Law and Religion Headlines

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Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Atheists win settlement after suing Christian nationalist lawmaker
(American Atheists)

Think the Supreme Court solved school prayer conflict? Think again
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

Report: Nonreligious LGBTQ people face heightened stigma, conceal their beliefs
(Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service)

Interfaith summit dreams of America as a potluck, not a battlefield
(Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)

Thailand’s restive south hit by wave of arson and bombings
(Sumeth Panpetch, Associated Press)

Nigerian Court of Appeals upholds sharia law in high profile blasphemy case
(International Christian Concern)

Nigeria's sharia blasphemy law not unconstitutional, court rules
(Reuters)

Nigeria: New cardinal says he is worried about ‘survival of Christianity’ in Nigeria
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Why politics may not be the magic bullet in terms of refilling the pews
(John L. Allen Jr., Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Nicaragua: Bianca Jagger says Nicaraguan regime has ‘declared war’ on Catholic Church
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Germany: Scholz reaction to Abbas' Holocaust remarks draws criticism
(Deutsche Welle)

Turkey, Israel to restore full diplomatic relations
(Al Jazeera)

Abortion and liberal Protestant decline
(Mark Tooley, World)

Salman Rushdie has been a seer, presaging our age of violent religious extremism
(Paul Elie, Vanity Fair)

Is America's religion cup half-empty or half-full? Two new takes on the omnipresent 'nones'
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)

Spanish Catholic church to investigate antisemitic rituals
(Stephen Burgen, The Guardian)

Carson v. Makin and the blossoming of religious freedom in education
(Charles J. Russo, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

South African Catholic bishops take a stand against inequality
(La Croix International)

Cairo blaze highlights problem of unsafe makeshift churches
(Bahira Amin, Al-Monitor)

Egypt’s deadly church fire sparks global outpouring of sorrow and sympathy
(Arab News)

WCC mourns loss of lives in Egypt church fire
(World Council of Churches)

Egypt: Ethiopian Catholic Church mourns with Coptic Orthodox after blaze kills 41 people including 15 children
(Paschal Norbert, Catholic Information Service for Africa)

Condolences offered after Coptic Church fire in Egypt
(Newsroom: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Statement of condolences following fire at Abu Sefein Church
(Twitter, Muslim World League)

Egypt: The suffering of the saints
(Samuel Tadros, Hudson Institute)

Egypt: A boom, a fire and a stampede: Dozens die at a Coptic Church in Egypt
(Nada Rashwan, Euan Ward, Liam Stack and Yonette Joseph, The New York Times)

Reclaiming a positive vision of liberty
(George McKenna, First Things)

Statement by the Big Four and their prayer: Zaporizhzhia
(Parliament of the World's Religions)

Haiti: Religious coalition seeks UN help for Haiti
(Catholic News Service)

China: Special bimonthly FORB newsletter (1-15.08.2022)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

China: Police in China's Chengdu raid Sunday meeting of banned church members, detain one
(Gu Ting, Radio Free Asia)

Uyghur rights groups file criminal case in Argentina against China
(Alim Seytoff and Jewlan, Radio Free Asia)

India: Eleven convicted of gang-rape of pregnant Muslim woman released from jail
(ne, The New Arab)

Indian state imposes 10 years in jail for ‘forced conversions’
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

India denies it will provide homes to Rohingya in capital
(Al Jazeera)

An Indian politician ended up in the hospital after drinking water from a polluted holy river to show it was safe
(Mia Jankowicz, Business Insider)

WCC climate work looks to unite a global voice on climate change, justice, food, and health
(World Council of Churches)

New theological reflections available in preparation for World Week of Peace in Palestine and Israel
(World Council of Churches)

Russia: Protestant churches targeted by repression
(SOVA Center for News and Analysis, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Russia: Ata Zholy: Crackdown on a Kazakh Islamic religious movement in Russia
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

Russia: Special bimonthly FORB newsletter (01-15.08.2022)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Ukraine war: Thousands of Jews quit Russia amid fears of persecution
(Aleem Maqbool, BBC News)

Religious speech on or with government property
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)

No immediate appeal of denial of church autonomy defense in intra-church libel case
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Religious schools needn't follow new Title IX gender guidance to stay in school lunch program
(Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason)

The increasingly dangerous variants of the "most-favored-nation" theory of religious liberty, Part II: The origins of MFN
(Andrew Koppelman, The Volokh Conspiracy)

The increasingly dangerous variants of the "most-favored-nation" theory of religious liberty, Part III: Misconstruing the state interest
(Andrew Koppelman, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Swiss church target of vandalism
(Christian Network Europe)

Psychedelics as a sacrament? Lawsuit says drugs are a religious right.
(Julian Mark, The Washington Post)

‘In God We Trust' signs going up in Carroll ISD schools
(Julie Fine, NBC DFW)

On Poland trip, students reflect on religion, international law, and atrocities
(Josh Stowe, University of Notre Dame)

