Daily Archives: May 28, 2008

HSLDA has this updated report that concludes with this Subway promise: “To address the inadvertent limitation of our current contest and provide an opportunity for even more kids to improve their fitness, we will soon create an additional contest in …

Warren Throckmorton links to several resources discussing this topic: “There appears to be a growing schism within LGBT circles regarding the APA appointments of Kenneth Zucker and Ray Blanchard to the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group . . …

. . The point is that Islam is being institutionalised, incarnated, into national structures amazingly fast, at the same time as demography is showing very high birthrates . . . Today the Christian story is fading from public imagination, while Islam grows apace . . .

Lambda Legal has issued this press release that seems to raise more questions than it answers.  It begins: Lambda Legal files suit today against the Social Security Administration on behalf of Gary Day, a disabled father, whose repeated requests for …

The AP reports: “. . . Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill Tuesday that tells local governments three ways to have prayer at meetings that should not face constitutional challenges, based on rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. …

WJHG.com reports: . . . The council was split on the decision to do away with prayer 3-3. The city’s mayor, Mike Anderson, broke the tie by voting against a mandatory moment of silence. As for requiring a mandatory Pledge …

CNA News reports: “The majority Socialist party in Spain’s Congress joined the opposition Popular Party in rejecting a law proposed by the United Left Party that would have prohibited the displaying of religious symbols during inaugural ceremonies for public officials.”

The Family Institute of Connecticut Blog reports on how the abortion issue potentially complicates a merger involving a Catholic Hospital.

. . . according to academics researching the issue, estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000 people . . .

Greg Baylor writes on the CLS Blog: According to a recent New York Times article, local tax assessors in Northampton, Massachusetts, tried to impose taxes on Smith College, arguing that the women’s college engaged in sex discrimination and was thus …

Citizen Link reports: Senate Bill 200, which is sitting on Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter’s desk, is a dangerous piece of legislation that Dr. James Dobson will highlight on his Wednesday radio broadcast. Supporters claim the bill will prevent discrimination; in …

ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief . . . arguing that a state board wrongly interpreted statutes so as to outlaw the practice of lay midwifery, a practice relied upon by many religious communities in the commonwealth . . .

CWNews reports: “Amnesty International has accused Poland of discrimination against homosexuals.” Its not the first time. Amnesty has issued numerous statements on this topic including but not limited to these: Poland: LGBT rights under attack 11.25.2005 Poland: Protect the LGBT …

The Capitol Weekly reports: California likely will play host this fall to an unprecedented political battle over gay marriage, as a looming ballot-initiative contest appears likely to force more than  $30 million in total spending from the rival factions. Even though a proposed constitutional …

“A support group for gay Mormons urged church leaders Wednesday to stay on the sidelines after the California Supreme Court said same-sex marriage there is legal.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has issued this press release. It reports: The Internal Revenue Service should investigate a Washington state religious group that engaged in fund-raising for a gubernatorial candidate, says Americans United for Separation of …

The ACLU of Ohio has issued this press release. It begins: The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sent a letter to Findlay City Schools Superintendent Dean Witter requesting him to immediately stop school employees from escorting students to visit …

The Christian Post reports: Police in a southern city in Iran reportedly arrested 12 Christian converts from Islam in what appears to be part of a crackdown on the country’s growing house church movement. The first arrests took place on …

The AP reports: “California officials are telling county clerks that they can start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 17.” But, apparently some clerks plan on starting earlier according to this report.

The Religion Clause Blog reports: In Cape Girardeau, Missouri yesterday, the ACLU filed suit on behalf of library-assistant Deborah Smith who was suspended for ten days without pay after she refused to work at an event that she said violated …

euPortal carries the speech given by Vaclav Klaus as he released his new book: Blue Planet in Green Shackles. Klaus states: . . . My deep frustration has been exponentially growing in recent years by witnessing the fact that almost …

U.S. soldiers stationed at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo may be stunned to find three wooden crosses stripped from the exterior grounds of their chapel in coming weeks – and many never saw it coming.

