Daily Archives: July 12, 2010

GoUpState.com: “A local minister is trying to organize a ‘silent protest’ against Christian prayers before Spartanburg County Council meetings, and a local activist is asking a national group to take an interest in the situation.”

. . . the exclusion of theological reference from public bodies and civic discourse not only trains the broader community into safely agnostic mental habits, it also creates a social environment leading religious adherents themselves to gradually doubt the objective truth or public relevance of their marginalized beliefs . . .

“The story is about Bridgeport, Connecticut Bishop William Lori, whom some have dubbed the ‘Blogging Bishop of Bridgeport.’ His story of how he motivated his congregation to action under a very real and ominous threat from the state legislature is amazing . . . ”

AP: “The Church of England national assembly decided Monday that women should be allowed to become bishops, making only minor concessions to theological conservatives who have threatened to break away over the issue.”

Europe News: “Moroccan man who refused to shake hands with a French female official and whose wife wears the full Islamic veil has been denied French citizenship . . . ”

Telegraph: “Council bosses issued a document to all primary and secondary schools on how to avoid offending Muslim pupils who may still be fasting when the new term starts in September.”

Europe News: “But as in many other cities across Europe, a rapidly growing Muslim population living in segregated conditions that seem to breed alienation has mixed toxically with the anger directed at Israeli policies and actions by those Muslims — and by many non-Muslims — to all but transform the lives of local Jews.”

Newsok.com: “Mormon church leaders have restated the faith’s position on gay marriage to its members in Argentina, where the government is debating whether to legalize gay unions . . . ”

Reuters: “Muslim parents, students and civic groups are campaigning to add two of their religious holidays to the New York City public school calendar, pinning their hopes on state lawmakers after failing to win over Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the idea.”

Telegraph: “Leading Anglo-Catholic clergy warned that the failure to provide concessions to opponents of the historic reform would force many of them to defect to Rome. In a highly-charged debate at the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, members rejected a compromise deal put forward by the archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have averted a schism.”

LifeNews: “Republican senators decided today to use the right given under the Senate Judiciary Committee rules that allow any member of the committee to delay a confirmation vote by one week.”

Christian Post:“’Today we filed a motion asking the Virginia Supreme Court to rehear a portion of its June 10 ruling that addressed whether CANA and ADV are in fact branches that divided from The Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia,’ announced Jim Oakes, chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV), which is affiliated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

Meghan Duke writing at First Things: “First Things has obtained a letter sent today by the Alliance Defense Fund to the University of Illinois on Dr. Howell’s behalf. ADF has charged the university with violating Dr. Howell’s First Amendment right, citing numerous cases where the Supreme Court has upheld the right and emphasized the value of university professor’s freedom to debate and share ideas. Read the letter here.”

FRC: “The Family Research Council today released a new report that refutes claims made recently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) that a fetus is not able to feel pain before 24 weeks of development. RCOG’s study is being used to uphold Britain’s current legalization of abortions up to 24 weeks . . . ”

Penna Dexter writes at the Christian Post: “In what kind of a world does a Christian group not have the right to restrict its membership to practicing Christians? According to the United States Supreme Court: in today’s world . . . ADF’s Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence says, the schools that have such a policy often apply it inconsistently. He told reporters, ‘Groups that have nothing to do with religion—environmentalist groups, homosexual groups, feminist groups, etc–they are allowed to kick out members who disagree with their message.’ ADF Counsel Greg Baylor says this decision does place other student groups at risk and there will be more litigation on these non-discrimination policies. It is likely this ruling is not the last word on this subject. ADF’s Lorence says, ‘This isn’t even a loss…in that we’ve lost the issue. It’s that the Supreme Court has basically kicked it down the road for another day.’ But once again ‘non-discrimination’ against homosexual behavior trumps religious freedom. ADF Attorney David French worries that the Supreme Court’s reasoning in this case could mean that the liberties of churchgoing Americans are in danger. ”

First Amendment Center (AP): “A Fort Wayne schools official says the district likely will stop sending students to a religious-instruction program on school grounds that triggered a federal lawsuit . . . ”

LegalNewsline: “American Bar Association President Carolyn Lamm says the increasing number of vacancies in the nation’s lower federal courts is affecting the efficiency and fairness of the justice system.”

