Daily Archives: January 30, 2012

Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Thousands of Christians, pastors, other people of faith joined together Sunday afternoon to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to express their opposition to Mayor Bloomberg’s plans to evict the churches meeting in the public schools after February 12.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Blog: The appeals court (and the Associated Press) failed to recognize something even Christians sometimes forget – our biblical worldview and Christian principles affect all aspects of our lives. That certainly includes how we teach our children all subjects – even those that don’t appear to be “religious” – such as music and social studies.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Let me break down this legalese. What this bill says is that if a church rents out its facilities for non-members to use for weddings, then it will be forced to allow a same-sex couple to use its facilities for a same-sex “marriage” ceremony . . .

Slate Magazine: History suggests that it is. A new study out of the University of British Columbia documents how societies have systematically evolved away from polygamy because of the social problems it causes. The Canadian researchers are really talking about polygyny, which is the term for one man with multiple wives, and which is by far the most common expression of polygamy.

IrishCentral: An unaccountable European elite is ignoring the basic principles of democracy and betraying the founding vision of the EU.

TheBureauInvestigates.com: For many the mention of the Court of Human Rights conjures up the image of complex cases dealing with genocide, war atrocities and tyrannical dictatorships, not the legal wranglings of aggrieved celebrities, disgruntled drug dealers or convicted asylum seekers.

The Christian Institute (includes video): Marriage must remain a union between one man and one woman, the Archbishop of York has warned.

LifeSiteNews.com: eventy-four percent of Christian Britons believe that discrimination against Christianity and Christian freedom of expression is on the rise in their country, according to a recent poll. This is a significant increase from 66 percent in 2009 according to an independent research group, ComRes.

Liberty Counsel: Today the American College of Pediatricians sent a letter to the Shawano School District Superintendent, Todd Carlson, cautioning him to not react adversely to 15-year-old student Brandon Wegner based on political pressure. Superintendent Carlson called Brandon ignorant for his views on homosexual adoption presented in an op-ed, point-counter-point article for a student-run newspaper.

Independent.ie: Humanist says ‘godless culture’ sermon was hostile to those who do not share church’s aims . . .

Stars and Stripes: The measure states that chaplains cannot be required to perform a same-sex marriage if they object to the union, and that military facilities cannot be used for any such ceremony.

LifeNews.com: Signatures are currently being gathered to put Parental Notification on the 2012 November ballot for the fourth time in California. In 2008 Parental Notification’s Proposition 4 lost by a very small percentage, 52% to 48%.

LifeNews.com: Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are also part of the lawsuit. “Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Attacks such as this ordinance are an ideologically motivated attempt to distract from the growing national scandals in the abortion industry. For years, abortionists have preyed on women and girls to generate profits. Now, pro-abortion politicians are trying to give women fewer choices.”

LifeNews.com: n Iowa man has been arrested for forcibly aborting his girlfriend’s baby. According to police, Yoirlan Tome-Rojas gave an abortion drug that he purchased on the Internet to his pregnant girlfriend.

Christian Concern: Girls as young as nine are being forced to marry in mosques in Islington, according to the findings of a leading women’s rights group.

BaltimoreSun.com: Many Maryland citizens are morally opposed to same-sex marriage. There is real outrage aimed at Gov. Martin O’Malley for encouraging another legislative battle on this issue. I believe it is arrogant and dangerous to redefine God’s eternal law. Doing so would usher in an era of depravity that no amount of lawmaking could ever correct. I recognize that some legislators may not agree with my opinion, so I offer pragmatic reasons to oppose same sex marriage.

BBC News: wenty-five of the EU’s 27 member states have agreed to join a fiscal treaty to enforce budget discipline.

David Skeel at WSJ.com: The high court calls for accommodating religion. The White House pushes back.

The Washington Post: Overall, the Post poll found that 50 percent of Marylanders support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry while 44 percent are opposed.

Robyn Hagan Cain at Findlaw: Julea Ward, who enrolled in the EMU program in 2006 to become a high school counselor, declined to counsel a homosexual client during her school practicum because her “Christian beliefs would not allow her to affirm the client’s homosexual behavior,” according to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which is representing Ward.

Philadelphia Inquirer: Gay rights advocates in New Jersey have been pushing for a decade to get state courts or lawmakers to recognize same-sex marriage. But last week, they demurred when Gov. Christie called for a public vote to settle the topic.

Telegraph: Michelle Obama has risked the wrath of cash-strapped Americans by indulging in a $50,000 shopping spree at Agent Provocateur.

Andrew Brown at the Guardian.co.uk: In the end, the church may have to choose between communion and establishment. Sentamu has often, loudly, and rightly defended “Britishness” and British traditions. And if it comes to a choice between the Anglican Communion and the Church of England, British history, and British tradition, would then demand that the Anglican Communion be told, politely, to go away and commune with itself: that the archbishop of Lagos has no more jurisdiction in this country than the bishop of Rome.

