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The ADF Alliance Alert will not be published on Friday, May 25th and Monday, May 28th.

Huffington Post: A measure allowing same-sex civil unions passed its first legislative step in Brazil’s Congress, where it has lingered for 16 years.

Christian Post: “There has to be a wall institutionally between the government and the church or religious groups,” he said. “But many have taken that law of separation to think that it means separating religion from politics, which is precisely the opposite of what the Founding Fathers wanted.”

Christian Post: The U.S. Catholic Church will hold an event this summer called “Fortnight for Freedom” to bring attention to religious freedom issues. The Christian Post has learned that discussions are underway to include evangelical organizations with these events. Evangelical organizations have expressed solidarity with Catholic leaders who oppose the Obama administration’s birth control mandate, which, they argue, is a religious freedom issue.

Europe News: The first mosque and cultural center for Finland’s Shi’ites was inaugurated in the capital Helsinki earlier this week.

Penna Dexter at Baptist Press: This means that regardless of the referendum outcome in November, Maryland at least will recognize same-sex “marriages” from other states. Advocates of same sex “marriage” see this as a way to get the legal camel’s nose under the tent.

Baptist Press: The Southern Baptist Convention’s national strategist for gender issues has released a statement condemning the harsh language of two independent Baptist pastors from North Carolina whose remarks on homosexuals and gender identity have gone viral on the Interne

KFYI: An Arizona atheist organization wants the IRS to investigate the tax exempt status of the Center for Arizona Policy.

Baptist Press: Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, said pastors in particular should not be afraid to speak biblically from the pulpit without fear of reprisal, even when their opinion is contrary to that of President Obama. “The fact that the pastor may be responding to a comment from the president doesn’t make the biblical comments off-limits,” Stanley said. The ADF campaigns against U.S. law that prohibits pastors from using the pulpit to oppose political candidates. “At ADF, we believe that restriction is unconstitutional,” Stanley said. “Our point is that we should let the pastors and the churches of America debate what is wrong or right.”

Christian Science Monitor: State Department’s annual report on human rights around the world also notes the important role that technology, the Internet, and social media play in advancing individual freedoms.

The Post and Courier: For 15 years, he has consumed 1 ounce of sacramental wine during Mass without incident. Inmates partake only in the bread. But this week he lost a fight. Chief Deputy Mitch Lucas, the jail’s administrator, has told Lofton to replace the wine — brought to the jail in a TSA-approved container designed for holy water — with grape juice.

C-FAM: The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released an important new study looking at the growing and harmful medical phenomenon of “pre-term birth.”

ThisisKent: Prayers have been banned at council meetings – sparking a storm of protest. New chairman Dee Morris has chosen not to have a chaplain offer a blessing before Sevenoaks District Council meetings.

Canada Free Press: Seventeen churches have been forcibly closed in Indonesia’s Aceh province following last month’s election of a hard-line Islamic governor.

Chicago Tribune: Voters in the U.S. state of Missouri will decide on August 7 whether to approve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to pray in public places.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: A recent article in a medical journal in Mexico completely debunks the Guttmacher Institute numbers on “unsafe” abortions in several latin american countries.

XINHUANET: With most Chinese provinces experiencing a serious gender imbalance, a government official in charge of family planning has pledged the country will work hard to ameliorate the problem.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: They were inspired by the reports of the Club of Rome, a think tank that unites Heads of States, UN bureaucrats, diplomats, scientists and business leaders who claim they “share a common concern for the future of humanity and the planet.”

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.

Telegraph: I believe the PM and his inner circle still haven’t grasped the enormity of their mistake in pushing a change in the marriage law.

Christian Institute: David Cameron is to give Government ministers a free vote on plans to rewrite the definition of marriage following a wave of protest. The move is significant because, normally, ministers are expected to vote according to Government policy.

Telegraph: A judge on the island of Majorca ordered the unnamed gynaecologist to pay the mother 150,000 euros (£120,000) in “moral damages” for his negligence and a monthly maintenance of 978 euros (£780) until the child reaches its 26th birthday.

The State: State employees could pay higher health insurance premiums in order for the state health plan to continue to cover abortions in the case of rape or incest, according to a compromise reached in the S.C. Senate.

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.

Telegraph: Congressmen on the powerful Senate appropriations committee voted to cut $1 million from the $800 million annual budget for each of the 33 years that Dr Shakeel Afridi has been told he must serve in jail for working with a foreign intelligence agency.

Middletown Journal: Group buys ads targeting lawmakers. Faith 2 Action pushing Senate to act on ‘heartbeat’ bill.

The Church Report: The Alliance Defense Fund said Tuesday the suit had served its purpose by forcing the school to give the group called ‘Make Up Your Own Mind’ access to university facilities and funding like it does for other groups.

