Daily Archives: December 3, 2010

“Why are we here?’ Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) wondered aloud. It’s a question the American people probably share, as our leaders fritter away hour after hour debating a policy that not one senator has a legitimate reason to do away with . . . ”

“So long as even the most objectionable religious dogma stays under the church roof, it’s a constitutionally protected view . . . ”

“. . . Attacking Christians during the holy season of Christmas is nothing new, and the SPLC has long been at the forefront of this bigoted tradition. But Christians and Christian groups need to be on guard, and understand that what was once nothing more than vile slander, may now be greasing the skids toward legal prosecution.”

Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Matt Bowman will be available for media interviews Monday following oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Sherley v. Sebelius.

Christian Today: “He says attempts to ban religious faith from shaping education as misguided and harmful. In particular, he challenges the prevailing assumption that education should be based on human knowledge and rationality because they are objective and independent of the “clutter” of religious beliefs. Professor Cooling warns that such a position only privileges secular worldviews and so-called “commonsense” values in the classroom.” | Theos full press release and report

Politico: “But the stimulus is also the largest-scale embodiment of what was, not long ago, a conservative priority: directing tax dollars to “faith-based initiatives,” as President George W. Bush called them.”

U.S. News and World Report: “A new University of Michigan study finds that Americans are much more likely to exaggerate their attendance at religious services than are people in many other countries.”| U. of Mich. News Service

CBS: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has once more reiterated that she will not run for president in 2012, going so far as to refer to her current role in government as ‘my last public position.’”

Ken Blackwell writes at World: “What should be clear from the best studies of our most serious scholars of population is that it is not in anyone’s interest to promote population control. American taxpayers have been paying for population control at home and abroad for generations. The federal Title X program was begun through the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Act of 1970.”

Cincinnati Inquirer: “[U.S. Rep. Steve] Driehaus said the Susan B. Anthony List lied about him in public statements and then sued him for trying to stop the group from posting misleading billboards.”

SCOTUS Blog: “On Wednesday, the Court heard oral argument in Milner v. Department of the Navy, a case concerning the scope of Exemption 2 of the Freedom of Information Act. During argument, the Court seemed troubled by the prospect of upsetting an understanding on which lower courts and the government had relied for thirty years, but it seemed perhaps more troubled by the broad reading of Exemption 2 proposed by the government.”

11alive.com: “The group Americans United for a Separation of Church and State have requested the school district move the graduation ceremonies out of the church because it is a religious facility.”

Citizen Link: “Civil unions are likely to become law in Illinois. The Democratic governor—a Catholic—has said he would sign the bill if given the opportunity. Here’s the problem with civil union . . . ”

Christian Post: “On December 4, groups such as the Iraqi Christian Relief Council and the American Mesopotamian Organization will gather across the street from the White House to rally for Assyrian Christians in Iraq, suffering persecution because of their faith, and other indigenous minorities.”

Peter Sprigg writes at the FRC Blog: “When a journalist does not reveal the most important part of a news story until the middle of it, instead of opening with it, it’s known as ‘burying the lead.’ This appears to be what the Pentagon has done with the report of its Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) on the subject of homosexuality in the military.”

SCNow.com: “The Hartsville Planning Commission voted to send an ordinance to regulate adult businesses to Hartsville City Council with recommendation and also voted to recommend that council adopt a new ordinance on nuisances related to unkempt or overgrown lots.”

The Press-Enterprise: “An opponent of a proposed mosque in Temecula said Thursday his group plans to appeal a city panel’s approval of the project that has caused heated debate over Islam and its place in the nation.”

John R. Guardiano writes at the American Spectator: “One of the most glaring omissions in the Pentagon’s new ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ survey is whether U.S. military personnel believe a change in policy is necessary, desirable or advantageous. That is, should we repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’?”

News.com.au: “THE global financial crisis cost people their homes, livelihoods, savings and even their marriages with tough times blamed for a sharp increase in divorces.”

