Tag Archives: ADF: Benjamin Bull

Ben Bull at Christian Post: Speaking via video link to the Oslo Conference on Human Rights on April 15, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he is launching an international campaign to elevate the demands of sexually confused individuals over the demands of other individuals.

Ben Bull at Townhall: Some sentences are made of words while others are made of jail time. And home-schooling families focused on the former kind of sentences are increasingly finding themselves under the threat of the latter—even in America. For example, consider Uwe and Hannelore Romeike

Benjamin Bull at the Christian Post: Christians sometimes ask me, “Shouldn’t Christians, including Christian lawyers, try to avoid conflict, such as litigation in the courts, and spend their time on prayer and Christian fellowship and evangelism?”

Ben Bull at Townhall: The attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi brought to light that terrorism is on the rise in North Africa. But for African Christians this has been a reality for many years.

Benjamin Bull at Christian Post: On August 30, an Indian state High Court struck down a law requiring people who want to convert to Christianity to give a civil magistrate 30 days advance notice. Just how one provides advance notice of a future intent to convert is anyone’s guess, and was doubtlessly one of the reasons the Indian court struck this crazy law down.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Benjamin Bull adds the court was critical of the law, and he believes that ought to be the end of the matter. “Because the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s decision, it’s going to be extremely difficult for religious or political debate to be found in breach of Alberta’s human rights laws,” the attorney asserts.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: About five years ago, I had the privilege of making a presentation before the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a European intergovernmental organization established to protect, among other things, international “human rights.” While there, a prominent European atheist group also did a presentation claiming that churches across the world are violating the rights of atheists by excluding them from church membership. Of course, this was news to me. So I listened.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: Since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in January 1973, more than 55 million babies have been aborted in America. If a number like “55 million” is hard to grasp, think of it this way—if you added together the populations of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and San Francisco, you would only have about 26.1 million people—less than half the number aborted.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: As the effects of Christianity have steadily eroded, the tentacles of secularization (its proponents would call it an “enlightened” secularization) has taken hold. It is marked by egalitarianism and utopian fantasies, but especially tolerance. Tolerance for …

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: There is a movement underway in Europe to remove the tax exemptions churches have enjoyed for centuries. In Spain and Italy this attempt is being broadly pursued, while in Britain it is being done piecemeal.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: A brief glance to Britain’s past, and one can see that it was only after centuries of bloody battles and religious intolerance that freedom of religion was finally secured. However, just a few short years into the new era of “equality,” and that freedom is being eroded at an alarming rate.

Benjamin Bull at the Christian Post: Although universal in nature, religious liberty is not universal in practice the world over. And a law designed to prevent conversions to Christianity in India is exhibit A for the truth that, in some countries, religion is but one more aspect of life controlled by government or ruthless factions that fear no government.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: There is a growing so-called “children’s rights” movement that is attempting to hijack parental rights, and, as a result, prematurely end the life of ill children. A recent article in the Journal of Medical Ethics outlines the “suffering” and “torture” supposedly inflicted by parents who insist on continued medical treatment for their sick children.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: To recap: The top 10 states for business in the U.S. all define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, while two states that have redefined marriage, New York and Massachusetts, rank 28 and 34 in the country as far as business goes (Washington already surpasses them both by coming in at number 21). Why should the citizens of Washington aspire to be less business friendly while also sacrificing the sanctity of marriage? It certainly doesn’t make economic sense.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: Last week, the British Columbia Supreme Court emulated the state of Oregon’s assisted suicide law via a decision inCarter v. AG Canada, which “carves exceptions into the laws allowing Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Canada.”

ProLifeBlogs: “This is nothing less than a crime against humanity. Every innocent life deserves to be protected, and no woman deserves this type of barbaric, dehumanizing treatment,” said ADF Director of Global Activities Benjamin Bull. “ADF calls upon our leaders in Washington to thoroughly condemn China’s practice of forced abortion and demand that it stop immediately. This is one event, but it is undoubtedly only one example of many more such forced abortions that occur in China.”

