Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 4 January 2021

Public health v. culture war: The Supreme Court takes aim at COVID restrictions.
(Matthew Sitman, Commonweal)

Philippine Catholic leaders doubt that killed Indigenous fired first
(Catholic News Service)

Critical religious liberty disputes expected for 2021
(Tom Tracy, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

500 years after Martin Luther's excommunication: A chance for ecumenical Christianity
(Christoph Strack, Deutsche Welle)

Coronavirus: German police raid church service with over 100 maskless worshippers
(Deutsche Welle)

British children’s author omits ‘Merchant of Venice’ from Shakespeare anthology, citing anti-Semitism as one reason
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Trads and Trump: Religious freedom compels Catholic Latino voters
(Nora Kenney, Real Clear Religion)

If the Nashville bomber were Muslim, he would be called a 'terrorist'
(Dean Obeidallah, MSNBC Opinion)

The world should have no place for blasphemy laws
(Arielle Del Turco, CBN News)

Consequences for Jehovah's Witnesses after completing sentences
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Yearenders-palooza – Bobby Ross Jr. with positive, poignant ways to look at 2020 religion news
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)

Bishop of London: new COVID-19 restrictions
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 9 January 2021
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Law and religion round-up – 3rd January
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

UK Rabbi awarded prestigious diversity prize
(Jewish News)

Israel’s recognition of Utah marriages gives hope to ineligible couples
(Michele Chabin, Religion News Service)

Violations of religious freedom persist worldwide
(U.S. Embassy in Georgia)

Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines
(DiReSoM: Diritto e Religione nelle Società Multiculturali/ Law and Religion in Multicultural Societies)

Comunicazione circa il Decreto Legge del 18 dicembre 2020. Una precisazione della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana dopo il decreto legge
(DiReSoM: Diritto e Religione nelle Società Multiculturali/ Law and Religion in Multicultural Societies)

A Year in Review: 2020
(Gail Lythgoe, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Saturday, 2 January 2021

Photos of the Year
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)

Friday, 1 January 2021

Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020
(David Crary, Associated Press)

Part One: Latin America’s biggest Catholic stories of 2020
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Part Two: Latin America’s biggest Catholic stories of 2020
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Top news articles of 2020 Christians should know about
(Kayla Koslosky, Christian Headlines)

10 notable Christian figures who died in 2020
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)

Religious news from around the web December 28, 2020
(World Religion News)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Salima, Malawi, has intensified its fight against gender-based violence
(Malawi News Agency, The Nation)

Religious freedom lately: Gordon College lawsuit, mask mandates and more
(Timothy Nerozzi, Religion Unplugged)

Shrines in Japan prepare to welcome visitors for New Year as virus rages
(Toma Mochizuki, Japan Today)

Japan gave key information to the United States and Britain on China's Uighur crackdown
(Kyodo, The Japan Times)

RNS reporters on the big stories they expect to cover in 2021
(Religion News Service)

Armenian Christian community caught between Israelis and Palestinians
(Daoud Kuttab, Religion News Service)

What to expect on the religious scene in 2021: Experts cast their sights on the year ahead
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

Brazilian President Bolsonaro criticizes Argentina's legalization of abortion
(Catholic News Agency)

‘Canceled’ radical feminists and the Catholic Church: These unlikely allies believe women are female
(Mary Farrow, Catholic News Agency)

Biden’s national security adviser criticizes Saudi Arabia for jailing women’s rights activist
(Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East)

Project to save Dead Sea going nowhere
(Osama Al Sharif, Al-Monitor: Jordan Pulse)

Christian persecution in China and India expected to increase in 2021
(Premier Christian News)

Is 2021 the Great Reset of the Church?
(Shane Idleman, Christian Headlines)

Barr, Barret, Biden, Bryant, Fauchi – top 5 US Catholic 2020 newsmakers -- also high in national headlines
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)

20 photographs of the week
(Jim Powell, The Guardian)

Islamist militants attack Nigerian village on Christmas Eve
(Rebecca Paveley, Church Times)

'We are going to survive': 5 ways the Church is innovating amid COVID-19
(Leah MarieAnn Klett, The Christian Post)

Iraq Parliament unanimously passes bill recognizing Christmas as national holiday
(Julio Cachila, Christianity Daily)

Christian after-school program employee not covered by unemployment insurance
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Illinois Appellate Court halts agency’s attempt to tax religious ministry to underprivileged children
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

Russia: Special bimonthly FORB digest (16-31.12.2020)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Hanukkah stabbing suspect still unfit a year after NY attack
(Jim Mustian, Associated Press)

In new playground Dubai, Israelis find parties, Jewish rites
(Isabel Debre, Associated Press)