Boston Globe (AP): “New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says it would be un-American to investigate a mosque that is planned for construction near where the World Trade Center once stood.”

AP: “West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin says he’ll make a temporary appointment to the late Robert C. Byrd’s Senate seat by Sunday.”

Charles Krauthammer writes at National Review: “There’s a final reason why the administration’s cowardice about identifying those trying to kill us cannot be allowed to pass. It is demoralizing. It trivializes the war between jihadi barbarism and Western decency, and diminishes the memory of those (including thousands of brave Muslims — Iraqi, Pakistani, Afghan, and Western) who have died fighting it.”

LifeNews: “The United States embassy in Kenya issued a statement today saying the administration of President Barack Obama is not spending taxpayer dollars funding a campaign to support a pro-abortion Constitution Kenya voters will consider at the polls next month . . . ”

“Argentina’s number one Catholic prelate, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, is calling upon the priests of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires to bring their flocks to an upcoming protest against homosexual “marriage,” which is currently under consideration by the nation’s senate . . . ”

LifeSiteNews: “Performing an ‘end-run’ around the Senate confirmation process, President Barack Obama has installed Dr. Donald Berwick, an enthusiast for medical rationing and an unabashed admirer of the United Kingdom’s socialized health care system, as head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services via a recess appointment.”

LifeSiteNews: “Catholic professor has been fired from the University of Illinois for sending an email to students in a course on Catholic doctrine, explaining how homosexual activity is contrary to the natural moral law . . . Because the diocese of Peoria reportedly only permits university professors to teach at the campus Newman center, Howell lost his position there as well. Howell is now pursuing legal action with an Alliance Defense Fund attorney . . . ”

LifeNews: “The new pregnancy assistance fund the White House quietly announced earlier this month has already drawn skepticism from pro-life advocates. Now, other pro-life leaders who are chiming in on its creation say they are worried grant money will go to pro-abortion organizations . . . ”

WorldNetDaily: “A district judge’s decision that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional is being challenged on the argument, submitted in friend-of-the-court briefs to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that never before has any court decided that “hurt feelings” are grounds for making a claim. ‘The district court in this case embraced an entirely novel – and improper – basis for standing: hurt feelings,’ said the brief submitted by the American Center for Law and Justice. “Never has the Supreme Court endorsed anything like such a wide-open concept of access to federal adjudication.”

Fox News: “That’s the finding of an 18-month study conducted by Minnesota Majority, a conservative watchdog group, which found that at least 341 convicted felons in largely Democratic Minneapolis-St. Paul voted illegally in the 2008 Senate race between Franken, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, then-incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman . . . Furthermore, the report charges that efforts to get state and federal authorities to act on its findings have been ‘stonewalled.’”

National Law Journal (Law.com): “Lawyers for the District of Columbia are fighting a request from a private attorney who wants more than $3.12 million in fees for successfully challenging the city’s handgun ban.”

Mark Thompson writes at TIME: “When Harry Truman wanted to integrate blacks into the U.S. military in 1948, he simply ordered it done. When the Navy wanted women on ships beginning in 1978, it commanded its admirals to do so. When the Clinton Pentagon decided women should become fighter pilots, it issued orders telling the military to make it happen. For generations, the military mind-set has been, If we want you to have an opinion, we’ll issue you one. So why is the Pentagon asking troops how they’ll feel if forced to serve alongside openly gay comrades?”

ADF attorney Daniel Blomberg writes in USA Today: “In the late 1990s, for instance, the Clinton administration tried to silence military chaplains from speaking out against “partial-birth” abortion, even banning speech in the pulpit. Similarly, chaplains who oppose the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military will likely face direct orders — potentially in the form of non-discrimination laws — and subtle pressure to keep their opposition silent, while chaplains who support the change will be free from such limitations.”

CORRECTION: ADF news release from July 7, 2010 should reflect that the ADF-allied attorney letter was sent to the North Carolina State Bar, NOT the North Carolina Bar Association.

“This controversial case might well go up on appeal. But if so, it looks almost like collusive litigation, unless some true defender of DOMA is allowed . . . ”

LifeNews: “As black civil rights activists from across the country meet today in Kansas City for the NAACP convention, pro-life advocates are there to encourage them to oppose abortion. Black pro-lifers and supporters are letting convention-goers know the NAACP takes a position backing legalized abortion.”

