Daily Archives: October 18, 2010

Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson writing at The Huffington Post: “An increasingly popular bumper sticker reads, ‘Guns Don’t Kill People — RELIGION Kills People!’ In light of recent events I would add religion kills young people: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people . . . Despite the progress we’re making on achieving equality under the law and acceptance in society for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, why this rash of bullying, paired with self-loathing, ending in suicide? With humility and heartfelt repentance I assert that religion — and its general rejection of homosexuality — plays a crucial role in this crisis.”

Christian Today: “Carver Yu, President of the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong, said that ‘confusing ideologies’ were creating emptiness and alienation among people, while indifference to religion was ‘tightening its grip’ . . . ‘Atheism is about to become the new religion,’ he said. ‘Christians must preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ fearlessly because he is the way, the truth and the life. Only he can lead us away from the present state of godlessness.’”

LifeNews: “Abortion advocates at La Crosse University in Wisconsin vandalized a pro-life student the pro-life campus group erected. The organization put up 1,100 crosses to memorialize the unborn children who are killed in abortions and they found the crosses in piles Monday morning along with pro-abortion signs posted.”

Yahoo: “According to Alliance Defense Fund Legal News, Foothill Elementary School principal Craig Richter used off-duty hours to appear in a video promoting community prayer. A Goleta Union School Board member saw the video and claimed it was against ‘separation of church and state’ for the principal to do so.”

BBC News: “Father Stephen Bould told the BBC that he will probably follow some of the congregation of St Peter’s in Folkestone into the Roman Catholic Church.” (video)

Christian Science Monitor: “A lower court has allowed a suit by an American Muslim, detained without charge in 2003 as a material witness, to proceed against former Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Supreme Court says it will consider Ashcroft’s appeal.”

Washington Post / Virginia Politics: “A federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia said Monday that he would rule on the constitutionality of the federal health care law by the end of the year, a key legal test for the sweeping legislation.”

Tampa Bay Online (AP): “Industrial production fell in September for the first time since the recession ended, as weak consumer demand led factories to pull back. The Federal Reserve reports that output at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities dropped 0.2 percent last month.”

PolitiFact Wisconsin: “The Madison-based group [Planned Parenthood Advocates], which supports pro-choice candidates, has also been working to influence voters in 2010 — including pushing them to support Democrat Tom Barrett in the Nov. 2, 2010 election for governor. The group is painting Barrett’s rival, GOP nominee Scott Walker, as ‘just too extreme.’”

“The American society decreasingly values religion, seriously jeopardizing the future of religious of freedom. A society that does not value religion will not protect religious freedom. The attitude of the next generation towards religion is nothing short of frightening . . . ”

Brian Tamanaha writing at Balkinization: “Law schools thus responded to the worst recession in the legal market in at least two decades by letting in more law students.” (see charts)

LifeSiteNews: “Pro-life and pro-family advocates have scored two major political victories in the same month in two different international organizations. Following the defeat of the McCafferty Report – which attempted to abolish the rights of European doctors to refuse to commit abortions – at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, pro-life advocates are now declaring a victory over the International Planned Parenthood Federation at the UN.”

AP: “A federal judge said on Monday that she’s inclined to deny a government request to delay her order that immediately stopped the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay service members.”

CNSNews: “Catholic politicians who publicly support abortion or homosexual marriage and then seek to turn away from such ‘gravely sinful acts’ must perform ‘public’ actions of ‘repentance,’ said Raymond Burke, the archbishop emeritus of St. Louis and the current head of the highest court at the Vatican, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.”

ChristianNewsWire: “Two proponents of loosened immigration policies, Roman Catholic Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City and the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, have spoken against this ‘permanent partners’ provision.”

ABC: “When Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck was pressed Sunday to explain his belief that being gay is a ‘lifestyle’ choice, he compared it to alcoholism . . . Buck’s view — the underpinning for conservative opposition to broader civil rights for gays and lesbians — is hardly new. But his comments are the latest this election season to stir up national debate and draw criticism for perpetuating prejudice against gays.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United today filed a formal complaint with the IRS over the action of Berean Bible Baptist Church in Hastings. Church pastor Brad Brandon endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer and several other candidates from the pulpit yesterday.”

Driffield Times: “Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has urged councils, including one in Birmingham, not to give special tax breaks running into hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Church of Scientology.”

National Review Online Editorial: “In the case of Wilders, the judiciary has flirted with imposing political decisions that are quite outside its powers. This is the road to antidemocratic show trials arranged to gag or eliminate anyone whom authority condemns as an enemy of the people . . . The Wilders trial has also to be seen in the international context. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) purports to represent, and speak for, all Muslim countries. This body is now campaigning in various forums, including the United Nations, to criminalize all criticism of Islam.”

