...

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