Daily Archives: July 30, 2009

Christian Post: “A Catholic priest was found murdered in a remote place on the side of a road in a village near Mangalore in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Thursday.”

Christian Today: “Ri Hyon Ok, 33, was publicly executed on June 16 for allegedly distributing the Bible, and also for charges of spying for South Korea and the United States, according to reports from the Investigative Committee on Crimes Against Humanity.”

Penna Dexter writes at Baptist Press: “President Obama has asked Congress to pass, and send to his desk, H.R.1283, which would allow open homosexuality in the military. But there’s a reason Congress has not taken this up . . . ”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Then, in September, Booth violated the law again as part of the Alliance Defense Fund’s ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday,’ a scheme in which the Religious Right legal group urged clergy across the country to endorse or oppose political candidates from the pulpit. The ADF promised to represent these churches if any lost their tax exemption, hoping to challenge the constitutionality of the tax provision.”

ASU News: “Long-term goals for the Difficult Dialogues program are twofold, according to Cady: to better prepare faculty to teach in religiously pluralistic classrooms, and to better prepare students to ‘live in a world of religious diversity and to understand how religion can be – but need not be – a factor in human conflict.’”

“Nearly a third of transgender residents in Massachusetts have considered suicide according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.”

FayObserver.com: “Services include gynecological exams, temporary and permanent birth control for women, and vasectomies for men. Johnson said the center plans to offer abortions, but not immediately.”

ACLU: “The Senate Appropriations Committee today voted to end funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and to put resources into programs that can help teens make healthy and responsible decisions about sexuality.”

GayPolitics.com: “The Victory Fund has learned President Barack Obama plans to award America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Harvey Milk, one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials.”

C-FAM: “In his Friday Fax interview, Buttiglione emphasized that the ‘life of the child should be defended with all possible means.’ In some countries – such as those of Latin America, where abortion is generally criminalized – legislators should fight to keep penal prohibitions in place. But in countries like Italy, outright prohibition lacks popular support. Instead, efforts should be made to find common ground that will result in limitations on abortion.”

KDVR.com: “The state of Rhode Island has no laws on the books to stop teenagers as young as 16 years old to work as strippers and even ‘indoor hookers.’”

Pocono Record: “Zoning became a hot topic in Middle Smithfield after reports that Werry’s Pub is being advertised for sale as a site for a strip club in the adult-entertainment magazine Xtreme. Werry’s is owned by Middle Smithfield Supervisor Bob Spano. The ad described Werry’s as newly zoned for adult entertainment.”

Mercury News (AP): “The San Francisco city attorney is trying to shut down a North Beach strip club he claims operates without permits and serves as a front for prostitution.”

Boston Globe (AP): “Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison says she will vote against confirming Sonia Sotomayor to be a Supreme Court justice.”

Lexington Herald-Leader: “A federal lawsuit over Ten Commandments displays in the Jackson County Courthouse could be resolved for about $6,000 if a judge accepts a proposed settlement filed Tuesday by the fiscal court and the American Civil Liberties Union.”

WorldNetDaily: “This leads to what is perhaps the key question: What is it the White House is determined to hide by refusing to release the president’s original long-form birth certificate?”

James Taranto writes at the Wall Street Journal: “In fact, although some people born outside the U.S. are natural-born citizens (including John McCain, born in Panama, where his father was stationed as a naval officer), the timing and circumstances of Obama’s birth make the place a necessary condition for natural-born citizenship. The State Department Web site explains the law that would have applied if Obama were born overseas . . . ”

Blog of the Legal Times: “Senate Republicans said today that they plan to support President Barack Obama’s nominee for a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, despite a controversial ruling she issued last year finding that a mandatory minimum sentence was unconstitutional.”

Boston Globe (AP): Venezuela’s top prosecutor insisted Thursday that freedom of expression in Venezuela “must be limited,” and proposed legislation that would slap additional restrictions on the country’s news media.

Evangelical Examiner: “The Alliance Defense Fund has announced that its attorneys have secured a settlement Monday with Atlanta Public Schools that will result in official recognition of a Christian student club that was repeatedly denied access to the same rights, benefits, and privileges given to all other student clubs at Sutton Middle School.”

OneNewsNow: “‘The National Endowment for the Arts is using money from the stimulus bill, which was supposed to create economic activity, for the production of pornography,’ he states. ‘They’ve specifically given grants to companies that they know produce pornography — primarily homosexual pornography.’”

Boston Globe (AP): “Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis, sued the government to find out whether her husband will be charged if he helps her end her life.”

