Category Archives: Featured

Christian Concern: The conference had originally been booked at the Law Society but had to be moved after the organisation cancelled the booking on the grounds that it did not fit with its diversity policy. It was then re-booked at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster. However, Christian Concern was contacted late on Tuesday afternoon – the day before the conference – and told that the event had been deemed inappropriate for the conference centre as it did not fit with the values of the government agency that runs the facility.

Christian Concern: Christian doctors and a Catholic Bishop have suggested that the draft guidance, entitled “Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice”, could significantly undermine freedom of belief for Christian doctors.

Ben J. Wattenberg at the Wall Street Journal (via Google): Birth rates are dropping all over the world, often below replacement rates. But not in the U.S . . . Every other major modern nation and every developing country has low or falling birth rates. Japan and Poland see 1.3 children per woman, Brazil and China 1.9, Pakistan 3.6 (down from 6.6 three decades ago). American fertility rates are relatively high, at nearly 2.1.

Benjamin Wiker at Catholic World Report: Gay marriage and homosexuality were part of the moral landscape faced by the first Christians in Ancient Rome . . . We can see, then, that Christians face nothing new in regard to the push for gay marriage. In fact, it is something quite old, and represents a return to the pagan views of sexuality that dominated the Roman Empire into which Christianity was born.

The HIll: Two female soldiers filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to end the ban on women in combat. Command Sgt. Maj. Jane Baldwin and Col. Ellen Harding are suing to put an end to restrictions in combat positions “solely on the basis of sex.” Complaint: Baldwin v. Panetta, No. 1:12-cv-00832-RMC

LifeNews: A Senate committee voted today to permanently force Americans to fund groups that promote and perform abortions in other nations using taxpayer dollars.

Religion Clause Blog: In Appeal of Liberty Assembly of God, (NH Sup. Ct., May 22, 2012), the New Hampshire Supreme Court held that under state statutory law, space in a house of worship must be used and occupied directly for religious training or for other religious purposes in order to be tax exempt.

Christian Concern: The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) has this week informed a Christian counsellor that, following her appeal, she will still lose her senior accredited status, after she was tricked into provided counselling to a fake client who was secretly an undercover journalist.

AP: Hirsh, 22, contends the Oregon psychiatrist was practicing “conversion therapy” to change his sexual orientation. His experience is the subject of an ethics complaint filed this month by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which plans to take the same action in other states as part of a national campaign to stop therapists from trying to make gay people straight. | Southern Poverty Law Center press release and complaint

Wesley J. Smith at LifeNews: Alas, there is an ill-advised bill in the New Jersey Legislature to legalize commercial surrogacy.

Greg Stohr at Bloomberg: When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the justices said next to nothing about racial equality, the ideal that drove the landmark law’s enactment. Instead, the court cited the constitutional clause that lets Congress regulate interstate commerce, saying the law barred discrimination at hotels and restaurants used by travelers moving across state lines.

Politico: The percentage of Americans who identify themselves as “pro-choice” is at the lowest point ever measured by Gallup, according to a new survey released Wednesday. A record-low 41 percent now identify themselves as “pro-choice” . . .

Politico: Quinnipac’s latest poll of the Sunshine State finds that 25 percent of voters say Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage makes them less likely to vote for him.

University says Christian student club will no longer be forced
to admit non-Christians as leaders, voting members

Christian Legal Society: Today Christian Legal Society joins a diverse group of religious and education groups, as well as two highly respected academic centers, to release a new publication Harassment, Bullying and Free Expression: Guidelines for Free and Safe Public Schools. After months of deliberation, seventeen organizations reached a commendable consensus for protecting freedom of expression while also punishing bullying and harassment . . .

Gallup: Eighty-two percent of U.S. Catholics say birth control is morally acceptable, nearing the 89% of all Americans and 90% of non-Catholics who agree. The level of acceptability on this issue is far greater than that of the other 17 issues Gallup asked about this year.

CBSNews (includes video): The spat between Catholic leaders and the Obama administration over its contraception policies is heating up again, with one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic leaders charging that the White House is “strangling” the church over the matter . . . “We’re like, wait a minute, when did the government get in the business of defining for us the extent of our ministry,” Dolan said.

The video is here: Acton Institute Power Blog

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defense Fund President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears to express support for 12 new lawsuits being filed by 41 Catholic dioceses against the Obama administration’s mandate that requires religious organizations to provide health care coverage for abortifacients, sterilization, and contraception . . .

