Daily Archives: June 2, 2011

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at Townhall: So, to be godly is to both love those whose actions embrace evil, and to work tirelessly to bring them to justice – and grace. That is how so many Christians can work fervently to stop abortion, denounce same-sex “marriage,” and even support a just war – all while interceding faithfully for the souls of those who kill babies in the womb, practice destructive homosexual behavior, and shoot at our soldiers.

Charisma: Christian student groups in public schools shouldn’t be discriminated against,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “Shutting down a religious student club while letting the vast majority of the others remain is unconstitutional.”

Christian Newswire: Speakers will include Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali (retired bishop of Rochester, Church of England, and former chairman of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority’s Ethics and Law Committee), Stewart Jackson, MP, Peter Hitchens (award-winning columnist and author of “The Rage Against God”), Graeme Leach (Chief Economist, the Institute of Directors, which provides support services to business leaders), Prof. Julian Rivers (professor of Jurisprudence, University of Bristol), Benjamin Bull, Esq. (chief counsel, Alliance Defense Fund) and Ignacio Arsuaga (president of the Spanish pro-family group HazteOir.org and organizer of World Congress of Families VI — Madrid 2012).

Liberty Counsel: The Tennessee State House of Representatives passed a resolution urging each county to permit the Ten Commandments to be posted in their respective courthouses. The resolution passed unanimously 98-0, with two abstaining from the vote.

Business Insider: Moody’s is out with a comment saying that if there’s no imminent progress on the debt ceiling fight, the US credit rating will be cut.

AP: A federal judge in Seattle says a gay softball organization can limit the number of heterosexual players on each team.

Tobin, John William, The Convention of the Rights of the Child: The Rights and Best Interests of Children Conceived Through Assisted Reproduction (May 25, 2011). Victorian Law Commission; U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 541. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1852928

CSMonitor.com: The Louisiana law allows teaching contrary to evolution on the grounds it promotes critical thinking, a proposition ridiculed by scientists. Similar legislation is being debated in other states.

Baptist Press: A humanitarian program that gives persecuted religious minorities in Iran a safe avenue to flee the country may be canceled, if U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R.-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, maintains his opposition.

LifeSiteNews.com: Conservative parliamentarians, with the backing of Russia’s Orthodox Church, are drafting legislation aimed at reducing the more than 1 million abortions performed in Russia each year.

KansasCity.com: Kansas City Star reporters recently observed more than a dozen female dancers at Bazooka’s and Temptations whose entire breasts were visible. Although state law allows such “semi-nude” exposure, clubs that “regularly” offer it must close at midnight.

BBC News: Labour leader Ed Miliband and his long-term partner Justine Thornton are due to get married. They already have two children, so why get hitched?

The Republic: The Maine Senate has put off a debate on a bill to outlaw violence against a fetus.

LifeNews.com: Polish sovereignty to limit abortion is under strong political pressure from supranational bodies,” Grégor Puppinck of the European Center for Law and Justice told the Friday Fax. Puppinck was commenting on the recent ruling from the European Court of Human Rights on the case R.R. v Poland . . .

Baptist Press: “The real persecution today is much more likely to be directed at those who dare to express hope for change or those who joyfully speak of the new life they have post-gay,” Stith said. “Where is the outrage over the prejudice directed at them? And prejudice it is when various studies continue to show what biblical Christians have known since the days of Corinth — change is possible.”

Charisma: The Family Research Council’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute’s study shows how intact married-couple families outperform remarried families, divorced families, single-parent families and cohabiting families in the economic areas of: employment status and income; net worth; poverty and welfare receipt; child economic well-being . . . Click here for the full report.

Chuck Colson at the Christian Post: Dr. Nicolosi writes that at the heart of the homosexual condition is a distortion of the fundamental concept of gender. In boys, there can be a “gender wound” — a kind of emotional injury — in early childhood that leads the boy to see himself as “different.” Nicolosi writes that this differentness “creates a feeling of inferiority and isolates him from other males.”

Sandmountainreporter.com: A controversial abortion-related bill that says life begins at the moment an egg is fertilized and attaches to the womb has been delayed in the Alabama House and likely will be on the agenda for the final day of the session on June 9.

The Washington Post: Former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell says the Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against her during last year’s campaign by the Delaware Republican Party.

LifeSiteNews.com: Marriage commissioners in a district of Amsterdam will be forced to undergo annual evaluations to ensure they support same-sex “marriage” after revelations that two commissioners had refused to officiate at the ceremonies.

AP: Agassi, who operates an award-winning charter school in Las Vegas, said Thursday the biggest impediment to charter school growth is finding adequate facilities to house students.