Gillian Kane at Religion Dispatches: The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), one of four World Congress of Families co-conveners, has been extremely active in “defending religious organizations and businesses that refuse to comply with the mandate and abandon their faith.” To date they have filed three lawsuits against the Obama administration . . . This, despite ADF Chief Council’s Benjamin Bull’s comment that “The Constitution is the only arbiter of American law. Allowing foreign or international law to determine the legitimacy of American law is completely unjustifiable and rife with dire consequences.” Presumably it is fine for activist American justices to cite international jurisprudence if it advances their religious agenda . . . Roger Kiska, an Ave Maria-trained lawyer, runs ADF’s European office. Located in Vienna, it’s a Eurail ride from both the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the European Court of Human rights in Strasbourg, where Kiska spends a great deal of time. Kiska is developing an allied attorney network dedicated to litigating European cases with the potential to impact ADF work in the United States. Kiska’s WCF presentation, “How to Fight Back against International Law,” included a four-point strategy that, while not revealing too many trade secrets, was notable for its venomous tone toward “humanists” and others who, he says, accuse Christians of demanding preferential treatment . . .

The Alliance Defense Fund is calling on U.S. political leaders to condemn the atrocity of forced abortion in China in the wake of graphic media reports that the government recently forced a woman seven months pregnant to have her baby aborted.

Benjamin Bull at American Thinker: Several days ago, I noted with interest that Danish journalist and historian Lars Hedegaard has been acquitted by a unanimous Dutch Supreme Court of charges that he violated Holland’s notorious “hate speech” laws. His crime? He made a public utterance that state prosecutors concluded was “denigrating” of Islam.

One News Now: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has made progress in defending the rights of Christians in India. . . . “No one should be targeted for violence, inhuman treatment and religious discrimination simply because of their Christian faith,” [Benjamin] Bull contends. “The legal efforts of ADF in India are all designed to ensure that the religious freedoms protected in India’s constitution are upheld. Aggressors should not be allowed to get away with persecution by either disregarding the law or by attempting to pass laws that conflict with the constitution.” [more]

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

Ben Bull at Townhall: Efforts are currently underway in Spain to criminally prosecute Catholic Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Plà of the diocese of Alcalá de Henares. It seems he had the audacity to deliver a homily from the Bible during a Good Friday mass extolling the virtues of the sinless life. And as bad as this was—reading aloud from the Bible on Good Friday and all—everything he did was acceptable until he included “homosexual behavior” as one of the sins to be avoided.

ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull at Townhall: Throughout the world, the moniker of “human rights” has long been a cloak for a number of so-called rights that cannot be justified in any other way . . . But the European Court of Human Rights recently bucked the trend by ruling that same-sex “marriages” will not be recognized under that subterfuge.

Reuters: “A law is not neutral if its object is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivations,” U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan wrote in issuing Friday’s injunction against the city . . . For the church: Jordan Lorence, Benjamin Bull and Joseph Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund.

ADF Attorney Ben Bull appeared on Focal Point with Bryan Fischer. | MP3 audio 12:09 mins

ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull at Townhall : On Dec. 6, the White House released a memorandum instructing the heads of U.S. executive departments and agencies abroad to join in the “struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons” around the world . . . Yet while he’s doing his best to appeal to that group, Christians around the world continue to be persecuted—to be hunted like animals, then tortured and killed when captured—yet we are still awaiting a serious White House memorandum on their behalf.

World Congress of Families VI (2012) Takes Shape at Madrid Planning Committee Meeting: The following participated in the International Planning Committee Meeting for World Congress of Families VI: Ignacio Arsuaga — HazteOir.org, (Spain) and head of the local organizing committee for WCF VI, Lola Velarde — Institute for Family Policies (Spain), Christine Vollmer — Alliance for the Family (Venezuela), Natalia Yakunina — Sanctity of Motherhood Foundation (Russia), Larry Jacobs — WCF Managing Director, Don Feder — WCF Communications Director, Geert-Jan Poker — Familyfacts.nl (Netherlands), Lech and Ewa Kowalewski — Human Life International (Poland), Fr. Jaroslaw Szymczak — Institute for Family Studies (Poland), Silvio Dalle Valle — Association for the Defense of Christian Values (Italy), Austin Ruse — Catholic Family and Human Rights Foundation, Bev Adair — Family First New Zealand, Mary-Louise Fowler — Australian Family Association, Peter Westmore — National Civic Council (Australia), Alexey Komov — WCF Representatiive in Russia and CIS, Benjamin Bull — Alliance Defense Fund, Dorothy Patterson — Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mary Ellen Smoot — Women’s Relief Society, Janice and Gil Crouse — Concerned Women for America, Roberta Kraft — Windway Foundation, Susan Roylance — Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society, Chris and Christine Carmouche — GrassTopsUSA, and Preston Noell — Tradition, Family & Property.