Ronald Rotunda at Fox News: So, the DOJ is simultaneously claiming that it completely walled off Kagan from any discussions involving the constitutional defense of ObamaCare, while admitting that Kagan was participating in emails discussing “legal issues, arguments, and strategy concerning” the anticipated ObamaCare litigation.

NYTimes.com: The system for reviewing presidential appointments is broken. The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on the naming of judges and high-ranking executive branch officials. But the process has been hijacked by cynical partisanship and cheap tricks.

Latimes.com: However the Supreme Court rules, members of Congress have their own obligation to abide by the 1st Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion. The bill passed by the House would put Congress’ imprimatur on displays on public property that give preference to a single religion. The Senate should reject it.

Religion Clause: Wipf v. Hutterville Hutterian Bretheren, Inc., (SD Sup. Ct., Jan. 25, 2012) is the South Dakota Supreme Court’s second installment in a factional dispute in a South Dakota Hutterite colony, and one of the first cases to cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hosanna-Tabor decision.

OneNewsNow.com: Thirty-five Christians have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for worshiping in their own homes according to a recent report. The news only surfaced this week that the Christians have been imprisoned for over a month.

The Blog of Legal Times: The Supreme Court is guilty of a broad “failure to communicate” to the public it serves, constitutional scholar and law dean Erwin Chemerinsky said on Friday.

The Hill: Former presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed his fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich in a surprise appearance at the Palm Beach County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner Saturday.

Religion Clause: Yesterday’s Christian Science Monitor reports that as the fighting goes on in Syria, the conflict is moving from a popular uprising to a confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites . . .

The Washington Post: The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients, government documents show.

The letter form Bishop Thomas Olmstead, dated Jan. 25, 2012 is here.

Catholic Culture: I am especially scandalized by some “Catholic” politicians who willingly collaborate with efforts to restrict the civil liberty of the faith tradition from which they were originally sprung.

OneNewsNow.com: The South Dakota House has voted to recommend that school districts provide academic instruction on the Bible, brushing off concerns by some critics that the nonbinding resolution seeks to promote religious beliefs.

OneNewsNow.com: A retired U.S. general who made comments denigrating Islam has been invited to speak to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy during a national prayer breakfast next month.

NJ.com: The Legislature must “put its money where its mouth is” to keep the New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights intact, a state panel ruled today in a decision that said the new law poses an unfunded mandate for school districts.

OneNewsNow.com: Senate Bill 2180, “An Act to Amend Section 97-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, to Revise the Offense of Felonious Abuse of Batter of a Child; and for Related Purposes,” submitted by Republican Senator Brice Wiggins, would make it a felony to “whip, strike, or otherwise abuse any child” in a manner that causes “bodily harm.”

AMNY.com: Hundreds of protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday against an upcoming citywide ban that prevents religious groups from renting space in public schools for worship.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show last week to discuss the situation. | MP3 audio 12:51 mins

ADF Attorney Attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on AFR Focal Point with Bryan Fischer to discuss the marriage battles in Washington state and New Hampshire. | MP3 audio 12:25 minutes

ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the Paul Edwards Show to discuss the Julia Ward case. | MP3 audio 10:51 mins

Steven Aden at Townhall: The death business is booming, but we’re killing ourselves to make it happen.

Findlaw: But is the President of the United States bound by the same limitations as mere mortal lawyers? Not according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In fact, Gingrich claims that the POTUS can simply “ignore” a Supreme Court decision that he deems “fundamentally wrong.”

Christianity Today: It’s definitely a trend,” said Roger Kiska of the Alliance Defense Fund in Slovakia. “Two or three years ago, you never would have thought that within a year you would have three pro-life [victories] in the courts.”

Findlaw: And guess what? Eighty percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably do it all over again.

LifeNews.com: Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said late Sunday that the medical condition that forced the Santorum family to hospitalize the little girl over the weekend has dramatically improved.

Free speech now allowed campus-wide (OneNewsNow.com): ADF legal counsel David Hacker says that was reasonable . . . “Universities across the country are censoring Christian and pro-life speech on really a rapid scale,” he laments. “But we’re really pleased that Chemeketa was willing to work with us and change its policies to open up the campus to more speech.” [more]

Inside Higher Ed: The Alliance Defense Fund, which has represented both Ward and Keeton, praised Friday’s ruling. “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately,” said Jeremy Tedesco, the lawyer who has worked on Ward’s case. The group has stressed the issue of religious freedom in both the Eastern Michigan and Augusta State cases.

