Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 5 April 2021
Mormon leaders decry abortion as evil, call out racism
(Brady McCombs, Associated Press)
Church leader says Mormons not tied to any political party
(Associated Press)
Feds: Couple tried to travel by ship to join Islamic State
(Associated Press)
Report from the Capital (PDF)
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
N Ireland sees 3rd night of unrest amid post-Brexit tensions
(Associated Press)
Pope’s Easter messages highlights conflicts around the world
(Ines San Martin, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Human rights are undermined when elderly are cast aside, says U.N. nuncio
(Catholic News Service)
Ugandan Catholic archbishop found dead in his room on Holy Saturday
(Fredrick Nzwili, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Antisemitism video explainer from UC Berkeley aims to cool campus debate
(Gabe Stutman, Forward)
Antisemitism education
(The Berkeley Hillel, YouTube Video)
Religion and the decline of democracy
(Andrew Sullivan, The Weekly Dish)
An epic debate on Trump and true Evangelicalism
(Matt Labash, Eric Metaxas, The New Republic)
Presumed supporter of Ukrainian nationalists detained in Barnaul confesses to plotting to blow up mosque – FSB
(Interfax-Religion)
This just in! More folks are just kind of religious, a key to church membership decline
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Plug-In flashbacks: Several religion-news questions and answers with Bobby Ross, Jr.
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 10 April
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Law and religion round-up – 4th April
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Ecclesiastical court judgments – March 2021 (II)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Church of England sorry for prayer booklet that resembles Passover Haggadah
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The last known Jew in Afghanistan is leaving
(Gabe Friedman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Look down in lock down: Good believers & good citizens in Europe amidst the pandemic
(Andrea Pin, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
'Allergic reaction to US religious right' fueling decline of religion, experts say
(Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian)
Alabama yoga debate focusing on the wrong question
(Candy Gunther Brown , Religion Dispatches)
Scottish politician slammed for saying covid pandemic 'possibly related' to gay marriages
(Aanchal Nigam, Republic World)
Saudi Arabia to allow only ‘immunised’ pilgrims to Mecca
(Al Jazeera)
Saturday, 3 April 2021
Photos of the week: Holy Week around the world
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)
Friday, 2 April 2021
AP photos: Spring holy days and festivals observed worldwide
(Associated Press)
Burma: More dangerous than ever for religious minorities
(Lela Gilbert, Family Research Council)
Liber Amicorum Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos on Fair Trial: Regional and International Perspectives
(Kushtrim Istrefi, ECHR Blog)
Myanmar: Testing the Democratic Norm in International Law
(Mark Weller, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
India claims Tibet is restricting religious freedom
(Shanghai News)
Qatar: Male guardianship severely curtails women’s rights
(Human Rights Watch)
Muslim body in India seeks end to dowries, lavish weddings
(Aljazeera)
Christians forced to ‘re-convert’ to tribal religion in central India
(Morning Star News)
U.S. State Department releases country reports on human rights
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
(U.S. Department of State)
Biden to nominate first Muslim federal judge
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
9th Circuit upholds California limits on in-home Bible study groups
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
North Dakota enacts law to limit restrictions on religious exercise during health emergencies
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Pandemic shed light on the need for additional protections of religious freedom
(Patrick Hatlestad and David Richter, Williston Herald)
Minister sues to hold Good Friday vigil on U.S. Capitol grounds
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Christian minister sues Pelosi, Harris for access to Capitol grounds for Good Friday
(Ronn Blitzer, Fox News)
Court upholds NY law barring discrimination against employees because of reproductive health decisions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Synagogues lose suit over repealed zoning law
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
2021 survey on Jewish Americans’ experiences with antisemitism
(Anti-Defamation League)
Renouncing Islam in Malaysia is dangerous. We spoke to those who did it.
