Daily Archives: May 19, 2010

Europe News: “A Muslim student at the University of California at San Diego last week endorsed a new genocide of Jews. Although one can only imagine the media hue and cry had a conservative student said this, the liberal media has not found Jumanah Imad Albahri’s statement fit to print.”

Europe News: “The World Trade Center site is turning into a mosque magnet. Just two weeks after the Cordoba Initiative sparked controversy with their plans for a 13-story mosque and cultural center near ground zero, FOX News reported Monday that a second mosque wants to build nearby as well. The second mosque, Masjid Manhattan, has raised $8.5 million for the project and needs only another $2.5 million to begin construction, FOX reported . . . ”

Telegraph: “Britain’s first ever television advert for abortion is to be aired next week despite a ban on the commercials and campaigners threatening a legal challenge.”

Zenit: “A communiqué from the council noted how Benedict XVI has repeatedly affirmed a “pressing need” for a renewed commitment of Catholics in political life . . . ”

LifeSite: “Portugal’s president, who was elected as a conservative, has signed a law passed by the Assembly of the Republic last year creating the institution of homosexual ‘marriage.’”

Press of Atlantic City: “Township Council has stopped opening meetings with what was intended to be a nonsectarian invocation while it develops a policy to avoid offending anyone — or any lawsuits . . . ”

“Think it’s just a ban on the Bible in public schools, even as a historical reference document? No. As worded, it prohibits many of the founding documents that are religious (and many, political).”

AU: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a Los Angeles church that used its Web site and the social networking site Twitter to urge congregants to support a candidate for public office . . .”

ADF attorney David J. Hacker writes at the Speak Up Movement Blog via the Christian Post’s Advancing Religious Liberty blog: “It seems Peralta Community College District has not learned its lesson. On the heels of settling an unfathomable case involving the punishment of two students who dared pray for an ill faculty member, Peralta is considering a new speech zone policy. Our readers know that while creating a speech zone sounds supportive of the First Amendment, it is actually discouraging because it limits student speech and can result in the absurd-relegating student speech to ten square feet of campus . . . ”

ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg writes at the Speak Up Movement Blog via the Christian Post’s Advancing Religious Liberty Blog: “Last week, 3 retired chaplains expressed, in strong and occasionally harsh terms, their disagreement with 41 chaplains’ stance that normalizing homosexual conduct in the military threatened military religious liberty. Out of respect for these 3 chaplains’ long service to our country, and out of an equal respect for the 41′s even longer service, I offer this response to their arguments . . . ” | Related posts ADF Alliance Alert Compound Tag: Topic: Military + Topic: Homosexual Agenda

Christian Post: “Muslim teachers at a girls school here have derided Christian students for their faith, beat them, pressured them to convert to Islam and forced them to clean school bathrooms and classrooms after class hours, according to area Christians . . . ”

Washington Post: “In the days before three Montgomery County kindergarten classes were slated to go on a field trip to the Be With Me Playseum, an indoor play space in Bethesda, the organization’s staff prepared for what they hoped would be the first of many visits . . . Then, without warning, Westbrook Elementary School, which all four of Seebachan’s children have attended, canceled the trip. All because, Seebachan says, she mentions God on the Playseum Web site . . . ”

KTIV.com (AP): “The report from the Iowa Department of Public Health shows 2,020 same-sex marriages were recorded since April 27, 2009 through March 31. Of those couples, 815 were from Iowa . . . ”

PR Newswire: “After almost 18 months of review, educators, experts, parents and members of the business community are sending a message: we don’t want the American Atheists and the ACLU in charge of writing our history standards and we don’t want a delay of the final vote,” said Jonathan Saenz, Esq., director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute. ‘Liberal fringe efforts to complicate, obfuscate, and denigrate our heritage and history must be rejected. A vote delayed is a vote denied.’”

FoxNews: “And, in an ironic development, the theft of the cross could provide an avenue for its unchallenged return, according to a lawyer involved in a contentious legal debate about whether it violates the separation of church and state . . . ‘There’s an interesting possibility,’ said Hiram Sasser, the director of litigation at the Liberty Legal Institute, which is representing the VFW in the case.”