Washington Post: Second, we have seen the way abortion is used in the world to undermine the rights of women, whether it is forced abortion in China, gender-selective abortion worldwide or its concentration among poor and minority women. Abortion is increasingly hard to square with women’s empowerment when it is the single greatest contributor tipping the scale towards a world with fewer women.

Wall Street Journal: Hungary won’t allow abortion pills because they pose health risks, the country’s senior official responsible for healthcare issues said this week, sparking a new debate among the public, politicians and NGOs, some of who voiced concerns that the Hungarian government could go further and restrict or ban abortion.

Breitbart: The Obama Department of Justice has reportedly ordered the University of Arkansas at Ft. Smith (UAFS) to allow a male student to use women’s bathrooms on campus.

One News Now: A pro-family organization is drawing attention to Target for donating its sales in support of “gay marriage” laws.

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

LifeSiteNews: Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein has threatened to step down from his royal duties if a citizen-led initiative to limit his vetoing power proves successful

LifeSiteNews: The Colombian government has lost a battle in the country’s ultraliberal Constitutional Court to protect two Colombian children from adoption by an American homosexual activist.

LifeNews: Republican senators received a letter today urging them to not support David Hurwitz, President Obama’s pro-abortion nominee to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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

LifeNews: What do you do when you can’t counter the truth? Lie some more. This is the unoriginal strategy presented by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Planned Parenthood-funded SisterSong in an effort to thwart the recent impact of black prolifers.

The Hill: The House Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on Communications and Technology scheduled a hearing for next Thursday to examine international proposals to regulate the Internet.

NY Times: So long has the “Law of the Sea” treaty been stalled on Capitol Hill that its opponents — a handful of conservative Republicans who view it as an infringement on American sovereignty — have taken to calling it “LOST, ” an uncharitable, if apt, acronym.

Sacramento Bee: On Memorial Day – as Liberty Institute awaits a response from the U.S. Supreme Court over their appeal to save the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross from being torn down by atheist groups—the group will unveil a new music video, titled “Don’t Tear Me Down.” Beginning Monday, May 28, tune-in at www.DontTearMeDown.com.

Jackson Co. Times: In an effort which is being led by LaVon Pettis of Evangel Worship Center, many area churches are uniting in a stand to preserve religious liberties and traditions related to Baccalaureate services being part of the graduation process at public schools. T

Alan E. Sears at Townhall: In a country as great as the United States of America, where even in hard times we are surrounded by plenty, it’s easy to get comfortable. And in that lax condition, certain freedoms are taken for granted until they are overtly threatened.

Beaumont Enterprise: Jeremy D. Tedesco, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, is representing the boy and his family. Tedesco said the boy’s father, Michael Metcalf, is suing the district for a violation of his son’s constitutional rights.

OneNewsNow: Since then, ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco says the school has clarified its non-discrimination policy, which officials admitted to misinterpreting. “[They] essentially clarified that they have an exemption to their non-discrimination policy that allows all belief-based clubs, including religious clubs, to restrict their members and leaders to the beliefs of the group,” Tedesco details. “And that’s a good thing not only for the Make Up Your Own Mind group, but for all groups moving forward as well.”

LifeSiteNews: The Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act, an initiative of Republic State Representative Daryl Metcalfe and co-written by the Susan B. Anthony List and the Alliance Defense Fund, will place facilities that provide abortions at the bottom of a priority list for funding, allowing more money to go to health care providers that offer services for women such as dental care, mammograms, and treatments for anxiety disorders.

Catholic.org: The bill has been presented by state representative, Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and will put all abortion providers at the bottom of the state’s funding list. The bill is known as the Whole Women’s Health Funding Priority Act. The bill was co-authored by the Susan B. Anthony List and the Alliance Defense Fund.

Inquisitr.com: Metcalfe will introduce the Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act on Wednesday, a bill that would place abortion providing health care providers at the end of the priority list for state funding. The bill was co-written by anti-abortion activist group Susan B. Anthony List and the Alliance Defense Fund.

Ms. Magazine: According to the Huffington Post, the bill was co-written by the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List and Alliance Defense Fund.

InsideNova.com: Foreman also said the council needed to hear the input of Doug Anderson, a Woodbridge attorney affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund. The goal of the fund is to educate the public and government about constitutional rights, particularly freedom of religious expression.

NorthJersey.com: His nomination has yet to be heard, but already Democratic leaders have dismissed the first openly gay man picked for the Supreme Court, civil rights advocates are softening their support for him and Republicans are left struggling to prevent a second rejection of Governor Christie’s nominees.

Circuit Splits Blog: Assuming this trend continues and all other things being equal, a petitioner is more likely to read about the discovery of life on Mars by the end of the year than to read the words “certiorari granted” next to their case—at least according to a website that bills itself as “the world’s leading prediction market.”