Asbury Park Press: “A deputy attorney general told a judge Friday that state officials ‘looked the other way’ while a rabbi buried truckloads of bagged religious artifacts on a Jackson property and only took serious legal action when a similar illegal landfill was dug in Lakewood a year later.” Via Religion Clause.

Text of remarks Archbishop Charles Chaput delivered during a tri-diocesan catechetical congress in Victoria, British Columbia, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 15 and 16, 2010: “[John Courtney] Murray saw that religious freedom is humanity’s first and most basic freedom . . . And any attempt to suppress the right of people to worship, preach, teach, practice, organize and peacefully engage society because of their belief in God is an attack on the cornerstone of human dignity . . . Canadian and American Christians often have trouble understanding the brutality of anti-religious repression or serious religious discrimination. It’s not part of our national heritage. But many millions of Christians are now being persecuted or harassed for their faith around the world. We need to pray for them. And we also need to pray for ourselves. Because we’re not as securely free as we might like to think.”

LifeSiteNews: “The pastoral letter ‘Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty,’ signed by New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and seven other New York state bishops, says Catholics must be ‘cautious’ when they cast votes this election, so as ‘not to be guided solely by party loyalty or by self interest.’”

Christian Today: “A court in predominantly Buddhist Bhutan has sentenced a Christian to three years in prison for ‘attempting to promote civil unrest’ by screening films on Christianity.”

New York Times: “A rash of mysterious killings by gun-wielding motorcycle assassins of policemen, politicians and others in this city near the desert has led authorities to declare that a radical Islamic sect thought to have been crushed by Nigerian troops last year has been revived.”

Associated Press: “Nadya Suleman’s fertility doctor implanted her with a dozen embryos in the pregnancy that gave her octuplets, a state attorney said Monday, conflicting with Suleman’s assertions that only six embryos were implanted and two of them split.”

Associated Press: “Fox News Channel host Brian Kilmeade is apologizing for saying on the air that ‘all terrorists are Muslim.’”

ACLU: “The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Andre Cooley, a corrections officer for juvenile detainees with an exemplary record who was fired when his supervisors discovered that he was gay. The lawsuit claims that Cooley’s constitutional rights were violated by the Forrest County Sheriff’s Department and his superior officers.”

YLE: “According to Björn Vikström, the Bishop of Porvoo, there is so much confusion among members of the church, that the religious leadership would do well to take a clear and public position on the matter, preferably before its general synod in November. Vikström says the matter has been discussed.”

Boston.com (AP): “U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips said she’ll hear from both sides Monday afternoon in her courtroom in Riverside before deciding whether to temporarily freeze the injunction she issued earlier this month that stopped enforcement of the 17-year-old policy.”

MSNBC: “A man can beat his wife and kids as long as he leaves no physical marks, the United Arab Emirates’ highest court has found . . . According to the court, the injuries showed that the man had over-stepped his rights under Shariah, or Islamic law, the newspaper reported. He had originally been fined 500 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($136), but appealed the case twice.”

Maria Abi-Habib writing in The Wall Street Journal [full text via Google News]: “Widespread incidents of fraud in Afghan elections last month included armed men stuffing ballot boxes, observers said, in a vote Western officials said will lead to the disqualification of as much as a quarter of the ballots cast.”

OneNewsNow: “‘[The court found] that they had been sexually harassed by the city’s compelling them to take part in a so-called “gay pride” parade — and they said essentially the city of San Diego did not have a right to force these firefighters to take part,’ [ADF Attorney Joe Infranco] summarizes.”

Abraham H. Miller writing at Pajamas Media: “So, my intolerant, leftist friends, here is an inescapable reality to consider: no one stopped the spread of a virulent, hateful ideology with nothing. No one is going to charge a machine gun nest in the name of multiculturalism . . . The one solid, inescapable organizing principle that stands as the bulwark against radical Islam is Christianity. I don’t mean the ultra-left pablum Christianity of the mainstream, empty-church Protestant denominations that reinvented Jesus as metaphor. No, I mean a fundamentalist God-fearing Christianity that understands who and what the enemy is, and possesses the moral clarity to understand the difference between good and evil.”

Boston.com (AP): “Muslim witnesses said Monday that a Dutch lawmaker’s anti-Islamic comments had led to attacks and intimidation, and they pleaded with judges to convict him and give him a symbolic fine of one euro ($1.40).”

Wilmington Star News / Cape Fear Watchdogs: “Now the New Hanover County commissioners have weighed in, approving a resolution to reverse House Speaker Joe Hackney’s ‘ban’ on sectarian prayers to open the legislative proceedings.”

