Religion & Law

NH: Sign for Christ denied: 4-3 decision cites safety concerns

Posted on February 11, 2011
Concord Monitor: "Despite being okayed by the Chichester Zoning Board, Fab Cusson's application to build a Bible-quoting electronic sign on Route 4 was shot down by the planning board in a 4-3 vote Wednesday night. . . Michael Tierney, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, which protects religious freedom and has represented Cusson, did not attend Wednesday's hearing but said 'clearly religious speech has as much protection under the Constitution as commercial speech...

Taxing Churches

Posted on February 11, 2011
LezGetReal (A Gay Girl's View on the World): "The Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that protects religious 'rights', is representing two churches in a lawsuit against the city of Mission. They are calling the tax a 'tax on church attendance.' Mission?s Mayor Laura McConwell has explained that 'This is not a tax...

?ACLU Brief Argues That School Counselors Cannot Refuse To Counsel Gay And Lesbian Clients?

Posted on February 11, 2011
ACLU: "The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief today supporting Eastern Michigan University?s (EMU?s) right to remove from its counseling program a graduate student who refused to counsel lesbian, gay and bisexual clients on any issues relating to same-sex relationships during her clinical training...

WI: Three challengers seek Prosser?s court seat

Posted on February 11, 2011
Journal-Sentinel: "Justice David Prosser joined the state Supreme Court more than 12 years ago, but he's only now facing a challenge at the ballot box."

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Swedish Ombudsman sues UPS for dismissing Muslim who refused to shave

Posted on February 11, 2011
The Local: "Sweden's Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, DO) has filed a lawsuit against parcel delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS) after the company dismissed a Muslim driver who refused to shave his beard."

Despite media hype, most courts and voters have rejected so-called ?right to same sex marriage?

Posted on February 11, 2011
The majority of courts to consider the issue, as well as the majority of people voting on it, have rejected a right to same-sex marriage.

Indonesia: 10 Islamic hard-liners arrest for burning churches and murder

Posted on February 11, 2011
AP: "Indonesian police say 10 suspects have been arrested after Islamic hard-liners set churches on fire and killed three members of a minority Islamic sect."

Memo to Secretaries of the Military Departments: DADT Repeal Plan

Posted on February 11, 2011
Online here.

Afghan Christian Convert Facing Apostasy Charges Solicits Prayer

Posted on February 11, 2011
AllVoices: "An Afghan Christian convert, Said Musa, facing apostasy charges punishable by death has written a series of letters from his prison cell asking Christians around the world to pray for him."

Are Health Care Waivers Unconstitutional?

Posted on February 11, 2011
Jonathan Adler reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: "Columbia Law School?s Philip Hamburger had an interesting essay on NRO this week questioning the constitutionality of federal authority to grant waivers under the federal health care law.  A taste . . ...

North Dakota Passes Personhood Legislation in the House

Posted on February 11, 2011
Christian Newswire: "Confirming that the protection of every human being is within reach, The Defense of Human Life Act, HB 1450, has passed in the North Dakota House with an overwhelming majority of 68 - 25."

Pepperdine announces new head of law school

Posted on February 11, 2011
AP on San Francisco Chronicle: "The Malibu-based university said Thursday it has appointed Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. She will start work June 1."

Alliance Defense Fund on Radio Shine this month

Posted on February 11, 2011
Verde Independent: "The Alliance Defense Fund and George Pritchard will be in Prescott at Radio Shine on Monday, Feb. 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for a pastor lunch."

Indiana marriage amendment also bans civil unions

Posted on February 11, 2011
Indianapolis Star: The measure, which must be approved by two separately elected legislatures and by voters, will get an up-or-down vote by the House in the next few weeks. It would add to the state constitution not only the marriage ban but also a ban on anything "substantially similar" to marriage.

WI: Grand Rapids restricts sexually oriented businesses

Posted on February 11, 2011
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: "After almost a year of reviewing case studies and working with the town's attorney to develop a policy, Grand Rapids Town Board members unanimously agreed Thursday to restrictions -- including a ban on nudity at such businesses...

Karl Rove: Democrats Can?t Filibuster ObamaCare Repeal

Posted on February 11, 2011
Wall Street Journal: "Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin likes to taunt his Republican colleagues, arguing that ObamaCare can't be repealed because 60 votes are required to end debate in the Senate on any measure . . . Not so fast. Keith Hennessey, a former White House colleague of mine, says Democrats are wrong...