Vancouver Sun: “A clinical psychologist from Utah, testifying Thursday at court hearing testing the validity of Canada’s polygamy law, described the dark side of plural marriages in fundamentalist Mormon communities.”

Newser: “Christian leaders are crying foul over Apple’s decision to pull an iPhone app opposing gay marriage from its app store for being “offensive to large numbers of people.” . . . They have written to Steve Jobs to protest the move, and urged supporters of the ‘Manhattan Declaration’ app to sign a petition to reinstate it, ABC reports—and 16,000 people have done so. ”

Pink News: “The coalition government says it will commission research into why workplaces are not more LGBT-friendly and work with firms to “improve equality”.”

NPR: But included in that meditation is a crucifix — a cross bearing the body of Christ — crawling with ants . . . Donohue says he complained to members of Congress and the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents. “My principle is very simple,” he says, “If it’s wrong for the government to take the taxpayers’ money to promote religion, why is it OK to take taxpayers’ money to assault religion?”

Liberty Counsel: “Wachovia has adopted a policy this year banning all Christmas trees from the décor in their local office branches this Christmas. Wachovia’s policy has offended many customers who have accounts with the bank.”

Reuters: “China’s engagement with the United Nations is on the rise as its economic power grows, but the West should be cautious with calls for it to act as a responsible world leader, as Beijing’s goals may not be the same as the West’s, said a new report on Friday.”

Washington Times: “The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to add the Internet to its portfolio of regulated industries.”

One News Now: “. . . it clearly was spun to try to accomplish a pre-determined outcome, and that is overturning this law would have no effect on the military — and that’s simply not true.”

Peter Smith writes at LifeSiteNews: “If members of the Tea Party movement do not want to see the Congress ‘run down any social issue rabbit holes,’ then let’s finally defuse the issue on a national level by enacting the Sanctity of Life Act. This would invoke Congress’s power to remove the jurisdiction of the courts (Art. III, sec. 2 of the US Constitution), making Roe v. Wade caput, and sending the issue from Washington back to individual states.”

Eugene Volokh has this post at the Volokh Conspiracy commenting on the reprimand of a Mississippi judge who tried to compel a lawyer to say the pledge of allegiance.

Philip Ney writes at LifeNews: “The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have again ruled physicians must perform an abortion or refer to someone who will when asked by a women or else the physician will lose his certificate as a specialist.”

LifeNews: “Abortion practitioner George Shepard of Delaware, who assisted with abortions at the Maryland business of abortion practitioner Steven Chase Brigham, has permanently lost his medical license.”

refWrite Blog: “Wilberforce Academy II (UK) The second Wilberforce Academy will take place in March 2011. This intense, residential week-long course in Oxford, pioneered by Christian Concern (in association with the Alliance Defense Fund) seeks to equip a new generation of Christian leaders in public life . . . ”

Bill Muehlenberg’s Culture Watch: “. . . The second trend is also fully explicable. Secular leftist states know that if they can get access to children from early on, and for many years, they can easily instill their agenda, their values, and their worldview into the children. And as the state’s ideology and worldview becomes increasingly hostile to that of the Judeo-Christian worldview, then you can expect states to definitely frown upon homeschooling . . . Take a look at Sweden, home of Ikea and Volvos. A couple months ago in June, attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and the Home School Legal Defense Association filed Johansson v. Sweden with the European Court of Human Rights so that that the Swedish government will return a seven-year-old homeschooled boy to his parents. Dominic Johansson was forcibly seized by Swedish authorities from his parents in June 2009 after they had boarded a plane in their move to India. The reason? He was homeschooled.”

