Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 18 October 2021

Islamic State claims mosque bombing in south Afghanistan
(Associated Press)

Japan’s premier sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine
(Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press)

Catholic Charities to issue Fort Wayne community ID cards
(Associated Press)

Afghan Taliban’s victory boosts Pakistan’s radicals
(Kathy Gannon, Associated Press)

Rights watchdog faults Malta for abortion, journalist safety
(Kevin Schembri Orland, Associated Press)

Articles of interest - 18 October 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Military, federal employees and civilian contractors sue Biden [vaccine exemptions]
(Liberty Counsel)

Americans United and Lambda Legal sue U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services for funding LGBTQ discrimination in refugee foster care program
(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)

Justice Department asks Supreme Court to reinstate District Court's injunction against Texas abortion law
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Scientologist acknowledges 30th Anniversary of ODIHR while exposing religious hatred by Germany
(Robert Johnson, The European Times)

Creating a faith freedom nation
(Amanda Tyler, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

Holding them to their word: ‘Meatpacking America’
(Maia Silber, Commonweal)

Germany marks 80th anniversary of first Jewish deportations
(Deutsche Welle)

Ukraine Jews find cause to celebrate despite country’s challenges
(Larry Luxner, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Riding with pride: How a Manitoba motorcycle club is changing perceptions of the Sikh faith
(Prabhjot Singh Lotey, CBC News)

Police kept priest from saying Last Rites for stabbed politician. News story? (Yes, in UK)
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

Progressive Catholic cardinal of Washington, D.C., pours praise on America's embattled press
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

Nazir-Ali's move to Catholicism seen as 'significant' in 'evangelical resistance' to secular Anglican progressivism
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)

CCTV use by churches
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Law and religion round-up – 17th October
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Ex-VP Mike Pence backs football coach blocked from praying on 50-yard line in Supreme Court case
(Alex Swoyer, Washington Times)

Jordan: Radio series on a coherent life inspires hope and action
(Bahá’í World News Service)

Centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing: Artistic works mark historic occasion
(Bahá’í World News Service)

Religious extremists in South Asia are a threat to regional stability – OpEd
(Habib Siddiqui, Eurasia Review)

“Religion can be a force for de-escalating tensions and improving understanding”
(KAICIID Dialogue Centre)

Poland sees significant drop in seminary admissions
(Malo Tresca, La Croix International)

Don't leave the poor behind, pope asks of governments, politicians
(La Croix International)

Legal Journal Number 1 (17): October 2021 (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)

In Hungary’s heartland, Orban faces a unified challenge to his rule
(Andrew Higgins and Benjamin Novak, The New York Times)

Social distancing at Mecca’s Grand Mosque dropped
(Al Jazeera)

When Indonesia's blasphemy law turns blasphemous
(Siktus Harson, Union of Catholic Asian News)

The rise of the religious “nones" (podcast)
(Mark Bauerlein, First Things)

Nigerian governor: Religion shouldn't be causing violence
(Nigerian Eye)

Sunday, 17 October 2021

VIRTUAL EVENT, 17-18 October 2021: Parliament of the World's Religions
(Parliament of the World's Religions)

Friday, 15 October 2021

China crackdown on Apple store hits holy book apps, Audible
(Matt O'Brien, Associated Press)

Berlin 1936. Beijing 2022. Must China's Uighurs play the role Jews did in Hitler Olympics?
(Ira Rifkin, GetReligion)

Religion and the G-20: With faith, we can move mountains
(Ronald A. Rasband, The Hill - Opinion)

APPLICATIONS OPEN (deadline 15 October 2021): Global Ecumenical Theological Institute 2022: “Christ’s Love (Re)moves Borders”
(World Council of Churches)

There are no opposing views of the Holocaust
(Jeffrey Salkin, RNS Column: Martini Judaism)

WEBINAR, 15 October 2021 (12:30PM EDT): The Body and Religiously Motivated Social Action: A Global Look at Religion and Political Transformation
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Afghanistan: Suicide attack hits Kandahar mosque during prayers
(BBC News)

USCIRF strongly condemns terrorist attacks on Shi’a mosques in Afghanistan
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

‘A living hell’: Churches, clergy targeted by Myanmar military
(Nu Nu Lusan and Emily Fishbein, Al Jazeera)

Tajikistan’s inhumane treatment of religious prisoner indicative of deteriorating religious freedom conditions
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Sir David Amess: Conservative MP stabbed to death
(Joseph Lee, BBC News)

UK: Oxford University spoke out against violent removal of pro-life stand at students fair
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)

High Court rules out 28 identical divorce petitions
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Scotland: LGBT activists get word ‘mother’ axed from government policies
(Marc Horne, The Times)

Protecting LGBT staff at Jaguar Land Rover from harassment
(Equality and Human Rights Commission)

