Law and Religion Headlines

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Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Pope plans historic visit to Iraq as its Christian populations dwindle
(Alice Fordham, National Public Radio)

Iraq’s struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit
(Mariam Fam, Associated Press)

USCIRF condemns killing of Gonabadi Sufi activist by Iranian officials
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Weekly highlight #144: COVID-19: Exploring faith dimensions: Message alignment and responses to gender violence
(Berkley Center, Joint Learning Initiative, WFDD)

The Synodal Council of the ECCB calls for solidarity with the oppressed in Belarus (PDF)
(The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren)

CEC team member Lena Kumlin receives Order of the White Rose of Finland
(Conference of European Churches)

Black Lives Matter: where are the black clergy?
(Myriam Renaud and Lerone Jonathan Wilder, Aljazeera)

Californian pastor supports the 'Religion is Essential Act'
(Standard Newsletter)

Scottish court lets Franklin Graham move ahead with suit over cancelled appearance
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

OCR and Justice back off Trump administration policy on transgender high school athletes
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Biden administration withdraws from transgender athlete case
(Pat Eaton, Associated Press)

Man exits church after years in sanctuary from deportation
(Jim Salter, Associated Press)

Arizona city becomes latest to pass hair discrimination ban
(Associated Press)

Southern Baptists oust 2 churches over LGBTQ inclusion
(David Crary, Associated Press)

U.S. bishops highlight religious liberty concerns with Equality Act
(John Lavenburg, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Religious leaders urge Biden to support global coronavirus aid, debt relief
(Dennis Sadowski, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Bishops defend property after Spain claims irregularities in registration
(Catholic News Service)

English cardinal calls for legislation tackling ‘extremism’
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

German court convicts 'IS recruiter' Abu Walaa
(Deutsche Welle)

Purim as a Jewish ‘National Coming Out Day’: What the holiday means for LGBTQ Jews
(Marie-Rose Sheinerman, Forward)

Saving the Middle East’s last bastion of Christianity
(Kennedy Lee, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy)

Evangelical leaders condemn 'radicalized Christian nationalism'
(Sarah McCammon, National Public Radio)

Primacy of worship for political unity
(James Wood, Theopolis)

Most ‘Nones’ still keep the faith
(Ryan Burge, Christianity Today)

Butler students continue to practice religion on campus amid COVID-19
(Alex Stencel, The Butler Collegian)

Meeting between Russian patriarch, Pope doesn't improve Christians' position in Middle East contrary to expectations - Metropolitan Hilarion
(Interfax-Religion)

Uzbekistan: 7 prisoners of conscience jailed for between 11 and 4 years
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)

Leap of faith in the NFL? Colts coach is an ordained minister; his QB is a strong believer
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

United Methodists on the clock: Will 2021 see America's biggest church split since Civil War?
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)

What's new about Joe Biden's White House faith office and why this story bears watching
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)

President Biden reinstates Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, returns Melissa Rogers to helm
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

COVID-19: easing the lockdown in England & Scotland
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Proclaiming Christianity, Navalny tells Russian judges, 'You're all going to hell'
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)

The ECtHR in Georgia v. Russia – a farewell to arms? The effects of the Court’s judgment on the conflict in eastern Ukraine
(Anastasiia Moiseieva, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Inaccuracies in the HSE study on Islam in northern Russia
(Religion Today)

Russia: Imam appeals to prosecutor's office against Orthodox culture impositions on his children
(Religion Today)

They did it again: Russia’s continued presence in the PACE
(Lize R. Glas, Strasbourg Observers)

London mayor’s diversity champion resigns over antisemitism claims
(Josh Salisbury, Jewish News)

New Georgia legislation would curb ‘souls to the polls’
(Eugene Scott, The Washington Post)

Kosher slaughter, circumcision and Jews' religious freedom | Opinion
(Daniel S. Mariaschin, Newsweek)

Intersecting religious and gender-based persecution in Yazidi genocide case: a request for an extension of charges
(Alexandra Lily Kather and Alexander Schwarz, Just Security)

Pakistan’s religious politics has emboldened extremists to question Malala Yousafzai’s patriotism
(Muhammad Amir Rana, Scroll.in India)

Pakistani couple’s appeal of blasphemy sentence postponed
(Babar Dogar, Associated Press)

Peace, interfaith harmony essential principles of Prime Minister’s vision of Riasat-e-Madina: Allama Ahsan
(Zubair Qureshi, Pakistan Observer)

Imran Khan invites Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit Pakistan
(Bharatha Mallawarachi, Associated Press)

More than 500 evangelicals, other faith leaders condemn religion at insurrection as ‘heretical’
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

Is the Catholic parish in crisis?
(Timothy P. O'Malley, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)

Google's Inter Belief Network (IBN)
(Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)

Petition to preserve religious liberty in Chile launched
(Catholic News Agency)

Sisters and brothers, welcome home
(Greg Marcar, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

Jurčić v. Croatia: clarity on protecting women undergoing IVF treatment from discrimination
(Jonas Deweer-Vanmeerhaeghe, Strasbourg Observers)

