Daily Archives: November 30, 2010

The ADF Alliance Alert Categorical Email Digest will not be published on December 1st. Posting on the website, if any, will be greatly reduced. Normal publication will resume on December 2nd.

“The decision means that the European Court of Human Rights will not force states to allow same-sex couples to marry, for now at least.”

FIRE: “Unfortunately—but perhaps not surprisingly, given the understandably powerful emotions driving the legislation—some have taken our criticism of the bill as evidence that FIRE is serving some sinister partisan agenda . . . As “proof” of our hidden agenda, LaVictoire charges that FIRE is ‘rather strongly tied to groups like the Alliance Defense Fund and the Family Research Council.’ But this lazy guilt-by-association dog won’t hunt. While FIRE has successfully worked with the Alliance Defense Fund to defend First Amendment rights on campus, so too have we won crucial victories with many state and regional chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Liberty Counsel: “Liberty University’s challenge to the healthcare law will now be heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals following today’s ruling by District Court Judge Norman Moon.”

FRC: “Family Research Council (FRC) today renewed its criticism of the process which led to the release today of a report by the Pentagon’s Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) on the issue of open homosexuality in the military.”

Fox 10 News Phoenix quotes Jeremy Tedesco on a proposed policy for opposite-sex roommates at the University of Arizona. Video is here.

Fox 10 News Phoenix quotes Jeremy Tedesco on a proposed policy for opposite-sex roommates at the University of Arizona. Video is here.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on KTXL (Fox) Sacramento to discuss the effect that Judge Walker’s Prop 8 ruling could have on religious freedom. Video is here.

The U.S. Dept. of Defense home page has been devoted to normalization of homosexual behavior in the military.

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the KFYI with Mike Broomhead to discuss this: Opposite-sex roommates proposed at University of Arizona | MP3 audio runs 7:46 mins

LifeSiteNews: “Flush with a recent $100 million donation from leftist billionaire George Soros, the abortion lobby Human Rights Watch (HRW) is setting its sights on Argentina, where it hopes to pressure the government to remove ‘obstacles’ to abortion and sterilization, and allow the distribution of contraceptives to children as young as 13 years of age, without parental approval.”

LifeSiteNews: “A recount of votes began Monday in Minnesota to determine the winner of the governor’s race, but the pro-life candidate Tom Emmer, a Republican, must make up a deficit of thousands of votes in order to pull out a victory over his pro-abortion opponent, Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) candidate Mark Dayton.”

LifeNews: “[I]f Congress adopts the amendment authored by Senator Burris, and added to the Department of Defense Authorization bill during the Senate Armed Services Committee mark-up in May, American taxpayers will be paying for military facilities, equipment, and the use of military personnel to perform abortions.”

LifeNews: “The National Right to Life Committee and the Susan B. Anthony List have already contacted Republican lawmakers letting them know they don’t want Upton to chair the committee because of his weak pro-life voting record, and Americans United for Life, according to Politico, has joined them with a letter of its own.”

LifeNews: “New information obtained by the pro-life group that served as one of the major watchdogs of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller today unveiled new information showing Carhart has secured a location to do the abortions. Instead of opening a new abortion center, Carhart will move into one run by an embattled abortion practitioner.”

Seek 4 Media: “Thousands of gay activists celebrated in Delhi streets on Sunday to mark the first official gay pride parade since gay sex was legalized in India.”

The War on Illegal Pornography: “The War on Illegal Pornography has a ‘first’ to announce – a live online conference on pornography in which YOU can participate. On December 9th at 11:00 AM Eastern, you will be able to watch this important event right on Facebook and can ask questions of our panelists. RSVP to the event here so we can keep you updated.”

The Hill: “The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two legal challenges to Arizona’s public financing of election campaigns.”

Rock View Weekly: “Rocky View County council unanimously rejected an application to rezone a country-residential lot in Park Lane to allow religious assembly in an existing home, Nov. 23. The proposal would have allowed members of the Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Association to meet in the home of their imam, Syed Soharwardi, for Friday afternoon prayer services.”

Reuters: “The Muslim Brotherhood said on Tuesday it might withdraw from Egypt’s parliamentary election after failing to win a single seat in a first round of voting it said was rigged in favor of President Hosni Mubarak’s party.”

“Manhattan Declaration spokeswoman Michelle Farmer told The Daily Caller that the statement and organization have never espoused any hateful rhetoric toward homosexuals or pro-choice advocates but that it does stand behind its belief and hopes that Jobs will listen to their concerns.”

Irish Central: “The time has come to address the central role of religion in schools, the Irish government has been told. In a discussion paper presented by the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHCR) this week ministers were told that the religious ethos of most Irish schools may be a breach of the human rights of some children.”

Times Herald-Record: “Judge Frank LaBuda recently ruled against the Islamic Cultural Center of Monticello, which had sued Village Manager John Barbarite and the Planning Board in state Supreme Court last spring. The mosque had obtained a temporary restraining order and was asking the judge to grant a permanent certificate of occupancy and prevent the village from further interference.”

