Religion & Law

Colombian senator proposes amendment to prohibit abortion

Posted on March 04, 2011
CNA: A Colombian senator recently proposed a constitutional amendment that would raise ?an absolute and complete barrier? against abortion in the country.

Media targets Kochs, but little mention of George Soros

Posted on March 04, 2011
Dan Gainor writes at Fox News: "The Kochs openly support things they believe in ? especially free markets and limited government. To media types, those beliefs are suspect or even audacious. To the left, they?re criminal or anti-American. Both groups claim to question everything...

24 states consider AZ style immigration law

Posted on March 04, 2011
ABC: "The mere fact that Arizona law has sprung up in over 24 other states within a few months of passage, I believe, is historic," said William Gheen, president and spokesman of Americans for Legal Immigration, a group that supports stricter immigration laws.

?Same-sex marriage isn?t the threat to African American families?

Posted on March 04, 2011
Colbert King writes at the Washington Post: President Obama is catching a fair amount of grief from theologically conservative African American pastors for his decision to no longer defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans the recognition of same-sex marriage...

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OR lawmakers consider funeral buffer zones

Posted on March 04, 2011
KGW.com: "Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would keep picketers a certain distance away from funerals . . . In Oregon, HB 3241 would create 300-foot and one-hour buffer zones between picketers and memorial services."

Boehner issues statement on DOMA defense

Posted on March 04, 2011
"I will convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend this law of the United States, which was enacted by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton."

Wyoming: Two GOP Senators kill marriage legislation

Posted on March 04, 2011
Trib.com: "But state Sens. John Hines, R-Gillette, and Bill Landen, R-Casper, who cast the deciding votes against HB74 on Wednesday, said they opposed it because it didn?t guarantee same-sex couples access to Wyoming courts to get a divorce or for other disputes...

House Committee Passes Bill to End Tax Funding of Abortions

Posted on March 03, 2011
LifeNews: "Thee House Judiciary Committee approved a bill today on a mostly partisan 23-14 vote that would ban taxpayer funding of abortions across all federal government departments and programs. The panel voted for H.R. 3, the ?No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act ...

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker?s budget plan would undo birth control law

Posted on March 03, 2011
Postcrescent: "Gov. Scott Walker?s budget would repeal a state law requiring insurance companies cover prescription birth control."

Australia: Marriage only for a man and a woman: Julia Gillard

Posted on March 03, 2011
TheAustralian.com: "Julia Gillard has restated her absolute rejection of gay marriage and hotly disputed opposition claims the Australian Greens have hijacked Labor's political agenda."

ADF moves to have mother released from jail for keeping children from permissive German ?sex education? programs

Posted on March 03, 2011
ADF asks European Court of Human Rights to intervene; mother is 10th parent jailed for not paying fine waged as penalty for protecting children?s Christian beliefs

Planned Parenthood Assaults Senate to Keep Massive Funding

Posted on March 03, 2011
LifeNews: "The Planned Parenthood abortion business has launched an all-out assault on the U.S. Senate to lobby senators to oppose any attempt to add an amendment to any government funding bill that would yank its taxpayer funding."

Sen. Gerald Dial introduces Ten Commandments amendment

Posted on March 03, 2011
Anniston Star: "And on the first day of the 2011 legislative session, Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, introduced a bill to amend the state constitution to allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools and buildings . . . The bill, officially Senate Bill 37, is already being eyed by the Alabama branch of the American Civil Liberties Union ...

Florida judge refuses to halt new healthcare law

Posted on March 03, 2011
Chicago Tribune (Reuters): "A federal judge in Florida on Thursday refused to order the Obama administration to stop implementing its far-reaching healthcare law, a small victory for President Barack Obama in his high-stakes effort to overhaul the U.S...

Girl found safe in California after fleeing family?s arranged marriage plans

Posted on March 03, 2011
Pocono Record: "Law enforcement authorities were Thursday considering laying charges against the family of a 13-year-old girl who ran away from home to avoid being forced into an arranged marriage in Pakistan."

?LGBT Groups Remain Strong Despite Decreased Revenue?

Posted on March 03, 2011
Advocate.com: "The disparity in funding between LGBT groups and antigay organizations is indeed stark: Combined 2009 expenses of the groups surveyed ? $165.6 million ? represents just half of the total annual expenses of the 10 largest groups working to undermine LGBT equality advancements that same year, groups including the Heritage Foundation and the Alliance Defense Fund...