Tuesday, 23 February 2021

WEBINAR, 22 and 23 February 2021: Conference on "Religious pluralism in Spain"
(Agencia SIC)

WEBINAR, 23-26 February 2021: Integral Human Development in the Digital Age: Poverties, Migrations, Pandemics, and the Idea of a New Social Ethics
(International Institute for Ethics and Contemporary Issues and the Faculty of Social Sciences at Ukrainian Catholic University)

WEBINAR, 23 February 2021 (12:30PM EST): Religion, Identity, and Power in Turkey and the Balkans: A Conversation with Ahmet Erdi Öztürk
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

WEBINAR: 23 February 2021 (5PM GMT): ‘The end of the opt-out era in Belgian state schools?’
(Philosophy, Religion and Education Research Group, University of Oxford)

WEBINAR, 23 February 2021 (2PM CST): Together We Heal: Interfaith Perspectives on Loving Our Neighbors
(Parliament of the World's Religions)

Monday, 22 February 2021

New Mexico Legislature moves to preserve abortion rights
(Morgan Lee, Associated Press)

Tennessee bill would give fathers abortion veto power if paternity is established
(Emily Wood, The Christian Post)

Supreme Court grants review of Title X rule restricting abortion counseling
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Federal judge temporarily blocks South Carolina 'heartbeat' abortion ban
(Caroline Kelly, CNN)

South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Act enjoined
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Catholics march for peace as protests intensify in Myanmar
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

WEBINAR, 22 February 2021 (4PM GMT): Keeping Up the Pressure: The Role of Faith Communities in COP26
(Parliament of the World's Religions)

WEBINAR, 22 February 2021 (12:30PM EST): National Versus Transnational Secularism: Perspectives from South and Southeast Asia: A Conversation with Clemens Six
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Texas church partners with Jeep club to shelter elderly during Winter Storm
(Jillian Cheney, Religion Unplugged)

Burma’s Catholic bishops call for peace and dialogue as two protesters killed
(Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency)

Religious affiliations considered in the COVID-19 vaccine discussion
(Marko Milanovic, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Masterpiece Cakeshop attorney: No, religious freedom for wedding vendors isn’t harmful
(Catholic News Agency Staff, Catholic News Agency)

Religious freedom is more than religion
(Brian Festa, The CT Mirror)

The FAQs: What you should know about the pro-LGBTQ Equality Act
(Joe Carter, The Gospel Coalition)

21 young people appointed peace ambassadors to build bridges across various faith communities
(Michelle Ng, The Straits Times)

Why we did it: the Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab
(Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, The Conversation)

Mine will destory Apache sacred site, court declines to intervene
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

Then and Now: 25 years of sexual exploitation and abuse
(Jessica Alexander and Hannah Stoddard, The New Humanitarian)

Algeria: Christian sentenced to five years
(International Christian Concern, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Russia: A Jehovah's Witness sentenced to 7.5 years at age of 63 years
(JW World Headquarters, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Ousted by war, Iraq's Christians struggle to reclaim homes
(France 24)

Iraq: Full of historic sites important to understanding Christianity
(Dale Gavlak, Catholic News Service)

Virginia legislature votes to abolish the death penalty
(Catholic News Agency)

How a religious White House office could promote the common good—or politicize religion
(Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency)

French Catholic women launch manifesto on feminine vocation in the Church
(Andrea Gagliarducci, Catholic News Agency)

Articles of interest - 22 February 2021
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Supreme Court to hear challenge on family planning program
(Jessie Hellmann, The Hill)

Supreme Court denies certiorari in church property dispute
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Priest challenges Scotland's coronavirus ban on public worship
(Catholic News Agency)

Private bill seeks freedom for man living in Missouri church
(Jim Salter, Associated Press)

Sri Lankan bishops urge government to release blast inquiry
(Krishan Francis, Associated Press)

Washington taps pastors to overcome racial divide on vaccine
(Ashraf Khalil and Hilary Powell, Associated Press)

Family battles ICE for the same reason they fled their home: They’re Muslim
(Rowaida Abdelaziz, Huffington Post)

Southern Baptists divided over politics, race, LGBTQ policy
(David Crary, Associated Press)

Will Pope have a ‘Pell Problem’ with Super Mario over visions of reform?
(John L. Allen Jr., Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Faiths institute asks Gates Foundation to change tactics in Africa
(Fredrick Nzwili, Catholic News Service)

If Muslims can build churches in Egypt, has persecution ended?
(Jayson Casper, Christianity Today)

Egypt helps Sudan confront Brotherhood ideology through missionaries
(George Mikhail, Al-Monitor: Egypt Pulse)

In the Second Cold War, religious Americans must lead the way
(Cameron Hilditch, National Review)

Progressive(ly) dishonest: The lies of progressive Muslamic academia
(Zainab bint Younus, Muslim Matters)

Religious news from around the web - 22 February 2021
(World Religion News)

Can 'Super Mario' and a dose of Catholic social teachings heal Italy's ailing economy?
(Clemente Lisi, GetReligion)

New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 27 February
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Law and religion round-up – 21st February
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

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