Religion & Law

FRC urges Congress to restore abortion funding neutrality

Posted on January 20, 2011
FRC Press Release: "Family Research Council praised bipartisan legislation introduced today by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) that would codify abortion funding restrictions across government programs. Also, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) introduced legislation to remove abortion funding from the Obama health bill...

Egypt?s Al-Azhar freezes dialogue with Vatican

Posted on January 20, 2011
Associated Press: "The pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world said Thursday it is freezing its dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks calling for the protection of Christians in Egypt."

Hawaii Senate delays plan to ban chamber prayer

Posted on January 20, 2011
MySanAntonio.com (AP): "The Hawaii Senate isn't doing away with daily prayers before its sessions just yet. The Senate opened with a Hawaiian-language invocation by Danny Kaleikini on Wednesday despite previously announced plans to do away with religious speeches...

U.S. lawmakers press Chinese President on trade, religious freedom, abortion

Posted on January 20, 2011
Wall Street Journal: "House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) issued a statement saying the group discussed a range of issues including the need for China to provide stronger intellectual property protections and curtail North Korea's aggressive behavior...

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PA: When defining sexual oriented businesses, local municipalities cross into hot territory

Posted on January 20, 2011
The Patriot-News: "Earlier this month, Derry Township officials found themselves considering a legal challenge when the owner of Shane?s City Limits sought to revive his business by having scantily-clad dancers shimmy for customers several nights a week ...

Iowa: Bill introduced to allow public to vote on redefinition of marriage

Posted on January 20, 2011
Des Moines Register: "House Republicans today introduced a joint resolution that would begin the process to allow Iowans to vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. House Joint Resolution 6 would not only ban same-sex marriage in Iowa, but also prohibit the recognition of civil unions and domestic partnerships...

Elton John plays Calif. benefit to fund Prop. 8 case

Posted on January 20, 2011
New York Times: "The cause for this fundraiser ? extravagant even when measured against Hollywood events ? was the legal fight to overturn Proposition 8, the California voter initiative that banned gay marriage. At the end of the night, as the crowd headed to a long line of waiting limousines and shuttle vans, Rob Reiner, the director and a leader of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, announced that the event had raised $3 million...

?Attorney says gay Dallas man will take his battle for a divorce to the Texas Supreme Court?

Posted on January 20, 2011
Dallas Voice ("the premier media source for LGBT Texas"): "Attorney James 'Jody' Scheske confirmed Wednesday that his client, J.B., plans to appeal the August decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that gay couples can?t divorce in Texas because the state doesn?t recognize same-sex marriage...

PA: Allentown extends same-sex medical benefits

Posted on January 20, 2011
The Morning Call: "Allentown City Council on Wednesday extended medical benefits to partners of gay employees in the city's largest union and white-collar staff, but delayed extending the same benefits to firefighters and police officers."

Tory chief Baroness Warsi attacks ?bigotry? against Muslims

Posted on January 20, 2011
Telegraph: "Islamophobia has 'passed the dinner-table test' and is seen by many as normal and uncontroversial, Baroness Warsi will say in a speech on Thursday. The minister without portfolio will also warn that describing Muslims as either 'moderate' or 'extremist' fosters growing prejudice...

Santorum makes controversial remark on Obama, race and abortion

Posted on January 20, 2011
LifeNews: "'Well if that human life is not a person then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say "now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people,"' Santorum added."

PA: State officials kept looking the other way on clinic, report finds

Posted on January 20, 2011
Philadelphia Daily News: "Time and time again, authorities alerted to Kermit Gosnell's filthy and macabre abortion clinic - and to the injured, diseased or dead women he left in his wake - failed to rattle the alarm bells loudly enough to shut his house of horrors, the district attorney's grand-jury report found...

Palestinian Islamic court forcibly divorces West Bank couple after declaring them ?apostates?

Posted on January 20, 2011
Canadian Press: "For more than a year, a Palestinian couple belonging to an Islamic sect rejected by many mainstream Muslims endured insults from some of their neighbours and even death threats while struggling to maintain a quiet existence in this West Bank town...

Court denies request to block NYC mosque construction

Posted on January 20, 2011
Christian Post: "The New York Supreme Court denied a request Wednesday to block construction of the Islamic mosque near Ground Zero. Last week, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing 9/11 first responder Tim Brown in a lawsuit challenging the project, asked the state's High Court to grant a temporary restraining order on demolition or construction at the proposed Park51 site...