LifeNews: Notre Dame, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and dozens of Catholic hospitals and organizations have filed a total of 12 lawsuits today against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Obama administration over the controversial HHS mandate.

Religion Clause Blog: In Durden v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, (T.C., May 17, 2012), the U.S. Tax Court denied a $25,171 tax deduction for contributions to the Nevertheless Community Church made in 2007 by David and Veronda Durden. While the taxpayers produced records of their contributions, including canceled checks, the IRS denied the deduction . . .

SCOTUS Blog: Case Information Page and Document Links _____________ SCOTUS Ruling here: Astrue v. Capato, No. 11-159 Eighteen months after her husband, Robert Capato, died of cancer, respondent Karen Capato gave birth to twins conceived through in vitro fertilization using …

Rosen lacks no shame in advocating the complete abolition of law.  He writes:

Charles Krauthammer at Orlando Sentinel: Problem is: It’s a howling contradiction to leave up to the states an issue Obama now says is a right. And beyond being intellectually untenable, Obama’s embrace of the more hard-line “rights” argument compels him logically to see believers in traditional marriage as purveyors of bigotry. Not a good place for a president to be in an evenly divided national debate that requires both sides to offer each other a modicum of respect.

Deseret News: The Utah law sought to make website operators or content providers liable for any material that the state deems harmful to minors.

Baltimore Sun: The Maryland Court of Appeals, in a unanimous ruling, said the state must recognize the out-of-state marriages when considering divorce petitions.

An Idaho elementary school has agreed to allow a student to perform sign language to a song in a talent show after originally prohibiting the performance because the principal said the song was “too religious.” The school district has also agreed to review the policy on which the original denial was based, though that policy is currently still on the books.

Greg Puppinck at Turtle Bay and Beyond: Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights published a judgment in the important case of Fernandez-Martínez c. Espagne (application no 56030/07), in which it concluded by six votes to one that “the choice of the bishop not to renew the contract of a teacher who is a married priest and activist of the Pro-Optional Celibacy Movement comes under the principle of religious freedom, as protected by the Convention.”

2nd Circuit says town should go outside its borders to search for non-Christians

Reuters: Joel Oster of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents Greece, said the town was prepared to appeal the case as far as the Supreme Court. “The court wants the town to be prayer monitors, to determine how many prayers in Jesus’ name are too many,” he said. That outcome violates the Establishment Clause, he said. Oster pointed to a 2008 ruling by the 11th Circuit in Pelphrey v. Cobb County, Georgia, upholding a county commission’s opening prayer policy.| Galloway v. Town of Greece, No. 10-3635-cv

CNSNews: The Obama administration “strongly objects” to provisions in a House defense authorization bill that would prohibit the use of military property for same-sex “marriage or marriage-like” ceremonies, and protect military chaplains from negative repercussions for refusing to act against their consciences, as, for example, in being ordered to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony.

Baptist Press: “Everybody thought they were taking a neutral stance. They did not indicate they were going to actively attack its constitutionality,” Dale Schowengerdt, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. ADF, a Christian legal group, has worked to defend the law . . . Technically, the Justice Department is involved only in lawsuits that challenge Section 3 of DOMA — the section that prevents the federal government from recognizing gay “marriage.” But the legal arguments the Justice Department is making easily could be applied to all of DOMA, including the section that protects states, Schowengerdt said. President Obama, meanwhile, is supporting a bill in Congress that would overturn all of DOMA.

Reuters: An appeals court on Wednesday revived a Florida teacher’s lawsuit against a Christian school that fired her after she admitted to conceiving a child before her marriage. | Hamilton v. Southland Christian School

NY Daily News: Boxer Manny Pacquiao comes out against same-sex marriage just after President Obama supports it “The charismatic fighter is a devout Catholic – and a Congressman in his homeland of the Philippines . . . The Pac-Man – …

LifeNews: Maine Governor Paul LePage has delighted pro-life advocates today by initially pushing for and now signing a state budget into law that de-funds Planned Parenthood. The abortion business stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result.

Politico: A week after President Barack Obama publicly proclaimed his support for same-sex marriage, a Senate panel easily passed a measure that would extend benefits to gay and lesbian partners of federal workers.

Delaware Online: A federal court has ruled Sussex County Council must stop reciting The Lord’s Prayer as each council meeting begins, a longstanding practice, because doing so bucks the Constitution’s rule against government establishment of religion. | Mullin v. Sussex County

Washington Post: Now, with a high stakes vote on a version of the measure set for later today, things could get a bit harder: A female Republican Senator is joining with Democrats to call on House Republicans to drop their opposition to the Democratic version of the bill, which extends protections to same sex couples.

