Daily Archives: November 30, 2009

Wall Street Journal: “The District of Columbia Council is expected to vote next week to legalize same-sex marriage in the nation’s capital. While Congress could use its power to overturn the law, local and national factors appeared to be aligned against any effort to do so.”

Catholic Culture: “The Spanish bishops’ conference has released a statement indicating that Catholic politicians who vote in favor of laws lifting restrictions on abortion are not eligible to receive communion.”

LifeNews carries this report by Mauricio Roman which originally appeared in Inside Catholic: “. . . Planned Parenthood’s financial difficulties are driving both its affiliate consolidation and its transformation into a tightly integrated chemical- and medical-abortion provider. With the expected financial backing of the U.S. government, they will continue to be a formidable foe to pro-life advocates.”

Ms. Magazine: “A lawsuit was filed last week that challenges a so-called ‘personhood initiative’ petition in Alaska . . . The suit is supported by the ACLU of Alaska and plaintiffs include Vic Fischer, who is a former Alaska state legislator and delegate to the state constitutional convention. ”

Wall Street Journal: “Muslim leaders from around the world condemned a vote in Switzerland to ban the construction of minarets in the Alpine country, raising fresh fears of a backlash against Swiss interests around the world.”

The audio is available here. The first portion of the program is about Thanksgiving. In the second half, Maggie Gallagher of The Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (IMAPP) joins Dr. Mohler to discuss marriage.

BBC: “A judge in Argentina has overturned a ruling that would have allowed the first gay marriage in Latin America.”

LifeSiteNews: “Pro-life advocates in Northern Ireland are celebrating a major court victory today as the Belfast High Court has ordered the recall of health guidelines that they said would have undermined and effectively overturned the province’s pro-life laws.”

“The Employment Appeal Tribunal has today ruled that Gary McFarlane . . . was not unfairly dismissed or discriminated against when he was sacked for his orthodox views on sexual relationships which meant that he could not give an unequivocal commitment to help same-sex couples improve their sex lives.”

Boston Globe: “The Ethan Allen Institute’s report released Monday says Vermont is spending $250 million to $300 million more than it should on education.”

Report

CNSNews (AP): “Lawmakers are weighing a bill to require every full and part-time college student in Massachusetts to have at least the basic level of health insurance required under the state’s landmark 2006 health care law.”

Wtop.com: “Thailand has issued rules making sex change surgery more difficult _ including a requirement that potential candidates cross-dress for a year _ over fears that some patients are rushing into the operation, a medical association said Thursday.”

Baltimore Sun: “Prison officials in New Jersey have agreed to allow a Christian prisoner to teaching Bible study classes and preaching at weekly worship services, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Breitbart (AP): “The effort is meant to be a satirical statement after California voters outlawed gay marriage in 2008, largely on the argument that a ban is needed to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. If that’s the case, then Marcotte reasons voters should have no problem banning divorce.”

Boston Herald: “The Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts has given priests in his diocese permission to officiate at same-sex weddings.”

NY Magazine: “According to a Gallup poll from July, 60 percent of Americans think abortion should be either illegal or ‘legal only in a few circumstances.’ Only seventeen states pay for the procedure for poor women beyond the standards of the 1977 Hyde Amendment—meaning if the woman’s life is in danger or she’s been the victim of rape or incest. Just two months before the health-care bill’s passage in the House, a Rasmussen poll found that 48 percent of the public didn’t want abortion covered in any government-subsidized health plan, while just 13 percent did. (Thirty-two percent believed in a ‘neutral’ approach—though what on Earth that means is hard to say.)”

The Leaf Chronicle: “Responding to complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union that the city inappropriately sponsored a church Nativity scene at a holiday celebration, Mayor Johnny Piper said Monday he didn’t think there had been any wrongdoing.”

STA reports on “the family law bill, which equalises same-sex unions with other family unions and bans . . . ”

The Richmond Register: “City commissioner and Richmond pastor Robert Blythe said Tuesday he would not sit quietly in the wake of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky’s request to stop invocations from being given before the start of each regular commission meeting.”

Daily Journal on How Appealing Extra: “Last month, Justice Stephen G. Breyer and two of his colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court were present when a major shift in constitutional law took place. But the action took place in London, not Washington, D.C. Breyer, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Justice Antonin Scalia were in Great Britain to mark the official opening of its Supreme Court.”

