Religion & Law

KY: Religious billboards spark dispute

Posted on June 15, 2010
AP: "The Bowling Green Daily News reports the Kentucky Court of Appeals is weighing an appeal brought by Harston after he lost two suits brought by the state, which considers the signs a nuisance that violates the 1965 Federal Beautification Act. Kentucky could lose up to 10 percent of federal road dollars if it fails to effectively control outdoor advertising...

Spanish move toward restricting burqa

Posted on June 15, 2010
AP: "Spain's government on Tuesday said it favors barring the use of burqas in government buildings, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that such garments are degrading to women."

Petition launched against Pakistani blasphemy law

Posted on June 15, 2010
Catholic.net: "The French section of Aid to the Church in Need is urging people worldwide to sign a petition denouncing a 'blasphemy law' that allows for grave injustices in Pakistan. The aid agency explained on its Web site that 1,000 Pakistanis have been condemned because of their faith due to this law, such as a 5-year-old child who was burned alive for being a Christian, and is calling for support and worldwide prayer for the victims of this law as well as their families...

?Spanish clinic probed for offering to cure gays?

Posted on June 15, 2010
AFP: "The government in Spain's Catalonia region said Tuesday it was investigating a clinic in Barcelona that is allegedly offering treatments to 'cure' homosexuality. The Policlinica Tibidabo in the Catalan capital is offering pills and psychiatric treatment to 'convert' homosexuals, Spain's leading daily El Pais reported...

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Western nations slam Iran over human rights record

Posted on June 15, 2010
Boston Globe (AP): "Western nations rebuked Iran for its human rights record Tuesday after overcoming an attempt by Iran and its Muslim allies to block the statement from being read aloud in the U.N. Human Rights Council."

UK: Govt affirms importance of NHS chaplains? work

Posted on June 15, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Hospital chaplains play an 'important' role in the NHS, and the Government values their work, a Conservative Peer has said. Speaking in the House of Lords, Earl Howe, who is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, said the Government is committed to giving patients and staff in the NHS access to 'spiritual care'...

London Mayor blasts campaign to end council?s prayers

Posted on June 15, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has slammed a secular campaign to stop a local council praying before its meetings. . . . [He] pointed out that Parliament has the same tradition, and that it is helpful for both believers and non-believers...

Daniel Blomberg: Breaking the military?s moral compass just when it?s needed most

Posted on June 15, 2010
ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: "[A]s the Catholic Archbishop for the Military Diocese, Timothy Broglio, recently pointed out, other fundamental concerns are also at stake [in the face of DADT repeal]. Namely, the moral voice of the military is in danger of being silenced at a time when its guidance is most in need to an institution which?because it must daily make life-or-death decisions?requires a trustworthy moral compass...

Record number of LGBT staff in Obama administration

Posted on June 15, 2010
GayPolitics.com: "President Obama has already appointed more openly LGBT staffers to his administration than the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton combined, according to Shin Inouye, director of specialty media in the White House communications office...

?Test your LGBT IQ Test your LGBT IQ? The Status of 25 Bills Pending in Congress

Posted on June 15, 2010
Keen News Service: "Only one question this year: Besides the measures on the House and Senate Defense authorization bills to repeal Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell, name the other 25 LGBT-specific bills pending in Congress right now."

?German court: Gay marriage is only ?partnership??

Posted on June 15, 2010
"A Berlin court declined to set a precedent by recognizing a gay marriage performed in Canada, ruling Tuesday that the union would only be considered a civil partnership in Germany."

State ?kidnapping? of Swedish home-schooler prompts international outcry

Posted on June 15, 2010
The New American: "The case of eight-year-old Domenic Johansson, separated from his family by Swedish authorities last year over his parents? decision to legally home school him, has prompted an international outcry from human rights groups, American home schooling organizations, and activists on the World Wide Web...

Pelosi: No ENDA vote until after ?Don?t Ask? repeal

Posted on June 15, 2010
"U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday said that a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act wouldn?t take place until Congress completes legislative action on 'Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell.'"

Fellow law school deans embrace Kagan for court

Posted on June 15, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "Sixty-nine law school deans from around the country wrote to the chairman and top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee in praise of Kagan,herself a former Harvard Law School dean."

