Religion & Law

A Chapel Without a Cross

Posted on December 27, 2006
That is the title of a recent post by ADF Attorney David French on the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog which comments on the recent removal of the cross from the Wren Chapel at the College of William and Mary.  Howard Friedman also has a post at the Religion Clause blog that links to additional reports and a recent letter by William and Mary's President that explains his actions...

Does the Massachusetts Ruling Reveal a Sinister Media Bias?

Posted on December 27, 2006
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision today in the case of Doyle v. Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Court introduces the facts as follows: As the final day of the current legislative session approaches, the General Court has yet to vote on the merits of a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution, introduced pursuant to art...

Alaska: Here's to Elected Officials "Digging In Their Heels" For Separation of Powers

Posted on December 21, 2006
. . . what is "extraordinary" is that we've had so little "defiance" in the past few decades, as we watch our Constitutional birthright of careful separation of balanced powers sold for a mess of imperial judicial pottage, passed off as "judicial review...

Religious Distaste at Harvard

Posted on December 21, 2006
That is the title of a post by ADF Attorney David Hacker over at the ADF Center for Academic Freedom.  In his post, David links to a Harvard Crimson article discussing the University's refusal to include a religion course in its general education courses...

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Professor Gaius Baltar, Georgia Institute of Technology

Posted on December 21, 2006
That is the title of a new post by ADF Attorney David French over at the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog.  For those who have never heard of "Gaius Baltar," check out this Wickipedia entry. Insiders tell us "Battlestar Galatica" plays a special role over at NRO...

Deniers of Christmas Censorship - Another Incident We Did Not Make Up

Posted on December 21, 2006
For those who insist that no censorship of Christmas exists, we provide this service of reporting actual incidents of Christmas censorship.  These are true, authentic, documented incidents of Christmas censorship. The "Religious Right" did not make these up for fundraising purposes...

Prosecutors Should Submit Virtual Child Porn Question to a Jury

Posted on December 19, 2006
The AP has posted this story, titled: Justices weighing Portage Case: Court Hears Arguments on Criminality of Computer-Generated Child Porn. In Ashcroft v. The Free Speech Coalition, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the ?virtual child pornography? prohibition in the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 (CPPA)...

9th Circuit Certifies Questions to California Supreme Court in Boy Scouts Lease Case

Posted on December 18, 2006
The 9th Circuit order in Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts of America,  No.  04-55732 is here. We certify to the California Supreme Court the following questions: 1. Do the leases interfere with the free exercise and enjoyment of religion by granting preference for a religious organization in violation of the No Preference Clause in article I, section 4 of the California Constitution? 2...

Yes Virginia, There is Censorship of Christmas

Posted on December 18, 2006
I am amazed that anyone reasonably aware of what is going on in American society would deny the fact that many storeowners and schools, over the years, have felt strong pressure to censor Christmas in order not to offend others. This shows that people have an extraordinary capacity to deny the existence of obvious things...

The Missing Person in the Debate on Artificial Insemination

Posted on December 18, 2006
Many wrongly assume that children raised by two women or two men will never miss the absent parent of the opposite sex. These children, as they reach adulthood, are now contradicting that politically correct mantra. ...(read more)

Freedom of Religion or Freedom From Religion? Why the Battle Over Christmas is Important: Jews, Muslims, and Others Begin to Get It

Posted on December 15, 2006
This article in the Toronto Star touches on a fascinating development that is appearing in the media more often in recent days.  The issue is not new, but the way it is being framed in the media and the public response is informative.  The ongoing Christmas debate is causing it to rise to the surface as set forth in the Toronto Star article:   A Toronto judge this week banished a Christmas tree from a courthouse lobby, reigniting a controversy over public displays many...

David French: And I Thought I'd Seen It All

Posted on December 15, 2006
That is the title of a post by ADF Attorney David French over at the National Review Phi Beta Cons blog today. ...(read more)

David French: Harmful Omissions: Why Academia Disregards Conservative Ideas

Posted on December 15, 2006
See David French's post on the ADF Center for Academic Freedom Blog....(read more)

The Yahoo Connection: 8th Circuit Reverses Lenient Child Porn Sentence

Posted on December 13, 2006
Yesterday, the Denver Channel carried an article titled, Lenient Porn Sentence Unjustified, Court Says.  It discusses this 8th Circuit opinion. The defendant in this case was a member of one of Yahoo?s groups that cater to those interested in trading child pornography...

Christian Fraternity Didn't Hesitate to Follow the Example of the Apostle Paul in Seeking Lawful Legal Redress

Posted on December 11, 2006
Jeff Emanuel has an article on Townhall titled, Political Correctness Run Amok, in which he quotes this post on National Review's Phi Beta Cons Blog by ADF Attorney David French.  After the University of Georgia denied student activity status to a Christianity Fraternity on campus, ADF and CLS filed suit...