Irish Times: “The cases raises fresh questions about the compulsory requirement of the religion certificate, the teaching of this certificate in mainstream teacher colleges and the continued existence of legislation which allows schools to discriminate on the basis of religious ethos. The certificate in religious studies is a compulsory requirement of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference for teachers working in Catholic-managed primary schools.”

LifeNews: “[Operation Rescue] provided figures showing 31 abortion businesses closed in the last 12 months while 9 new abortion facility opened — for a net drop of 22 abortion facilities.”

Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson writing at the Center for Vision & Values: “Congress created the Federal Reserve System in 1913 to promote stable money and banking, and to lessen the disruptive ups and downs of the business cycle. The Fed has failed dismally.”

Wintery Knight: “This is timely, at a time where I am considering whether I would do more good supporting Christian/conservative groups on campus as an assistant professor or as a free speech lawyer defending campus groups from student governments. No one is better at these kinds of issues than the ADF. Here’s the article.”

St. Louis Today: “Both supporters and opponents of a controversial ‘civil unions’ measure say it could come to a vote in the Illinois House as early as today, in a lame-duck session that may give it the best chance of passage that it’s likely to have.”

“The Center for Security Policy and the Family Research Council today released a jointly commissioned public opinion survey showing almost 63 percent of active duty and retired military families oppose overturning the policy prohibiting open homosexuality in the military, commonly referred to as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ The national survey of more than 10,000 members from each branch of the military community was conducted by CC Advertising and completed on November 27.”

Daniel Pipes: “As the secular Turkey founded by Atatürk threatens to disappear under a wave of Islamism, the Islamist Iranian state founded by Khomeini apparently teeters, on the brink of secularism. Turks wish to live like Iranians, ironically, and Iranians like Turks.”

Ginny LaRoe writing at Law.com / The Recorder: “Reinhardt is seen as friendly to gay rights, most recently issuing a published directive granting a federal public defender pay to cover the cost of private insurance because his same-sex partner’s benefits had been denied.”

CNN: “Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the long awaited Pentagon report on the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy indicates that over two-thirds of service members do not object to gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. armed forces.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “THE push for gay marriage within Labor received a major boost over the weekend when the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, and her Left faction scored an upset victory over the Right faction at the South Australian ALP conference.”

Associated Press: “The White House says President Barack Obama agrees with a Pentagon survey that overturning the military’s ban on gay service members would not disrupt unit cohesion.”

New York Post: “The rabbi claims the ‘rotten cop’ forced him to write his name on a piece of paper — a violation of the Jewish Sabbath — or face arrest, since he wasn’t carrying identification when they stopped him for improperly crossing Kings Highway and E. 15th Street at 5:40 p.m.”

Politico: “Thirty-nine senators voted Tuesday in support of a three-year moratorium on appropriations earmarks, the strongest showing ever by opponents of the current process and a potential game changer in the year-end budget debate.”

“I rely on the fact, reported months ago in this California Lawyer article, that [Reinhardt's wife] consulted with the plaintiffs’ lawyers about the decision to bring this very case.”

Congress.org: “The marriage of a gay Texas couple that wed over Skype has been annulled . . . ‘You are required to perform the marriage ceremony within the District of Columbia with all parties in physical attendance,’ the letter from a Superior Court judge states.”

Related:

Same-sex couple “married” via Skype sue Dallas paper for not publishing announcement

Radio Netherlands Worldwide: “The Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands is considering paying collective compensation to Dutch victims of sexual abuse, documents obtained by Radio Netherlands Worldwide reveal.”

Mount Vernon News: “Licking County Probate Judge Robert Hoover on Nov. 23 approved a settlement agreement . . . the suit alleged that Freshwater violated the constitutional rights of Zachary Dennis and those of his parents, Stephen and Jennifer Dennis, by, among other things, displaying religious items in his classroom, by teaching intelligent design and by expressing his own religious beliefs to students in the classroom.”

Pakistan Dawn: “Amid announcements by the religious forces in the country to resist any move to change the blasphemy laws, former information minister and Pakistan People’s Party MNA Sherry Rehman has submitted a bill to the National Assembly Secretariat seeking an end to the death penalty under the existing blasphemy laws.”

AP: The Pentagon study that argues that gay troops could serve openly without hurting the military’s ability to fight is expected to re-ignite debate this month on Capitol Hill over repealing the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Caroline May writing at The Daily Caller: “[Gary McCaleb], senior council of The Alliance Defense Fund, told The Daily Caller that one of the most concerning elements of DADT repeal is the threat that chaplains will be charged with discrimination. According to McCaleb, the official acceptance of homosexual behavior can only be enforced through a nondiscrimination policy, which will infringe upon the ability of chaplains to preach, and, if chaplains do preach against homosexual behavior, it will likely result in reprimand.”

AP: “The Senate has rejected a GOP bid to ban the practice of larding spending bills with earmarks – those pet projects that lawmakers love to send home to their states.”