Canadian Bishop Henry: Wrong ruling on same-sex marriage

Posted on January 20, 2011
"Freedom of conscience and of religion is a primary and inalienable right of the human person; what is more, insofar as it touches the innermost sphere of the spirit, one can even say that it upholds the justification, deeply rooted in each individual, of all other liberties...

No-stop shopping center for Fla. church

Posted on January 20, 2011
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit against the city of Port St. Lucie Wednesday on behalf of Palm Beach Gardens Baptist Church, which has been prohibited from leasing property in a shopping center to hold worship services.

OK: Roe v. Wade anniversary shines light on abortion issue

Posted on January 20, 2011
Tulsa Beacon: "With 53 million children killed in their mothers? wombs since 1973, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 22 points to a life-and-death issue that is still a battleground in American life."

2012 election map precarious for Senate Democrats

Posted on January 20, 2011
Associated Press: "Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is retiring and his party has a big problem in 2012 - and beyond. Farm Belt and Southern voters who prefer a Republican president but have often backed moderate Democrats for Congress seem increasingly inclined to vote GOP in all federal races...

Advocacy group says Scalia, Thomas may have conflict in campaign finance cases

Posted on January 20, 2011
New York Times: "When the conservative financier Charles Koch sent out invitations for a political retreat in Palm Springs later this month, he highlighted past appearances at the gathering of 'notable leaders' like Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court ...

Catholic bishops won?t support repeal of health care bill

Posted on January 20, 2011
Christian Century: "The U.S. Catholic bishops will not join efforts to repeal the new health care law, even though they staunchly opposed the bill last year after concluding it permits federally funded abortions."

Pro-family groups urge appeals to overturn ruling that struck down DOMA

Posted on January 20, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Pro-family advocates are urging a federal appeals court to overturn a federal judge?s ruling that struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. They have also criticized the Obama Justice Department?s defense of DOMA as inadequate and a deliberate recipe for failure...

Report: Oklahoma most pro-life, Washington most pro-abortion

Posted on January 20, 2011
LifeNews: "Americans United for Life released a new state-by-state report on the status of state legislation that protects women and unborn children on abortion and on bioethics issues. The report found Oklahoma the most pro-life state in the country and Washington the most pro-abortion...

Denmark: Muhammad cartoonist calls attacker ?cowardly liar?

Posted on January 20, 2011
Associated Press: "A Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad told a court Thursday that the ax-wielding Somali man who broke into his home wanted to kill him and is lying about the purpose of the attack."

Christian homeschooling family broken apart by NJ agency

Posted on January 20, 2011
WorldNetDaily: "Army Major John Jackson and his wife Carolyn, devout Christian homeschoolers with a history of serving as adoptive and foster parents, had their five children taken away in April 2010 by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services ? and despite the collapse of the evidence against the Jacksons, DYFS hasn't returned the children to their parents...

UN: Violence, rape spread across Ivory Coast

Posted on January 20, 2011
Associated Press: "The United Nations warned Thursday that violence is spreading across Ivory Coast, citing nearly two dozen rapes in the country's west and one case where a political opponent was sexually tortured."

Does MTV?s new hit show break child pornography laws?

Posted on January 20, 2011
New York Times: "In recent days, executives at the cable channel became concerned that some scenes from the provocative new show 'Skins' may violate federal child pornography statutes . . . for 'Skins,' the producers purposefully cast actors ages 15 to 19, most of whom had never acted before ...

Mark Tooley: Can the Religious Left protect Obamacare?

Posted on January 20, 2011
Mark Tooley writing in The American Spectator: "More revealing during the 2009-2010 Obamacare debates was the new Evangelical Left's support for Obamacare, while carefully pivoting around abortion funding. Evangelical Left elites share the old Religious Left's statism, but must appeal for support from still socially conservative evangelicals ...

House GOP conservatives set to unveil $2.5 trillion in deep spending cuts

Posted on January 20, 2011
The Daily Caller: "A number of the House GOP?s leading conservative members on Thursday will announce legislation that would cut $2.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be by far the most ambitious and far-reaching proposal by the new majority to cut federal government spending...

Senate Dems OK to repeal small part of health law

Posted on January 20, 2011
Associated Press: "Senate Democrats don't plan to join the House in voting to repeal the massive new health care law, but they do want to eliminate a small portion of the law that is unrelated to health care."

Verizon challenges ?net neutrality? rules

Posted on January 20, 2011
Reuters: "Verizon Communications is going to court to challenge the top U.S. telecommunications regulator, saying the FCC overstepped its authority with the recent adoption of open Internet rules."

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