HRC Back Story Blog: “Today the Human Rights Campaign launched a national, grassroots campaign called “No Excuses” to demand action from Congress on key issues of equality. Designed to take advantage of the Congressional summer recess . . . ”

Boston Globe (AP): “Supporters of Maine’s newly enacted law recognizing gay marriage are announcing a new name and a new measure of support for their side the day before opponents drop off petitions that could force a November referendum on the measure . . . ”

Washington Post: “The House subcommittee on federal workforce issues approved the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act by a 5 to 3 vote. It extends several benefits to gay partners, including access to health care coverage, retirement and disability plans, and life and long-term care insurance.”

FRC Action: “The truth, apparently, hurts. Planned Parenthood and NARAL understand that the future of massive taxpayer subsidies for abortion on demand is at stake in the health care debate. There is a relatively easy answer to the problem. Take current law – the Hyde Amendment, which has been renewed every year for 33 years — make it permanent and ensure that it continues to apply to any publicly subsidized program.”

ADF Media: “Alliance Defense Fund attorneys reached a settlement agreement with the city of Pensacola on behalf of St. Faustina Old Catholic Church, freeing it to hold church picnics once again at Plaza Ferdinand VII, a popular historic park in downtown Pensacola.”

Alliance for School Choice: “Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) today unveiled a bipartisan reauthorization bill for the D.C. school voucher program.

NY Times: “The rate of abortion in China — about 24 abortions for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 — is less than half that of the world’s highest rate. That is Russia’s, at 53.7 per 1,000, according to the United Nations Population Division. Some two million abortions are performed each year in Russia, which has a population of 142 million. China’s population is 1.3 billion.”

LifeSiteNews: “‘The fundamental rights of parents to raise children the way they see fit should not be threatened by the wishes and desires of a legal stranger,’ said Mylar. ‘The court correctly ruled that this little boy’s right to his mother under state law is of far greater value than the wishes of someone who has no legal relationship to the child.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “BeliefNet yesterday reported on the concern of these Christian groups over whether they will be considered appropriate insurance under the insurance mandate that is likely to be in new legislation.”

The Recorder (Law.com): “The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals just agreed to host another shootout over gun rights. The court decided Wednesday to review en banc a panel ruling that had significantly broadened Second Amendment protections by applying them to state and local governments.”

ACLU Press Release: “The ACLU of Washington today filed a lawsuit against the City of Puyallup to uphold the religious freedom and free speech rights of United States Mission. The suit seeks an injunction against enforcement of a solicitation ordinance that prevents the religious organization from carrying out its mission of preaching the ‘Social Gospel.’ The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Today’s Jordan Times reports that the latest controversy surrounds a government proposal, approved by the Senate but rejected by the House of Representatives, that would allow all non-Muslim organizations to operate in the country under the law.”

Dan Mihalopoulos reports at Clout Street (Chicago Tribune): “Mayor Richard Daley said today he would support an effort to give preferential treatment in city contracting to businesses owned by gays and lesbians.”

WCAX (AP) reports: “New York City Councilman Bill de Blasio wants to create a division in the health department to deal with issues confronting gay, lesbian and transgender youths.”

Melissa Bailey reports in the New Haven Independent: “‘Mr. Morrell strongly desires to share his religious message on public ways in New Haven, and would do so, but he is chilled and deterred from expressing his message on said public ways in New Haven for fear of arrest,’ reads the complaint, filed by attorney Nathan Kellum of the Tennessee-based Alliance Defense Fund.”

Carlos Santoscoy reports at On Top Magazine: “The Christian-based legal group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) earlier set up a Referendum 71 webpage to collect data from people who ‘have been threatened or suffered retaliation after signing an R-71 petition’ or have been prevented from signing a petition.”

Walter E. Williams writes at CNSNews: “What we’re witnessing today is nothing less than a massive escalation in White House and congressional thuggery. Secure in the knowledge that the American people are compliant and willing to cast off the limitations imposed on Washington by the nation’s founders, future administrations are probably going to be even more emboldened than Obama and the current Congress.”

Religion Clause Blog: In Foundation of Human Understanding v. United States, (Fed. Cl., July 21, 2009), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed with the Internal Revenue Service that the Foundation of Human Understanding, while qualifying as a non-profit organization, had lost its status as a “church” underIRC § 170(b)(1)(A)(i)

Missy Diaz reports in the Kansas City Sun Sentinel: “Under Florida law, each image is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The charge – typically possession of sexual performance by a child – is intended to snare pedophiles and other sexual predators. But teens who are sexting are caught in a loophole that could have life-changing repercussions. And here’s the kicker: Both the sender and receiver are equally culpable under the law.”

