Religion & Law

British appellate court says EU employment discrimination directives do not cover volunteers

Posted on January 28, 2011
Religion Clause: "In an important ruling in X v. Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau, (EWCA, Jan. 26, 2011), the England and Wales Court of Appeal held that volunteers are not covered by the EU directives requiring equal treatment in employment and occupation...

Bill would create special envoy for religious minorities in Near East and South Central Asia

Posted on January 28, 2011
Congressman Frank Wolf: "In the wake of increasing violence, targeted attacks and heightened discrimination against Christians in Iraq and Egypt, and persistent concerns in Afghanistan and Pakistan, among other nations, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) today introduced bipartisan legislation calling for the creation of a special envoy at the U...

Suit charges religious discrimination in closing of Facebook account

Posted on January 28, 2011
New York Daily News: "Mustafa Fteja is suing the Internet giant for $500,000 for shutting down his access to the site - and many of his overseas friends - without explanation . . . Fteja, who is Muslim, also accuses the company of religious discrimination...

New Black Panther Party case: The facts are in

Posted on January 28, 2011
Jennifer Rubin writing in The Washington Post / Voices: "The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights came out in December with a draft of its interim report on the New Black Panthers Party scandal. Earlier today a final report was posted on the commission's website ...

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Egyptians brace for Friday protests as internet, messaging disrupted

Posted on January 28, 2011
CNN: "Hours ahead of what are expected to be massive displays of anti-government ferment across the world's most populous Arab nation, the internet went dark in parts of Egypt early Friday, and text messaging appeared to be blocked."

Monroe County, NY wants condoms in high schools

Posted on January 28, 2011
WHEC: "The Monroe County Health Department says it's seen a major spike in HIV cases among teens in the Rochester City School District. Now, it wants condoms to be handed out in high schools."

CA: Planned Parenthood aims to open clinic in Redwood City

Posted on January 28, 2011
Palo Alto Daily News: "Planned Parenthood wants to open a new facility on El Camino Real in Redwood City, but at least one neighbor won't put out the welcome mat."

Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leaders

Posted on January 28, 2011
Reuters: "Egypt rounded up members of the Muslim Brotherhood including at least eight senior leaders of the group ahead of planned countrywide protests on Friday, a lawyer representing the detained men said."

City attorney wants Seattle strip club near school shut down

Posted on January 28, 2011
KING 5: "The Seattle City Attorney's Office requested Thursday that the King County Superior Court close the 'adult cabaret' club Jiggles because it violates building and zoning codes."

Woman who had abortion finds fault with positive abortion study

Posted on January 28, 2011
Christian Post: "Georgette Forney, a co-founder of Silent No More Awareness Campaign, criticized the study for not going deeper to find the true mental health issues that result for abortion. 'They didn?t address the women who may be feeling depressed but don?t go into a hospital,' said Forney, also the president of Anglicans for Life...

Chick-fil-A removed from IU South Bend campus for marriage seminar catering

Posted on January 28, 2011
WSBT: "The university decided to remove Chick-fil-A as a campus vendor after news that a Pennsylvania franchise will be donating food for an event hosted by a known anti-homosexual group."

Dad: Ex-wife too religiously extreme for son

Posted on January 28, 2011
WLS Chicago: "A woman who is now married to a Hasidic Jew accuses her ex-husband of not following their custody agreement to support her religion." | For background on this case, see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert...

Virginia lawmakers battle human trafficking

Posted on January 28, 2011
The Washington Post / Virginia Politics: "Watts' HB1893, would expand the kidnapping statute to cover anyone who 'recruits, entices or solicits' someone to perform services or work under duress and deprives the person of liberty. Comstock's measure, HB2440 would allow someone charged with prostitution to interpose an affirmative defense evidence that he or she had been coerced into the act, thereby excusing the crime...

Customs agents: Sex trafficking major problem in Georgia

Posted on January 28, 2011
CBS Atlanta: "Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents told CBS Atlanta News sex slaves rings are operating in various parts of the metro area. CBS Atlanta spoke to a woman who said she was kidnapped from her home in Veracruz, Mexico, and forced into prostitution...

