Religion & Law

Michael New: Defunding Guttmacher

Posted on June 24, 2010
Michael News writing at The Corner: "The Government Accounting Office (GAO) just put out a report on Planned Parenthood and other organizations that support legal abortion, and the report has been getting a lot of attention from conservative and Christian media outlets...

?Report: Young Evangelicals, progressives have connection points?

Posted on June 24, 2010
Christian Post: "Young white evangelicals under the age of 35 are less likely than older evangelicals to identify themselves as conservative and are more supportive of government solutions to social problems, according to the report 'Beyond the God Gap: A New Roadmap for Reaching Religious Americans on Public Policy Issues' by Third Way and Public Religion Research ...

Top Democrats won?t say if Kagan should justify abortion views

Posted on June 24, 2010
CNSNews: "Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) each refused to say whether Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan should have to justify her view on abortion at her upcoming confirmation hearing."

Idaho to shut school involved in Bible controversy

Posted on June 24, 2010
Associated Press: "The Idaho Public Charter School Commission voted to revoke Nampa Classical Academy's charter, citing a lack of stability in the school's finances, despite a school board member's plea 'for grace and mercy.'"

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U.S. jobs depend on China revaluing its currency now

Posted on June 24, 2010
Robert E. Scott writing at The Huffington Post: "Growing trade deficits with China eliminated or displaced 2.4 million U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2008. China's manipulation of its currency, the Renminbi (RMB), is responsible for at least 1 million of these displaced jobs...

Pre-abortion counseling should include questions on abuse and coercion say post-abortive women

Posted on June 24, 2010
ChristianNewsWire: "Leaders of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (SNMAC), the world's largest network of individuals harmed by abortion, said today that a new study on the link between women who suffer physical or sexual abuse and their later abortions does not go far enough in identifying how women seeking abortion should be counseled...

House approves campaign finance bill in 219-206 vote

Posted on June 24, 2010
The Hill: "The House voted 219-206 Thursday to approve a campaign finance bill to tighten disclosure requirements for corporate and union spending on political campaigns."

GOP, conservatives reveal arguments against Kagan

Posted on June 24, 2010
Associated Press: "Elena Kagan's a politics-driven liberal, her detractors say. She's a judicial activist. She treated military recruiters like second-class citizens during wartime. ... 'There will be a huge theme about whether the political activist part of her life and career, and her lack of legal experience, either as a judge or a lawyer - whether that will overcome the responsibility she has to be faithful to the law,' said Sen...

ABA gives Kagan highest rating for judicial nominees

Posted on June 24, 2010
Boston Globe | Political Intelligence: "The 15-member Standing Committee of the American Bar Association has rated Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan 'well-qualified' by a unanimous vote, with one abstention, according to the ABA. It is the association's highest rating for judicial nominees...

Australia: Same-sex adoption bill introduced in New South Wales

Posted on June 24, 2010
9 News: "NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says she will allow a conscience vote on a bill advocating same-sex adoptions. Independent MP Clover Moore introduced the bill on Thursday, saying it was about time same-sex couples had equality when it comes to adoption rights...

UK: Religious programs squeezed by broadcasters

Posted on June 24, 2010
The Christian Institute: "Religious programming is being squeezed off commercial television stations, with ITV planning to air just one hour of religious content this year, according to a series of newly released letters. The decline was revealed after the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, wrote to the nation?s terrestrial channels asking them about their commitment to religious broadcasting...

England: Lord Mayor of Leicester bans prayers before council meetings

Posted on June 24, 2010
The Christian Institute: "The Lord Mayor of Leicester has banned Christian prayers before council meetings, and branded the process 'outdated, unnecessary and intrusive'. Colin Hall?s decision to abolish the prayers is likely to alarm many Christians who feel their faith is being increasingly excluded from the public sphere...

No-fault divorce: Let?s call the whole thing off

Posted on June 24, 2010
"True, 49 other states have adopted no-fault divorce. But New York would be unwise to discard a law has produced almost the lowest divorce rate in America."

UK: Woman who had sex change wins legal right to pension at 60

Posted on June 23, 2010
Guardian: "A woman who had a sex-change operation 10 years ago has won her battle to receive a pension from the age of 60. Christine Timbrell was born Christopher Timbrell in 1941, but had surgery to change her gender in 2000. ... Lord Justice Aikens, giving the ruling of the three appeal judges, said that before the Gender Recognition Act, English law had no way of dealing with a person who had changed gender, meaning 'once a man, always a man'...

European Council Parliament opposes ban on niqab

Posted on June 23, 2010
Yemen News Agency: "The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which regroups deputies from 47 European member countries, has declared Wednesday its opposition to 'a general ban' on the niqab or burqa as this would violate womens rights to wear such clothing, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)...