This is a reminder to all students who plan to participate in the William Pew Religious Freedom Scholarship competition. The deadline for submissions is June 15th. More information is available here.

. . . marriage is a pre-political institution . . . By granting the state the right to change the definition of marriage, the Supreme Court has completed the state’s aggrandizement of power over the family . . .

CNSNews reports: Proposed legislation in Michigan that would require employers who provide prescription drug coverage to pay for contraception is “a direct assault upon the religious freedom rights” of Catholic and other religious employers, according to an official of the …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: Catholics in Edmonton are being asked to think twice before taking seeing or taking children to see the upcoming display of “plastinated” bodies at the Telus World of Science, could when it opens June 13. The Catholic Archbishop …

lliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Glen Lavy, who recently argued before the California Supreme Court to defend marriage, will participate in a panel discussion Thursday on the national implications of the California Supreme Court’s May 15 marriage decision. The Family Research Council is hosting the event at the National Press Club in Washington.

The Topeka Capital-Journal carries the Archbishop’s text which is formulated as a series of questions and answers to his recent rebuke of Sebelius over her strong support for abortion.

Maggie Gallagher has this article on Townhall: . . . But to me the most shocking reminder of how horrifying the Chinese government remains lies latent in this week’s headlines: “One-Child Policy Has Exceptions After China Quake,” as the Associated …

Contrary to claims made in abortion activitists’ hysterical denunciations of Carhart II, the Court’s decision upholding the federal partial-birth abortion ban, I conclude that a judicially modest approach is unlikely to result in the overruling of Roe v. Wade within the foreseeable future.

The article ultimately concludes that while polygamy and same-sex marriage may share some common ground, advocates should continue to distance same-sex marriage from plural marriage to avoid relinquishing the movement’s hard-earned cultural capital and societal support.

In the recent debates over the permissibility of religious displays in public courthouses, proponents of these displays have revived historical arguments that America is a Christian nation and that the Constitution is a Christian text.

The Court’s decision in Carhart, however, is troubling because the Act regulates medical practices on the basis of legislative repugnance regarding procedural details of a specific and complicated abortion method.

The bill permits the creation of so-called “savior siblings”—children created through IVF who are tested to ensure that they are genetically compatible with older siblings who might need a tissue match for therapeutic purposes.

Decisions upholding state marriage laws, however, are not necessarily “wins” for traditional marriage. They are stepping stones toward a showdown over the meaning of Romer and Lawrence, where a split between states in their interpretation of the cases is a prerequisite for review by the Supreme Court.

The Houston Chronicle reports: Texas lawmakers set aside about $50 million last year for a more aggressive response to school dropouts, which experts say has reached the crisis level in Texas. An estimated one-third of high school freshmen in Texas …

Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum believes appointing the right federal and local judges is more important than electing members of Congress or the President. In a forum last week, they explained why . . .

Jill Stanek has this commentary in WorldNetDaily reporting on ADF’s Pulpit Initiative. She writes: . . . Challenged will be a 1954 change in the code called the Johnson Amendment, after then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson. Johnson proposed the amendment to silence …

How Appealing links to several news reports and to the court’s broadcast of the arguements which begins at 9 am Pacific time today. ABC includes this report: When Guadalupe Benitez was referred by her endocrinologist to a California medical clinic …

For the third consecutive year, a statewide poll conducted by the Polling Institute at Monmouth University found an overwhelming number of New Jerseyans, 74%, support the establishment of a corporate tax credit scholarship pilot program for students in some of the state’s lowest-income, highest spending school districts.

Grand Rapids Press reports: Michigan lawmakers moved closer to a state-level ban of what opponents call partial birth abortion on Tuesday. The Democratic-led House passed the ban by a 74-32 vote late Tuesday. The Republican-controlled Senate has approved similar legislation. …

The poll found that 51 percent of respondents backed legalizing same-sex marriage and 42 percent opposed it . . .