Daily Archives: September 21, 2011

LifeSiteNews.com: A national organization located in British Columbia is seeking to expose what they argue are the lies, seduction, and criminal activity at the heart of the homosexual agenda being pushed on students in Canadian schools.

LifeSiteNews.com: A Catholic college in Colorado is contemplating how to respond to a new state law that mandates that insurance plans cover contraception, including the abortifacient morning-after-pill, according to a statement issued by the college.

Jordan Sekulow at The Washington Post: It is becoming more and more apparent that journalists are doing less and less to conceal their disdain for conservative Christians, especially those who have felt God’s calling to go into public service.

Reuters: Menas Saad Youssef no longer fears being blown up while praying in a church. But she and many other traumatized Christians who fled Iraq’s capital for safer areas have a new crisis — no jobs.

Claire Reitz at Technorati: ‘No-go’ zones are for everyone that is not Muslim are springing up all over Europe at alarming rates. Many neighborhoods in London are now unsafe for non-Muslims to inhabit. These areas have been formed with ‘ethnic cleansing’ harassment tactics; forcing existing residents out of their homes by Muslim harassment.

EuropeNews: For anyone interested in “Hate speech”, the Council of Europe has published a 104 page manual detailing what exactly might be considered “Hate speech”, and thus subject to serious preventive punishment. From the manual (page 5) . . .

More information here.

The Hill: The House on Wednesday afternoon surprised Republican leaders by rejecting a temporary spending bill allowing the government to operate through November 18, due to strenuous objections from Democrats who opposed cuts to a Department of Energy program in order to pay for more disaster funding, and members of both parties who favored more disaster funding than was in the bill.

Christian Medical Comment: Disabled people are being put under much more pressure in the current social and economic climate.

Christian Concern: The MP for Suffolk Coastal, Dr Therese Coffey, has presented a Ten Minute Rule Bill in parliament that would guarantee access to food and water for those who are terminally ill.

The Obama Administration’s fight against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, will undermine marriage and create a serious breach of Church-State relations, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in a September 20 letter to President Barack Obama . . .

The Christian Institute: The furious reaction to church leaders defending marriage show that same-sex marriage is not about gay rights, it is about attacking the church, an editor of a Scottish national newspaper says.

The Daily Tar Heel: A debate at the UNC School of Law today set two state legislators on either side of the Defense of Marriage amendment, arguing as lawmakers and as lawyers.

SMH.com.au: In an unprecedented move, the Tasmanian House of Assembly, passed a motion (13-9) to give in-principle support to marriage equality. In doing so, the last state to decriminalise homosexuality, became the first, at least in part, to endorse full relationship equality for same-sex couples.

ADF Attorney Dave Cortman appeared on The Real Side with Joe Messina to discuss the Nampa Classical Academy litigation. | MP3 audio 12:48 mins

ADF Attorney Matt Sharp on Drive Time with the Bill Bunkley to discuss the Nampa Classical Academy case. | MP3 audio 11:47 mins

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 17:50 mins

Mike Zapler at Politico: Schmidt will raise his right hand to testify under oath before the Senate antitrust subcommittee Wednesday and likely be grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike about whether the company is abusing its position as the world’s primary gateway to information on the Web.

Alexander Burns at Politico: A Google search for Santorum has generated some inappropriate results since gay columnist Dan Savage organized an online campaign to link graphic sexual terms to the socially conservative senator’s name.

I think the evidence from the courtroom shows beyond doubt that we are dealing with something else entirely. These people are bent on obtaining a particular outcome, no matter what the cost to the rest of the legal system . . .

The Hugh Hewitt Show: HH: Special edition of the Hugh Hewitt Show, a chance to talk in studio with Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer. Mr. Justice Breyer, welcome to the program, it’s great to have you here today . . .
SB: Very nice to be here, thank you.

NYTimes.com: Master Sgt. Anthony Henry, a top Marine recruiting trainer for the southwestern United States, pulled up to Tulsa’s biggest gay community center on Tuesday morning and left his Chevy where he could make a fast getaway. “I have an exit strategy,” he said. “I know where my choke points are, I’ve strategically parked my car right on the curbside, I have an out.”

Wesley Smith at Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: We often hear from doctor-prescribed death advocates that assisted suicide legalization improves palliative care. It’s not true.

The West Australian: Religious non-believers have welcomed a WA State primary school’s decision to ban the Lord’s Prayer from its fortnightly assemblies because they say schools should reflect the nature of Australia’s secular society.

NYTimes.com: A ban on street prayer came into force on Friday, driving thousands of Muslim worshipers in northern Paris into an improvised prayer site in an old fire brigade barracks, angering a small but vocal minority.

The Arab Tribune: Superintendent John Mullins has received a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., calling prayer before the games a “serious and flagrant violation” of the First Amendment and asking that the school district take immediate action to stop any and all prayers occurring before any school-sponsored event.

LifeNews.com: Michigan could be the next state to ban partial-birth abortions following a Supreme Court decision in April 2007 upholding a federal ban on them.

Christian Post: About 70 Protestant Christians lived in the village of San Rafael Tlanalapan, Puebla state, until Monday (Sept. 12), when they faced a frightening ultimatum – leave immediately or be “crucified or lynched.”

Al.com: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy will announce the introduction of the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act during a telephone news conference this afternoon. She will be joined by representatives of the ACLU and the Center for Effective Discipline.

The Globe and Mail: World Bank researchers found that China should have had 1.2 million more baby girls than were actually born in 2008. Put another way, according to China’s own census last year, its birth rate is now an alarmingly distorted 118 boys per 100 girls.

DAWN.COM: In an unprecedented move by the authorities concerned to eliminate polio, two persons were arrested and an Afghan national was deported for refusing to vaccinate their children against the crippling ailment.