Spain?s Senate votes to ban burqa

Posted on June 23, 2010
New York Times: "The vote, 131 to 129, was another setback for the Socialist government of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, which had favored more-limited restrictions on Islamic clothing and has instead been pushing to curtail religious fundamentalism through better education...

RI gov. vetoes referendum bill to expand gambling

Posted on June 23, 2010
AP: "Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri vetoed legislation that would ask voters to decide whether the state's two slot parlors can become full-fledged casinos, saying it left 'critical financial information' unknown and complaining that it took too much power out of the hands of communities...

New home sales plunge 33 percent with tax credits gone

Posted on June 23, 2010
CNSNews: "Sales of new homes collapsed last month, sinking 33 percent to the lowest level on record as potential buyers stopped shopping for homes once they could no longer get government incentives."

Oldest known paintings of Christian apostles rediscovered in Roman catacombs

Posted on June 23, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Archaeologists and restorers working at the Roman catacombs of St. Tecla on Tuesday announced the discovery of the world?s oldest known paintings of the apostles Peter, Paul, Andrew and John."

Gulfport, MS: New ordinance limits locations of adult businesses

Posted on June 23, 2010
Sun Herald: "City attorney Jeff Bruni said the Legal Department reviewed studies from around the country to draft the ordinance. It restricts the location of sexually oriented businesses, including those that operate as bookstores, cabarets, theaters, escort agencies, nude model studios or motels...

Crucifix is symbol of European identity, asserts Russian bishop

Posted on June 23, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "As the EU court in Strasbourg prepares to issue a new ruling on the public display of crucifixes on June 30, the president of the Bishops' Conference of Russia, Bishop Joseph Werth, noted that the crucifix is not only a religious symbol but it also represents Europe?s true identity...

OH: Group pushing to rid Clermont County of sex businesses

Posted on June 23, 2010
Cincinnati Enquirer: "The crackdown on sexually oriented businesses in Clermont County could continue, spurred by concerns raised by the Citizens for Community Values. ... Representatives of two adult-oriented businesses have faced criminal or civil court cases in the three months since CCV members met at a local church with County Commissioner Bob Proud, Assistant Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer and Union Township Administrator Ken Geis...

PA: LeBoeuf officials tighten adult entertainment business rules

Posted on June 23, 2010
Erie Times-News: "Township supervisors this morning approved distance requirements for adult entertainment stablishments in the township's commercially-zoned districts, adding those figures to a developing 'public indecency' ordinance that will come up for formal adoption in mid-July...

Kazakhstan: Is unregistered religious activity extremism, separatism or terrorism?

Posted on June 23, 2010
Forum 18: "At least three different regional police Departments for the Fight against Extremism, Separatism and Terrorism in Kazakhstan have raided religious communities in 2010, solely because they engage in unregistered religious activity, Forum 18 News Service has learned...

Church leader calls for religious tolerance ahead of Italy crucifix hearing

Posted on June 23, 2010
Christian Today: "The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has called on the European Court of Human Rights to uphold the principles of freedom and tolerance ahead of next week?s decision on whether schools in Italy will be allowed to display crucifixes in public school classrooms...

Erosion of religious freedom threatens Church and nation, warns DC Archbishop Wuerl

Posted on June 23, 2010
". . . once the balance shifts against the rights of freedom of religious expression, both on a personal level and on an institutional level, 'we are going to find ourselves in a situation we?ve never faced before in the United States.' He called it the 'tip of the iceberg,' saying that the erosion of the freedom of religious expression would spread across the Western world ...

MD: Annapolis offers same-sex benefits

Posted on June 23, 2010
Washington Post: "Annapolis will offer benefits to same-sex partners of city employees beginning July 1, Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen said in a statement Tuesday."

Vt. court hears arguments in lesbian custody case

Posted on June 23, 2010
AP: "Lawyers for Lisa Miller argued their case Wednesday in Montpelier challenging a Family Court judge's decision to award custody to former partner Janet Jenkins, of Fair Haven, Vt."

More than 300 organizations send letter opposing Disclose Act

Posted on June 23, 2010
The Hill: "House members on Wednesday received a letter signed by 305 organizations urging them to oppose the Disclose Act. The bill is slated to be vetted by the Rules Committee later today and be subjected to a floor vote on Thursday. 'This legislation is a threat to the First Amendment rights of businesses across the country,' the letter states...

Remarks by the President at LGBT Pride Month reception

Posted on June 23, 2010
"Because I believe in committed -- I believe that committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country, I have called for Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act...

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