?Gay rights and religious liberties? at Bloggingheads.tv

Posted on June 15, 2010
GetReligion.org blogger Mollie Ziegler-Hemingway and Religion Dispatches blogger Sarah Posner discuss "gay rights vs. religious liberties" at Bloggingheads.tv. Partial transcript: Posner: "Well, you know, the Alliance Defense Fund was very involved in the litigation in both of those cases you cite ...

FDA Calls New Abortion Drug Ella, Billed as Morning After Pill, Safe for Women

Posted on June 15, 2010
The Food and Drug Administration today declared a new abortion drug called ella (also known as ellaOne and ulipristal) safe and effective for women.

Somali Islamists kill two for watching World Cup

Posted on June 15, 2010
Reuters: "Somali Islamist militants killed two people and arrested dozens of others for breaking a ban on watching the World Cup on television, residents said."

World makes progress against slavery, but 13 nations lag

Posted on June 15, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "The US State Department's annual report on modern-day slavery cites greater determination worldwide to stamp it out. But 13 nations are on the list of sluggards neglecting the issue." State Department Report 2010

Eighty-Ninety percent of 18-24 year-olds in Philadelphia ineligible for military service

Posted on June 15, 2010
"Between 80 and 90 percent of 18- to 24-year-old city residents, the report's authors say, display deal-breaking deficiencies in at least one of what retired Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff calls "the three M" categories: medical, moral, and mental. Roughly 75 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds are ineligible nationwide...

Sponsor system ?gateway to human trafficking?

Posted on June 15, 2010
AFP: "Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged countries across the Middle East to end forced labour brought by visa sponsorships that the watchdog said have become a gateway for human trafficking."

No longer banned in Boston: Church allowed to put Bible back into vacation Bible school

Posted on June 15, 2010
The Boston Centers for Youth and Families has notified Alliance Defense Fund attorneys that it will put an end to its problematic policy banning the use of religious content in its publicly available meeting rooms.

Justice nominee defends record before Senate panel

Posted on June 15, 2010
Google News (AP): "The nominee for the No. 2 post at the Justice Department has told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the government must use all available means in fighting terrorism."

Prop. 8 judge wants a discussion of ?choice? in sexual orientation

Posted on June 15, 2010
LA Times: "A federal judge who will decide the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage wants lawyers during closing arguments Wednesday to discuss the meaning of "choice" in sexual orientation and a possible finding that Proposition 8 attempted to 'enforce private morality...

OIF offers assistance to libraries receiving ADF letters on meeting room policies

Posted on June 15, 2010
OIF Blog (Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association): "The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal organization, has initiated a letter-writing campaign to libraries and schools around the country. The campaign targets libraries with meeting room policies that restrict the use of the library?s meeting rooms for religious services...

UW abortionist Dutton leaving, documents show

Posted on June 15, 2010
Pro-Life Wisconsin: "Emails obtained through an open records request, filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Pro-Life Wisconsin, reveal that University of Wisconsin (UW) abortionist Caryn Dutton is leaving to take a position in Boston. The documents also show how the negative press surrounding the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics? involvement in abortion was affecting its public image...

Personhood Nevada Denied Right to Circulate Petition; Prepares for 2012

Posted on June 15, 2010
Personhood Nevada, through many legal battles, has been denied the right to circulate their prolife petition in the state. The ACLU joined forces with Planned Parenthood, tying the petition up in court and disallowing the many ready and willing Nevada volunteers their right to circulate the petition.

Phyllis Schlafly: Social Issues vs. Fiscal Issues

Posted on June 15, 2010
"The truth is that social and fiscal issues are locked in a political and financial embrace that cannot be pried apart."

WI: Judge Wins Right to Join Democratic Party

Posted on June 15, 2010
A Wisconsin ban on judges belonging to political parties was declared unconstitutional today by the federal appeals court in Chicago.

Obama names Suzan Johnson Cook religious freedom ambassador

Posted on June 15, 2010
White House: "President Obama also announced his intent to appoint Suzan Johnson Cook to serve as Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom at the Department of State, Felice D. Gaer to serve as Member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and William J...

Reformed Church Agrees to Discuss ELCA?s Pro-Gay Actions

Posted on June 15, 2010
Christian Post: "The Reformed Church in America adopted a resolution expressing 'concern' over the Evangelical Lutheran Church's controversial action to allow partnered homosexuals to be on the clergy roster . . . The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod ? the second largest Lutheran church body after the ELCA ? is reconsidering its cooperative relationship with its sister Lutheran denomination...

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