Pakistan arrests 31 people over demolishing of Hindu temple
(Riaz Khan and Muhammad Farooq, Associated Press)

Donations coming in to rebuild Missouri mosque that burned
(Associated Press)

Biden Administration engagement with Muslim communities must recognize diversity via expertise (Responding to: Rethinking U.S. engagement with global Muslim communities)
(H. A. Hellyer, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Twenty most important events of religious life in 2020
(Credo.Press, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Ecclesiastical court judgments – December 2020
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

French secularism in crisis
(L. Ali Khan, Jurist)

All you need is not ‘love jihad’, but liberty, say India’s embattled interfaith couples
(France 24)

Dozens arrested following communal violence in Indian state Madhya Pradesh
(Bilal Kuchay and Kashif Kakvi, Aljazeera)

Pakistan regional gov’t to fund construction of destroyed temple
(Al Jazeera)

China cracks down on Christmas by closing churches, banning singing
(Michael Foust, Christian Headlines)

Underground Catholic bishop dies in China
(Catholic News Agency)

Pope Benedict’s secretary reflects on awful 2020 with German Magazine
(Catholic News Agency)

On transgenderism: Common ground, and real differences, between Catholics and radical feminists
(Mary Farrow, Catholic News Agency)

Thursday, 31 December 2020

Source: Iran sentences 8 Baha’is to prison, other punishments after ‘unfair’ trial
(Michael Lipin, Ramin Haghjoo, VOA)

Pandemic hits religious communities in South Africa
(Christopher Joseph, Union of Catholic Asian News)

Nuns arrested as Beijing turns up heat on Catholic church in Hong Kong
(Greg Torode, Reuters)

Wednesday, 30 December 2020

Top religion-beat story of 2020? There were several COVID-19 stories to choose from ...
(Terry Mattingly, OnReligion)

How Jews celebrated Hanukkah with Uyghurs in mind
(Ruth Ingram, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

United Nations declares the International Day of Human Fraternity
(Religions for Peace)

In search of religious freedom, Christians flock to north Idaho
(Tracy Simmons, Religion Unplugged)

USCIRF welcomes enactment of the Tibet Policy and Support Act
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Montenegro ‘patriots’ rally against changes to contentious religion law
(Samir Kajosevic, Balkan Insight)

Deprogramming in Japan: Damages awarded in Unification Church Case
(Willy Fautré, Bitter Winter)

Court refuses to enjoin mask requirement for religious school students
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Indiana fetal tissue disposition law challenged again
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

2nd Circuit invalidates New York's fixed capacity limits for houses of worship
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

U.S. appeals court blocks NY governor's limits on religious gatherings
(Jonathan Stempel, Reuters)

Michigan Supreme Court affirms narrow reading of "No-Aid" Clause
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Michigan private schools get state aid for mandate compliance, high court rules
(Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News)

Trump Executive Order provides school choice funding for disadvantaged students lacking in-person schools
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Proclamation on 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket
(The White House)

Montenegro lawmakers change religious law opposed by church
(Associated Press)

Dublin archbishop who helped Ireland heal from abuse retires
(Associated Press)

Russian monk charged with inciting suicidal acts in sermons
(Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press)

Three cheers for socialism: Christian love & political practice
(David Bentley Hart, Commonweal)

Nicaragua bishops fear violence ahead of 2021 presidential poll
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Why does no one care about genocide?
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes)

Bill legalizing abortion passed in pope’s native Argentina
(Almudena Calatrava and Débora Rey, Religion News Service)

Argentina legalizes abortion, a milestone in a conservative region
(Daniel Politi and Ernesto Londoño, The New York Times)

Argentina approves bill to legalize abortion
(Deutsche Welle)

Argentina to become largest country in Latin America to legalize elective abortion
(Ruby Mellen and Ana Vanessa Herrero, The Washington Post)

The Supreme Court sided with ROSHVE (Russian)
(Religion Today)

5 ‘in real life’ religion and pop culture clashes from 2020
(Roxanne Stone and Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service)

Survey: UK teens are more likely than millennials to believe in God
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

LDS church sued for alleged role in Boy Scouts sex abuse
(Terry Tang, Religion News Service)

Our best religion stories from a terrible year
(Religion News Service)

The Christmas crisis
(Emma Green, The Atlantic)

'The Next Jihad' authors talk religion, Christian persecution in Nigeria with Nick Cannon
(Jackson Elliott, The Christian Post)

At least 5 dead after Boko Haram attacks Nigerian Christian community
(Theophilus Abbah, Religion Unplugged)

Massachusetts House overrides governor's veto of abortion bill
(Ryan Foley, The Christian Post)

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