Religion & Law

Environmentalism as religion

Posted on September 22, 2010
Joel Garreau writing in The New Atlantis: "For some individuals and societies, the role of religion seems increasingly to be filled by environmentalism. It has become 'the religion of choice for urban atheists,' according to Michael Crichton, the late science fiction writer (and climate change skeptic) ...

Chinese business gains foothold in Eastern Europe

Posted on September 22, 2010
New York Times: "Education is not the only area in which China is making inroads in Central and Eastern Europe. From the Baltic states to the Balkans, Chinese companies, flush with money, are buying real estate and competing for public infrastructure contracts, especially as Poland and Ukraine work at breakneck speed to jointly play host to the 2012 European soccer championship...

Head of Vatican Bank caught in money laundering probe

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Toronto Star: "The head of the Vatican bank is under investigation for suspected money laundering and police have frozen 23 million euros ($30.21 million U.S.) of its funds, Italian judicial sources said on Tuesday."

Midwest Catholic bishops exhort flocks to fight for marriage

Posted on September 22, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Catholic bishops of Iowa and Minnesota are sending Catholics a strong message this year: get out of the pews and into the political arena to protect marriage in their state constitutions."

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NJ Planned Parenthood abortion biz closes after Christie cuts funds

Posted on September 22, 2010
LifeNews: "After the New Jersey state Senate defeated an attempt to override the decision of Gov. Chris Christie to cut off state taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood abortion businesses, the first facility run by the national abortion giant is closing...

Obama promotes pro-abortion health care on its anniversary, Democrats flee it

Posted on September 22, 2010
LifeNews: "President Barack Obama is promoting the pro-abortion health care plan he signed into law on the six month anniversary of him signing it. Despite the hoopla, Democrats are fleeing from ObamaCare on the campaign trail and polls showing Americans strongly opposing it explain why...

Law Review: Why the Individual Health Insurance Mandate is Unconstitutional

Posted on September 22, 2010
Randy E. Barnett, Commandeering the People: Why the Individual Health Insurance Mandate is Unconstitutional (September 21, 2010). NYU Journal of Law & Liberty, Forthcoming; Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 10-58. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn...

Ethiopian Christian stabbed for leaving Islam

Posted on September 22, 2010
WorthyNews: "According to International Christian Concern (ICC), on September 13, the Muslim men forcefully took Muhammad Ali, a new Christian convert from Islam, to a mosque on suspicion that he had left Islam. They asked Ali to enter and pray at the mosque...

New York Times: Politically charged clerks

Posted on September 22, 2010
New York Times Editorial: "One option raised by scholars would be to have the justices as a group hire all clerks into a pool; the clerks would then be assigned randomly to justices, case by case. Another approach would have a nonpartisan committee of former clerks, law professors and lawyers who appear before the court choose clerks and assign them...

PA: Drug-testing exemption sought on religious grounds

Posted on September 22, 2010
Lancaster Online: "The mother of a Lampeter-Strasburg High School student is seeking a religious exemption from the district's random-drug-testing program. Janet Malin of Willow Street told the board Monday that she and her son belong to the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers...

U.S. monitoring 11 sites for possible discrimination against Muslims

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Star (Reuters): "The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it is monitoring 11 cases of potential land-use discrimination against Muslims, a sharp increase in cases under a federal law designed to protect religious minorities in zoning disputes...

Indonesia: House to push for religious harmony law

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Jakarta Post: "House of Representatives politicians have recently requested the enactment of a new law on religious harmony to replace a controversial joint ministerial decree on the establishment of houses of worship."

Nevada Religious Freedom and Unity Day opened with Hindu invocation

Posted on September 22, 2010
Sify: "Nevada Religious Freedom and Unity Day event in Reno (Nevada, USA) on September 19 had Hindu invocation. After event coordinator Reverend Neal T. Anderson, Minister of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada, launched the event at City Plaza, Hindu leader Rajan Zed read from ancient Hindu scriptures Rig-Veda and Upanishads...

MI: Ann Arbor officials reaffirm city?s commitment to religious tolerance in wake of anti-Muslim events

Posted on September 22, 2010
AnnArbor.com: "The Ann Arbor City Council responded to a perceived increase in anti-Islamic sentiment across the country on Monday by unanimously approving a resolution reaffirming the city's commitment to religious tolerance."

O?Connor says appointed judges better for business

Posted on September 22, 2010
Las Vegas Sun: "Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O?Connor said going to a judicial merit selection system is good for business and has enjoyed strong support from the private sector across the country."