Catholic Culture: “The leadership of the Knights of Columbus (K of C) has forbidden local councils to take any action against members of the Catholic fraternal organization who support legalized abortion or same-sex marriage.”

David French writes at National Review Phi Beta Cons: “Over at ADF’s Academic Freedom File, Jordan Lorence breaks some intriguing news about a recent development in CLS v. Martinez. The State of New Jersey has asked to withdraw from its amicus brief supporting Hastings Law School. Jordan explains . . . ”

Christian Science Monitor: “A government-appointed council of senior religious scholars in Saudi Arabia condemned terrorism financing and said it is forbidden by Islamic law.”

KAKE.com: “Abortion rights advocates are urging Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson to veto a measure taking family planning dollars away from Planned Parenthood.”

Advocate.com (includes video): “An openly gay 24-year-old with only $150 in campaign donations and no college diploma has won the Democratic primary for the 45th district of Kentucky’s house of representatives. Matthew Vanderpool . . . ”

About Advocate.com: “We are a monthly magazine with a focus on the news, news analysis, and developing arts & entertainment stories that involve out gay and lesbian people or are of direct interest to a national readership of out gay and lesbian readers. ”

Yahoo News (AFP): “Gay rights activists staging a mass ‘kiss-in’ to protest homophobia faced off with Roman Catholic protesters late Tuesday outside Lyon cathedral in southeastern France . . . Banners held by the Catholic counter-protesters including one that read: “We are the children of heteros, first, second, third generation”. Other Catholics dropped to their knees and said Hail Marys.”

Courier Mail: “Football clubs are very different environments. Locker room nudity is an everyday part of our lives and unlike any other work place. I believe it would cause discomfort in that environment should someone declare himself gay.”

Washington Post: “The proposed new D.C. teachers contract, which could boost some salaries well over $100,000, is causing tremors in the city’s non-unionized charter school sector, where officials view the pact as only the latest inequity in District policies governing the funding of its two school systems . . . ”

New Montgomery County law deters women from talking to pro-life pregnancy counselors

Christian Post: “But ADF’s Cortman defended Nampa Classical Academy, saying that it has a right to ‘provide the best possible education for its students and has decided to include the Bible, along with dozens of other religious and secular writings, as resources in its curriculum to enrich instruction of literature, history, and culture, among other topics.’ ‘Schools have been doing this throughout American history,’ he noted.”

Intermountain Fair Housing Council v. Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, No. CV-08-205-S-EJL, 2010 WL 1913379 (D. Idaho May 12, 2010) Excerpts: ___________________ The Rescue Mission operates an “Emergency Services Program” that provides food, shelter, clothing, and other life necessities to anyone …

LifeSiteNews: “The Bishop of Phoenix has announced that a Catholic nun and administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix has automatically excommunicated herself by approving an abortion on a woman who was 11-weeks pregnant, and whose life hospital officials allege they were trying to save . . . ”

The Catholic League: “. . . NOW is calling on the authorities to investigate sexual abuse in the ‘male-dominated Catholic Church,’ claiming that ‘girls as much as boys’ are victims of sexual abuse. But the female-dominated organization is wrong as usual: homosexual priests, who commit most of the abuse, are not interested in girls . . . ” | NOW press release: NOW President Calls for Fundamental Reform to Stop Clergy Sexual Abuse | Related post: Is the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church a “gay” scandal

LifeSiteNews: “After hearing submissions from both sides of the issue in the case involving proposed legislation that would allow the province’s marriage commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex ‘marriages,’ the five judges of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal have reserved their decision and will issue a written ruling after further deliberation . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, says his company will not be a party to the pornography industry and hopes that the iPad and iPhone revolution will help lead to a porn-free world. Jobs reiterated his position in a heated e-mail exchange with Ryan Tate, a writer for Gawker.com, which follows news and gossip in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Tate, who admitted that he was home alone and slightly inebriated at the time, took issue with a television ad calling the iPad a “revolution” and fired off an e-mail to Jobs . . . ”

