Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 9 December 2019
Study sees religion as the moral compass of Arab societies
(Caline Malek, Arab News)
After mistrial, judge says he made mistake in allowing man to argue religious objection to filing tax returns
(Maxine Bernstein, Oregon Live)
Britain’s blasphemy problem
(Charlotte Littlewood, The Article)
Russia: Nationalism and Xenophobia in November 2019
(SOVA Center for Information and Analysis)
Rights in extremis: Russia’s anti-extremism practices from an international perspective. A report by ARTICLE 19 and SOVA Center
(Article 19 and the SOVA Center for Information and Analysis)
SMU sued as it moves to cut ties with United Methodist Church
(Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service)
Muhammad breaks into top 10 US baby names list in 2019
(Aysha Khan, Religion News Service)
Church nativity displays Jesus, Mary and Joseph in cages, separated at the border
(Kimberly Winston, The Washington Post)
Washington Post sends travel pro to Waco, producing feature with big God-shaped hole
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
The future of adoption is in a child's own community
(Kristi Gleason, Religion News Service Opinion)
A new sign that Advent is here: Melania's Christmas decor gets trashed (again)
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)
Weekend thinking with N.T. Wright and Ryan Burge: Let's talk specifics of that 'evangelical' crisis
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
For Rohingya refugees, there's no return in sight
(Meenakshi Ganguly and Brad Adams, Foreign Affairs)
Freedom From Religion Foundation asks Alabama sheriff to stop referencing prayer after tragedies
(Mikaela Mathews, Christian Headlines)
Sunday, 8 December 2019
Law and religion round-up – 8th December
(Frank Cranmer)
FBI is investigating the Pensacola shooting as an act of terrorism
(Devlin Barrett, Carol Morello and Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post)
Pensacola shooting victims: Families mourn 3 Navy students who ‘ran towards’ danger
(Katie Mettler, Marisa Iati, Derek Hawkins and Hannah Knowles, The Washington Post)
Prison's denial of access to religious services as discipline is invalid
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
9 Ways to say Merry Christmas around the world
(Cerith Gardiner, Aleteia)
‘Soldiers of Jesus’: Armed neo-Pentecostals torment Brazil’s religious minorities
(Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post)
Saturday, 7 December 2019
Churches' Commission for Mirgrants in Europe
(CCME Website)
'A very British Muslim activist' tells story of Islamist-turned-peacemaker
(Jenny Taylor, Religion Unplugged)
New podcast: Why reporters (and clergy) should heed religious signals in pop culture
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
“Let reason prevail” banner goes up in San Diego park to counter nativity scene
(Hemant Mehta, Patheos Blog: Friendly Atheist)
Friday, 6 December 2019
Methodist Church Southern Africa enters new era as women take up top positions
(Dion Forster, The Conversation)
US House passes Uyghur Act calling for tough sanctions on Beijing over Xinjiang camps
(Ben Westcott and Haley Byrd, CNN)
Persecution of the Uighurs: The West must respond to Chinese oppression
(A Commentary by Bernhard Zand, Spiegel Online)
Congress passes Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Congress advances bill condemning China ‘re-education’ camps
(Catholic News Agency)
China blasts passage of US bill ordering sanctions over Uighur detention
(Aysha Khan, Religion News Service)
USCIRF welcomes House passage of the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act of 2019, urges swift passage in the Senate
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
China: The temple demolition campaign devastates devotees
(Yang Xiangwen, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Anti-Semitism is a public health crisis
(Jeffrey Salkin, Religion News Service)
Is 'A Christmas Carol' anti-Semitic?
(Seth Rogovoy, Forward)
Anti-Catholic vandalism in Northern Ireland deters families, prompts investigation
(Catholic News Agency)
In Brazil, historic black lay Catholic 'brotherhoods' fight to survive
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Religion News Service)
Friday Five: Clergy abuse scandal, Buttigieg at church, politics of communion, N.T. Wright
(BobbyRoss Jr., GetReligion)
Serious question: Is Buttigieg being gay a reason for his low support among black voters in the South?
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)
NBC News toasts Pete Buttigieg in a hit piece aimed (#Surprise) at the Salvation Army
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Refugees from ultra-Orthodox Judaism get a sympathetic profile in the Washington Post
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)
The crisis of American Christianity, viewed from Great Britain (The theologian N. T. Wright is unfazed by the faith’s politicization in the U.S.)