(Heather Chen, Vice)
Worship ban in Ireland – doors remain closed over Easter
(ADF International)
Perspective: faith on the field – athletes exercise religious freedom
(Tristiaña Hinton, Religious Freedom Center, Freedom Forum Institute)
MEPs urged to reject Commission’s ‘anti-free speech’ proposal to monitor terror online
(Mathieu Pollet, EURACTIV)
Fishing in the desert: A story from Karakalpakstan
(Evangelical Focus)
‘Shield not a sword’: NSW committee backs new religious freedom laws
(Michaela Whitbourn, The Sydney Morning Herald)
Archbishop Welby defends right to free speech in Batley school row
(Church Times)
Forcibly-married 14-year-old Maira hopes for Easter miracle
(ADF International)
At home in houses of worship - new data on the eagerness of Canadians across faith traditions to gather again
(Peter Stockland, Convivium)
New poll finds significant discomfort with public health orders
(Cardus Religious Freedom Institute)
Pakistanis clash with police at shrine shut over coronavirus
(Associated Press)
Good Friday and virus lockdown empty Manila’s streets
(Associated Press)
Critics say scaled-back Arkansas hate crimes bill is a farce
(Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press)
Montana House backs bill on religious challenges to rules
(Amy Beth Hanson, Associated Press)
Who is Mansour Abbas, the Arab-Israeli who could hold the key to Israel’s next government?
(Ben Sales, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Arab Islamist shows clout with prime-time speech in Israel
(Joseph Krauss, Associated Press)
Madrid slows down vaccine jabs over Easter despite govt plea
(Associated Press)
Federal court issues emergency injunction ahead of Holy Week services to increase COVID-related worship attendance caps in D.C.
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Iowa reaches out to dioceses on getting vaccines to underserved groups
(Barb Arland-Fye, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
CDC offers guidelines for upcoming religious holidays
(Herb Scribner, Deseret News)
Jehovah's Witnesses frustrated in Rostov courts
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
St. Petersburg court bans mobile app of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia
(Interfax-Religion)
New podcast: Rising tensions between religious liberty, pronoun wars, academic freedom, etc.
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Ecclesiastical Court Judgments – March 2021 (I)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
US follows Europe as church membership falls below 50 percent
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections | We don’t treat people based on their religion, says PM Modi
(The Hindu)
AME church to boycott Coca-Cola, other companies unless they do more to fight Georgia election law
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
America is becoming less religious. That won’t demolish conservatism.
(Henry Olsen, The Washington Post)
Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten
(Charles J. Russo, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)
Nigerian bishop wants government to end oil spills
(Peter Ajayi Dada, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Nigerian government must do more to promote interreligious harmony, CSW says
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Two Weeks in Review, 15 – 28 March 2021
(Gail Lythgoe, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
U.S. and Mexican bishops call for better migration policies at border
(John Lavenburg, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
The canopy of heaven
(James Christie, Viewpoints: A blog of the G20 Interfaith Forum)
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Articles of interest - 31 March 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
The Review of Faith & International Affairs, Volume 19, No. 1, Spring 2021
(Institute for Global Engagement)
Extremism in the UK: new definitions threaten human and civil rights
(Chris Allen, The Conversation)
Resistance to military regime in Myanmar mounts as nurses, bankers join protests – despite bloody crackdown
(Tharaphi Than, The Conversation)
Protests unite Myanmar's ethnic groups against common foe: The shared experience of military violence has shifted political objectives among the ethnic majority
(Emily Fishbein, Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, Foreign Policy)
The United Nations turns up on the heat on Rajapaksa: As Sri Lanka's human rights record worsens,the world body tries to hold the country accountable for past crimes
(Neil Devotta, Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Policy)
Indian politician: "religion-based vote bank" has no place in India
(Times of India)
Chilean Supreme Court rules worship ban discriminatory
(ADF International)
Catholic leaders join LGBTQ group to condemn discrimination against transgender people
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Dozens of Christian students sue the U.S. Education Dept., hoping to pressure Equality Act negotiations
(Court Case Document, US District Cout for the District of Oregon, Eugene Division)
Dozens of LGBTQ students at Christian colleges sue the U.S. Education Dept., hoping to pressure Equality Act negotiations
(Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post)
The Equality Act and the looming tyranny of the self – Part 2
(Rick Plasterer, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy)
The Equality Act would trample on doctors' religious freedom
(Jonathan Imbody, MSN.com)
Students sue Department of Education to outlaw LGBTQ discrimination at Christian colleges
(Nicholas Reimann, Forbes)
Former BYU students join lawsuit challenging religious schools’ access to federal funds
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
USCIRF highlights impact of financial restrictions on civil society
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Legal Spirits Episode 032: The New Technocracy
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
6th Circuit: Prof has 1st Amendment right to refuse to call transgender student by preferred pronoun
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court sides with professor who repeatedly misgendered trans student
(Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed)
Certiorari denied in church's challenge to Illinois COVID restrictions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Arkansas enacts conscience protections for medical personnel
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
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