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declared Thursday that abortions would continue to be available to women regardless of the legal challenges now being waged by opponents of Roe v. Wade.

How Appealing carries this article by Lawrence Hurley that originally at the Daily Journal Newswire: “One of the most distinctive features of the U.S. Supreme Court’s just completed term was the justices’ unusual willingness to intercede at the early stages of controversial cases through their power to stay lower court rulings.”

“Mr. Costello disingenuously casts the arguments for upholding marriage as ‘subjective religious concepts.’”

The Hill: “Democrats need 60 votes to move the legislation through the Senate. Fifty-seven Democrats support the legislation, and Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) has also indicated she will support the bill . . . Another Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), is also seen as a likely ‘yes’ vote.”

Law.com: “It may sound like a sad but legally straightforward malpractice case. But an interesting appeal is expected in the coming months on an issue that lawyers say has never been taken up anywhere in the country. When Mueller died, she left behind her lifelong same-sex partner Charlotte Stacey, on whose behalf the malpractice lawsuit included a claim of loss of consortium. But a state judge in 2006 dismissed the claim on the grounds that the same-sex pair was not married when the negligence occurred . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “In New Life Worship Center v. Town of Smithfield Zoning Board of Review, 2010 R.I. Super. LEXIS 101 (RI Super. Ct., July 7, 2010), a Rhode Island trial court upheld the decision of a town zoning board to bar use of space in a high school operated by New Life Worship Center, a religious organization, for use as a commercial fitness center and dance studio . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “In A.A. v. Needville Independent School District, (5th Cir., July 9, 2010), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, held that the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act protects the right of a Native American kindergartner to wear his hair in two long braids.”

Christian Institute: A foster carer with 10 years’ experience has won her legal battle this week after she was struck off when a Muslim girl in her care converted to Christianity.

Scotus Blog: “Today, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan returned answers to written questions for her submitted after her hearing by Republican Senators Coburn, Cornyn, Graham, Grassley, Kyl, and Sessions . . . ”

One News Now: “Operation Rescue is raising questions about the Iowa attorney general’s handling of a requested Planned Parenthood probe.”

AP: “The Obama administration’s recent move to drop rhetorical references to Islamic radicalism is drawing fire in a new report warning the decision ignores the role religion can play in motivating terrorists. Several prominent counterterror experts are challenging the administration’s shift . . . ”

“Alliance Defense Fund attorneys sent a letter Monday to University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign officials on behalf of a popular, highly regarded professor who was fired for explaining the position of the Roman Catholic Church on human sexual behavior to members of his Introduction to Catholicism class.”

Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog: “Ineptitude. Incompetence. Inattention. We heard these themes consistently as we traveled across the Gulf, but perhaps the best description came from a local Louisiana official who told our team that the federal response was “stuck on stupid.” Indeed.”

SCOTUS Blog: “The weekend began with what is expected to be the last set of documents from Elena Kagan before the vote on her confirmation: the Senate Judiciary Committee released her answers to post-hearing questions submitted by six of the seven Republican Senators . . . ”

Michael Dorf writes at Findlaw:  ”Last week, two civil actions in federal district courts on opposite ends of the country illustrated our Constitution’s cross-ideological interplay between federalism and individual rights. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed suit in federal district court in Arizona, and sought a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Arizona’s S.B. 1070, the law that, among other things, requires state and local authorities to investigate suspected undocumented immigrants. Then, on Thursday, Boston-based Federal District Judge Joseph Tauro held that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)–which defines marriage, for purposes of federal law, as the union of a man and a woman–cannot be constitutionally applied in Massachusetts, which recognizes same-sex marriage . . . In this column, I explain why these two cases, involving very different topics–immigration and gay marriage–still raise parallel issues, and how, together, they show how rights and federalism issues can cut across ideology and political party . . . ”

Sandhya Bathija writes at the Americans United for Separation of Church and State Wall of Separation Blog: “The two briefs were filed in the Joyner v Forsyth County case, a lawsuit in which Americans United and the North Carolina ACLU are challenging the commission’s sectarian bias. For years, the Forsyth board invited local clergy to deliver Christian prayers at board meetings. Despite receiving letters from AU and the ACLU demanding that the practice stop, board members refused to do so, leading to the litigation. The district court struck down the board’s unfair and divisive policy in January. But, represented by the Religious Right legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, the board appealed the decision to the 4th Circuit in February.”