(Emma Green, The Atlantic)
Pope Francis wants you to set up a Nativity scene to fight banal consumer Christmas
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
Los Angeles honors the unclaimed with an interfaith burial service
(Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service)
Missouri AG supports high school football coaches' prayer practices
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
MO Attorney General: It’s okay for football coaches to push Christianity on kids
(Hemant Mehta, Patheos Blog: Friendly Atheist)
3rd Circuit affirms dismissal of Title VII religious discrimination suit
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
He claimed Temple University fired him for being a Baptist; U.S. court doesn’t buy it
(Matt Miller, Penn Live)
India’s Muslims split in response to Hindu temple verdict
(Sheikh Saaliq, Associated Press)
Thousands protest Indian citizenship bill excluding Muslims
(Associated Press)
GOP Rep. pitches LGBTQ rights bill with religious exemptions
(Elana Schor, Associated Press)
Missouri attorney general backs high school football prayer
(Associated Press)
Push to ratify ERA launched in Utah, eyed in other states
(Lindsay Whitehurst and Sarah Rankin, Associated Press)
African prelate says development, not denunciation, way to fight witchcraft
(Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Australian government revising religious discrimination legislation
(Michael Sainsbury, Catholic News Service)
What you need to know about a new bill that tries to balance religious freedom and LGBTQ rights
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
Is it anti-Semitism, or NIMBYism? Lawsuits multiply as towns struggle with growing orthodox population
(Ari Feldman, Forward)
Americans don’t have to ask government for oermission to practice their faith
(David Harsanyi, National Review)
Patriarch Kirill asks Mayor Sobyanin to help restore Orthodox Church in America's representation church in Moscow
(Interfax-Religion)
Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior receives 2nd bomb threat this week
(Interfax-Religion)
Inciting religious hatred, press freedom and Article 10 ECHR: Tagiyev
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
There is no culture war peace treaty: What a challenging new National Review piece gets wrong about Democrats, evangelicals, and Trump.
(Zack Beauchamp, Vox)
Montenegro pushes on with religious law, defying Serbian church
(Samir Kajosevic, Balkan Insight)
Samoa bans kids from church as measles outbreak kills 63
(Griffin Paul Jackson, Christianity Today)
Civil rights groups: The “Fairness for All” Act is an affront to existing civil rights protections
(Human Rights Campaign)
With cold temps coming, Lenexa and church need to negotiate a way to shelter homeless
(The Kansas City Star)
American Airlines apologizes for making woman change 'Hail Satan' shirt
(Owen Daugherty, The Hill)
Florida shooting updates: Authorities say it's too early to know if It’s terrorism
(Patricia Mazzei, Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Christine Hauser, The New York Times)
Conviction of author and editor for article’s remarks on Islam was excessive, breached their freedom of expression
(Press Release, European Court of Human Rights via Strasbourg Consortoim)
Transgenderism: Technology and role reversals have made both sexes unattractive
(Katherine Barker, MercatorNet)
Washington Post offers look at five country music myths and misses a familiar ghost
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Thursday, 5 December 2019
EVENT, 5 December 2019: Global Conversations
(The Parliament of the Worlds Religions)
The confession ‘Heil Trump’ and an anti-gay slur were scrawled on an Indiana church right after Trump’s election. The investigation led to an unlikely suspect — and the discovery of a hate crime hoax.
(Peter Jamison, The Washington Post)
Anglicans in Canada are facing a kind of ecclesiastical near-death experience
(Terry Mattingly, OnReligion)
A new wave of clergy sex abuse cases is expected
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Canada: Church of Atheism denied charitable status as court finds it isn't a religion
(Nicole Thompson, National Post)
Is atheism a religion? The Ministry of National Revenue is a non-believer
(Jason Proctor, CBC News)
Atheism is not a religion, Canadian court rules in tax case
(Michael Foust, Christian Headlines)
USCIRF condemns arrests of Baha’is during Iran protests
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Justice Department supports religious discrimination lawsuit over school voucher exclusion
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
German bishop charged with embezzling 6-figure sum
(Associated Press)
At Madrid climate talks, Catholics work to provide ‘moral perspective’
(Jonathan Luxmoore, Catholic News Service)
Former priest sues over inclusion on list of alleged abusers
(Associated Press)
Mexican diocese suspends evening Masses due to insecurity
(Catholic News Service)
Indonesia to deploy 160,000 people to protect churches for Christmas
(Catholic News Service)
American Jews are getting scared enough to hide their religion
(Dave Schechter, Religion Unplugged)
Elderly Jehovah's Witnesses woman locked up for half a year
(Interfax-Religiia, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Moscow patriarchate promotes conservative social views
(Interfax-Religiia, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
Serbian president invites Putin to attend opening of St. Sava Cathedral in Belgrade
(Interfax-Religion)
Saint Isaac's Cathedral and 5 other churchs in St. Petersburg received bomb threats
(Interfax-Religion)
Zelensky urges clerics to back Ukraine's initiatives in run-up to Normandy-format summit
(Interfax-Religion)
Pelosi: House moving forward with articles of impeachment against President Trump
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
Why Nancy Pelosi doesn't hate the president and prays for him instead
(Thomas Reese, RNS Column: Signs of the Times)
Pelosi points to her Catholic faith in denying she hates Trump. Will news reports offer any context?
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)
Jürgen Moltmann, theologian who survived life under Nazi regime, leaves students spellbound with his account
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Remarks by Vice President Pence to a meeting of faith leaders | Kalamazoo, MI
(The White House)
School drops Christmas carols to respect other religions (Switzerland)
(Swiss Info)
Time for Iraq and Lebanon to ditch state-sponsored sectarianism
(The Economist)
Capitol rotunda has become focal point of religious debate
(Capitol News Illinois)
Arabs are losing faith in religious parties and leaders (Religious zeal is also falling in the region, particularly among the young)
(The Economist)
Hundreds of lawyers share their own abortion stories with U.S. Supreme Court ahead of landmark case
(Deanna Paul, The Washington Post)
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