Law and Religion Headlines
Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Jews and Christians together
(Ian Speir, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy)
Iran: Eight Christians sentenced to combined 45 years in prison
(Article 18)
Required religious release policy for schools pushed at Ohio Statehouse hearing
(Natalie Fahmy, NBC 4i News)
Twenty-five years of bipartisan support for international religious freedom
(Abraham Cooper and Frederick A. Davie, The Washington Times)
Victory for Mark Janny, Colorado man jailed for refusing to attend Christian worship services while on parole
(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
Ten long years: Reflections on the Supreme Court ruling that promised much for Pakistan’s religious minorities
(Cecil Chaudhry, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
VIRTUAL EVENT, 18 June 2024 (9AM ET): Religious freedom and integral human development: a new global platform
(Atlantic Council)
Monday, 17 June 2024
Australia's Albanese, China's Li hold talks on trade, rights
(Kirsty Needham, Reuters)
Australia: Queensland government accused of cowing to Christian Lobby on anti-discrimination bill
(Ben Smee, The Guardian)
This Protestant church in Rome loses legal battle against tax authorities
(Chiara Lamberti, Christian Network Europe)
Readout of President Biden’s meeting with His Holiness Pope Francis
(The White House)
Steel calls for accountability for religious freedom violations in Vietnam
(Michelle Steel, U.S. House of Representatives)
India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Pope Francis and invites him to visit India
(Agenzia Fides)
India slowly expands protections for ostracized interfaith, mixed-caste couples
(Priyadarshini Sen, Religion News Service)
Nicaragua: Religious freedom and Latin America: Murillo’s rhetoric — backed by Ortega’s mano dura — confronts identity and dignity in Nicaragua
(Emily A. Cole, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Religion Watch, Volume 39 No. 7
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
1A in action: Imam Ossama Bahloul and fighting for the right to worship
(Freedom Forum)
Global Interfaith Monitor No. 24
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
The hollowing out of an American church
(Joseph Bottum, National Review)
Articles of interest - 17 June 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Nigeria: Popular cleric Fr Mbaka urges government action on minimum wage deadlock to prevent crisis
(Linet Maina, Catholic Information Service for Africa)
China: Henan's new approach: The Sinicization of weddings and funerals
(China Aid)
China: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest June 01-15
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Mexico: No solution for Protestant families after fifty days of displacement
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)
Judge rejects religious leaders' challenge of Missouri abortion ban
(Heather Hollingsworth, ABC News)
State judges cannot revise a church court decision that violated the church’s own rules
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)
Kenya president joins Pope Francis in calling for end of conflicts in Africa
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Pope Francis urges G7 leaders to prioritize human dignity in AI development
(Inno Flores, Tech Times)
Canada’s last remaining faith reporter reflects the past, and future, of religion (podcast)
(Not That Kind of Rabbi, The Canadian Jewish News)
Pakistani Taliban announce a 3-day cease-fire with security forces on Eid al-Adha holiday
(Associated Press)
Stop bullying religious schools
(Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Compact)
DRC: ISIS kills dozens of Christians in DRC; churches close after latest attacks
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
The questionable “extraterritoriality” of Switzerland’s jurisdiction in the Semenya case (ECtHR)
(Sarah Thin, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Evangelical Christians more likely to avoid issue of racial injustice following murder of George Floyd
(Rice University)
Religion and spirituality in East Asian societies
(Jonathan Evans, Alan Cooperman, Kelsey Jo Starr, Manolo Corichi, William Miner, Kirsten Lesage, Pew Research Center)
Israel: Uproar over bill intended to increase religious party's control over rabbinical establishment
(Eliav Breuer, The Jerusalem Post)
2,500 Gazans unable to perform Hajj due to Israeli occupation of Rafah crossing: Official
(Middle East Monitor)
Over 40k Muslims pray at Al-Aqsa to mark 1st day of Eid al-Adha
(Muslim Mirror)
The Head of State discussed humanitarian support for Ukraine with the Ecumenical Patriarch
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
The President met with Pope Francis
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Russia tries to erase evangelical churches from occupied Ukraine
(Matthew Luxmoore, The Wall Street Journal)
Russia: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest June 01-15
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Archbishop urges voters not to miss June 18 registration deadline
(The Church of England)
Jews are more common in sports than imagined. So is antisemitism.