India: Upcoming verdict on religious site worrying

Posted on September 22, 2010
CathNews India: "The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh has set Sept. 24 to pronounce its verdict on the ownership of a plot of land in the state?s Ayodhya town, where a disputed 16th century mosque stood. Hindu zealots demolished it in December 1992, sparking off nation wide Hindu-Muslim riots...

Ireland: Moves to outlaw full Muslim veil in Catholic schools

Posted on September 22, 2010
Evening Herald: "Muslim girls should not wear a full veil in Catholic secondary schools, new guidelines have recommended . . . The guidelines come from the Joint Managerial Body which represents Catholic secondary schools . . . They relate to the Inclusion of Students from Other Faiths in Catholic Secondary Schools and were drawn up by Aiveen Mullally, an expert on religion and culture...

MA: School district sued for mosque field trip

Posted on September 22, 2010
UPI: "Robert Meltzer, a Framingham, Mass., a constitutional law lawyer, said the Wellesley School District's May field trip to a mosque violated the sixth-grade students' First Amendment rights because they were too young to sanction the religious message, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday...

Singapore: Bioethics Advisory Committee recommends setting up a body to monitor stem cell research

Posted on September 22, 2010
MSN News: "The Bioethics Advisory Committee has proposed that a national body be set up to monitor all stem cell research, including human?animal stem cell combinations, in Singapore. And this could materialise early next year."

WV Senate candidate reacts to DADT, abortion vote

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Family Policy Council of West Virginia: "Yesterday we asked you to call Gov. Joe Manchin and senate candidate John Raese to ask where they stand on key social issues . . . 1. Does Mr. Raese support repealing the Don?t Ask Don?t Tell policy? Answer: 'No...

Judge: State pot law no defense in federal case

Posted on September 22, 2010
AP: "A pot grower won't be allowed to use Colorado's medical marijuana law to fend off federal drug charges."

ADF, CAP brief: Ariz. lawmakers OK to reserve taxpayer-paid benefits for state employees, spouses

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Arizona Legislature acted ?reasonably and constitutionally? when it decided last year to pass a law that once again distributes taxpayer-funded benefits for state employees on the basis of marital status. That?s the conclusion of a friend-of-the-court brief submitted to a federal court Monday by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys on behalf of Center for Arizona Policy.

Scotland: MSP drops disabled clause from assisted suicide bill

Posted on September 22, 2010
The Christian Institute: "A proposal to allow disabled people in Scotland to kill themselves is set to be dropped following pressure from disability campaigners. Bill Scott, Policy Officer at the campaign group Inclusion Scotland, welcomed the decision, saying: 'That clause was dangerous, particularly at a time of cutbacks, to say to people you can?t live independently but you can apply for state-assisted suicide as if it?s a way out...

New legal analysis: White House can let judge end DADT

Posted on September 22, 2010
"No mandatory duty or obligation requires the government to appeal."

Iowa: Same-sex ?marriage? judge denounces ouster effort

Posted on September 22, 2010
WCF Courier: "An effort to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices for their role in striking down Iowa's ban on same-sex marriage is at best 'misguided' and at worst 'an abuse' of the system, said the Polk County District Court judge who first ruled on the case...

WA: Judge to rule Friday on DADT case

Posted on September 22, 2010
"U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said he would issue a ruling Friday in the closely watched case of former Maj. Margaret Witt. As her trial closed, he expressed strong doubts about government arguments seeking to have her dismissal upheld."

Tea Partiers oppose abortion, not just deficits

Posted on September 22, 2010
Timothy P. Carney writing at The Washington Examiner: "Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle, Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter are the four highest-profile victims of the Tea Party insurgency. All four were pro-choice, with particularly contentious records on abortion...

NM: High school student suspended for wearing rosary outside of shirt

Posted on September 22, 2010
KVIA: "It was not the rosary, but how a Mayfield High School student wore it that got him suspended . . . Torres said his wooden rosary was draped around his neck last week for all to see when his teacher told him to conceal it . . . 'They told me it was gang-affiliated,' Torres said...

Spanish Minister of Justice defends abortion law

Posted on September 22, 2010
Europa Press [modified Google translation]: "The justice minister, Francisco Caamaño, on Tuesday defended the 'full' constitutionality of the Law of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy, although [he indicated] that the Constitutional Court 'will have the final word on the matter...

Cuts threat to Britain?s stem cell supremacy

Posted on September 22, 2010
Telegraph: "Britain's world-leading position in stem cell research faces its own 'valley of death' if government cuts are too deep, claim leading scientists."

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