Post-Bulletin.com: “Then, despite what Deel called a “mountain of evidence” that Yisrayl Hawkins has dozens of wives and promoted bigamy to sect members, the county attorney decided he couldn’t afford to spend $30,000 on a case where ‘the outcome was uncertain.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “AINA today says that the Egyptian government and Egyptian State Security are attempting to cover up extensive mob violence against Copts a week ago in the town of Farshoot.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Afrique en Ligne reported yesterday that the powerful Anglican Church of Kenya has called for an amendment to remove recognition of Kadhis courts from the constitution, calling the inclusion of the provision a contradiction of equality of all religions.”

AP: “LetOhioVote.org has until Dec. 18 to collect signatures for a May referendum on the slots proposal.”

AP: “The lawsuit was filed against the state in 2008 by Wendy Knox and Richard Dotson, who argued the gaming machines at the tribal casino violate the Idaho Constitution’s prohibition on gambling.”

“The ordinance was used to arrest two men who were sharing their faith and singing worship songs on a public sidewalk in the Hampton Beach area.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter Monday to the mayor and officials of the city of Merced urging them to change the name of the town’s newly dubbed holiday parade back to the Christmas parade. City officials replaced “Christmas” with “holiday” in the name of the town’s public parade, but ADF attorneys have assured them that, if the change was motivated by fear of lawsuits, keeping the former name is a decision that is constitutionally protected.

Legislative Gazette: “Brian Raum, an attorney for the defendant, the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Arizona-based legal group, claimed since marriage is recognized as a man and woman in New York state, the common law marriage precedent does not apply. Susan Sommer, director of constitutional litigation for Lambda Legal, who argued the marriage recognition in the cases on behalf of same-sex couples, argued that it does apply.”

Mike Adams writing at Townhall: “It’s hard to believe it has been over four years since I spoke at N.C. State. That night, back in August of 2005, I gave a speech calling for a conservative revolution on our college campuses . . . In January of 2006, I got a call from David French of the newly formed Center for Academic Freedom – a branch of my favorite public policy organization, the Alliance Defense Fund. David asked that I help him identify illegal speech codes and brave students willing to fight them. By the end of the year, we had worked together to bring down several speech codes through litigation or, in some cases, the mere threat of litigation.’”

Clarification:   The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

Big Government: “Harris Himes, the minister who witnessed Kenneth Gladney’s beatdown at the Russ Carnahan town hall in August, cannot believe that only misdemeanor charges were filed against the SEIU thugs last week . . . Harris Himes is pastor of Big Sky Christian Center in Hamilton, Montana, and was ordained by Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel and his board . . . He is a voluntary attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Philadelphia Bulletin: “‘A disability should not be a death sentence. No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is not worth saving,’ said Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. ADF filed the lawsuit and emergency measure to save Baby Gabriel.”

Don Surber, Daily Mail: “4. Alliance Defense Fund: ‘BRYAN, Texas — Planned Parenthood has quietly dropped its lawsuit against the former director of its Bryan health center who quit her job after observing an abortion procaedure.’ . . . Free speech. It’s not just for liberals anymore.”

OneNewsNow: “‘In this particular case, Gilbert allows signs to be up for extraordinary lengths of time, including political signs, up for years at a time,’ [David Cortman] explains. ‘Yet if a church puts up a sign for its Sunday service, it’s only allowed up the night before the service,’ he adds, noting that it must be taken down immediately after the service is over.”

“Nearly 58% of Swiss voters Sunday cast their ballots in favor of banning the construction of new minarets in the Alpine republic . . . ”

Valley News Online: “The 164 signatories to the document reflect a virtual who’s-who of contemporary Christian leaders, including names such as . . . Alan Sears, president, Alliance Defense Fund . . .”

The Hill: “Unions are happier with the House version of healthcare reform, which has no excise tax and a stronger public option. While planning to lobby for amendments to make the Senate legislation better, several union officials said they will wait to the conference between the two chambers to push for the biggest legislative changes.”

Christian Post: “Steven H. Aden, senior legal counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, has maintained that the lawsuit by Planned Parenthood was just the latest of its scandals. ‘Planned Parenthood isn’t interested in the health of women and girls. It exists to exploit vulnerable girls and women for profit,’ Aden said.”

NCPA Policy Digest: “According to a former Swedish minister of justice; ‘… as long as men think they are entitled to buy and use women’s and girls’ bodies, human trafficking for sexual purposes will continue,’ says the Standard.”

Sea Coast Online: “Now backed by the Alliance Defense Fund — a national Christian organization supporting legal cases that ‘protect religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and marriage and the family’ — the street preachers have formidable legal representation. Through ADF lawyers, they’ve filed a U.S. District Court lawsuit against the town of Hampton and members of its police department. Simultaneously, they’re challenging New Hampshire’s disorderly conduct statute as it pertains to unreasonable noise.”