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).

ADF Executive Vice-President and Executive Director of ADF-Global Benjamin W. Bull writing at The Christian Post / Advancing Religious Liberty: “The Alliance of Romania’s Families has launched the Timisoara Declaration. (Scroll down their page to see the English version.) Inspired by similar actions taken by U.S., U.K., and Australian Christians which have resulted in the Manhattan Declaration, Westminster Declaration, and the Canberra Declaration, ARF has drafted a similar declaration of its own. The declaration was drafted by prominent Christian leaders and intellectuals of Romania’s Christian community.”

LifeSiteNews: “‘No person – anywhere – should be punished simply for holding to Christian beliefs. Receiving special consultative status at the U.N. is a major advancement for ADF and our global legal efforts to protect and preserve religious freedom,’ said ADF Director of Global Activities and Strategic Alliances [Benjamin Bull].”

Special consultative status will allow ADF to monitor, shape issues affecting religious freedom

Benjamin W. Bull, serves with Alliance Defending Freedom as chief counsel, executive vice-president, and executive director of ADF-Global. He oversees all global activities for Alliance Defending Freedom primarily from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A., and currently practices exclusively in the areas of international human rights and American constitutional law. As executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom-Global, Bull coordinates efforts to proactively stop harmful legal precedents abroad before they can adversely impact U.S. courts. He joined Alliance Defending Freedom in 2001 and is an active member of the bars of Arizona, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Bull has practiced law since 1975 and obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina Law Center.

WorldNetDaily: “Benjamin Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, agreed with the damage assessment. ‘Homosexuals got exactly what they wanted. In the marketplace of ideas, one side has now been censored,’ he said. ‘This [situation] is exactly what homosexual activists have in mind.’”

WorldNetDaily: “Gerald Chipeur, an ADF-allied attorney who argued the case before the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta this fall, said, ‘There is no place for thought control in a free and democratic society.’ He continued, ‘The tools of censorship should not be available to prohibit freedom of expression in Canada. There is no circumstance in a free society where limitations on political or religious debate can be justified.’”

Although we conclude the provision of the ordinance directly regulating Good News’ signs does not of itself violate the First Amendment, the district court did not address Good News’ claim that the ordinance unfairly discriminates among forms of noncommercial speech

Freedom From Religion Foundation, represented by Michael Newdow, sued two NH public school districts and Congress on behalf of several parents and students who objected to the voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

Ben Bull, ADF Chief Counsel and Director of Global Activities, appeared on TruNews with Rick Wiles to discuss efforts in Canada to muzzle a pastor through “hate crime” allegations, because he spoke against homosexual behavior.

The MP3 runs just over 16 minutes.

Related ADF Media

OneNewsNow: “Members meeting in Amsterdam at the World Congress of Families have heard about the homosexual legal agenda’s threat to religious liberty as a part of its drive toward same-sex ‘marriage.’ The comments came from attorney Ben Bull of the Alliance Defense Fund . . . ‘There’s a freight train coming and it’s heading right towards Christians, and it’s called the homosexual legal agenda — and it will run right over our constitutional rights unless we’re heard loud and clear,’ he added.”

“Alliance Defense Fund Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull will be available for media interviews during his participation Wednesday in an international gathering of pro-family advocates, leaders, scholars, and parliamentarians Aug. 10-12 in Amsterdam. The Alliance Defense Fund is a partnership level member of the biennial event, named World Congress of Families V, whose participants have undergone threats and intimidation in the days leading up to the event.”

Austin Ruse reports at LifeNews: The roster for Amsterdam will include a who’s who of pro-life and pro-family leaders, including Wanda Franz of National Right to Life, Gwen Landolt of Real Women of Canada, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, and Benjamin Bull of the Alliance Defense Fund. The King of Ghana will also speak. [C-FAM is an event sponsor and Austin Ruse is on the planning committee and a speaker at the congress.]