“We hope this ruling will remind corporate America that it’s simply bad business to force employees to check their faith at the door,” Craddock said.

Fox News (includes video): President Obama openly spoke of repealing the Defense of Marriage Act at a fundraiser Monday, as he defended his personal view that gay couples should have the right to marry.

KansasCity.com: Gov. Sam Brownback has signed into law a bill that will allow pharmacists to refuse to provide drugs they believe might cause an abortion . . .

STLToday.com: Gov. Pat Quinn stepped up his public support for gay marriage Monday, saying he’ll work with Illinois lawmakers to make it a reality without waiting for the courts to act first.

James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal: But in reading the coverage of Obama’s same-sex marriage announcement last week, we’ve been struck by how much even news reporters seem to have given up evenhandedness to propagandize on behalf of one side of a divisive social issue. The most interesting aspect of this propaganda is that it seeks to deliver two contrary messages: that Obama’s declaration was a great act of courage and that it entails no political risk.

9news.com (includes video): Emotions were high and arguments were heated on both sides of the civil unions debate Monday. But the bill to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples in Colorado died in committee, ending the chance for a change in the law – for now.

The American: Therefore, any strategy of waiting for demographics to realize the maximalist position of gay marriage advocates across the country looks to be, at the very least, a lengthy endeavor. States on the margins, like California and Washington, where initial bans commanded marginal majorities, might support gay marriage in the near future. But on a wider scale, movement on the issue, though real, is likely to be far too slow to bring about dramatic change nationally anytime soon . . . The gay marriage movement might have other reasons to be a little less optimistic. Young voters change their political views as they age, and the overwhelming liberal tendencies of college campuses are not reflected in the American electorate.

NECN: An Oklahoma law restricting the use of certain abortion-inducing drugs has been ruled unconstitutional by a district court judge, who said it violates “the fundamental rights of women to privacy and bodily integrity.” | Center for Reproductive Rights press release

Washington Post (AP): Rhode Island’s governor on Monday declared that the state will recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual ones when it comes to health insurance and a slew of other benefits.

Des Moines Register: Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins vows he won’t stand quietly by if opponents of same-sex marriage launch a potent campaign to oust him from the bench.

One News Now: The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled the governor’s proclamations for the Colorado Day of Prayer unconstitutional. But one constitutional expert hopes that decision will be appealed.

ADF attorneys file suit to challenge unconstitutional ban on free speech
at Italian festival

CNN: Pressed repeatedly about plans to move any legislation to restrict same-sex marriages, Boehner acknowledged some members are emphasizing the issue, but he immediately returned the conversation back to measures that would create jobs, making it clear the socially divisive issue was not a priority for him. Why did Boehner change the subject? A House Republican leadership source told CNN Republicans believe the issue of same-sex marriage splits the country, so it is a “wash politically.”

Janathan Adler at The Volokh Conspiracy: Yet if DOMA is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, then how could any state law barring recognition of same-sex marriages survive constitutional scrutiny? In other words, while the President says he believes that states should be allowed to reach “different conclusions at different times” on the question of same-sex marriage, the administration’s legal position is that a state’s refusal to treat opposite-sex and same-sex couples alike is unconstitutional. So while the President may say he’d like to leave this question to the states, that’s an option his administration has already taken off the table.

The Hill: The Democrats’ top leader in Congress said Thursday that the Democratic Party’s platform will soon include a plank calling for the legalization of gay marriage. “The president’s in favor of it, I’m sure it will be,” said Reid.

Jeffrey Lord at the American Spectator: On Tuesday North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. Within hours, leftist favorite Roseanne Barr was Twittering: “hollywood withdraw your productions from NC!” But the biggest production of all scheduled for North Carolina isn’t a Hollywood movie. It’s the Democratic National Convention — which will re-nominate the Obama-Biden ticket.

Steven Aden at Townhall: Case in point—the news that certain citizens in China, no doubt numbed to the evil of abortion by their country’s one-child policy, have literally begun to place the corpses of aborted children in refrigerators in homes. From there, the bodies are “taken to clinics where they are placed in medical drying microwaves.” In the microwaves, they are dried (cooked), and once their skin has become sufficiently dry it is ground into a powder which is used for quack “home remedies.”