LifeNews: “LifeNews.com is pleased to present you with this comprehensive pro-life voting guide for the 2010 congressional elections. What follows is a list of both national and state-by-state information linking to you endorsements and voting information from pro-life and pro-family groups.”

Washington Post: “When Supreme Court justices enter the House of Representatives in their black robes for the president’s next State of the Union address, Samuel Alito does not plan to be among them. The justice said the annual speech to Congress has become very political and awkward for the justices, who he says are expected to sit ‘like the proverbial potted plant.’”

Fox News: “No issue was more pivotal in the health care reform debate than abortion . . . That’s why anti-abortion activists are using the health care vote to as campaign fodder against these Democrats. In many cases, pro-life groups assert that these lawmakers sold out their principles on abortion to pass the health care law.”

LifeNews: “Tens of thousands of pro-life students in high schools, middle schools and colleges and universities across the country will take a vow of silence tomorrow. They will refuse to speak to their friends and teachers because they are representing the voices of millions of unborn children killed in abortions . . . ‘Pro-life students shouldn’t be discriminated against for expressing their beliefs. ADF and its team of more than 1,800 allied attorneys is ready to defend any students participating in this event who have their free speech rights violated on campus,’ ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman] told LifeNews.com.”

Deal Hudson writing at LifeNews: “The evidence supporting the SBA List is undeniable. In addition to the witness of Driehaus himself (and Stupak), there are the multiple provisions of the legislation itself that authorize the funding of abortions. The best summary is found in the affidavit submitted for last week’s meeting of the Ohio Elections Commission by Douglas Johnson, legislative director of National Right to Life. As Johnson points out in his affidavit, the provisions of the Senate version of the bill, ultimately signed into law, contained many of the same abortion funding mechanisms that the Stupak-Pitts amendment of the House bill removed. (There were new, additional problems in the Senate bill.)”

Doug Giles writing at Townhall: “Now, given the upcoming 11/2 elections and that the culture-dividing issues are more obvious than Joan Rivers’ last lip implants, it is mind-boggling to me that many ministers are mute or side with parties, policies and principles that are antithetical to the Christian worldview. So, why does a large segment of the clergy run from these mondo issues and duties? Herewith are my 10 reasons why pastors punt on political issues and thus aid and abet evil.”

The Daily Caller: “Republicans will have President Barack Obama’s czars and his use of regulatory powers to circumvent congressional inaction on issues such as cap and trade in GOP crosshairs if the party takes control in January.”

Longmont (CO) Times Call: “Boulder County formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review the county’s lower-court losses in its land-use dispute with Rocky Mountain Christian Church, arguing that the case has implications for local governments nationwide.” Via Religion Clause.

Christian Legal Society 2010 National Conference

You are invited to join hundreds of attorneys, law students, other law professionals and their families at CLS’s 2010 National Conference. The conference planning team has lifted the bar significantly this year, giving special attention to both spiritual formation and professional development.

With extraordinary support from Campus Crusade for Christ’s (CCC) legal ministries group and other generous sponsors, CLS has held down costs for attendees despite enhanced programming. Of particular note: carefully planned children’s activities led by experienced CCC staff will make this a great time for the entire family. We encourage you both to attend and to sponsor a law student for a truly outstanding time of fellowship, fun, and professional growth. We hope to see you there!

L. Gordon Crovitz writing in The Wall Street Journal, “In China, even the Premier is censored,” [full text via Google News]: “Consider Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. He has called for political reform several times in recent months, but censors have blocked domestic reporting of his comments. This led to an open letter from 23 well-known Communist Party elders calling for free speech. The letter was posted last week in a blog area of sina.com, one of the country’s largest websites, and widely shared before being removed.”

Katherine Kersten writing at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The conflict began in January 2009, when the ACLU of Minnesota sued Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy — a K-8 charter school with campuses in Inver Grove Heights and Blaine — for violating constitutional prohibitions against government endorsement of religion . . . [TiZA's] chief tool has been attempted intimidation of all who would draw back the curtain on its secrets.” Via Atlas Shrugs.

Conn Carroll writing at The Heritage Foundation / The Foundry: “Striking back against the electorate’s small government fervor, AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman penned a strategy memo last week claiming ‘Union Voters are the firewall for candidates that support working families.’ And sure enough Big Labor is pouring millions of dollars into this fall’s elections.”

“Perhaps Judge Vaughn Walker . . . imagined himself a contemporary Socrates when he declared that ‘Tradition alone . . . cannot form a rational basis for a law,’ and ‘the “ancient lineage” of a classification does not make it rational.’”

