Religion & Law

China?s holdings of US debt larger than reported

Posted on March 01, 2011
AFP on Yahoo: "China's holdings of US bonds reached $1.16 trillion at the end of December, almost $270 billion more than previously estimated, new data showed Monday."

Don?t Forget About All Those CA Obama Voters Who Provided Prop. 8 Victory Margin

Posted on March 01, 2011
Greg Scott, ADF National Media Relations Director, writes at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: "President Obama took 61% of the California vote to Sen. McCain?s 37%. Proposition 8, California?s state constitutional marriage protection amendment, cruised to a comfortable 52...

Judge: Gosnell Can?t Avoid Civil Lawsuit in Botched Abortion

Posted on March 01, 2011
LifeNews: "A local judge has ruled that embattled abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell ? who has gained national notoriety for the shoddy abortion business he ran ? can?t sell his assets to avoid a civil lawsuit."

Brett Harvey: The Facade of Independence

Posted on March 01, 2011
ADF attorney Brett Harvey writes at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: "Despite clear historical and legal precedent, the legal fight continues. Recently states, counties, and towns across the U.S. have received letters from activists groups like the ACLU and Freedom from Religion Foundation demanding that invocations before public meetings be stopped or censored...

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Now government wants to control tidiness of churches

Posted on March 01, 2011
Bob Unruh writes at WorldNetDaily: But the ADF said the trouble started because the church "treats seriously the God-given call to help the poor and disadvantaged?" "So this church opened its facilities to help those in need with food and a place to stay...

David French: ?All Our Destinies: Why I?m a Calvinist?

Posted on March 01, 2011
David French writes at Patheos: "I don't feel closer to God," I said, "but I do know that I depend utterly on Him for the next breath of life in my body and for the breath of life in my wife and children." Some people call that fatalistic. But that misunderstands the difference between fate and Providence...

Is DOMA really dead?

Posted on March 01, 2011
National Catholic Register: Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian attorneys, said he was disappointed to see ?public officials cast aside their duties and responsibilities in favor of playing politics...

7th Circuit rules Illinois high school ?cannot?stifle criticism of homosexuality?

Posted on March 01, 2011
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys won an important decision Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit against Indian Prairie School District on behalf of high school students prohibited from expressing their religious views about homosexual behavior on T-shirts...

Muslims calling for the adoption of Shariah in this country plan to march near the White House on March 3rd.

Posted on March 01, 2011
Right Side News links to Fox News video reporting on the situation.

Chile Gets Pro-Life Award; Opposing Abortion, Helping Women

Posted on March 01, 2011
LifeNews: Every innocent life deserves to be protected, and every pregnant mother should receive the help she needs to care for that life,? said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Piero Tozzi.  ?We couldn?t be more pleased to present this honor to the people of Chile for their painstaking and diligent efforts to help pregnant women and protect their preborn children...

Paul Benjamin Linton legal analysis: President overlooked Supreme Court ruling, Baker v. Nelson, in refusing to defend DOMA

Posted on March 01, 2011
"Under well established precedent, the dismissal of the appeal in Baker for want of a substantial federal question constitutes a decision on the merits that is binding on lower courts on the issues presented and necessarily decided."

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Mourns Passing of Senior Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall

Posted on March 01, 2011
Public Information Office for the Ninth Circuit: "The Hon. Cynthia Holcomb Hall, a distinguished senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, died Saturday, February 26, 2011, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was 82...

Abortion Centers in Texas Evade Laws, Dump Records and Waste

Posted on March 01, 2011
LifeNews: "A three-month-long investigation conducted by a pro-life group into abortion centers in Texas reveals a pattern of evading parental consent laws and illegally dumping both medical records and hazardous waste."

Australia: Scripture Union website informs public debate on school chaplaincy

Posted on March 01, 2011
Christian Today: "In direct response to the Australian Secular Lobby?s push to have chaplains banished from government schools Scripture Union Queensland has launched an information website for students and parents. The ?support school chaplains? (supportschoolchaplains...

Calif AG asks court to lift ?gay marriage? stay

Posted on March 01, 2011
California's attorney general asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to allow gay marriages to resume while the court considers the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex unions.