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund who are part of the ProtectMarriage.com legal defense team will be available for media interviews Monday before and after oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Truth Wins Out: “Fueled by a manufactured controversy in which Apple Inc. removed the broadly defamatory Declaration from its App Store, a new round of naïve or disingenuous Christian bloggers call the declaration “civil,” “graceful” and other absurdities that should be apparent to rational people who respect individual freedom, reject piety, and know the history of the declaration’s sponsors . . . The signers include  . . . the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization that sues schools which oppose antigay bullying and faculty discrimination; the Institute for Religion and Democracy . . . ”

South Street Capitol: Maggie Gallagher’s mysteriously-funded anti-gay anti-marriage equality organization is trying to get one of three federal judges appointed to hear the case — Judge Stephen Reinhardt — kicked off the Proposition 8 trial . . .“Also on the Patrick Henry advisory board are two anti-gay activists: Beverly LaHaye, founder of the Concerned Women for America, and Alan Sears, head of the Alliance Defense Fund. Rounding out the advisory board is Howard Phillips, founder of the Constitution Party . . . ”

The Daily of the University of Washington: “At UA, officials are mulling over an up-and-coming style of dorm rooms: coed housing. This type of room assignment is designed to make gay students more comfortable, The Arizona Republic report . . . However, many conservatives oppose the idea, saying that sexual harassment and assaults would actually increase, the Republic reported. ‘That’s completely at odds with common sense,’ David French, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale-based Christian organization that seeks to preserve family values, said to the Republic.”

Wall Street Journal: “Alliance Defense Fund lawyer and co-counsel for Protectmarriage.com, Brian Raum, said in response to Reinhardt’s decision: ProtectMarriage.com accepts the judge’s decision, but stands behind the arguments in its motion. With binding Supreme Court precedent and the will of a strong majority of Americans on our side, we are confident that Proposition 8 and the institution of marriage will ultimately prevail.”

Lansing State Journal: “The order issued this week is the latest development in an ongoing federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the Creyts Road megachurch against a group of gay activists calling themselves Bash Back! Lansing who disrupted a Nov. 8, 2008, service . . . The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund is representing Mount Hope Church. After a number of delays, including time for the protesters to seek a new attorney, the case is expected to reach trial next summer.”

Washington Blade: “A judge has rejected an attempt by the Minnesota Family Council to intervene in a lawsuit challenging state law that bans same-sex marriage, the Minnesota Independent, a Center for Independent Media online newsmagazine, reported . . . The Minnesota Family Council attempted to enter the lawsuit with the help of James Dobson’s Alliance Defense Fund, an evangelical Christian legal group . . . ”

One News Now: “In an interview from Croatia, Roger Kiska, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund’s (ADF) legal counsel, labels as dangerous comments by Commissioner Viviane Reding rejecting the right of the country’s Roman Catholic schools to refuse to employ homosexual teachers.”

Matthew O’Brien writes at Public Discourse: “In my review of Hadley Arkes’ book Constitutional Illusions I criticized Arkes’ account of natural law ethics. My main complaint was that Arkes’ aspirations for what natural law ethics could accomplish were unrealistic, and that in particular his argument for grounding morality in “laws of reason” such as the principle of non-contradiction was unsuccessful. Now Professor Arkes has issued a friendly challenge to me in reply: If he is wrong, then what’s the alternative? And in a healthy Socratic spirit, Arkes wants examples. How would I demonstrate the wrongfulness of racial discrimination, for instance, if not by showing that racists necessarily contradict themselves?”

Eric M. George and William H. Neukom writes at the LA Times: “Vacant federal judgeships threaten our judicial system. It’s time for the president and the Senate to act.”

How Appealing links to several reports covering Reinhardt’s refusal to recuse in the Proposition 8 ruling. Click the Perry tag below for earlier reports.

Central Asian Newswire: “The city council in the volatile southern Kyrgyz city of Osh has created a new commission to monitor Islamic clerics in that city.” Via Religion Clause Blog

Religion Clause Blog: “Martin Gaskell, who was highly qualified for the position, was not hired after the search committee discovered links on Gaskell’s personal website to lecture notes reflecting his creationist views.”

AP: “A hardline Pakistani Islamic cleric has offered a reward to anyone who kills a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy against Islam.”

Gerald P. O’Driscoll writes at the Wall Street Journal (full access via Google): “Ordinary citizens will increasingly ask that question if the Fed keeps acting as an unelected fiscal authority.”