Bill Muehlenberg writes at Virtue Online: “All around the world homosexual activists are working overtime to silence any opposition, and make sure that dissenters are rounded up and rendered voiceless and powerless. If not jail time or fines, they will do their utmost to get people fired from their jobs if they dare to differ on homosexuality . . . ”

Virginian-Pilot: “With the new Pentagon survey under fire for its questions about open-bay showers and even its use of the term ‘homosexual,’ it is almost certain that Justice Department lawyers handling the Log Cabin case will be accused of asking insensitive or homophobic questions as they cross-examine witnesses. On the other side of the political spectrum, social conservatives say they’ll be watching closely to see if DOJ is going easy. “We hope the administration’s politically motivated position against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will not be a factor in defending the regulations,” said Daniel Blomberg of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Lez Get Real: “Howell ran to the Alliance Defense Fund, a group that ‘provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through the legal defense and advocacy of religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and traditional family values.’ This, of course, has included lying rather a lot in the past. According to their Senior counsel David French, ‘A university cannot censor professors’ speech – including classroom speech related to the topic of the class – merely because some students find that speech ‘offensive.’ Professors have the freedom to challenge students and to educate them by exposing them to different views. The Alliance Defense Fund is working with Professor Howell because the defense of academic freedom is essential on the university campus.’ Actually, they can. In 2001, a professor was censured in Georgia for saying that ‘the United States deserved to be attacked’. The statement was said within two weeks of 9/11. As an adjunct professor, Howell can be terminated without notice and without reason given. He has no legal recourse and will likely not get his job back no matter what the ADF says.”

One News Now: “Montgomery County man who has made a physical change to the opposite gender has filed a lawsuit against his Maryland county for reaping ‘emotional distress.’ . . . ”

One News Now: “Government bodies are making it difficult for volunteers to provide for the needs of the homeless at public sites or their own facilities, such as churches. A study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) confirms the results of a 2007 study . . . ”

Examiner.com: “Howell is currently collaborating with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group, in an ongoing effort to reclaim his job. He laments the fact that his dismissal will result in UI’s first semester in 60 years without any classes on Catholicism.”

One News Now (AP): “The Reverend Siarhei Hardun of Belarus said that vote and efforts to approve same-gender ‘marriage’ looked to him like an attempt to ‘invent a new religion — a sort of modern paganism.’”

Barna Group: The faith of teenagers is a picture of contrasts. Teenagers are consistently among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly six out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. Yet, the spirituality of teenagers is also remarkably diverse and fluid. A new research study from the Barna Group explores the changing religious environment of teenagers, comparing their participation in personal and group forms of faith over the past dozen years. While most teenagers remain spiritually active in some way, it appears that six specific types of teen faith engagement are declining.”

The Lonestar Weekly via Sen. John Cornyn: “During the hearing, we learned how Ms. Kagan might approach cases as a Justice. Based on her answers at the hearing, it appears that Ms. Kagan believes that there are virtually no meaningful restraints on Congress’s ability to pass laws under its commerce clause power, and that she is unlikely to rein in an already out-of-control federal government. I was also concerned by her comments on the Second Amendment’s guarantee of an individual’s right to keep and bear arms . . . ”

Holmes Rolston III, Saving Creation: Faith Shaping Environmental Policy, 4 Harvard Law & Policy Review 121-148 (2010)

Brunson, Samuel D., Rethinking Public Charities and Political Speech (April 7, 2010). Loyola University Chicago School of Law Research Paper No. 2010-002. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1596863

Cheng, David Gan-wing, Wisconsin v. Yoder: Respecting Children’s Rights and Why Yoder Would Soon Be Overturned (July 7, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1636503

NY Times: “In a private meeting with White House officials this weekend, Democratic governors voiced deep anxiety about the Obama administration’s suit against Arizona’s new immigration law, worrying that it could cost a vulnerable Democratic Party in the fall elections . . . ”

Financial Times: The G20 appears to be placing a large bet on China’s policymakers. At their summit last month, one developed country after another, bar the US, said they would cut fiscal deficits. “If these economies all decide to reduce their budget deficits, what will drive global growth?” asked Simon Johnson, the former IMF chief economist. ‘The answer in Toronto was obvious: China.’”