Taking Liberties: Taxing Church Attendance?

Posted on March 03, 2011
Fox News: Erik Stanley walked up Woodson Road in Mission, Kansas, surveying the church parking lot at St. Pius X Catholic Church. He said the government can tax your life and can tax your death, but they?re not supposed to tax your church. And that?s exactly what he said is happening in Mission...

?Appeals court rules for anti-gay T-shirt?

Posted on March 03, 2011
UPI.com: Nate Kellum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, an alliance of Christian attorneys who filed the suit, applauded the appeals court ruling. "In an environment that freely allows speech that promotes homosexual behavior, the school simply cannot shut out the opposing viewpoint," he said

Justice Department Upholds DOMA in Calif. Lesbian Case

Posted on March 03, 2011
Christian Post: Similarly, Alan Sears, president of the conservative legal group Alliance Defense Fund, said, ?The administration has ?expressly disavowed? the winning legal arguments that the Bush Administration had made in previous cases.?

?Federal judge: student can wear anti-gay T-shirt to school?

Posted on March 03, 2011
ImperfectParent.com: School officials told Zamecnik to alter her shirt to just read, ?Be Happy,? and indicated if her shirt had said, ?Be Happy, Be Straight,? it would have been acceptable because that is a ?positively phrased message.? Zamecnik and one other student along with their parents filed a lawsuit for the right to wear the shirt, aided by the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group formed to ?defend our first liberty ? religious freedom...

Naperville school officials disappointed with T-shirt ruling

Posted on March 03, 2011
Chicago Tribune: The suit was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund, which litigates on behalf of Christian causes. Nate Kellum, senior counsel with the group, said the court made the right decision. "It sets a precedent that students, Christians or otherwise, who have speech that may not be the politically correct speech, may not be the most popular speech, (can) feel free to express their views just like anyone else," he said.

IUSA changes policy, starts funding religious-based student organizations

Posted on March 03, 2011
Indiana Daily Student: Impact has applied and received IUSA funding before, McDowell said. But IUSA eventually refused to fund the Impact movement because they said there would be religious proselytizing and sectarian activities at the conference, ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker said...

Regulation of abortuaries on front burner

Posted on March 03, 2011
One News Now: Steven H. Aden, an attorney with Alliance Defense Fund, argues that a patient's health is more important than an abortionist's bottom line. "The court was right to reject this attempt to escape commonsense health and safety regulations," says the attorney...

?Court rules that high school students can wear anti-gay T-shirts?

Posted on March 03, 2011
Chicago Pride: "It sets a precedent that students, Christians or otherwise, who have speech that may not be the politically correct speech, may not be the most popular speech, (can) feel free to express their views just like anyone else," Alliance Defense Fund counsel Nate Kellum told the Tribune...

AP: ?Northwestern Uni defends sex-toy demonstration?

Posted on March 03, 2011
AP: "A Northwestern University professor concluded a discussion of bondage and other sexual fetishes in his human sexuality class by having a woman take off all her clothes, climb on stage and graphically demonstrate the use of a sex toy, the school has acknowledged...

Marines Fast Track DADT Repeal Training

Posted on March 03, 2011
Military.com (2/23): "The plan is to have all non-deployed unit commanders trained on the new policy in about three weeks and the entire Corps spun up on the changes by the end of May."

NPR: ?Female Troops: Combat Ban Out Of Step With Reality?

Posted on March 03, 2011
NPR: "The U.S. military bars women from serving on the front lines in combat, but those lines are often blurred in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 200,000 women have served in those conflicts in the past decade, and many have engaged in firefights on a regular basis...

Oxford lap dance licensing application denied

Posted on March 03, 2011
ChristianConcern.com: "Christians in Oxford are celebrating after their local authority rejected a licence application for a ?sexual entertainment venue? to operate yards from a church. Members of St Ebbe?s Church in Oxford as well as local residents have praised the Council for its decision...

George Weigel: Reports of Christianity?s demise greatly exaggerated; number of martyrs increasing exponentially

Posted on March 03, 2011
The report estimates that there were, on average, 270 new Christian martyrs every twenty-four hours over the past decade, such that "the number of martyrs [in the period 2000-2010] was approximately one million."

China aims to settle nationwide trade in yuan by 2011

Posted on March 03, 2011
Reuters: China hopes to allow all exporters and importers to settle their cross-border trades in the yuan by this year, the central bank said on Wednesday, as part of plans to grow the currency's international role.

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