Canada: Both sides of polygamy debate fear the law

Posted on January 28, 2011
Toronto Star: "Only in Canada would this be a matter of constitutional challenge?which just goes to show how far the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been co-opted, manipulated, to turn fundamental concepts on their head in the ever-unravelling tapestry of classic Western democracy ...

Court date set for appeal over Ark. adoption law

Posted on January 28, 2011
KATV (AP): "The Arkansas Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in an appeal over a state law that prohibits unmarried couples who live together from fostering or adopting children."

UK: Three more charged with stirring up ?homophobic? hatred

Posted on January 28, 2011
BBC: "Ahjaz Ali, 41, Umer Javed, 37 and Mehboob Hassain, 44, are accused of distributing threatening material . . . The Crown Prosecution Service said the case was the first brought since new laws were introduced for this offence."

Yakima, WA: Attorney for strip club awaits City?s response

Posted on January 28, 2011
KNDO: "City of Yakima has 'been served,' according to the attorney representing a businessman who wants to open up a strip club in Yakima."

Michael J. New: Repealing health care is job #1 for pro-lifers

Posted on January 28, 2011
Michael J. New writing at Public Discourse: "Unfortunately, amidst all this sunny news, one development from 2010 has the ability to undermine much of the hard fought progress the pro-life movement has made since the Roe v. Wade decision. That is, of course, this last spring?s passage of Obamacare...

RI House to hold marriage hearing next week

Posted on January 28, 2011
Providence Journal: "As promised, the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled an early-session hearing on a proposal -- co-sponsored by Speaker Gordon D. Fox -- to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island."

Hawaii Senate passes civil unions

Posted on January 28, 2011
KITV: "The state Senate on Friday approved Senate Bill 232, relating to Civil Unions, at its regular daily session."

Tea Party Caucus silent on abortion funding

Posted on January 28, 2011
Christian Post: "A crowd of 150 invited activists from groups such as the Tea Party Express, Americans for Tax Reform and FreedomWorks met with elected tea party candidates Thursday to discuss current victories and future plans. However, once Senators got down to business, there was no mention of key conservative issues that would cut government spending on abortion providers and save the government millions of dollars...

Arkansas Senate votes to exclude abortion coverage from Obamacare exchanges

Posted on January 28, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Senate Bill 113, sponsored by Republican Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, maintains that ?Health insurance exchange coverage of abortions in the state health insurance exchange [is] prohibited.? It will now go to the state House for a vote."

GA: Bill filed to ban abortions after 20 weeks

Posted on January 28, 2011
GPB: "Republican State Representative Allen Peake filed a bill this week that would ban all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy."

ADF submits brief on behalf of House Judiciary Committee Chairman to protect marriage from latest legal assaults

Posted on January 28, 2011
"Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Justice has chosen not to defend DOMA based on the well-established rationales that Congress cited when it passed the law."

Canada: Giving new meaning to ?nanny state?

Posted on January 28, 2011
Andrea Mrozek And Peter Jon Mitchell writing in the National Post: "In recent decades, Canadian public policy has made it more difficult for parents to be responsible for their families. It begins with the micro-management of the legal status of our households ...

Wyoming Senate advances marriage amendment

Posted on January 28, 2011
JURIST: "he Wyoming Senate on Thursday voted 20-10 [vote details] in favor of Joint Resolution 5, the first step to a constitutional amendment that would prevent the state from recognizing same-sex marriages from any jurisdiction."

DADT repeal plan requires no major policy overhaul

Posted on January 28, 2011
"The department will not offer changes in its standards of conduct, expressions of religious beliefs, military benefits, medical policies or duty assignments."

e-divorces on rise in Australia

Posted on January 28, 2011
Times of India: "Australian couples seeking divorce are now increasingly doing it through the Internet, with more than 250 people using an online service in almost 18 months."

Book review: What does it mean to be a Christian in the late modern world?

Posted on January 28, 2011
Richard Gamble reviews To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, James Davison Hunter, Oxford University Press, 368 pages: "Sociologist James Davison Hunter . . . takes up the question of what Christian faithfulness ought to look like in 21st-century America...

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