Saying goodbye to the transgender debate
(Helen Dale, Law & Liberty)

Chile: Protestant and Catholic churches destroyed in arson attacks
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Mexico: family from indigenous community ejected from their home for planting a church
(Zara Sarvarian, Open Doors UK)

Serbian lawyer becomes Balkans' first winner of UNHCR refugee award
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

The sleeper SCOTUS case that threatens the separation of church and state
(Kimberly Wehle, The Atlantic)

Law, religion, and the covid crisis
(Mark Movsesian)

Russia: A 29th Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to a prison term in 2021
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Russia: Freedom of religion or belief Special bimonthly FORB digest (01-15.10.2021)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

A Ukrainian blogger under threat of extradition in the EU
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Stafford County settles federal discrimination lawsuit, allows Muslim cemetery in Fredericksburg
(Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)

EVENT, 17 October 2021 (2PM ET): Lecture for the Order of Malta: “Understanding the Right to Religious Freedom Under the U.S. Constitution”
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)

Belgium: Arson at St. Remy's church
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)

Italy: Church in Badia vandalised multiple times
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)

Ireland: Desecration of graves at St. Mary's church in Wexford
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe)

Protests erupt in Bangladesh amid Muslim-Hindu tensions
(Associated Press)

France pays tribute to teacher beheaded by radical Islamist
(Associated Press)

Hungary’s ‘last’ Roma fortuneteller preserves traditions
(Justin Spike, Associated Press)

Lawsuit dropped after Muslim cemetery in Virginia approved
(Associated Press)

Mali’s Timbuktu fears jihadis as France reduces troops
(Baba Ahmed, Associated Press)

Michigan inmates win right to kosher meat, cheesecake
(Ed White, Associated Press)

Dismissal of civil action on grounds of Holy See’s jurisdictional immunity did not violate Convention
(European Court of Human Rights)

Wyoming Supreme Court rejects nun's claim that she was engaged in ritual of mortification
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

NY court grants preliminary injunction for health care workers
(Liberty Counsel)

6th Circuit: RLUIPA requires more than vegan Sabbath and holiday meals for Jewish inmates
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Connecticut pro-life pregnancy center fights to protect free speech
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

California pro-life group files suit after governor signs censorship zone bill
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

Maine's vaccine mandate without religious exemption upheld
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Religious protections don’t apply to Falun Gong protest sites
(Emilee Larkin, Courthouse News Service)

Supreme Court denies cert. in case alleging religious belief discrimination
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

The Montenegrin Metropolitanate made a statement on the relationship of President Dzhukanovich to the church
(The European Times)

U.S. bishops say 100 acts of anti-Catholic vandalism since May 2020
(John Lavenburg, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

In Brazil, archbishop criticizes Bolsonaro’s pro-gun stance
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Hindu nationalist object to renaming park at Catholic college for Father Stan Swamy
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Regional bishops to Eswatini: Start talking!
(Catholic News Service)

Honduran bishops: Don’t vote for candidates backed by drug money
(David Agren, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

German bishops praise outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel
(Catholic News Service)

Pakistan: New religious body draws ire from rights activists
(S Khan, Deutsche Welle)

Coalition writes to Pakistan PM on forced conversions
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

‘Holocaust was a scam’ projected on Swedish synagogue during international antisemitism conference
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

New Yorkers with Sephardic roots say Spain is breaking its promise of citizenship
(Julia Gergely, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Jewish groups should stop distorting religious liberty when debating abortion
(Mitchell Rocklin and Howard Slugh, Jewish Link)

Religious summit on Karabakh settlement is on in Moscow
(Interfax-Religion)

Patriarch Kirill hopes Armenia, Azerbaijan religious leaders can influence minds of conflicting parties in Karabakh
(Interfax-Religion)

Egypt’s president promotes religious choice during human rights rollout
(Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)

CEC contributes European perspectives to WCC health and healing consultation
(Conference of European Churches)

After criticism, Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church repaying $4.4 million in PPP loans
(Anne Stych, Religion Unplugged)

New poll reveals how much we presume about Muslim Americans’ politics
(Simran Jeet Singh, RNS Column: Articles of Faith)

Religion Watch, Volume 36 No. 11
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)

Thursday, 14 October 2021

WEBINAR, 14 October 2021 (9AM MST): Cultural Heritage in Law and Diplomacy: A Roundtable Conversation
(Fletcher Initiative On Religion, Law & Diplomacy)

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

WEBINAR, 13 October 2021 (2PM ET): USCIRF Conversation: New Report on Uzbekistan’s Religious Prisoners
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

The pandemic has helped religion’s reputation. Do religious vaccine resisters put this progress at risk?
(Kelsey Dallas, Religion News Service)

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