Balkan Insight reports: “Albania’s religious leaders said Thursday that they oppose a government proposal to extend marriage rights to gay couples.”

Providence Journal: “But Rep. James R. Langevin and other Democratic supporters of the effort have warned that any change in the status quo on abortion — including a longstanding ban on federal taxpayer subsidies for abortion — could prevent Mr. Obama from attaining his top domestic policy goal.”

CNSNews: “The United Nations has rejected a Christian Ministry’s application for official status because it refused to produce names and addresses of its members in China, citing religious freedom concerns . . . China led the opposition to the Dynamic Christian World Mission Foundation’s application . . .”

“Researchers are just beginning to study the phenomenon, but the few who do estimate that openly polyamorous families in the United States number more than half a million, with thriving contingents in nearly every major city.”

Stephen J. Lee reports in the Grand Forks Herald: “He’s part of, and being represented legally by, the Alliance Defense Fund, which organized ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ last fall, in which many pastors, mostly evangelical and fundamentalist Christian clergy, spoke out on politics from the pulpit.”

Douglas McCollam writes at the Wall Street Journal: “It seems plain that a great many members of the American bar fell prey to the same strain of hubris that infected their clients. They embarked on empire building—opening offices from Beijing to Bucharest—and snapping up smaller rivals, confident that the future belonged not so much to the best and the brightest as to the biggest. The movement toward gigantism was virtually uniform across the legal industry.”

One News Now: “There was a huge effort to cover up the risks of smoking, just like there’s a massive politically correct effort today to hide the true health risks of homosexual sex — and the people have a right to know about that.”

ADF attorney Matt Bowman appeared on Relevant Radio with Sean Harriett to discuss the case of a Catholic nurse compelled to participate in a late-term abortion.

The MP3 runs just over 14 minutes.

Related ADF Media page

Liberty Counsel: “We recently saw an overview of the healthcare bill being debated in Congress (HR 3200). We found the overview so alarming that we doubted its accuracy, so the staff in our D.C. office compared it to the voluminous bill . . . ”

WorldNetDaily: “‘The IRS apparently has no desire to clarify the law for churches and has studiously avoided a court confrontation over this issue for years,’ Stanley explained. ‘They continue to vaguely interpret the law, leave churches guessing as to what the law actually means, and enforce the Johnson Amendment through fear and intimidation.’”

“Mr. Boies’s divisive rhetoric defames as bigoted not only the majority of Californians, but also the overwhelming majority of Americans . . . ”

Becket Fund: In defense of a family-owned pharmacy in the state of Washington, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty just filed a petition for a full, eleven-judge hearing at the 9th Circuit federal court of appeals. A three-judge panel of the same court ruled earlier this month that the pharmacy will likely have to abide by a State Board of Pharmacy rule that forces pharmacists to sell the so-called morning after pill, or Plan B, even when doing so violates their conscience.

Steve Karnowski reports in the Duluth News Tribune (AP): “Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Arizona-based group, said 33 pastors in 22 states participated in the Sept. 28 Pulpit Freedom Sunday. He said they all sent the IRS copies of their sermons testing the ban. The IRS never went after any of them for those sermons, Stanley said.”

CitizenLink: “ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said the IRS continues to leave churches in limbo while it refuses to clarify the tax code. ‘It illustrates everything that is wrong with the current enforcement of the Johnson Amendment,’ Stanley noted. ‘After an 11-month audit, it is disingenuous for the IRS to simply close the file and walk away as if nothing happened.’”

Fox News: “The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night ‘pervert’ revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco.”

AP: “A baby girl cut from her mother’s womb was found and a woman arrested after acquaintances became suspicious of her claims that she was the baby’s mother, police said.”

At a hearing on July 29, 2009, a United States District Court Judge entered an order preventing the Washington Secretary of State from publicly releasing copies of the Referendum 71 petition filed on Saturday . . . Attorney Stephen Pidgeon (Bellevue, WA), an Alliance Defense Fund Allied Attorney, is serving as local counsel in the case.

a href=”http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000010612.cfm”>Citizen Link: “Pennsylvania state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, sponsored a constitutional amendment in May that would protect marriage from redefinition. In response, activists set up Keystone Progress, an entity dedicated to ‘progressive’ politics in the state, but specializing in bringing down the Republican freshman.”

AP: “Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said he was voting for President Barack Obama’s nominee despite his differences with her, particularly on gun rights.”