Ryan T. Anderson and Thomas Messner at the Heritage Foundation: Sure, when running for Senate in 2004, Obama said that “marriage is between a man and a woman.” And when campaigning for the presidency in 2008, he restated that view and also claimed he did “not support gay marriage.” The truth, however, is that President Obama has repeatedly done and said things that directly undermine marriage as one man and one woman.

Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George & Sherif Girgis at National Review: At least President Obama is not dissembling anymore about his views on marriage. And even though we consider his support of redefining marriage a deep error, he has done the nation a favor by revealing the truth about his position. So did the vice president, days earlier, when he opined about “the simple proposition” that “this is all about” — “what all marriages, at their root, are about.” That is, the administration has created a long-awaited and much-needed platform for a national discussion of the core issue in the debate: What is marriage? Consider two competing views:

The Hill: President Obama on Wednesday endorsed gay marriage, becoming the first U.S. president to voice support for same sex couples to legally marry.

CNN’s Responses to Obama’s marriage announcement includes this: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus: “Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union …

The president has spoken eloquently about how fatherless homes often hurt children and society. Today’s statement is a tragic contradiction that promotes the creation of even more fatherless and motherless homes.

ABC: California may become the first state to ban “conversion” therapy for gay and lesbian teens if a bill, spearheaded by Democratic State Sen. Ted Lieu, passes on the senate floor. The bill passed its final committee vote Tuesday.

Charlotte Observer: With 90 percent of the counties reporting, the constitutional amendment to make marriage between a man and a woman the “only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized” won resoundingly, 61 percent to 39 percent.

“Once again we see that Americans are married to marriage, the fundamental building block of a healthy, thriving society. The people of North Carolina, like 31 states before them, recognized that marriage should be strengthened and protected from legal attacks. ADF applauds the people of North Carolina who’ve followed in the footsteps of diverse cultures and faiths, throughout history and across the globe, in upholding marriage as the ideal.”

Huffington Post:President Obama is expected to address gay marriage in an exclusive ABC News interview with Robin Roberts on Wednesday.

LA Times: Speaking from his office in Washington, D.C., Human Rights Campaign communications director Fred Sainz said the president’s expected comments could be the end to his “evolving” views on the issue. “I think the term ‘evolving’ implies constant motion with an end. I think at some point, the evolution has to end,” Sainz said. “I’m hopeful that it will be today.”

Washington Post: A review of Obama’s top bundlers–those who have brought in $500,000 or more for the campaign–shows that about one in six publicly identify themselves as gay. His overall list of bundlers also includes a number of gay couples who have wed in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage was legal.

Denver Post (includes video): Social conservatives who believed the bill would die in the GOP-controlled Judiciary Committee for the second year in a row were enraged and lobbied McNulty and House Majority Leader Amy Stephens to use every procedure to kill Senate Bill 2.

“No one should usurp the sovereign right of a nation to determine the best way to protect life. Costa Rica protects preborn life ‘from conception.’ The Inter-American system must not intrude upon an area of domestic policy that is solely Costa Rica’s to decide.”

Reuters: Viewing child pornography on the Internet without taking further action such as printing or saving files does not necessarily constitute possession, NewYork’s top court ruled on Tuesday. | People v. Kent

Charlotte Observer (includes video): Opponents of the marriage amendment on Tuesday’s ballot today announced that Clinton has recorded a robo-call message that will be going to North Carolinians. Here’s what he says . . .

BBC: The Welsh government has written to all Catholic schools in Wales to remind them to give a “balanced perspective” when discussing same-sex marriage.

Austin R. Nimocks at American Thinker: Question for Mr. Biden: can you look a child in the eye and tell him (or her) that you’re “absolutely comfortable” with depriving him of a mother or a father because you decided that he doesn’t need one?

San Francisco Chronicle: White House press secretary Jay Carney just told reporters to watch for President Obama to clarify his “evolving” position on same sex marriage . . . Look for a statement no later than Obama’s New York City fundraiser with Ricky Martin May 14, targeting the gay community . . .

Politico: Perdue told MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” host Chuck Todd that she considers her state’s vote on Tuesday “our Rosa Parks moment in North Carolina because it’s about taking away civil rights.”

Religion Clause Blog: NECN News reported yesterday that federal district judge Michael Urbanski sent the case into mediation, suggesting that the parties consider whether the display could be modified by leaving out the four Commandments that mention God.

Successes in challenge to anti-conversion law, convictions against persecutors of Christians