Religion & Law

Israeli Chief Rabbinate is thwarting religious expression, democratic principles

Posted on September 07, 2010
Eric Yoffie (Union for Reform Judaism) and Steven Wernick (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) writing at JTA: "We are saddened by the contempt that Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, expresses for Reform and Conservative Judaism at this High Holidays season...

GOP mole undermining defense of marriage

Posted on September 07, 2010
OneNewsNow: "Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the board for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), explains that while her organization respects the former RNC chairman's right to his personal life, his active support for homosexual marriage is a different matter as it is now very public ...

Ireland: Marriage Equality releases report documenting ?experiences of children growing up with LGBT parents?

Posted on September 07, 2010
Irish Times: "Tomorrow marks the launch of a groundbreaking report from the organisation Marriage Equality called Voices of Children. The report documents for the first time the experiences of children growing up in Ireland with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents...

Bulgarian bishop hands out medals for defense of marriage

Posted on September 07, 2010
Hurriyet Daily News (Sofia News Agency): The bishop of a Bulgarian city has bestows decorations for 'defending' Christian values to a controversial mayor and a notorious prosecutor, who were recently involved in anti-gay policies . . . He praised them for their contribution to 'standing up for Christian values, defending Orthodox Christian morality and spirituality, the sanctity of marriage, family, and statehood...

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Nearly 400 same-sex ?marriages? registered in Mexico City

Posted on September 07, 2010
Latin American Herald Tribune: "A total of 398 marriages have been registered, of which 53 percent were between men and 47 percent between women."

VA: Religious holiday displays at issue in Loudoun County

Posted on September 07, 2010
Associated Press: "Residents are scheduled to speak out against a recommendation from a Loudoun County board subcommittee to ban religious holiday displays on the grounds of the county courthouse."

Muslims file EEOC suits against meatpacking plants in Nebraska and Colorado

Posted on September 07, 2010
Washington Post: "More than 160 Muslims have enlisted the federal government in two discrimination lawsuits against JBS Swift meatpacking plants, where they allege blood and bones were hurled at them, bathroom walls were covered with vile graffiti and company supervisors disrupted their efforts to worship during Ramadan, ultimately firing many Islamic employees...

Working for the man ? a divided America isn?t about political parties

Posted on September 07, 2010
Paul Jacob writing at Townhall: "Democrats are in trouble. With control of the White House and Congress, they personify 'the man.' No one wants to work for the man . . . The problem for Democrats isn?t merely the estimated 9.6 percent of Americans unemployed, but the percentage of us who remain working while seeing our future and our country frittered away in corruption and for various utopian schemes ...

Ohio Supreme Court justices differ on what dissenting opinions prove

Posted on September 07, 2010
Columbus Dispatch: "Both [Paul E. Pfeifer, author of more than 1/3 of all dissents, and Maureen O'Connor, most often in the majority] are on the ballot in November, along with Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger and Chief Justice Eric Brown . . . The dissent numbers provide the only statistical view of how often individual justices stray from the majority, but they don't tell the whole story...

Imperial County fights for spot in Prop 8 debate

Posted on September 07, 2010
San Diego Union-Tribune: "The county is attempting to get into the case, utilizing the pro bono services of Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a conservative legal group based in Murietta that advocates for religious causes. But the county faces an uphill battle, legal experts say...

Craigslist drops ads for adult services

Posted on September 07, 2010
OneNewsNow: "Craigslist appears to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section Saturday and replacing it with a black bar that simply says 'censored.'"

How government unions became so powerful

Posted on September 07, 2010
Amity Shlaes in the Wall Street Journal, "How government unions became so powerful" (full text via Google News): "Early 20th-century strikes by police and other public employees were effective but proved politically damaging. Over time, the unions opted for a more quiet form of coercion?what might be called compensation coercion...

Jeopardizing America?s houses of worship: Church foreclosures

Posted on September 07, 2010
Frost Illustrated: "Historically, severe economic downturns draw many people to turn to their faith, praying for the strength to hold on just a little bit longer. But now, where people pray or worship is also being affected by foreclosures. From California, to Tennessee, Georgia and other states, houses of worship are struggling to avoid foreclosure, especially in areas where residential foreclosures are particularly high...

Australia: Chaplains in schools challenged

Posted on September 07, 2010
WAtoday.com: "Australia's school chaplaincy program will soon face a constitutional challenge in the High Court as opposition grows to having government funding paying for God's representatives in state schools. With both sides of politics pledging $220 million to fund an extra 1000 chaplains, the Australian Psychological Society has slammed the program as 'dangerous' to children's mental health...

The President?s stem-cell dollars and the judge?s rebuke

Posted on September 07, 2010
Robert P. George, Yuval Levin, and Matthew J. Franck writing at National Review Online: "[I]t is the president who fails to be open to the inconvenient truth about the human embryo, namely, that from the single-cell stage of development onward, the human embryo is a distinct, determinate, self-directing, integrated human organism ? a living member of the human species who, if given a suitable environment, will move along the seamless trajectory of biological development toward maturity...

Eugenics: The real reason for legalized abortion

Posted on September 07, 2010
Mark Crutcher writing at CNSNews: "With a mountain of documentation, Maafa 21, is proving to audiences all across America that the real motivation behind the legalization of abortion was eugenics and racial genocide. In just over two hours, the documentary shows that the legalization of abortion was part of a campaign that had been created, promoted, and financed by a small cartel of ultra-wealthy elitists...