LifeNews: “The Louisiana state Senate has approved an ultrasound bill that will help women get a view of their unborn child before deciding to have an abortion. The pro-life measure now heads to the state House, which is expected to sign off on it and advance it to Governor Bobby Jindal . . . ”

“In a strong dissent, Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Scalia, and in part by Justice Alito) objected that the Court is substituting its own moral judgment for that of the people of Florida . . . ”

Suzanne Garment writes at the Wall Street Journal full access via Google: “The IRS uses Form 990 to verify that charitable organizations meet the conditions for receiving tax-deductible contributions and qualifying for tax exemptions. Until now, the smallest charities did not have to file 990s. But thanks to a seemingly minor provision of the 2006 Pension Protection Act, more than 400,000 additional nonprofits—nearly half of public charities registered with the IRS—now have to do so. If not, the IRS will take steps to revoke their tax-exempt status . . . ”

Mercury News: “Media organizations have asked a federal judge to approve televising and webcasting the closing arguments in the historic trial involving a legal challenge to California’s ban on same-sex marriages.”

Wall Street Journal full access via Google: “The establishment of both political parties took another pounding last night, as candidates anointed by the powers that be lost their primary races in convincing fashion. The ideological polarization we spied in Utah two weeks ago was on display again in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, while the GOP House campaign committee suffered its third embarrassment in a year.”

The Hill: “Arlen Specter lost the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nomination Tuesday, effectively ending a Senate career that spanned three decades . . . ”

Frederick M. Hess writes at National Review: “In February, Superintendent Fran Gallo fired every teacher at Central Falls High School after they refused to get on board with her efforts to transform the poorly performing school — the teachers had previously embraced the transformation model, because it would protect their jobs, but then decided they didn’t want any measures that would, you know, actually transform the school. But yesterday, the teachers’ union acceded . . . ”

HSLDA: “Home School Legal Defense Association has filed a friend of the court brief in a New Hampshire custody case that threatened to establish a rule that could be harmful to homeschoolers. In a case that has made headlines across the country, a trial court ordered a homeschooled girl into public school based in large part on non-expert testimony of the guardian ad litem (GAL) assigned to the case. The GAL’s testimony implied that homeschooling could not meet the future social and academic needs of all adolescents, not only the child in this case—even though the court acknowledged that she was excelling both academically and socially while being homeschooled . . . ”

HSLDA Amicus: In the Matter of Kurowski, No. 09-0751 (N.H.)

“The case concerns an Arizona school choice program that has been serving low- and middle-income families for 13 years. The state grants a tax credit to individuals who donate to nonprofit entities that award scholarships for children to attend private schools — including religious schools . . . ”

Michael C. Dorf writes at Findlaw: “On Monday, in United States v. Comstock, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the power of the federal government to confine mentally ill, sexually dangerous prisoners beyond the expiration of their criminal sentences. Interesting in its own right, the case also provides a window into the thinking of the various Justices on core questions of federalism. Comstock could thus become an important precedent if and when the Court is asked to rule on the individual mandate to purchase health insurance that was recently adopted as part of the federal health care reform law. Meanwhile, with tea-party activists having organized their movement around the principle of limited government–including, especially, opposition to the individual mandate–questions about Comstock could also play an important role in the upcoming confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan . . . ”

The Hill: “Elena Kagan’s hearing for Supreme Court confirmation is scheduled to begin June 28, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).”

Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Peter Baker write at the NY Times:  ”As a young graduate student, Elena Kagan wrote that it was ‘not necessarily wrong or invalid’ for judges to ‘try to mold and steer the law’ to achieve social ends, but warned that such rulings must be rooted in legal principles to be accepted by society and endure.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a motion to intervene Wednesday on behalf of 32 members of the European Parliament from 11 nations supporting Italy in a forthcoming appeal of a ruling from the Second Section of the European Court of Human Rights.

