Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 6 November 2023

A Brazilian plea for science, religious freedom and the right to samba as you wish
(Daniel Gontijo E Pirula, WorldCrunch)

Malaysia: PN MP: Expedite law to curb spread of other religions to Muslims
(Malaysiakini)

India: Kerala government to challenge High Court ban on crackers at religious places
(India Today)

As Ohio and other states decide on abortion, anti-abortion activists look to rebrand themselves as not religious
(Anne Whitesell, The Conversation)

Virginia photographer now free from government coercion
(Alliance Defending Freedom)

Legal Journal Number 1 (19): October (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)

Friday, 3 November 2023

Statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on President Biden’s establishment of first-ever national strategy to counter Islamophobia
(The White House)

The White House is working on a strategy to combat Islamophobia. Many Muslim Americans are skeptical
(Aamer Madhani, Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, Associated Press)

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland delivers remarks at the United Against Hate virtual forum
(Merrick Garland, U.S. Department of Justice)

Iranian Jews threatened, told to break contact with Israeli relatives - report
(The Jerusalem Post)

Iran: Religious persecution and issues – Monthly digest October
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Indonesia: What’s in a name? Terminology for Christian holidays in the spotlight
(Muhammad Ahalla Tsauro and Rezza Prasetyo Setiawan, The University of Melbourne)

EVENT, 3 November 2023: Christian Theology and the Dialogue with Islam
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Cabell county school board agrees to implement freedom of religion training for staff
(Briana Heaney, West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

Governor Glenn Youngkin issues executive directive to combat antisemitism and anti-religious bigotry in the Commonwealth and on campuses
(Governor of Virginia)

Pennsylvania lawmakers pass bill allowing teachers to wear religious garb
(George Stockburger, ABC 27 News)

Why Black women like Yolanda Pierce are rising to lead top theology schools
(Rebekah Barber, Religion News Service)

Illinois man pleads not guilty to hate crime and murder charges in attack on Muslim mother and son
(Sophia Tareen, Associated Press)

Mali: Islamist armed groups, army target civilians
(Human Rights Watch)

US sanctions Myanmar junta’s gas revenue
(Shayna Bauchner, Human Rights Watch)

'I was tired of God being dead': How one woman was drawn to witchcraft
(Mallory Yu, NPR)

Cornell cancels classes after student is charged with threatening Jewish people on campus
(Associated Press)

Jewish students on campus feel threatened, scared amid antisemitic spike
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

Harvard, Penn, Columbia announce steps to address antisemitism following campus turmoil
(Jackie Hajdenberg, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Nation’s top law firms warn deans: Antisemitic law school grads won’t be hired
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Cornell student arrested in connection with antisemitic threats on New York campus
(Brian Mann, NPR)

Kerala blasts: Man arrested after deadly attack on Jehovah's Witnesses
(Meryl Sebastian and Ashraf Padanna, BBC News)

Paris graffiti recall 1930s antisemitism, says mayor
(BBC News)

Faith leaders highlight Russian religious persecution in occupied Ukraine
(Shelby Magid and Mercedes Sapuppo, Atlantic Council)

Russia: Armed raid on Krasnodar Region church
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)

A Russian singer who condemned the war in Ukraine is back home. The Orthodox Church wants an apology
(Associated Press)

Russia: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest Oct. 16-31
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

How social media fuelled antisemitic violence in Dagestan, Russia
(Olga Robinson, Maria Korenyuk, and Grigor Atanesian, BBC News)

Violence rages in Gaza, but a meeting of Jewish and Muslim women has given me hope
(Remona Aly, The Guardian)

For Muslim Americans, a spike in hate incidents feels reminiscent of post 9/11 Islamophobia
(Sakshi Venkatraman and Mirna Alsharif, NBC News)

Free speech and free exercise challenges to law restricting sidewalk counselors moves ahead
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Religious Liberty in the States 2023 (pdf)
(Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy)

Muslim and Arab Americans feel betrayed by Biden. Can he win back their votes?
(Kathryn Post, Religion News Service)

Ukraine: Three years' jail for Adventist conscientious objector to mobilisation
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

Does America still defy the classic 'secularization theory' favored by sociologists?
(Richard Ostling, GetReligion)

German vice-chancellor Habeck hits out against rising antisemitism
(Paul Kirby, BBC News)

Tunisia’s Islamist party leader is sentenced to 15 months in prison for supporting terrorism
(Bouazza Ben Bouazza, Associated Press)

Myanmar seeking to repatriate Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh
(Al Jazeera)

USCIRF alarmed by attacks on religious sites during armed conflict
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

“Rainbow rags and crescents” will replace crosses in schools, warns Polish children’s right commissioner
(Notes from Poland)

In ‘Three Chaplains,’ Muslim military chaplains find resilience in faith
(Kathryn Post, Religion News Service)

Argentina's Jewish community rattled by rise in antisemitism (video)
(Deutsche Welle)

Religious liberty stops violence
(Jeremy Dys and Yaakov Menken, Newsweek)

Judge awards $150,000 to Christian student who balked at Chicago school’s meditation program
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

When should ECtHR proceedings become ‘horizontal’? The issue of the ‘interested’ third party in A.S. and M.S. v. Italy
(Lorenzo Acconciamessa, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

Canada: Senate report on Islamophobia says urgent action needed to reverse rising tide of hate
(Peter Zimonjic, CBC News)