Md. high court hears arguments on refusal to reschedule trial to accommodate religious holiday

Posted on September 07, 2010
Baltimore Sun: "In one of the cases kicking off its fall term, Maryland's highest court is being asked whether a judge violated an Orthodox Jew's right to religious freedom by holding a medical malpractice trial without him and his lawyer during a major Jewish holiday...

Jerusalem court: Catholic school can bar teacher from wearing hijab

Posted on September 07, 2010
Jerusalem Post: "The Jerusalem District Labor Court last week rejected a temporary appeal by a Muslim teacher at a private Christian school to allow her to continue working after she decided to wear a hijab in class after teaching without one for 27 years ...

Parent-led, home-based education is now bordering on mainstream in the U.S.

Posted on September 07, 2010
Drew Zahn writing at WorldNetDaily: "[S]tatistics show the number of homeschooled students in the U.S. has nearly doubled over the past 10 years, making learning at home the fastest growing form of education in country. 'Homeschooling grew from 1.7 percent of the school age population in 1999 to 2...

Tajiks increasingly turning to shariah to resolve disputes, family affairs

Posted on September 07, 2010
Radio Free Europe: "Even as the Tajik government maintains tight control on religion, the majority Muslim population is increasingly turning to Shari'a law -- the sacred law of Islam, which is not sanctioned by the state -- to resolve disputes, family affairs, and personal matters...

Canada: Birth control pills should not be made available over the counter

Posted on September 07, 2010
Ottawa Citizen: "Recent reports indicate that the birth control pill may become available in the United States without a prescription. Proponents will claim this makes women's lives healthier and easier. Nothing could be further from the truth. The pill is not Tylenol or cough medication...

An ancient echo of NYC mosque debate in Córdoba, Spain

Posted on September 07, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: "[Cordoba's] Islamic period and longstanding arguments about its meaning ? a symbol of tolerance and hope or an expression of an expansive and aggressive faith? ? is an ancient reflection of the current US back and forth over mosques and their meanings, driven by the controversial project, now called Park51 after the project's location two blocks from the old World Trade Center...

President Kennedy?s speech on separation of church/state is focus of Notre Dame lecture

Posted on September 07, 2010
Notre Dame News: "The keynote speaker is former federal judge Michael W. McConnell, the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law at Stanford University and leading expert on constitutional law. McConnell also directs Stanford?s Constitutional Law Center...

S. Africa: Jacob Zuma to become a father for the 22nd time after he has wed his 4th wife

Posted on September 07, 2010
Telegraph: "Reports of the pregnancy comes only a fortnight after the arrival of Mr Zuma's 21st child, which was born to the second of his current wives . . . While polygamy is accepted in South Africa, the spiralling cost to the taxpayer of Mr Zuma's cultural observance has led to bitter clashes between the president's ruling African National Congress and the leading opposition party...

Canada: Polygamy test case ramping up

Posted on September 07, 2010
Toronto Sun: "The unusual test case on the constitutional validity of Canada?s anti-polygamy law hasn?t even begun but the pre-trial jousting suggests it will be quite a show . . . Among the groups in the other corner is the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association which supports what it describes as ethical non-monogamy ? adults involved in multiple committed intimate relationships...

DOJ investigating at least 5 anti-Muslim acts

Posted on September 07, 2010
Associated Press: "FBI agents and civil rights division investigators also are looking into vandalism and other incidents at mosques or mosque construction sites in Arlington, Texas; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Madera, Calif., and Waterport, N.Y."

CA State Capitol: ?Thousands rally against gay marriage, abortion?

Posted on September 07, 2010
Mercury News (AP): "The daylong religious event titled, 'The Call to Conscience,' was led by Lou Engle as well as other pastors and speakers to protest gay marriage, pornography and abortion. Many of those attending slapped red 'Life' stickers over their shirts and set up blankets and folding chairs facing a large stage with banners that read: 'Only One Hope God...

NY Post on TV programming: ?Polygamy is so hot right now?

Posted on September 07, 2010
New York Post (video): "Although 'Big Love' has already humanized many of plural marriages most confusing practices, there is a lot left to demystify. Thankfully a pair of new projects aim to do just that. On September 13, Lifetime will debut 'The 19th Wife' -- a TV movie about a murder inside the fundamentalist sect First Church of Latter Day Saints -- starring Patricia Wettig, Matt Czuchry, Chyler Leigh and some serious AquaNet...

European Parliament: EU law needed to fight discrimination against same-sex couples?

Posted on September 07, 2010
European Parliament: "MEPs will ask the Commission on Tuesday about its plans to combat discrimination encountered by same-sex couples. Same-sex couples, whether married or in civil partnership, still face discrimination when working, studying and travelling in the EU, since the spouse is not legally recognised as a family member by many Member States...

Ireland: Council backs proposal for ?gay centre? in Galway

Posted on September 07, 2010
The Connacht Sentinel: "Galway City Council has committed to supporting the provision of a facility dedicated to the gay community of the region. In discussing the proposed City Draft Development Plan for 2011-2017, councillors agreed last night that in the interests of social inclusion that a stand-alone facility would be the best option for the LGBT group representing lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgenders...

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