Robert M. Engstrom writing at Human Events: “Bull said government law cannot even determine exactly when a person becomes a candidate, but the IRS will judge the use of ‘code words’ in pulpit speech and recognize transgressions of the tax-exempt regulations when they see it. Nobody knows what is legal or is not, and a pastor’s intent is irrelevant. A sermon could accidently transgress the law, incurring IRS punishment.”

CBN News video coverage of the National Press Club pulpit free speech debate featuring Ben Bull.

Today’s debate will cover whether the Johnson Amendment’s prohibition on pastors addressing their congregations from the pulpit regarding political candidates and campaigns is constitutional.

“Pulpit Freedom” debate with Barry Lynn, Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Professor Donald Tobin, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; and Professor Douglas Laycock, University of Michigan School of Law

Townhall has posted this announcement about the upcoming debate being co-sponsored by ADF and the Federalist Society.

Federalist Society: This event is co-sponsored by The Alliance Defense Fund . . . Our panel will examine the application of the Johnson Amendment to religious ministers in their preaching duties during worship services. Does the Johnson Amendment constrain clergy from effectively imparting messages integral to their faith, or is it an appropriate safeguard to ensure that churches and government limit their respective activities?
Panelists:
Benjamin W. Bull, Chief Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund
Professor Douglas Laycock, Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law, The University of Michigan Law School
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Executive Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Professor Donald B. Tobin, Associate Dean for Faculty, The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law
Moderator: Steffen N. Johnson, Esq., Winston & Strawn LLP

Christian Post: “Americans shouldn’t be forced to abandon their religious heritage simply to appease someone’s political agenda,’ said Alliance Defense Fund chief counsel Benjamin Bull. “The U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that public prayer is ‘deeply embedded in the history and tradition of this country,’” he continued. “The National Day of Prayer has been a part of that. That is why ADF attorneys stand ready to defend the right of millions of Americans who wish to join together in prayer on May 1 without fear of legal attack from those who seek to silence their constitutional right to pray.”

New ADF effort will coordinate religious liberty litigation across Europe

A dissenting synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church that had its legal personality stripped and its property seized by the socialist government of Bulgaria has won a decisive victory at the European Court of Human Rights.

ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull: “We’re in big trouble in this country if a high school football coach can’t even show respect during the prayer of his players . . . ”

Three pro-life organizations filed a brief Friday with the European Court of Human Rights in defense of Ireland’s ban on abortion. In September, the court granted the Family Research Council, represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys, the opportunity to defend the ban jointly with two other pro-life organizations.

“ADF is ready to go to court to fight a vast number of leftist policies promised by the new administration and Congress,” said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull.

“Before the next presidential term is over, four of the current Supreme Court justices will have reached their 75th birthday,” he said. “Vacancies are highly likely.”

The Alliance Defense Fund has been actively involved in several recent international legal situations to protect families worldwide and protect America from the effects of poor international legal decisions.

Michelle Vu has this report in The Christian Post on yesterday’s FRC panel discussion of Same Sex “Marriage and Religious Freedom. It carries a photo of ADF’s Chief Counsel and quotes him: “What is the problem with the California same-sex …

OneNewsNow.com reports on a recent FRC panel on the topic of Same-sex “Marriage” and Religious Freedoms: But Benjamin Bull, chief counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), said the homosexual activists who pressured the court to legalize homosexual marriage believe …

FRC has released this press release on the Christian Newswire: Thursday, July 10, at 10:00 am, Family Research Council will release the results of a commissioned national survey showing the political impact of marriage protection amendments on the November ballot …

Thursday, July 10, at 10:00 am: Family Research Council will host a panel discussion on the California Supreme Court marriage ruling and the threat posed to First Amendment rights and religious liberty protections.  The panel of legal and policy experts …

. . . “Americans shouldn’t be forced to abandon their religious heritage simply to appease someone’s political agenda,” said Alliance Defense Fund chief counsel Benjamin Bull.

Christian conservatives have a very good chance of seeing Roe v. Wade overturned if a pro-life president wins the White House this fall, two attorneys prominent in pro-family legal battles said March 10.

Ben Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund: “Because it is a witch hunt and they will not stop with these handful of ministries. This is only the beginning.” . . .

“At the hearing, ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy will defend California marriage laws that recognize marriage as a union between one man and one woman only.”

Beaverton attorney Herbert Grey leads two charges for conservative values in recent weeks