SCOTUS Blog has published its most recent list of petitions to watch. The list includes 2 RLUIPA cases and a school choice case that should be of interest to ADF Alliance Alert readers.

AZ Republic: “The measure increases the state sales tax by 1 cent per dollar, to 6.6 cents. It will take effect in two weeks.”

Politico: “Rand Paul, the first-time candidate for elective office who has emerged as a symbol of the national tea party’s clout in Republican politics, appears to have clinched the GOP’s nomination for this state’s open Senate seat — in a victory certain to jolt the political order in Kentucky and across the country . . . ”

AP: “Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey is the Republican nominee to run for Senate in Pennsylvania.”

AP: “The top officer for FEMA said one of the agency’s videographers was ‘absolutely wrong’ to ask Mississippi church volunteers not to wear religious T-shirts for a video about tornado cleanup . . . “He said, ‘We would like to ask you to change your shirt because we don’t want anything faith-based,’” Lott said Tuesday. Lott said she asked him why he didn’t want to feature faith groups.”

Politico: “The 2010 electorate has swallowed an emetic — disgorging in a series of retching convulsions officeholders in both parties who seem to embody conventional Washington politics . . . What’s now clear, in a way that wasn’t before, is that these results reflect a genuine national phenomenon, not simply isolated spasms in response to single issues or local circumstances . . . ”

AP: “One runs her own company, another is a housewife and a third, a divorcee, raises her children by herself. Like nearly 2,000 other Muslim women who freely wear face-covering veils anywhere in France, their lives will soon change and they are worried.”

The Republic: “A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the state by a Nampa charter school over plans by school administrators to use the Bible and other religious texts as a classroom teaching tool . . . At the time, the school’s attorney, David Cortman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, complained that he had never seen such a broad-reaching ban on using the Bible as a resource in public schools.” (Click the case name tag for more information)

One News Now: ‘We were very happy to hear that Mohave Community College had made the right decision and decided to celebrate the religious heritage of its students rather than squelch it,’ comments Travis Barham, litigation counsel for ADF.”

Jordan Lorence writes at the Speak Up Movement Blog via the Christian Post’s Advancing Religious Liberty Blog: “Our friends at FIRE have written about the absurd attempts by the University of California-Berekely to restrict the names of student organizations can call themselves by claiming ‘trademark’ rights over words such as ‘Cal’ and ‘California,’ and even some restrictions on the use of ‘Berkeley.’ I agree that in some isolated situations, a private student group may name itself something that may confuse people into thinking it is an official part of UC-Berkeley. But this is needless overkill, and is another way that universities can harass private student organizations that advocate unpopular or controversial ideas . . . ”

Joel Oster writes at the Speak Up Blog via the Christian Post: “The Pentagon dis-invited Franklin Graham from its National Prayer Day observances. Why would Pentagon officials boot Franklin, when the Commander-in-Chief was praying with his father Billy just a few days earlier? The reason is because Islamic groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that the Pentagon rescind its offer to Rev. Graham. You see, a Muslim organization was offended that a Christian believed Jesus is the only way to heaven . . . ”

Citizen.com: “It was a different kind of venue for the South Atlanta Tea Party. The grassroots group sponsored its first pastors breakfast May 12 at the Tyrone Depot. Speakers at the breakfast included Ken Fletcher of the Alliance Defense Fund and Gary DeMar of American Vision. Topics at the prayer breakfast included the threats to religious freedom and the persecution of the church, restoring the church to its Biblical foundations and America’s Christian heritage . . . ”

AP: “Pakistan’s government ordered Internet service providers to block Facebook on Wednesday amid anger over a page that encourages users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.”

The Times-Picayune: “In a divided vote, the Senate Judiciary B Committee endorsed a bill Tuesday that social conservatives and religious advocacy groups say is needed to fortify religious freedom protections under Louisiana law.” | SB 606

AP: “The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman moved quickly Wednesday to advance Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan down a so-far smooth road to confirmation, setting hearings for June 28.”