Religion & Law

Albert Mohler: The end of men?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Albert Mohler writing at The Christian Post: "Boys are clearly falling behind girls in both educational achievement and aspiration. The long-term consequences of this shift are momentous and virtually impossible to reverse in a single generation. This pattern has vast implications for marital prospects, since women express a strong preference to marry a man of equal or greater educational and professional potential...

Rasmussen poll of US voters: 42% oppose Kagan?s confirmation, 35% favor

Posted on June 23, 2010
Rasmussen Reports: "Forty-two percent (42%) of U.S. voters now believe Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan should not be confirmed following the Senate hearings scheduled to begin next week. That's up nine points from the week President Obama announced her nomination and the highest level of opposition to date in Rasmussen Reports tracking of the Kagan nomination...

Federal attorneys: Va. can?t sue over health law

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Virginian-Pilot: "Virginia lacks the legal ability to challenge a national law overhauling the health care system, so Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's lawsuit should be dismissed, federal attorneys argued in a court filing Tuesday."

D.C. school vouchers ? the last word?

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Washington Post | DeBonis: "On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education issued its final evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program -- aka school vouchers. ... Here's what it found: (a) 'There is no conclusive evidence that the [voucher program] affected student achievement...

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Why the US government has no standing to sue Arizona

Posted on June 23, 2010
Atlanta Conservative Examiner: "The federal government does not have a proverbial 'leg to stand on.' The only way the federal government could subvert Arizona law is to 'stack the deck' in the Supreme Court or pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform (aka amnesty)...

Kagan Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin Monday

Posted on June 23, 2010
Voice of America News: "Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan begin Monday in Washington. Kagan is President Barack Obama's choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the high court's leading liberal thinker...

Kagan submits updated financial disclosure

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Blog of LegalTimes: "The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has released a new financial disclosure report for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, showing she received a final stipend last year for serving on a Goldman Sachs advisory council."

Obama Administration approves more embryonic stem cells for taxpayer funding

Posted on June 23, 2010
LifeNews: "The Obama administration is making American taxpayers fund yet another round of embryonic stem cells with taxpayer funds even though they have never helped any human patients because of problems in animal research. On Monday, NIH Director Francis Collins approved eight more embryonic stem cell lines for federal funding -- including the six lines the Stem Cell Working Group signed off on last week...

?Obama Admin to force businesses to give gay partners unpaid leave?

Posted on June 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The White House announced Monday that they would expand the definition of a 1993 federal law, with the result that many employers in all 50 states would be forced to extend family and medical leave to homosexual partners. Pro-family advocates, however, are denouncing the policy as blatant illegality, saying that it clearly contravenes the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)...

Alberta bill raises censorship, parental rights concerns

Posted on June 23, 2010
CBC: "Alberta's Bill 44 was contentious when it was going through the legislature and the controversy continues over the right it gives parents to excuse their children from classroom discussions about sex and religion. The two-pronged legislation enshrined gay rights into Alberta's human rights code, which was immediately enacted after the bill was passed...

FL v. Monson and Florida?s homosexual adoption laws

Posted on June 23, 2010
CNN In Session: "On In Session this week, the trial of a Florida woman accused of killing her ex-girlfriend. Cynthia Monson and Patricia Thomas dated for approximately twelve years. Early in their relationship, Monson adopted two children. Monson says she killed Thomas in self-defense after Thomas threatened her with a gun and to take her children away...

?Books with gay themes for young readers take off?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Associated Press: "As gay-straight alliances spread in schools and kids reared by gay parents have kids of their own, books remain important survival tools for all young people trying to figure out who they are, said Lynn Evarts, a high school librarian in the farm country of Sauk Prairie, Wis...

Apple and Microsoft chart a porn-free future for smartphones

Posted on June 23, 2010
National Catholic Register: "When Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaimed that Apple products like the iPhone and iPad would provide 'freedom from porn,' the man regarded as the most savvy tech visionary of the last 30 years was suddenly derided as a 'puritan' and a 'censor...

Canada: Court strikes a blow for common sense and religious freedom in Loyola ruling

Posted on June 23, 2010
John Zucchi, chair of the Department of History and Classical Studies at McGill University, writing in the Montreal Gazette: "Quebec Judge Gerard Dugre has reminded Quebec's education minister that when it comes to the constitutional rights of citizens, the discretionary powers of politicians and bureaucrats are particularly constrained...

NY Senate approves school anti-bullying bill

Posted on June 23, 2010
Gay City News: "At the end of a day when a long-stalled LGBT rights initiative suddenly jumped to the front of the line, the New York State Senate on June 22 passed the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA). The anti-bullying measure, already approved by the Assembly and supported by Governor David Paterson, provides protections based on a number of categories, including sexual orienation and gender identity...