WorldNetDaily (includes video): “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately,” said Alliance Defense Fund Counsel Jeremy Tedesco, who argued before the court in October of last year.

Detroit Free Press | freep.com: Tolerance is a two-way street,” the judges said. Ward’s lawyer, Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group, said: “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree. “Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor — a common, professional practice to best serve clients — EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

Student Press Law Center: eremy Tedesco of Alliance Defense Fund, one of Ward’s attorneys, said he’s unhappy with Hazelwood’s extension, even though the court’s decision ultimately went in favor of his client. “Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of Hazelwood being extended to the public university context,” Tedesco said. “I think it’s very clear, though, that student publications at the college level wouldn’t — at least shouldn’t — be governed by Hazelwood, and I don’t think the decision says that at all.”

Baptist Press: “It is time to get New Hampshire taxpayers out of the abortion business,” said Manchester, N.H., lawyer Michael Tierney, who is affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund. “Planned Parenthood’s business model is centered on abortion, and New Hampshire taxpayers want no part in it.”

UPI.com: Ward is being represented by lawyers from the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group. “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” said Jeremy Tedesco of the ADF. Ward said she was willing to counsel gay and lesbian students on other matters but refused to counsel them with regard to sexual orientation.

Sacramento Bee: Ward’s lawyers at the Alliance Defense Fund, a faith-based legal group, hailed the decision. Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” said the Alliance’s Jeremy Tedesco, the lawyer who argued the case. “The court rightly understood this and ruled appropriately. Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor – a common, professional practice to best serve clients – EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

James Bacon at the Washington Times: The largest debtor and biggest beneficiary of the Fed policy, of course, is the federal government, which owes more than $15 trillion and is on track to owe $16 trillion before the year is out.

NJ.com: When Christie introduced Harris and fellow nominee Phillip Kwon to the press on Monday, he made a point of noting that Harris is openly gay. He also introduced the domestic partner of the 61-year-old Chatham mayor, who is an attorney in private practice.

Huffington Post (includes video): “Public universities shouldn’t force students to violate their religious beliefs to get a degree,” Jeremy Tedesco, the Alliance Defense Fund lawyer who argued the case, told the Free Press. “Rather than allow Julea to refer a potential client to another qualified counselor — a common, professional practice to best serve clients — EMU attacked and questioned Julea’s religious beliefs and ultimately expelled her from the program because of them.”

NewsOK.com: Ward’s lawsuit, in which she is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, stems from an incident near the end of her time as a graduate student at EMU. “She had no problem counseling gay and lesbian clients,” the court noted, explained that “Ward [had] asked that she be allowed to refer gay and lesbian clients seeking relationship advice to another counselor,” but instead she was dismissed from the program for allegedly violating ACA code of ethics by discriminating against homosexual clients.

News from The Associated Press: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says African nations should stop treating gays as “second-class citizens, or even criminals”.

News from The Associated Press: Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich called Sunday for a commission to study the ethical issues relating to in vitro fertilization clinics, where infertile women receive treatment to get pregnant and large numbers of embryos are created.

News from The Associated Press: Police say suspected members of a radical sect have attacked two more police stations, leaving two people dead in a north Nigerian city where 185 people were killed just over a week ago.

CBC News (includes video): A Montreal couple and their son were convicted Sunday of first-degree murder in the deaths of four family members in a case the judge called “despicable,” “heinous” and stemming from “a completely twisted concept of honour.”

American Civil Liberties Union: Among the key requirements of the rule is a prohibition on inquires regarding sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as a prohibition on using sexual orientation or gender identity as grounds for decision-making in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs. Additionally, the rule brings the definition of “eligible families” into the 21st century by including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).

Patrick Lee at Public Discourse: The conjugal conception of marriage is just and coherent; the same-sex marriage proponents’ conception of marriage is unjust and incoherent.

LaTimes.com: Members of a younger generation care less about Castro and are more liberal, but many are disappointed in President Obama.

NYTimes.com: A steady stream of endorsements has been flowing to Mitt Romney, with his campaign promoting Republicans who are giving their blessing to his presidential candidacy. Yet on the eve of the Florida primary, he has been unable to land the biggest catch of all: Jeb Bush.

NCPA Policy Digest: After four years of silence on the issue, the Labor Department has released a swathe of new regulations governing child labor in the agriculture sector. Citing injury and fatality reports from recent years, labor officials state that the new rules were proposed in order to protect youths from activities that have proven to be exceedingly dangerous, says USA Today.

The Guaridan The Observer: Viola Caon left her Italian home to find work. Now she returns to see how her former classmates are faring… and in the week that shocking figures showed how badly Europe’s youth is being hit by the unemployment crisis, we also talk to hard-hit twentysomethings in Athens and Madrid . . .