Boise Weekly: The article mentions that Moffett is suing the board over the revocation of the charter. His lawyer is David Cortman of the Alliance Defense Fund, a group that defends so-called “Christian” causes “One of our claims in the case is, the closing down of the school, under the alleged guise of financial reasons, is a reaction to the teaching of religious books,” said Cortman.

ADF Attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Is working where religious activities occur like working at a building with asbestos ceiling tiles?

Catholic News Agency (CNA): “Universities should recognize the constitutional rights of Christian students and ministries just as they do for all other students and campus groups,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which filed the lawsuit. “Sadly, the University refused to do so, and instead squandered money by trying to defend the indefensible: blatant, unlawful discrimination against Christian students and ministries.”

OneNewsNow.com: ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence suggests the school has had its sights on religious-based student groups for some time. “The University of Wisconsin has maintained an extreme view of the Establishment Clause, [suggesting] that it requires [the school] to go on a search-and-destroy mission for all things religious,” he says.

OneNewsNow.com: ADF attorney Erik Stanley does not believe pastors and churches should live in fear of being punished or penalized by the government in any way. “Keeping the gospel central to what is preached is not in conflict with addressing the subject of political candidates when that is warranted,” he contends. “These survey results show that the desire to keep the gospel central does not mean that pastors want the IRS to regulate their sermons under the threat of revoking their church’s tax-exempt status.”

The Bandera Bulletin: According to David Cortman, Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, “School districts shouldn’t be bullied into exposing students to sexually explicit materials.” Cortman says, “The ‘Don’t Filter Me Initiative’ would be better named the ‘Public School Porn Initiative.’ The ACLU is pushing its radical sexual agenda on children by intimidating school districts with a long string of scare tactics disguised as a concern over censorship. In truth, these school districts have no obligation to cave to the ACLU’s unwarranted demands. Our children come first . . . An internet article by Alan Sears (ADF President, CEO, and General Counsel) gives school districts who try to protect students from offensive materials reason to hope and stand firm . . . [more]

The Advocate: Belforti, who earned $19,116 in her part-time clerk position last year, refuses to resign. New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, a group of evangelical Protestants that advocated against the marriage equality law before it passed in June, has offered to connect her and other clerks to legal support from the Alliance Defense Fund.

ProLife Blogs: Today, on behalf of the adult stem researchers it represents, the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project and their co-counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, filed their Notice of Appeal asking the United States Court of Appeals to reinstate their case dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia in its July 27 decision . . .

Walter E. Williams at Townhall: During the recent GOP presidential debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that Social Security is a “monstrous lie” and a “Ponzi scheme.” More and more people are coming to see that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, but is it a lie, as well? Let’s look at it. Here’s what the 1936 government pamphlet on Social Security said . . .

John Stossel at Townhall: Those kids attend one of those new charter schools. Charters let them escape the bureaucracy of regular schools, including, often, teachers union rules. These schools compete for kids because parents can always choose another school. That makes them better. Not every charter school is good, but the beauty of competition is that bad ones go out of business, while good ones expand.

WSJ.com: With the lifting of the ban, the Defense Department published revised regulations to reflect the new law allowing gays to serve openly. The revisions, such as eliminating references to banned homosexual service, are in line with policy guidance that was issued by top Pentagon officials in January, after Obama signed the legislation that did away with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Religion Clause: Yesterday the Institute on Religion and Public Policy released a lengthy analysis of Kazakhstan’s proposed new Law on Religious Activity and Religious Associations. The report concludes that . . .

TheHill.com: The House has created a Democratic Cloakroom intern initiative for college-age students a month after announcing the elimination of Congress’s high school page program.

Religion Clause: In Mao Qin Wang v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, (Fed. Ct., Sept. 2, 2011), Canada’ Federal Court held that immigration officials had held an applicant for refugee status to an unreasonably high standard in considering whether he was a genuine Roman Catholic who feared oppression if he returned to China.

The Hill: Congressional Republicans have taken pressure on the Federal Reserve to new heights, calling on the central bank to avoid any further efforts to stimulate the economy.

State of New Jersey: Attorney General Paula T. Dow today announced the distribution of a new agreement to be executed by school districts and law enforcement agencies throughout New Jersey in order to establish enhanced policies and procedures to protect students from bullying. The revised Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement Between Education and Law Enforcement Officials was drafted to meet the provisions of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, signed into law by Governor Chris Christie on Jan. 5, 2011.

News from The Associated Press: A western Kentucky lawmaker is trying to find a compromise in the debate over a law that requires slow-moving vehicles to display a reflective triangle, a requirement that Amish men say infringes on their religious beliefs.

News from The Associated Press: An explosion in the early hours of Wednesday morning damaged Amsterdam’s court complex and a government minister swiftly condemned the blast as an attack on the Dutch justice system.

News from The Associated Press: When the FBI notified police in Oregon that a Springfield man had purchased a mail-order suicide kit, officers went to his home and kicked down his door to make sure he was OK.

News from The Associated Press: If President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservatives have their way, French teenagers will one day swear their allegiance to the defense of France – a sort of muscular French take on the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.

On the same day “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, U.S. Marines wasted no time looking for new recruits. They were invited to set up shop at the Gay and Lesbian Center in Tulsa, Okla., so they went.

Hugh Hewitt at San Francisco Examiner: There is no war in the offing, thank God, but the Court and its brethren on the federal and state benches may be too insulated from the turmoil of the present day to grasp just how deeply antagonized millions of ordinary citizens are from their government. It is reassuring that the justices can carry on calmly amid many storms, but we have to hope that a majority of them at least understand that they are responsible for making much of the weather the rest of us experience.

USCourts.gov: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has named eight judges as new committee chairs for the Judicial Conference of the United States, and has extended the service of three judges as committee chairs.