Christian Post: “Leaders from the evangelical, Orthodox and Catholic traditions released ‘The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience‘ last week to stand firm on what they consider the three most foundational issues in society – the sanctity of life, the historic understanding of marriage, and religious liberty. It serves as a proclamation to the nation’s leaders that they will not abandon or compromise their conscience on the three issues and as a call to the Christian church to unite in upholding the truths as followers of Jesus Christ.”

ADF Media: ADF president joins with other leaders in signing ‘Manhattan Declaration’

“The Alliance Defense Fund started its defense of Christmas back in September. The organization called upon Arizona state and federal officials to stop prohibiting Arizona public school children from expressing their religion through Christmas themes while decorating ornaments for the annual Capitol Christmas tree . . . The war on Christmas is really an attack on Americans’ independence . . . ”

LifeNews: “‘This was the latest in a series of national Planned Parenthood scandals,’ he told LifeNews.com yesterday. ‘It wasn’t about one woman or one clinic. Planned Parenthood is a national organization that has been kept afloat by hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding.’”

ProLife Blogs: “‘This was the latest in a series of national Planned Parenthood scandals,’ said ADF Senor Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden. ‘It wasn’t about one woman or one clinic. Planned Parenthood is a national organization that has been kept afloat by hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding. The American people need to understand that this organization has been involved in scandal after scandal and has never owned up to them. Like so many Planned Parenthood lawsuits, this lawsuit was baseless, so we are pleased that it has been withdrawn.’”

OneNewsNow: “‘Unfortunately the village of Amelia in Ohio decided to call off a Christmas parade that had been ongoing for 29 years,’ [Nate Kellum] says. ‘For 29 straight years, they’ve had a Christmas parade; but this year they decided to cancel the event for fear of being sued.’”

ProLife Blogs: “‘A disability should not be a death sentence. No one should be allowed to decide that an innocent life is not worth saving,’ said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. ‘Doctors at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital need to do the right thing and make sure Baby Gabriel gets the treatment he needs to live. He is loved by his mother, is in stable condition, and could live for a long time. The hospital’s treatment–or lack thereof–of this helpless little boy is simply inhuman.’”

WorldNetDaily: “‘This refusal is in direct violation of Vision Forum’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights,’ the ADF letter said. ‘A state agency that makes its facilities available for use by other groups may not deny specific groups equal use because of the content of their speech,’ the letter advised. ‘Public facilities become designated public fora when authorities have by policy or practice opened those facilities for indiscriminate use by the general public.’”

WorldNetDaily: “‘This was the latest in a series of national Planned Parenthood scandals,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Steven H. Aden. ‘It wasn’t about one woman or one clinic. Planned Parenthood is a national organization that has been kept afloat by hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding. The American people need to understand that this organization has been involved in scandal after scandal and has never owned up to them. Like so many Planned Parenthood lawsuits, this lawsuit was baseless, so we are pleased that it has been withdrawn,’ he said.”

Warner Todd Huston writes at Renew America: “As a result of this mis-educational system we are now weighted down with, we are disgorging into the greater world from those flagellation stations we call ‘schools’ citizens that mindlessly expect that politicians exist only to ‘give us stuff.’ The individualist spirit that expected government to leave us alone is now subdued, replaced with a spirit of looking to government as mommy. It is a mommy, though, with apron strings that strangle us to death.”

“Family law attorneys call it a first: a babysitter winning custody of a child. Now the mother’s lawyer has won a rehearing — just in time for the holidays.”

Christine Todd Whitman writes at the NJ.com Voices Blog: “We would all be better of if we leave the definition of marriage to our houses of worship, and make the state follow suit.”

The Guardian: “There is ‘virtually no possibility’ of a few scientists biasing the advice given to governments by the UN’s top global warming body, its chair said today. Rajendra Pachauri defended the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

John M. Kang, Appeal to Heaven: On the Religious Origins of the Constitutional Right of Revolution (November 28, 2009). William & Mary Bill of Rights, Vol. 18, pp. 281-326, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1514844

“This Article explores the religious origins of the right to alter or abolish government. I show in Part I that the right was widely accepted among the American colonies as expressed through their constitutions and, later, the federal constitution.”

Nicholas Hatzis, Neutrality, Proselytism and Religious Minorities at the European Court of Human Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court (June 22, 2009). Harvard International Law Journal Online, Vol. 49, p. 120, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1506514

“The paper examines the way the US Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights have dealt with the discriminatory treatment of religious minorities in relation to proselytism, and the role played by the principle of neutrality in arguments supporting the invalidation of statutes which restrict religious canvassing.”