Law and Religion Headlines

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Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Venezuela's leftist leader Maduro makes a play for evangelical voters
(John Otis, National Public Radio)

Rubio, Cardin, colleagues introduce bill to reauthorize U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom
(Marco Rubio, U.S. Senate)

An attack on a satanic statue in Iowa has led to a hate crime charge
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

Religious persecution impacts millions of women worldwide, advocates say at D.C. summit
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Victims of persecution testify at International Religious Freedom Summit
(Tyler Arnold, National Catholic Register)

A Tennessee lawmaker helped pass a strict abortion law. He's now trying to loosen it
(Katia Riddle, NPR)

Brazil: Neglected by history, Bantu heritage is a central pillar in the formation of Brazil (Portuguese)
(Laura Pereira Lima, Jornal da USP)

State secularism and banning foreign religious education: Sardar Babayev
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Republican, Democrat both warn against rise of antisemitism
(Tad Walch, Deseret News)

Transgender bathroom bills are back. Does the nation care?
(Matt Lavietes, NBC News)

Tuesday, 6 February 2024

HYBRID EVENT, 6 February 2024 (10:30 GMT+0): Roundtable: Religion and conflict in context
(Dr Afework Hailu Beyene, Dr habil. Jörg Haustein, Cambridge Interfaith Programme)

Monday, 5 February 2024

Can’t we just be civil? Jean-Jacques Rousseau and a hellish limit to toleration
(Greg Marcar, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

New book: Islam, Religious Liberty and Constitutionalism in Europe
(Edited by Mark Hill KC and Lina Papadopoulou, Hart Publishing)

India: Hindutva is at war with secular democracy in India
(Amit Singh, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)

The problems of banning Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain
(Richard McNeil-Willson, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)

Morocco: Covenantal pluralism and religious literacy in Morocco
(Chris PreJean, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)

Samson in Gaza: The biblical story of Samson sheds light on the current war in Gaza.
(Brian Britt, Sightings, The University of Chicago Divinity School)

Catalan mayor aims to wipe halal food for Muslims off public schools
(Daily Sabah)

The rise of public–private religious partnerships: Arguing church autonomy in the era of public funding of religion
(Nahshon Perez, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)

The WFB participated in the forum on Transforming Mentalities
(The World Fellowship of Buddhists)

Dignity, Deference, and Discrimination: An Analysis of Religious Freedom in America’s Prisons
(Elyse Slabaugh, BYU Law Review)

Around the web - 5 February 2023
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)

Pope reaffirms Christians’ special relationship with Jews amid rising antisemitism, Gaza war
(Associated Press)

Articles of interest - 5 February 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Why faith leaders lost the battle against online sports betting
(Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)

Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West - 2024 Edition
(Family Research Council)

Senegal: Religious leaders in Senegal concerned over presidential election postponement
(Guy Aimé Eblotié, La Croix International)

The damp squib of third party intervention in Ukraine v. Russia
(William Schabas, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Canadians call for removal of provincial minister after she called pre-occupation Palestine ‘a crappy piece of land with nothing on it’
(Middle East Monitor)

China arrests 200 Christians for ‘defying’ state body
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

UN official asks Hungary to share its experience of helping persecuted Christians
(Hungary Today)

Church in Germany concerned about rise of xenophobic parties
(Vatican News)

Indonesia: Religious affairs minister emphasizes public involvement in implementing govt programs
(Tempo)

Catching up to Europe, Greece set to legalize same-sex marriage
(Renee Maltezou, Christian Science Monitor)

Trump-focused Texas border rally blends politics and religion
(Ted Hesson and Maria Alejandra Cardona, Reuters)

In South America, African-inspired religions gain more followers
(Lucinda Elliott and Candelaria Grimberg, Reuters)

Cape Verde: 10 years of the legal agreement between the State of Cape Verde and the Holy See – What lessons? (Portuguese)
(Adilson F. Carvalho Semedo, Expresso das Ilhas)

Brazil: TRE-RJ revokes state deputy for abuse of religious power (Portuguese)
(Poder360)

Brazil: Judge invokes freedom of belief to reject lawsuit against hospital that denied IUD (Portuguese)
(Rafa Santos, Conjur)

Friday, 2 February 2024

Remarks by President Biden at the National Prayer Breakfast
(The White House)

U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights reaches agreement to resolve antisemitic harassment in Red Clay Consolidated School District
(U.S. Department of Education)

Blackwell Security Services will pay $70,000 to settle EEOC religious discrimination lawsuit
(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Ocean County man admits federal hate crimes for series of violent assaults on members of Orthodox Jewish community
(U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, U.S. Department of Justice)

Judgment in case of Sardar Babayev v. Azerbaijan
(The European Court of Human Rights)

ICJ delivers preliminary objections judgment in the Ukraine v. Russia genocide case, Ukraine loses on the most important aspects
(Marko Milanovic, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

EJIL: The Podcast! Episode 23: Unhappy New Year! Genocide in the Courtroom
(Marko Milanovic, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Erga Omnes Partes standing and procedural issues in South Africa v. Israel
(Jan-Phillip Graf, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