AP: A leading French Muslim group says three mosques have been vandalized over the past week . . .

AP: Muslim leaders who have been demanding a formal investigation into the New York Police Department’s surveillance of businesses, mosques and Muslim student groups . . .

AP reports.

AP: An Ohio hospital has reached a proposed settlement of about $1 million with women who say an employee stuffed miscarried or stillborn fetuses into jars for years instead of medically disposing of them.

Judge Andrew Napolitano at Townhall: What if, on Memorial Day, we remember times that were more free than today? What if, on Memorial Day, when we think of those who died for our freedom, we end up recognizing that the freedom they died for is dying? What if it becomes fashionable for the government to ignore the Constitution? What if the Constitution dies because the government stops following it? What if, next Memorial Day, freedom is just a memory? What do we do about it?

Maggie Gallagher at Townhall: Elites are busy running from it, believing the fantasies spread by Human Rights Campaign and other gay marriage advocates that somehow an issue that garners the repeated majority support of Americans — in every state from North Carolina to California — is bad for the GOP. Elites are running from marriage — with one huge and notable exception: Rush Limbaugh.

Huffington Post: The University of Pennsylvania is implementing a new policy that will offer benefits to faculty and staff in same-sex partnerships who are forced to pay more in taxes on health coverage than heterosexual married couples.

Washington Times: Lavish governmental payrolls and gold-plated retirement packages are straining finances from coast to coast.

Rasmussen Reports: While most voters oppose this mandate, they also think it’s unlikely these Catholic institutions ultimately will shut down rather than implement the health care law.

Religion Clause Blog: The U.S House of Representatives last week passed, and sent to the Senate, HR 4310, the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (full text.)  The bill contains two provisions relating to same-sex unions and to broader issues of conscience rights in relation to gays and lesbians.  Section 536 of the bill provides in part:

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.

Religion Clause Blog: Plaintiff claimed that the Diocese terminated her employment in retaliation for her refusal to remain silent about the misuse of $50,000 raised by parents to purchase computer equipment for student use.

Chris Geidner at the Daily Beast: The calls for her retirement started last year—she’s nearly 80 and a two-time cancer survivor—but Ruth Bader Ginsburg isn’t going anywhere. Chris Geidner looks into the tricky world of politicking and the court.

May Kuykendall at NY Times: The Supreme Court, which will almost certainly have to take up the issue, should hold that while states may refuse to authorize same-sex marriages, they may not void — that is, refuse to recognize — gay marriages lawfully conducted in other states.

Charlotte Observer: Americans United asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Providence Road Baptist Church, whose pastor, Charles Worley, on May 13 delivered a sermon urging the congregation to vote against President Barack Obama. | AU press release and letter to the IRS | Freedom of Religion Foundation press release and letter

David French at Patheos: It’s that time again — the time when the younger evangelical generation surveys our damaged nation, observes the terrible reputation of leading evangelical “culture warriors” in the pop culture and with their peers, and says, “You guys blew it.  It’s time for a new approach, for a post-partisan approach.  We’re not in anyone’s political pocket.  We’re not focused on politics at all.”  You look at books’ like Jonathan Merritt’s A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Warsand think, “Finally someone is speaking to us.  We’re about Jesus — not about Republicans, not Democrats, just Jesus.”  Young, post-partisan evangelicals, this letter is for you.

Christian Newswire: At issue in Academy of Our Lady of Peace v. City of San Diego is the City’s refusal to approve the all-girls Catholic high school’s plan to modernize its campus and facilities, a step necessary to enable the continuation of a tradition inaugurated in 1882, of superior education for the region’s future female leaders.

LifeSiteNews: The Vatican is backing a petition campaign in the European Union that seeks a debate about enshrining personhood for the unborn from the moment of conception.

Baptist Press: A court has acquitted a Christian couple of blasphemy charges, overturning their life sentences. The couple’s lawyer, Chaudhry Naeem Shakir, told Compass Direct News that Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court accepted the couple’s appeal May 17 because prosecutors failed to prove allegations that 32-year-old Munir Masih and his wife Ruqayya defiled the Quran or insulted Muhammad on Dec. 8, 2008.

Mona Charen at National Review: A five-year-old child with large dark eyes, full lips, and a button nose stares out from the front page of the Washington Post Sunday edition. “Transgender at Five” declares the provocative headline. The child’s hair is being cut in a close, boy’s cut by her father.

Telegraph: Church of England bishops last night cleared the way for historic moves to allow women to become bishops – but with a last-minute olive branch to traditionalists.

ABC: Eight months after a repeal of the military’s “don’t ask , don’t tell” policy, the U.S. Air Force Academy today graduated its first group of openly gay cadets.