Colombia advisor to the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace shares insights on the importance of WCC’s accompaniment
(World Council of Churches)

Cuba: WCC voices support of UN resolution condemning ongoing blockade imposed on Cuba
(World Council of Churches)

Protecting equality or correcting thoughts?
(Richard W. Garnett, Law & Liberty)

Judicial stereotypes on female sexuality and reproduction: Nurcan Bayraktar v Türkiye
(Strasbourg Observers)

Fifteen years later—justice for a sacred site
(Carol Logan, Newsweek)

Are these the best and worst states for religious freedom?
(Jonah McKeown, Catholic News Agency)

Holy See on deportation: Human rights come before national interests
(Nina Benedikta Krapić, Vatican News)

China: Beijing bishop to make rare visit to Hong Kong amid broader tensions
(Greg Torode, Reuters)

Brazil bishops say land disputes, Indigenous frustrations continue under Lula
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Brazil: Understand how religions permeate war and the importance of reciprocal respect for different beliefs (Portuguese)
(Fernanda Bastos, G1)

Brazil: Collaborative secularism in practice (Portuguese video)
(Direito Religioso)

Guatemala: Authorities promote religious freedom (Spanish)
(Redacción DCA, Diario de Centro America)

King Charles III meets with religious leaders to promote peace on the final day of his Kenya visit
(Evelyne Musambi, Associated Press)

Humanists UK at UN calls on UAE to repeal blasphemy and apostasy laws
(Humanists UK)

Equality watchdog urges UK government to uphold its commitment to ban harmful conversion practices
(Equality and Human Rights Commission)

Swastikas sent to Belfast Jewish student, says peer
(BBC News)

Christ Church Review Group
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Religious sisters honored for fighting human-trafficking
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Discrimination against “Voodoo” and Santeria
(Danielle Boaz, PRRI)

After Texas law forces closure of LGBTQ+ center, Houston campus ministries offer space for students
(David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service)

Wednesday, 1 November 2023

CALL FOR PAPERS, abstracts due 1 November 2023: Theology and Jurisprudence Symposium
(School of Law and Justice, University of Southern Queensland)

Turkey is celebrating 100 years as a republic. But today’s nation is a long way from 1923’s secular state
(Zara Khan, CNN)

Turkey: Experts and missionaries condemn the treatment of Christians
(Evangelical Times)

Advocacy letters to authorities in Cuba, Brazil, Malawi, and Ghana - October 2023
(International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB))

Cuba: Why are Cubas religious leaders going into exile?
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Sri Lanka: USCIRF delegation travels to Sri Lanka to assess religious freedom conditions
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Vietnam: IRFBA Chair’s statement on Vietnamese religious prisoners of conscience: Lê Tùng Vân, Lê Thanh Trùng Dương, Lê Thanh Hoàn Nguyên, Lê Thanh Nhất Nguyên, Cao Thị Cúc, and Lê Thanh Nhị Nguyên
(U.S. Department of State)

Challenges facing FoRB and human rights: Strategies to strengthen the human rights architecture
(YouTube Video, European Union Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Nicaragua: Ortega and the Church: A cautionary tale
(Brandon Van Dyck, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)

The criminalisation of prayer with Isabel Vaughan-Spruce
(Catholic Herald)

Utah Gov. Cox warns America is heading in a dangerous direction
(Jacob Hess, Deseret News)

Campuses feel like political battlegrounds. Can a new initiative change that?
(Jacob Hess, Deseret News)

Perspective: Young people rally for freedom of religion all around the world
(Jacob Hess, Deseret News)

Justices skip religious Maine health workers' Covid vaccine suit
(Patrick Dorrian, Bloomberg Law)

Silently praying woman in Britain cited for ‘thoughtcrime’ for third time: Attorneys
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Catholic Church must elevate role of women, deal with issues of gender: synod report
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Curating Buddhism, Fostering Diplomacy: The “Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda” Exhibition in Singapore
(Jack Meng-Tat Chia and Darryl Kangfu Lim, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)

In Search of a Welcoming Environment for Religions in the “New Kazakhstan”
(Wade Kusack, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)

The Silence of the Roman Catholic Church on the Ukraine War
(Katharina McLarren, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)

A Bridge Over Troubled Water: How Worldview Helps Overcome the Religious-Secular Divide in Development Cooperation and Beyond
(Yannicke Goris and Simon Polinder, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)

Christian Nationalism's Threat to Global Democracy
(Nilay Saiya, The Review of Faith & International Affairs)

On a US tour, Ukrainian faith leaders plead for continued support against the Russian invasion
(Peter Smith, Associated Press)

‘Antisemitism has no place at Harvard’: College creates advisory board to tackle antisemitism in wake of anti-Israel letter
(Rick Sobey, Boston Herald)

Yes, anti-Zionism is antisemitism - editorial
(The Jerusalem Post)

Can we talk about anti-Semitism and Israel without "both-sidesism"?
(Josh Blackman, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Open hatred of Jews surges globally, inflamed by Gaza war
(Andrew Macaskill and Estelle Shirbon, Reuters)

Youngkin issues order aiming to combat antisemitism, other anti-religious hatred
(Associated Press)

Pennsylvania legislature repeals ban on public school teachers wearing religious garb or insignia
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

5 years after a Supreme Court win, Christian baker Jack Phillips’ fight is far from over
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

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