Albert J. Mohler, Jr.: Is Academic Bias Against Conservatives Real? An Amazing Admission

Posted on February 11, 2011
Albert J. Mohler, Jr. writes at the Christian Post: "It all started when Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist the University of Virginia, took a poll of his audience at the meeting: 'He polled his audience at the San Antonio Convention Center, starting by asking how many considered themselves politically liberal...

Pravda: Is there anyone left to defend traditional marriage?

Posted on February 11, 2011
Paul Kokoski writes at Pravda: "Russia should be militant in opposing the acceptance of homosexual acts . . . The Western media often portrays the homosexual lifestyle and relationships as happy, healthy, and stable. On the contrary there are very high rates of sexual promiscuity among the homosexual population with short duration of even "committed" relationships...

?We Are Living in the Midst of the Greatest Human Genocide in the History of Humanity,? Rep. Franks Says of Legalized Abortion

Posted on February 11, 2011
CNSNews: "Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) said on Thursday that because modern technology can reveal fetal development in the womb, Americans are starting to ?wake up? and realize the reality that abortion ends a human life."

Catholic college disallows union, federal officials question religious identity

Posted on February 11, 2011
National Catholic Reporter: I?m not that concerned about this ruling because there?s an easy way to avoid it: stay true to your religious mission and don?t drift away from it,? said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which provides legal representation in religious liberty cases...

Ireland: Labour pledges to redefine marriage and force Catholic schools to hire open homosexuals

Posted on February 11, 2011
The Iona Institute: "Labour's manifesto also confirmed that the party will change Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act that it favours forcing schools to hire openly homosexual teachers, which would make it impossible for Catholic schools to teach Catholic sexual morality in full...

West cannot understand risk of ?Islamization,? Iraqi archbishop warns

Posted on February 11, 2011
CNA: "The secular western world is incapable of fully understanding the threat of a ?reawakening of Islam? in the Middle East, according to an Iraqi bishop beset by radical movements in his own archdiocese."

Heritage Foundation: The Long Shadow of Marital Dissolution

Posted on February 11, 2011
Heritage Foundation: "What may not be so well known is the fact that the ripple effects of family dissolution go beyond the impact on the immediate children of broken marriages. Current trends toward dissolving (or never forming) marriages have consequences for a third (and even fourth) generation, given that children?s life course of relationships tend to track that of their parents...

Expert: Egypt?s Mubarak Resignation Good for Coptic Christians

Posted on February 11, 2011
Christian Post: "I think Mubarak's resignation is a good thing for Coptic Christians, and other Egyptians. If he had not done so, there would likely have been riots and violence and a descent into chaos," said Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, D...

KS: Manhattan City leaders push through special rights for homosexuals

Posted on February 11, 2011
One News Now: "In a 3-to-2 vote on Tuesday night, city commissioners awarded Manhattan -- home of Kansas State University -- the broadest special protections of any community in the nation for homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders."

Republicans promise $100 billion in spending cuts

Posted on February 10, 2011
AP: "Thursday's announcement by Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers comes just a day after he failed to sell a smaller package of cuts in a closed-door GOP meeting."

NY Times Blog: ?Can Gay Marriage Save State Budgets??

Posted on February 10, 2011
NY Times Blog: "Legalizing gay marriage in Rhode Island could bring the state an additional $1.2 million over a three-year period, according to a study from the Williams Institute at the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles."

Heritage Foundation: What the Collapse of Marriage Means for Children

Posted on February 10, 2011
Heritage Foundation, The Foundry: "The decline of marriage in recent years not only signals trouble for the men and women missing out on the stability of the institution; it can also threaten the future success of children born outside the economic protection of marriage...

CPAC Controversy over ?Gay? Group Continues

Posted on February 10, 2011
Fox News: "The concern of conservatives is over the participation of a group whose stated goals run at odds with that of core conservative principles, not over debate over those issues," said APP President Frank Cannon who called upon Palin, who will not attend the event, to clarify her remarks...

Poland?s ruling party reprimands lawmaker for ?anti-gay? remark; moves to fine him

Posted on February 10, 2011
Winnipeg Free Press: "Wegrzyn apologized on Thursday for the remark, in which he criticized the prospect of marriage among men but said he'd 'gladly watch' lesbians. He said he is not homophobic, but conceded that the remark was sexist."

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