Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 12 October 2020

Pakistan cleric killed in apparent sectarian attack
(Associated Press)

Church in Nicaragua, other groups, wary of proposed laws
(John Burger, Aleteia)

Nicaraguan bishops speak out against Ortega regime’s attacks on free speech
(Ines San Martin, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Kenya: President urges to join 3-day interfaith prayers
(Andrew Wasike, Anadolu Agency)

Republicans slam 'religious test,' 'bigotry' in counterattacks defending Barrett
(Philip Ewing, National Public Radio)

Read BJC’s review of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s church-state record (PDF)
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

Saturday, 10 October 2020

Armenia says cathedral shelled in clashes with Azerbaijan
(Avet Dem, Associated Press)

Jews must stand up for the rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh
(Stephen D. Smith, Forward Opinion)

Why all Americans need Muslim Americans to vote
(Wa'el Alzayat, Religion News Service Opinion)

The top three faith moments in the Harris-Pence vice presidential debate
(Paul O'Donnell, Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

Court upholds Seminary’s freedom to train faith leaders
(Becket: Press Release)

Egyptian court bans pilgrimages to rabbi's grave
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Egypt’s ban of Jewish festival raises controversy
(Mohamed Saied, Al-Monitor)

South Carolina Supreme Court invalidates emergency school aid program
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

SC high court rejects governor’s private school aid plan
(Michelle Liu, The Island Packet)

Catholic and Jewish organizations sue New York governor over new COVID-19 restrictions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

400 rabbis back Cuomo and de Blasio in shutdown of New York Hasidic neighborhoods
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

Orthodox Jews in Covid cluster balk at synagogue limits
(Josh Russell, Courthouse News Service)

Lawsuits filed by Brooklyn Diocese, Jewish groups over new NY COVID restrictions
(ABC 7 NY)

Church says eminent domain proceeding violates its religious freedom rights
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Texas city threatens to take property from church
(Press Release, First Liberty)

Another religious challenge to California's COVID-19 orders
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Catholic priest sues California governor for violating religious rights with state shutdown
(Press Release, Thomas More Society)

Supreme Court sends case on medical abortion access back to District Court
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Justices delay action on FDA request to reinstate abortion-pill restrictions
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)

Seminary may expel students for entering same-sex marriages
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Federal court rules California seminary can expel two students who entered into gay marriage
(Christopher Vondracek, The Washington Times)

No ‘dogma’: Democrats walk tightrope on Barrett’s faith
(Mary Clare Jalonick and Elana Schor, Associated Press)

Judge won’t block NY plan to limit gatherings
(Associated Press)

BJC’s Tyler: Statement from Justices Thomas and Alito on religious liberty and same-sex marriage makes tensions worse
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

The weaponization of laïcité in France
(Rim-Sarah Alouane, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Rihanna apologizes for song with sacred Islamic verses at her fashion show
(Herb Scribner, Deseret News Faith)

Tobia Zevi is a rising star in Rome’s Jewish community. Can he become the city’s next mayor?
(Simone Somekh, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The Trump Administration’s surprising attack on religious freedom reaches the Supreme Court
(Nick Sibilla, Forbes)

Russian parliament upsets religious leaders
(RIA Novosti, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Jehovah's Witness walks free in south of Russia
(Kavkazskii Uzel, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Six Jehovah's Witnesses found guilty and sentenced
(73 Online, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Longest prison term yet for Jehovah's Witness
(Russia Religion News (Stetson University))

Baku dismisses accusations of shelling upon cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh
(Interfax-Religion)

Crossroads podcast: Political facts about evangelicals make news, but what about all the nones?
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

Photos of the Week - 9 October 2020
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)

New COVID-19 legislation and guidance to 10 October
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

UK and US churches urge governments to cancel debt of poorest households due to virus
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)

UAE envoy to Britain: ‘The idea Arabs and Israel must be at war is nonsense’
(Justin Cohen, Jewish News)

Israel and UAE foreign ministers tour Berlin Holocaust monument in historic first meeting
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Legal Journal Number 12 (15): September 2020 (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)

Suing for peace in the wedding vendor wars
(Adam J. MacLeod, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)

Religious questions: Relevant, legitimate, and impossible
(Paul Horwitz, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

Federal court allows D.C. church to hold services outdoors despite coronavirus restrictions
(Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post)

Chained and locked up, why some Nigerians turn to religion first to treat the mentally ill
(Aisha Salaudeen, CNN)

Tribes say they face 'Devil's bargain' in border wall fight
(Law 360)

Barbados: Muslims, Rastas allowed to take photos in religious headwear
(Randy Bennett, Barbados Today)

90+ folk religion temples destroyed in Henan’s Linzhou City
(Li Guang, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)

‘Any deal on Brexit must uphold provisions of Good Friday Agreement in all its parts’ – Northern Catholic Bishops
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)

Ad hoc commission to investigate illegal expropriation of Christian lands in Iraqi Kurdistan
(Zenit: The World Seen from Rome)