Brazil: Lula and Bolsonaro trade religious barbs in battle for evangelical vote
(Marina Lopes, The Washington Post)

Sri Lanka: How religious groups should respond to Sri Lanka’s crisis
(Rebecca L. Root, Devex)

Pakistan: International Human Rights Committee record yet another brutal murder of an Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan as Naseer Ahmad was savagely stabbed to death at the main bus stop in Rabwah
(David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool)

Weekly Highlight #217: COVID-19: Exploring faith dimensions: Assessing the varied and shifting impacts of the COVID-19 crisis
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)

Why Pew Research Center typically can’t report the views of smaller U.S. religious groups
(Besheer Mohamed, Pew Research Center)

Tuesday, 16 August 2022

Campus activists call for the murder of Jews
(Jewish News Syndicate)

Monday, 15 August 2022

Kennedy v. Bremerton: The wall separating church and state just got a little shorter
(Brett A. Geier, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

The increasingly dangerous variants of the "most-favored-nation" theory of religious liberty, Part I: The new law of free exercise
(Andrew Koppelman, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Kazakhstan: Evolution of Islam in Kazakhstan: How modern Kazakh Muslims balance their religious identity, the Soviet legacy and national traditions
(Aibarshyn Akhmetkali, The Astana Times)

Religion and the wrong defense of abortion rights
(Andrew Koppelman, The Hill)

Interfaith Advisory Board, partners host successful seal and expungement event
(Miami's Community News)

Turkey: Erdogan’s visit to an Alevi temple angered the large Sunni community
(The European Times)

Faced with a rise of extremism within its ranks, the US military has clamped down on racist speech, including retweets and likes
(Dwight Stirling, The Conversation)

White House appoints Va. mosque leader to religious freedom commission
(Adelle M. Banks, The Washington Post)

Qamar Rafiq writes that the London “FoRB Summit emerged as an indispensable global effort to give a voice to the planet’s most vulnerable.”
(David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool)

Letter to the UK Foreign Secretary on Bahá'ís in Iran
(Twitter, Ruth Jones)

Iran denies involvement but justifies Salman Rushdie attack
(Jon Gambrell, Associated Press)

Kenya: A call to calm, patience, and peace
(National Council of Churches of Kenya)

Around the web - 15 August 2022
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)

Did Hamas win Israel-Islamic Jihad war in Gaza?
(Al-Monitor)

Establishing a successful faith-based ERG
(Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)

Egypt: Al-Azhar extends condolences over deadly church fire in Egypt
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))

Egypt: Safety concerns after deadly fire rips through Egypt church
(Samy Magdy, Associated Press)

Clergy, social workers fear fallout from Okla. abortion laws
(Sean Murphy, Associated Press)

New Zealand river’s personhood status offers hope to Māori
(Nick Perry, Associated Press)

Nicaraguans celebrate Mass peacefully after procession ban
(Gabriela Selser, Associated Press)

Nicaragua: Ortega regime prevents Marian image from being displayed in diocese
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Tension between Nicaragua and the Catholic Church
(Gabriela Selser and María Teresa Hernández, Associated Press)

USDA clarifies Title IX religious institution exemption
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

In response to ADF lawsuit, USDA agrees to automatically respect Title IX exemptions for all religious schools
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

Articles of interest - 15 August 2022
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Cameroon’s bishops object to new law allowing for artificial conception
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

The Atlantic: Rosaries are worse than firebombings
(Dan McLaughlin, National Review)

LGBT activism in sports is increasingly forcing Christians off the field
(Joseph D'Hippolito, The Federalist)

Justice Alito is living up to promises to supporters of his nomination
(Duncan Hosie, The Washington Post)

Russia: New registers of "extremist" people and literature
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)

Russia finally releases Danish Jehovah's Witness Christensen
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

Over 70% of Russians think authorities should be involved in promoting moral climate in society
(Interfax-Religion)

Ukrainian clergy say Russian occupiers target them with threats, violence
(Ian Lovett, The Wall Street Journal)

Thinking about missing pieces of Axios report on changes in Latino life, politics and, yes, faith
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

Book review: Islam's lessons for liberalism
(Jeffrey Bristol, Law & Liberty)

Two weeks in review, 1 August – 14 August
(Tal Gross, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Norwegian public broadcaster to show church services regularly
(Christian Network Europe)

Saudi Arabia ambassador meets with top church leaders
(Newsroom: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

The GOP’s sad embrace of Christian nationalism
(Juan Williams, The Hill)

Nigeria: What’s behind terrorist attacks on churches in Nigeria
(Oluwole Ojewale, The Conversation)

How a corporation can become religious without converting
(Keith Paul Bishop, The National Law Review)

Kosovo: Counter-petition launched against request to lift ban on religious dress in Kosovo schools
(Xhorxhina Bami, Balkan Insight)

Lebanon: Syriac Maronite Church stands firm against Hezbollah
(Richard Ghazal, Newsweek)

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