Chuck Schumer: GOP Family Planning Cut Proposal Is ?Dead On Arrival? (VIDEO)

Posted on March 01, 2011
The Huffington Post carries video of the Senator making his pronouncement.

Utah bills to make elective abortion more difficult under debate

Posted on March 01, 2011
Fox13Now.com (includes video): "Three bills dealing with abortion sponsored by Rep. Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) are now being debated on Capitol Hill." | House Bill 353 - Freedom of Conscience Bill | House Bill 354 Prohibits government issued or sponsored insurance to pay for abortion | House Bill 171 Will require additional licensing and inspections for abortion clinics

Alabama Teachers Sue over Law Criminalizing Use of Union Dues for Political Activity

Posted on March 01, 2011
AllGov.com: "The Alabama Education Association is suing Governor Robert Bentley over legislation that his predecessor pushed through the legislature in an effort to cripple the union?s political activity."

TN: ACLU says critical thinking undermines confidence in evolution

Posted on March 01, 2011
TNReport.com: "HB 0368, the anti-evolution bill that was supposed to be up last week, was rolled to the House General Subcommittee of Education meeting on Wednesday, 3/2/11. The bill promotes creationism in the science classroom under the guise of encouraging critical thinking, stating that teachers will not be disciplined for encouraging students to examine the ?weaknesses? of proven scientific theories such as evolution...

Prospects for NC marriage amendment looking good

Posted on March 01, 2011
NewsObserver.com: With Republicans now controlling the legislature, Forrester is looking forward to hearings and a victory. "I think we have enough votes to get it passed," he said. Republicans hold majorities in both chambers, and similar bills in past years have drawn bi-partisan support.

Maryland Catholic leaders urge continued fight against marriage redefinition

Posted on March 01, 2011
The Catholic Church isn't giving up its fight against same-sex marriage in Maryland. The top three church leaders who serve the state issued a joint statement Monday urging their flock to "act at once" to prevent the House of Delegates from passing the same bill legalizing gay nuptials that passed the Senate last week

High court nixes church appeal in defamation case

Posted on February 28, 2011
Seattle PI: "The Supreme Court has refused to toss out a defamation award to a fired pastor, despite claims by the church that dismissed him that its actions are protected by the Constitution's religious freedom guarantees."

?Ireland elects first openly gay TD?

Posted on February 28, 2011
Pink News: "Ireland has elected its first openly gay Teachta Dála, the Irish equivalent of an MP."

Austria: Domestic partnership law leads to 700 ?registrations

Posted on February 28, 2011
Austrian Independent: "More than 700 same sex couples decided to follow the government coalition?s offer of having their partnership "registered" last year."

Planned Parenthood Spending 200K on Ads for Taxpayer-Funding

Posted on February 28, 2011
LifeNews: "The Planned Parenthood abortion business is rolling out a new television commercial designed to persuade members of the Senate to support the continuation of its taxpayer funding."

Q&A: Is It Okay to Put Human Bodies on Display?

Posted on February 28, 2011
Live Science: "A hall full of human corpses posed as if they were alive hardly seems like a setting for clean family fun. But Body Worlds ? a series of exhibits of real, preserved human bodies by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens ? is precisely that: a wildly popular museum experience viewed by more than 32 million people worldwidesince 1995...

SD: Senate panel OKs mandatory abortion counseling

Posted on February 28, 2011
MSNBC: "A South Dakota bill to require all pregnant women seeking an abortion to undergo counseling and wait 72 hours has moved closer to becoming law."

Wisconsin?s Walker to absent Democrats: 24 hours to return

Posted on February 28, 2011
AP: "Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday that absent senate Democrats have 24 hours to return and vote on a measure to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state will miss out on opportunity to refinance its debt."

Wisconsin: An Education in Special Interest Power

Posted on February 28, 2011
Lindsey Burke writes at the Heritage Foundation: "Wisconsin is a microcosm for a larger problem with education unions. According to Mike Antonucci, who specializes in research on education unions, during the 2007?2008 election cycle, the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers spent more than $71 million on campaigns for issues and candidates, or more than $100 per teacher in five states...

Justice Thomas Responds

Posted on February 28, 2011
John Fund writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has decided he's had enough of liberal adversaries claiming he should recuse himself from future decisions because of his wife's involvement in the tea party."

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