Thomas R. Saving and John C. Goodman writing in The Washington Times: “The health care reform law enacted in spring will have a devastating impact on elderly and disabled Medicare enrollees if its provisions are not substantially changed. The law creates a new mechanism to reduce the rate of increase in Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals. As a result, Medicare payments will fall below Medicaid rates before the end of this decade, and they will fall increasingly behind the rates paid by all other payers in succeeding decades.”

BBC News: “She said the so-called ‘multikulti’ concept – where people would ‘live side-by-side’ happily – did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate – including learning German.”

Telegraph: “The European Parliament will this week vote on plans to increase fully-paid maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks. The move could cost British businesses and the Government more than £2.5 billion a year and fears are growing that the proposed legislation could lead to some firms rejecting female applicants for jobs.”

Mark Tooley writing at The American Spectator: “Liberal Democratic Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced their ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act’ on September 29 . . . It also includes a ‘Uniting American Families Act’ (UAFA) allowing ‘permanent partners’ of U.S. citizens, which seems to mean same-sex couples, to obtain U.S. residency . . . Speaking for the Catholic bishops, who typically support liberalized immigration, Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City reportedly wrote Senator Menendez explaining ‘that a controversial provision, which would confer marriage-like immigration benefits to same-sex couples,’ would ‘preclude the U.S. bishops from supporting’ it as introduced.”

SCOTUSblog page for SpeechNow.org v. FEC – “Whether, under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, the federal government may require an unincorporated association that makes only independent expenditures to register and report as a political committee.” (links to some filings)

Lyle Denniston writing at SCOTUSblog: “Accusing the Obama Administration of “hypocrisy at its highest levels” for trying to keep in force the ‘don’t ask/don’t tell’ policy that the government opposes and wants ended, a gay-rights group told a federal judge on Friday that maintaining the policy even temporarily will weaken the military services and national security. Using strong and often accusing language on every one of its 12 pages of argument, the group — the Log Cabin Republicans — said the Administration ‘should be ashamed to be seeking’ that effect. (The document is here.)”

Associated Press: “The fertility doctor who treated octuplets mother Nadya Suleman is at a licensing hearing in Los Angeles to face allegations that he implanted her with too many embryos.”

Associated Press: “In Minnesota, New Hampshire, California and New York, gubernatorial campaigns have become battlegrounds for rival sides in the debate, with the Democratic candidates supporting same-sex marriage and the Republicans opposed.”

Althouse: “Gibbs doesn’t say whether Obama thinks the law is unconstitutional . . . If the statute is unconstitutional, the courts should declare it a nullity. If the President think the process is repeal by Congress, then he must think the act is constitutional. Right? . . . ‘MR. GREGORY: But does he believe it’s unconstitutional? . . . MR. GIBBS: You know, David, he thinks it’s discriminatory and it’s unjust and most of all it harms our national security. It’s…’”

The Daily Caller: “Two weeks out from an election in which Republicans are poised to make major gains, top social conservatives are voicing decidedly tepid support for House Minority Leader John Boehner, who stands ready to take the Speaker’s gavel if Republicans take the House in November . . . Struggling for relevance amidst the rise of Tea Party activists energized by spending, small government and economic issues, social conservatives had to fight Boehner to get language promoting traditional marriage into the GOP’s ‘Pledge to America.’”

On Top Mag: “An appeals court has dismissed a challenge to Cleveland’s gay-inclusive domestic partnership registry . . . Cincinnati attorney David R. Langdon filed the suit together with Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys on behalf of Dorothy McGuire, who represents the group Cleveland Taxpayers for the Ohio Constitution.”

California Catholic Daily: “‘We hope this ruling will end the city’s attempts to defend its act of compelling people to participate in sexually-charged events against their moral and personal convictions,’ said Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Joseph Infranco, who was co-counsel in the case. ‘If not, we are prepared to continue to defend the firefighters all the way to the California Supreme Court.’” ADF News Release

Catholic News Agency: “‘We hope this ruling will end the city’s attempts to defend its act of compelling people to participate in sexually-charged events against their moral and personal convictions,’ said ADF Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco], co-counsel in the case.”

Inside Higher Ed: A special faculty panel investigating an academic freedom dispute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has [finished its inquiry] . . . [David French], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said via e-mail that the report is correct in many respects. ‘We agree that Dr. Howell should have received due process before his dismissal, we agree that he did not receive any due process, we agree that students do not have a right not to be offended and can in fact be directly challenged by their professors, we agree that professors in religion courses have the same academic freedom as professors teaching any other course at the university, and we agree that the university should adopt policies that clearly outline the rights and responsibilities of adjuncts in a manner that protects their academic freedom.’”