(Keith Kahn-Harris, Jewish News)
Law and religion roundup – 16th June
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
General Synod July 2024: GS Misc Papers
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Geography impacts religion formation – Rizvan Huseynov
(Azərbaycan24)
Podcast: Utah: Why politics give Gen Z the ick
(KUER)
New wave of violence erupts against Christians in the Indian state of Manipur
(Ganesh Rajaraman, Religion Unplugged)
Transparency of the House of Bishops
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Saturday, 15 June 2024
CALL FOR PAPERS, abstracts due 15 June 2024: The Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief: Perspectives from the Global South
(Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalization, University of Groningen)
Friday, 14 June 2024
Judgment concerning Hungary
(The European Court of Human Rights)
New book: Ending Persecution: Charting the Path to Global Religious Freedom
(H. Knox Thames, University of Notre Dame Press)
EVENT, 14 June 2024 (12PM ET): From the Garden to Government: What does Creation have to do with Politics? (Washington, DC, USA)
(Vincent Bacote, Faith & Law)
Cuba: In the eyes of the Cuban government, leading a church can make you a threat to national security
(Anna Lee Stangl, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Dialogue on churches, Ukraine and peace
(Conference of European Churches)
Nine Hindu pilgrims killed in bus attack in India's Jammu
(Cherylann Mollan, BBC)
IOC urged to help overturn France's hijab ban
(BBC News)
Europe's Muslim youth alarmed as far-right gains more seats in parliament
(Ayse Betul Aytekin, TRT World)
An American flag, a pencil sharpener − and the 10 Commandments: Louisiana’s new bill to mandate biblical displays in classrooms is the latest to push limits of religion in public schools
(Charles J. Russo, The Conversation)
How an anti-terror bill could strip Muslim social justice NGOs of nonprofit status
(Dilshad Ali, Religion News Service)
Southern Baptists narrowly reject formal ban on churches with any women pastors
(Peter Smith and Holly Meyer, Associated Press)
2023 RFI Impact Report
(Nathan Berkeley and Katie Lehmann, Religious Freedom Institute)
Türkiye’s highest court rules in support of government’s expulsion of nine foreign Christians for alleged “missionary activities”
(ADF International)
Kyrgyzstan: Greater financial controls on religious organisations?
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
Pakistan: 3 minority Ahmadiyya community members detained to prevent them from performing religious rites
(The Times of India)
Pakistan bishop calls on international community to stop abuse of blasphemy law
(John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need)
A lonely Jew in New York: Wearing a Jewish star in public in 2024
(Amy Klein, The Jerusalem Post)
New book: Understanding and Teaching Religion in US History
(Edited by Karen J. Johnson and Jonathan M. Yeager, University of Wisconsin Press)
The Costs of Keeping the Faith
(Voice for Justice UK)
Iraqi court tells Christian woman to convert to Islam
(Rudaw)
Mexico: Christians forced from their homes in central Mexico state
(Carlos Páez, World)
Virginia city repeals ban on psychic readings as industry grows and gains more acceptance
(Ben Finley, Associated Press)
Court upholds firing of nurse with religious objections to flu vaccine
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
How reciting the Pledge of Allegiance became a sacred, patriotic ritual
(The Conversation)
‘The protest is a ritual’: How faith found a place in Palestine solidarity encampments
(Chloë-Arizona Fodor, Religion News Service)
Kenya bishops say proposed tax increases would punish the poor
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Success of German far-right party in EU election has many Jews hearing echoes of Nazi past
(Toby Axelrod, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Pope Francis becomes first pontiff to address a G7 summit, raising alarm about AI. The G7 responds
(Nicole Winfield and Kelvin Chan, Associated Press)
Saudi Arabia: Hajj proves religion can inspire peace
(Shaykh M A Kholwadia, Al Jazeera)
Religious freedom is in danger around the world
(Frank R. Wolf, National Review)
Members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches meet with G7 ambassadors
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Professor Mar Leal, from University of Seville, stated that religious freedom must be protected and not given for granted
(The European Times)
India: Fresh wave of violence erupts against Christians in the Indian state of Manipur
(Ganesh Rajaraman, Religion Unplugged)
Defending Palestine a sacred jihad, Muslim scholars reiterate
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))
Australia: Proposed religious discrimination laws proving unpopular in Australia
(David Goodwin, Christian Today)
Top US bishop worries Catholic border services for migrants might be imperiled by government action
(Holly Meyer, Associated Press)
117th Congress IRF Congressional Scorecard
(IRF Secretariat)
Secret recording puts spotlight on Alito's strong conservative views on religious issues
(Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
Thursday, 13 June 2024
EVENT, 13-14 June 2024: Annual Conference 2024: The Coptic Problem: Hatred based on Religion (Sprinfield, VA, USA)
(Coptic Solidarity)
Harvest Ministries seeks ruling its Charter rights infringed when rally cancelled
(Anna Farrow, The Catholic Register)
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Catholic parish defends religious mission from state officials
(Becket)
French government accused of discrimination against its own athletes with Olympics hijab ban
(Maya Oppenheim, The Independent)
Israel’s Knesset advances contentious ultra-Orthodox conscription law
(Al Jazeera)
Israel: How a Palestinian/Jewish village in Israel changed after October 7th (on interfaith dialogue)
(Masha Gessen, The New Yorker)
Israel: Despite Israel’s isolation, large Christian delegation sees nations embrace the Jewish state
(Felice Friedson and Giorgia Valente, The Jerusalem Post)
WCC calls for a permanent ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access in Gaza
(World Council of Churches)
Sudan: WCC reiterates solidarity with Sudan, lifts up vulnerable people
(World Council of Churches)
EVENT, 12 June 2024 (6PM ET): RFI Open House: Launch of the 2023 Impact Report (Washington, DC, USA)
(Religious Freedom Institute)
HYBRID EVENT, 12 June 2024 (9AM GMT+2): Promoting Religious Freedom and Tolerance: A Discussion on the Danish Initiative in Indonesia (Copenhagen, Denmark)
(Ministry of Religious Affairs Indonesia, Center for Church-Based Development (CKU), Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI/CCI), International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD))
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