The Mariupol Test: Analysing the briefs of third states intervening in Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia
(Marko Milanovic, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Vietnamese Christian jailed for holding prayer meeting in his home
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Harmony in diversity: Exploring religious freedom worldwide on World Religion Day Brian J. Grim PhD.
(YouTube Video, South Asia Research Institute for Minorities)

Church drafting letter to MPs on same-sex marriage
(ekathimerini)

Hong Kong: It’s time to defend what’s left of Hong Kong’s religious freedoms
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Navigating religious inclusion at work
(Theresa Agovino, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM))

Canada: Statement following attack against a Mississauga mosque
(Twitter, Justin Trudeau)

China: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly digest Jan. 16-31
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

China: Mayflower Church persecution (video)
(Twitter, IRF Summit)

Poland grapples with changes to abortion law as Catholic Church hits back
(Catholic Herald)

Eleventh Circuit clarifies RLUIPA substantial burden inquiry
(Eden (Hunter) Yerby & Evan Seeman, RLUIPA Defense Blog)

At religious freedom summit, Johnson, others condemn antisemitism
(Susan Crabtree, Real Clear Politics)

Weekend Plug-in: Religious freedom summit covers mental health, antisemitism, persecution
(Bobby Ross Jr., Religion Unplugged)

IRF Summit 2024: RFI highlights
(Religious Freedom Institute)

Recorded statements made to church leaders and pastor not privileged
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Mother sues school for socially transitioning her daughter
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Argentine bishops renounce government-funded stipends
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Occupied Ukraine: "Disappeared" Greek Catholic priests in Russian Investigation Prisons?
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

Ecclesiastical court judgments – January (II)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Ecclesiastical Law Journal: Volume 26 - Issue 1 - January 2024
(various, Cambridge University Press)

Two MPs push for further crackdown on silent prayer despite outcry over “thought crime” arrests
(ADF UK)

Catholic groups join opposition to UK plan to deport migrants to Rwanda
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Threats to religious liberty in the U.K.
(Richard Turnbull, Acton Institute)

India: Couples must comply with anti-conversion law to legalise marriage even if they changed religion in past: Allahabad High Court
(Bar and Bench)

India: Hindu prayers begin inside India’s Mughal-era mosque after court order
(Al Jazeera)

COMECE on the Artificial Intelligence Act: “It does justice to the ethical foundations of the EU”
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))

Cuba: A life of struggle and survival: the reality of religious oppression in Cuba
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

Decorum without democracy in the Hungarian Parliament: The Grand Chamber’s potential intervention in Ikotity and Others v Hungary
(Dániel Karsai and Viktor Kazai, Strasbourg Observers)

From businesses and banks to colleges and churches: Americans’ views of U.S. institutions
(Pew Research Center)

Nigeria: Freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria
(Eleanor Gadd and Louisa Brooke-Holland, House of Commons Library, UK Parliament)

Bloody regimes and “drunk drivers”: The IRF Summit rocks Washington DC
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A magazine on religious liberty and human rights)

Wednesday, 31 January 2024

Myanmar: The need of trust-building in a future, post-coup Myanmar
(Seng Mai Aung, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

China introduces strict rules in Xinjiang on Islam, other religions
(Ruslan Medelbek and Reid Standish, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

China: Religious regulations tighten for Uyghurs
(Human Rights Watch)

House Speaker Mike Johnson calls on Biden to enforce China sanctions over Uyghur persecution
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

China, new white paper hails “deprogramming” of “religious extremists”
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)

Hong Kong: Hostile Takeover: The CCP and Hong Kong’s Religious Communities
(Frances Hui, The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation)

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANELS, deadline for responses 31 January 2024: Seventh ICLARS Conference: The Accommodation of Religion or Belief in the Public Sphere: Undeserved Privilege or Fundamental Right?
(International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS))

EVENT, 30-31 January 2024: IRF Summit 2024 (Washington, DC, USA)
(IRF Summit)

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS, deadline 31 January 2024: Young Scholars Fellowship on Religion and the Rule of Law (hosted at Christ Church, Oxford)
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)

Türkiye nabs 6 Daesh terror suspects wanted by Interpol
(Daily Sabah)

Nepali pastor to be jailed for praying after Supreme Court denies appeal
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)

Ukraine has right to crackdown on ‘weaponized’ churches, religious freedom expert says
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)

Nazi death camp survivors mark 79th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation on Holocaust Remembrance Day
(Czarek Sokolowski, Associated Press)

Auschwitz survivor decries rise of the far right and increased antisemitism in Germany
(Associated Press)

Chicago pastors help the city grapple with flood of migrants
(Rebekah Barber, Religion News Service)

Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples' lands
(Julia Simon, NPR)

Canada: Muslim students at McGill call on university to address Islamophobia on campus amid Israel-Hamas war
(Alyssia Rubertucci, City News)

Canada: Statement on recommendation to delay expansion of MAiD
(Rebecca Vachon, Cardus)

How religious freedom promotes peace and security
(YouTube Video, The United States Institute of Peace)

CEC initiative Pathways to Peace moves forward
(Conference of European Churches)

Conversion therapy banned
(The Portugal News)

Faith is for the public sphere, Harvard professor says at BYU Forum
(Hanna Seariac, Deseret News)

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