Religious minorities stage protest in Dhaka calling on Pakistan to repeal blasphemy law
(Sumon Corraya, Asia News)

Religious persecution and merciless torture of Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Dozens of aborted babies buried in graves without their mothers’ permission in Rome
(The Brussels Times)

Bishop says push for assisted suicide in Ireland ‘disingenuous and unnecessary’
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Government proposal to block assisted dying Bill voted down in the Dáil
(Senan Molony, Independent.ie)

President Xi’s religious purge meets little global resistance
(Katey Hearth, Mission Network News)

President of Brazil pushes for worldwide ‘fight against Christophobia’ at UN
(Emily Mangiaracina, Life Site News)

“Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States”: Zachary B. Pohlman
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)

WEBINAR, 15 October 2020 (12:30PM EDT): Religion, Magic, Secularity, and Spirituality: A Conversation with Peter van der Veer
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

USCIRF releases factsheet on Rohingya refugees in Southeast Asia
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

USCIRF releases new report about attacks against houses of worship and religious leaders in Burkina Faso
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Austria: Federal Office of Sect Issues targets COVID-19 dissenters. An Orwellian “Ministry of Truth”?
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Austria: Federal Office of Sect Issues targets COVID-19 dissenters. An Orwellian “Ministry of Truth”? (German)
(Forum for Religious Freedom Europe)

Former Hong Kong bishop pessimistic about religious freedom as Beijing tightens grip on city
(Yuki Tsang, South China Morning Post)

Hungarian government calls new children's book 'homosexual propaganda', causing stir
(Krisztina Than, Reuters)

Spain abortion: Government works to repeal parental consent rule
(BBC News)

Pope commits to clean finances amid scandal in backyard
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)

New U.N. nuncio addresses economic inequities made worse by COVID-19
(Catholic News Service)

Two teachers accused of involving in religious propaganda at a govt. school in Erode, India
(The Hindu)

Two same-sex couples move Delhi HC for recognition of marriages
(Hindustan Times)

Pope Francis makes the case for his financial reform efforts to European regulators
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)

How Christian nationalism may determine whether you wear a mask
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

44 percent of American Christians believe the Bible is 'ambiguous' on abortion
(Milton Quintanilla, Christian Headlines)

Friday, 9 October 2020

RECORDINGS AVAILABLE ONLINE: 27th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium - "Religious Freedom, Rights and Responsibilities"
(The International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

BLOG WEBINAR: Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States: A Six-Month Assessment
(Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

RECORDING AVAILABLE ONLINE: Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States: A Six-Month Assessment
(Moderators: Brett Scharffs, Jane Wise, John Bernau, Shlomo Pill, Justin Latterell, Stephanie Barclay, Mark Movsesian, Marc DeGirolami, Michael Moreland, BYU ICLRS, Emory CSLR, Notre Dame Church & State, St. John's CLR, Villanova Law)

Huduma Day: Government declares Saturday a public holiday
(Sharon Maombo, The Star Kenya)

Thursday, 8 October 2020

ZOOM EVENT, 8 October 2020 (1 PM ET): Race, Religion and the Right to Vote: The Amendments Passed, The Struggle Continued
(Religious Freedom Center, Freedom Forum, with support from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.)

EVENT, 8 October 2020 (3:45PM): Objeción de Conciencia y creencias religiosas de funcionarios públicos
(Departamento de Derecho Constitucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia)

Wednesday, 7 October 2020

Human flourishing and religious liberty: Evidence from over 150 countries
(Christos A. Makridis, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)

Supreme Court hears case of Muslim men who say they were targeted for not becoming informants
(Robert Barnes, The Washington Post)

Supreme Court examines alleged FBI retaliation against Muslim men
(Becket: Press Release)

Argument analysis: Justices divided on money damages for religious freedom lawsuits
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)

Re-examining religious liberty with Tanvir v Tanzin
(Asma T. Uddin, The Hill)

BJC: People may be entitled to damages if religious freedom has been denied
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

Transcript and audio are available of Supreme Court arguments in RFRA damages case
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Azerbaijan: 34 freedom of religion cases pending at ECtHR
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

Court enjoins NY ban on adoption agencies discriminating against gay or unmarried couples
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Federal judge forbids New York from shutting down faith-based adoption service
(Valerie Richardson, Washington Times)

Back bill to ban marriage for under-18s in England and Wales, MPs urged
(Hannah Summers, The Guardian)

Nigeria’s Middle Belt Christians endure perpetual violence by Fulani militants
(International Christian Concern)

“Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States”: Christopher Lund
(Center for Law and Religion Forum at St. John's University School of Law)

Authenticity, transparency and trust in the age of covid-19
(Kent Johnson, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)

Report: Church of England failed to tackle child sex abuse
(Sylvia Hui, Associated Press)

How religion inspires the Nigerian diaspora to develop Africa
(Edward Ademolu, The Conversation)

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