Arizona nun?s approval of abortion stirs global debate

Posted on June 23, 2010
Arizona Republic: "In an international debate raging in religious magazines and on the Internet, experts say the bishop failed to appreciate the circumstances that led to Sister Margaret McBride's decision as an administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix...

Predicting an end to Roe v. Wade

Posted on June 23, 2010
Politico: "Former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger predicted Tuesday night that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision that gives women abortion rights. ... Rachel Brand, the former assistant attorney general under George W...

Bork takes on Kagan?s ?immature theory of judging?

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Washington Post | Right Now: "'It's typical of young lawyers going into constitutional law that they have inflated dreams of what constitutional law can do, what courts can do,' Bork said. 'That usually wears off as time passes and they get experience...

Germany: Same-sex ?equality? introduced to tax brackets

Posted on June 23, 2010
Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD): "The Federal Cabinet today [adopted] equality [for] Civil Partnerships [with respect to] tax rates on inheritance and gift tax law and in the real estate tax." | [Google Translation.]

ACLU urges Jacksonville to stop prayers before council meetings

Posted on June 23, 2010
First Coast News: "The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sent a letter today to Jacksonville's mayor asking that the city stop opening council sessions with sectarian prayer." | Text of letter at link.

Tasmania: Premier defends AG?s voluntary euthanasia strategy

Posted on June 23, 2010
ABC: "Tasmania's Premier has defended his Attorney-General's decision to use public money to develop voluntary euthanasia legislation. Lara Giddings is planning to use resources from her office and department to investigate and draft a Private Members Bill...

Revealed: 33 Scots public bodies have Stonewall link

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Scottish taxpayer-funded organisations from across the country are partnering with ?gay rights? group Stonewall to become 'diversity champions'. The revelations come in the wake of the news that the Crown Office, Scotland?s prosecution service, has also signed up to Stonewall?s diversity register, a move which prompted questions over its impartiality...

Oxford City Council set on lap-dancing crackdown

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Oxford City Council is using new powers to crackdown on 'exploitative' lap-dancing clubs, in a move welcomed by a local church. St Ebbe?s Church is campaigning against a lap-dancing venue close to its premesis and praised the council for its 'determination to rectify the situation'...

UK: Retired GP admits to helping patients die

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A retired GP who hastened the deaths of at least 18 of his patients remains defiant over his actions, despite the prospect of a police investigation. Last week the General Medical Council (GMC) ruled that Dr Howard Martin hastened the deaths of 18 of his patients by giving them excessive doses of morphine, and branded his conduct as 'despicable and dangerous'...

Fresh blow to Scottish assisted suicide Bill

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill, proposed by independent MSP Margo MacDonald, would allow the terminally ill and people who are 'permanently physically incapacitated' to seek assistance in ending their lives. But a public consultation on the controversial Bill has revealed that a staggering 86 per cent of the consultations respondents, some 601 people and organisations, were opposed to the Bill...

Spanish counseling centers push euthanasia

Posted on June 23, 2010
Zenit: "Doctors in Spain are warning against 'dignified death' counseling centers that are pushing euthanasia in the form of ideologically slanted living wills. Ignacio Pascual of the organizations Professionals for Ethics told ZENIT that these 'citizens' advice for a dignified death' information offices aim to counsel the sick, elderly and their relatives on end-of-life issues...

Group rebukes Canadian gov?t for pushing homosexuality in Romania

Posted on June 23, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "A Canadian national pro-family group is taking their government to task after Canada?s ambassador to Romania, Philippe Beaulne, officially backed the country?s week-long 'gay pride' event in the capital last month."

Mich. bill targets illegal immigrant marriage

Posted on June 23, 2010
WWJ: "A Michigan lawmaker plans legislation designed to stop illegal immigrants from getting marriage licenses. The bills upcoming from Republican Rep. Dave Agema of Grandville would require marriage license applicants to show two forms of identification...

Christian grad student expelled; Will it stand?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Christian Web News: "In March 2009, Julea Ward was dimissed from EMU's graduate counseling program because she did not agree that homosexual behavior was morally acceptable. The Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of Julea Ward; a hearing will be held on Thursday...

FL: ?St. Petersburg mayor to attend gay pride parade to get sense of atmosphere?

Posted on June 23, 2010
St. Petersburg Times: "Christian conservative Bill Foster [who] inhabits the mayor's office this year . . . has refused to sign this year's proclamation. But gay leaders say Foster is making a significant break from [the previous mayor] in a number of symbolic ways to acknowledge this weekend's upcoming parade and festival, which organizers call the largest gay pride event in Florida and expect about 80,000 to attend...

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