Freedom and Mandatory Relativism in the Academy: Is There any Place for Religion and Virtue in the University?

Posted on December 08, 2006
The November 2006 Issue of Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College has an insightful article . . . it touches on a deeper problem in higher education today which is the compatibility between truth and academic freedom . . . The rise of the modern University speech code and its corresponding politically correct ideology, which ADF is battling on an overtime basis, should not surprise us...

Congratulations! Your Baby is Handicapped!

Posted on December 07, 2006
Parents-to-be often wait pensively.  With baited breath, they long to hear the chug-a, chug-a, chug-a of the ultra-sound heart beat.  The child is alive.  The first hurdle is cleared.  Then they face the second hurdle and it gnaws at them:  will our child be healthy?    The questions to expectant parents from well-wishers inevitably come:  "Do you want a boy or a girl?"  The true answer for most waiting parents is:  "We want a healthy baby--ten...

Illinois Village Blocks "Comcast on Demand" to Stop Porn: Where is the U.S. Attorney?

Posted on December 06, 2006
This NBC affiliate is reporting that the town of New Holland, Illinois is blocking "Comcast on Demand" in an effort to stop obscenity from entering the community. I hope this village sticks to its guns and fights the ACLU.  Of course, distributing obscene material via cable TV is a violation of federal law...

Conversation on the Constitution: Breyer v. Scalia II

Posted on December 06, 2006
Scalia was also asked whether he cared for the phrase ?judicial activism.? He stated . . . ...(read more)

Federal Case May Redefine Child Porn? Probably Not, Juries Know It When They See It

Posted on December 04, 2006
This story titled Federal Case May Redefine Child Porn has a leftist slant, but it also has some good information.  It would have been more balanced if the author, Declan McCullagh, who frequently writes on pornography issues, had interviewed noted child advocates...

Leno's Marriage Bill: Watch the Bait and Switch

Posted on December 04, 2006
On and on it goes. The purported distinction between civil and religious marriage is merely a tactical ruse. In reality, this bill is doubly defective: not only does it undermine marriage, but it also would further constrict religious liberty in California and elsewhere because Lambda and the ACLU would seek to export the legal consequences of same-sex civil "marriage" to the several states...

No (Pre-marital) Co-habitation: No Real Marriage?

Posted on December 04, 2006
The bigger point is this: law follows culture and those who seek legal transformation must not abandon the cultural preconditions for that transformation....(read more)

LIVEBLOGGING Maryland Court of Appeals Marriage Argument: Conaway v. Deane

Posted on December 04, 2006
****** This post is in reverse chronological order and should be read from bottom to top. ______ Just for clarity, I want to point out that I used the "Royal We" in a sense in these comments, in referring to the State's advocate as the Attorney General ("AG")...

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Two Important Religious Freedom Cases

Posted on December 01, 2006
Howard Bashman's How Appealing Blog provides more information and links to SCOTUSBlog commentary. ...(read more)

U.S. Supreme Court Update

Posted on December 01, 2006
Here is the list of cases involving religious liberty, sanctity of life and defense of the family that the Supreme Court will examine at its conference on Friday, December 1 to determine whether to grant review or not. Again, I thank Walter Weber for his work detailing this information...

TRANSforming Soap Opera Ratings: All Whose Children?

Posted on November 27, 2006
Where does Hollywood go when ratings sag?  To transgenderism, of course.  The long running soap opera, All My Children, is set to introduce a transgender character:  A flamboyant [male] rock star "in transition."  The character's "self-discovery" begins when this confused man kisses an existing lesbian character...

Elementary School: Milk, Cookies, and Transvestites

Posted on November 21, 2006
It should have been a typical third grade class.  It was not.  A "guest speaker," a social worker, was describing for these eight year olds, various families.  It seems that one photo showed a "woman" with two children--but an inquiring child opined that it looked as if this was really a man undergoing a sex change operation...

Differing Conceptions of Freedom: Marriage and Leftist Libertarians

Posted on November 21, 2006
The Washington Post has posted an article titled, More Longtime Couples in France Prefer L'Amour Without Marriage. The article describes how the French have reportedly rejected marriage as a political, social, and religious institution. Of course, it does not mention adverse consequences resulting from that choice...

Here Come the Polygamists

Posted on November 21, 2006
This shows that the current debate is much more than a right to same-sex "marriage." It is a debate over a common definition of marriage . . . That is why the various states with marriage amendments define them as one man and one woman, rather than rejecting same-sex "marriage" only or some other deviation from the norm...

David French: Brown Follows Georgetown's Lead

Posted on November 17, 2006
David's post is on National Review's Phi Beta Cons Blog....(read more)

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