LifeNews.com: Leading national pro-life organizations are blasting the Obama administration for its decision on Wednesday to disallow the state of Indiana to move forward with its request to cut off between $2-3 million in taxpayer funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business gets via Medicaid.

Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy: The story (which, among other things, argued that the South African Constitution should be changed to reject same-sex marriage rights) and cartoon (which suggested that recognition of same-sex marriage would logically justify recognition of human-animal marriage) are here. The account of the court decision is in the Mail & Guardian; here’s an excerpt . . .

Spiegel Online: The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) is outraged. Following news reported this week by the online magazine Telepolis that the Union of Catholic Physicians (UCP) has been offering homeopathic “Therapy Options for Homosexuality” on their website, the advocacy organization called the suggestion an “insult,” and an “impertinence” that showed “a lack of respect for homosexuals and bisexuals.”

Freedom From Religion Foundation: On June 1, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU of Virginia sent a letter to the Giles County School Board in opposition to proposed school displays that would include the Ten Commandments. The School Board will vote on June 7 on whether it will return the Ten Commandments to the walls of county schools — this time alongside other historical documents, such as the Magna Carta and the National Anthem, in an attempt to hide the religious purpose of the display.

Yesterday the James Madison Center for Free Speech filed a brief in federal court supporting its decision that the federal ban on direct corporate contributions is unconstitutional.

The Providence Journal: A request for the Cranston School Department to cover a school prayer banner subject to a constitutional challenge will be heard on Aug. 31.

ADF attorneys to appeal decision in Bronx church’s lawsuit against NYC Dept. of Education

A federal appeals court has ruled that the city of New York can enforce a rule prohibiting outside groups from using public school facilities after hours for religious worship services.

Baptist Press: The bill needs 32 votes to pass and has the backing of 26 senators, all Democrats. Another 28 expressed opposition, leaving it in the hands of the undecided eight — five Republicans and three Democrats, according to Gannett. The GOP controls the state Senate, 32-30.

President Obama has declared June “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month” — and to the dismay of a pro-family group based in Richmond, Virginia, the Federal Reserve Bank is joining in the celebration.

Washington Times: The United Nations‘ population experts recently rocked the world by projecting the planet will be home to a larger-than-expected 10.1 billion people by 2100. To some, the august body used statistical “magic” to arrive at this number . . .

KansasCity.com: Five months after dismissing a trademark infringement suit in Los Angeles, IHOP, the California-based restaurant chain, recently refiled a similar action in Kansas City federal court against the local International House of Prayer.

NYTimes.com: M. is an ebullient girl, age 10, who ranks near the top of her fourth-grade class and dreams of being a doctor. Yet she, like all of India, is at a turning point, and it looks as if her family may instead sell her to a brothel.

Religion Clause: Yesterday, the Freedom from Religion Foundation announced that it has written the California Attorney General asking that the state investigate filing a civil fraud action against Rev. Harold Camping and his radio stations over their predictions of the Rapture. (Full text of letter.)

AP: China’s government-controlled Catholic church is preparing to ordain a new bishop, and the leading candidate is a priest who lacks the Vatican’s backing, potentially adding fuel to a long-running feud between Beijing and the Holy See.

Jennifer A. Marshall at McClatchy: “Budgets are moral documents.” So religious voices, rightly, have reminded us in recent months. Now, Catholic and Protestant leaders have launched an initiative called “Circle of Protection” to make federal antipoverty spending untouchable . . . Protecting the status quo, however, isn’t in the best interest of the poor.

Religion Clause: Yesterday’s Morung Express explained in greater detail how these and other planned moves undercut extensive plans that China allegedly has to control Tibet in the future.

SCOTUSblog: The Obama Administration urges the Fourth Circuit Court to go ahead and decide the constitutionality of a key section of the new health reform law, rather than dismiss it under a federal tax law.

The Hill: Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) made the comparison in comments on the House floor after King attempted to exclude dozens of groups related to ACORN from receiving government funds through an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill.

AP: Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery rose 12 cents to $100.41 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

NYTimes.com: More than a month after saboteurs blew up an Egyptian pipeline supplying natural gas to Israel, the line is repaired but gas is not flowing and foreign shareholders of the company suspect politics to be the reason. They are threatening legal action against Egypt.

The Hill: “Our rights come from our creator, not our government,” added Paul according to the The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

Evans, Carolyn M. and Gaze, Beth, Discrimination by Religious Schools: Views from the Coal Face (May 25, 2011). Melbourne Univeristy Law Review, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2010; U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 543. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1852907

Leonard A. Leo, Felice D. Gaer and Elizabeth K. Cassidy, Protecting Religions from “Defamation”: A Threat to Universal Human Rights Standards, 34 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 769 (2011).