Sign On San Diego: “An appellate court panel . . . upheld last year’s jury verdict awarding damages to four San Diego firefighters who sued the city because they had been required to participate in the 2007 gay pride parade in Hillcrest . . . ‘Government employees should never be forced to participate in events or acts that violate their sincerely held beliefs,’ said Charles S. LiMandri, the West Coast regional director of the Thomas More Law Center and one of more than 1,800 attorneys who are part to the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the firefighters.” ADF News Release

Catholic News Agency: “Despite a threatened protest by clergy from non-Catholic organizations, the Diocese of Phoenix will go ahead with its October 16 seminar on the Manhattan Declaration. The diocese maintains that the document upholds Catholic teachings that the Church cannot compromise. The diocese will host Princeton professor Robert George, Alliance Defense Fund president and general counsel [Alan Sears] . . .”

Theology and Society blog: “Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco said that the district’s contention that Richter had violated the Constitution is unfounded and absurd.”

Associated Press: “China’s holdings of Treasury securities rose to $868.4 billion in August, the Treasury Department reported Monday. That’s up 2.6 percent and followed a smaller gain of 0.4 percent in July. China’s holdings had fallen 2.8 percent in June and 3.6 percent in May.”

OneNewsNow: “The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has told Vermont that license plates referring to ‘religion’ or ‘deity’ are constitutional . . . ‘Shawn Byrne in Vermont wanted to put ‘JN36TN’ [John 3:16] on his license plate, and the state said that he could not do that because they banned all references to religion on vanity plates,’ [ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco] explains.”

Christian Post: “A California elementary school principal given disciplinary action for appearing in a promotional for a teachers prayer breakfast is suing, claiming he did ‘absolutely nothing wrong,’ lawyers said . . . ‘The district’s contention that he was somehow violating the Constitution is not only unfounded, but absurd, as the video itself suggests,’ said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco.”

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “Two Minnesota clergymen plan to thumb their noses at the federal government Sunday by endorsing political candidates from their pulpit . . . ‘If we lose that, it may cost the church money, but my freedom’s not for sale,’ Brandon said. ‘We’re either going to draw the IRS out to come after us or prove this whole thing is obsolete.’ . . . The Pulpit Freedom Sunday project is backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian nonprofit founded by influential leaders of the religious right.”

Courthouse News Service: “Illinois public schools must give students a moment of silence before class each morning after the 7th Circuit reversed a lower court’s finding that the so-called ‘Silent Reflection Act’ violated the First Amendment . . . The ACLU supported Sherman’s challenge to the act. The Illinois Department of Education was supported by the Alliance Defense Fund.” Sherman v. Koch, No. 09-1455 (7th Cir. Oct. 15, 2010)

ADF Attorney David Hacker writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “I’ve taken a particular interest in the pro-life activities of Canadian students in recent years because of the bravery and commitment these students display in the face of unbearable restrictions on their speech. I’ve also warned that if we do not zealously protect our freedom of speech in America, then pro-life students here will begin to encounter the same restrictions as their friends north of the boarder. But only recently have I realized how similar we’ve become. Events this month at Carleton University in Ontario are strikingly similar not only to our video series about Hanna, but also to our case involving Rock for Life at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.”

Windy City Media Group: “‘In the very same week, the administration says that it absolutely must appeal a federal court’s decision on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” while it orders the Justice Department not to appeal a federal court’s ruling in favor of the conservative Alliance Defense Fund. This contradiction is simply incomprehensible and insulting,’ said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United and the sole named veteran plaintiff in the case along with the Log Cabin Republicans.”

LezGetReal: “A case brought by the Alliance Defense Fund has removed the restriction on small gatherings under a few dozen wishing to congregate at national parks, including the National Mall in DC. This case, which the Administration will not be appealing makes a lie out of the fact that the Justice Department has to appeal the ruling by Judge Virginia Philips regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Metro Weekly / Poliglot: “[T]he ADF case — Boardley v. Department of the Interior — involved a regulation and not a statute like that involved in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States. That distinction, ultimately, ends any comparison sought by [executive director of Servicemembers United] Nicholson between the [administration's] actions in the cases.”

Christian Web News: ‘Santa Barbara has for the last 52 years held [an interdenominational] community prayer breakfast [that] honors all faiths,’ [ADF Attorney Joe Infranco] explains. ‘Craig Richter simply was a part of a promotional, along with another administrator and a teacher, just urging local merchants to take part in this day of prayer. [He did it] on his own time — [this] was purely a private communication.’”