Law and Religion Headlines
Thursday, 7 November 2019
In India, gods 'flex their muscles' over scarce land
(Rina Chandran, Reuters)
Moscow offended by Pompeo's favoring new Ukrainian church
(Interfax-Religiia, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
New study in Science: Medieval Catholicism explains the differences between cultures to this day
(Julie Zauzmer, The Washington Post)
Trump's 'conscience' rule for healthcare workers struck down by U.S. judge
(Jonathan Stempel, Reuters)
Auschwitz survivor a focus of Italy’s anti-Semitic tensions
(Colleen Barry, Associated Press)
Italy Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre under guard amid death threats
(BBC News)
Paula White and the mainstreaming of American Pentecostalism
(Daniel G. Hummel, University of Chicago Divinity School: Sightings)
Police have no pity for ill Jehovah's Witnesses
(Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Russia Religion News (Stetson University))
ProPublica: Pence's office pressured USAID to award grants to Christian groups in Iraq
(Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN)
Religious liberty begins in Queens
(Richard Brookhiser and Luke Thompson, National Review)
Civil partnerships, marriage registration, stillbirths – update
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Court invalidates HHS conscience rules
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Montana, Jehovah’s Witness settle discrimination complaint
(Associated Press)
Sheriff refuses to remove ‘in God we trust’ from squad cars after atheist groups protest
(Madison Dibble, Washington Examiner)
Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Churches have legal rights in Australia. Why not sacred trees?
(Wendy Steele and Michelle Maloney, The Conversation)
New York trial court upholds vaccination requirement
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Judge upholds New York vaccination law for students in Amish lawsuit
(David Robinson, Democrat & Chronicle)
South Carolina moves forward with bill that would ban nearly all abortion in the state
(Alexandra Hutzler, Newsweek)
Evangelical-Muslim conference brings college students together to solve 'the greatest interreligious challenge of our time'
(Hunter Moyler, Newsweek)
Has denying Communion lost its political luster?
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Minister says Greece will abide EU Court ruling on religion classes
(The National Herald)
Does the Civil Rights Act protect LGBT workers? The Supreme Court is about to decide
(Julie Manning Magid, The Conversation)
European court opposes Swiss deportation of Afghan refugee
(Swissinfo.ch)
Evangelicals in Brazil see abuse of God’s earth as a sin – but will they fight to save the Amazon?
(Amy Erica Smith, The Conversation)
Anti-Semitism in the US today is a variation on an old theme
(Pamela S. Nadell, The Conversation)
Marriage and cohabitation in the U.S.
(Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Nikki Graf, and Gretchen Livingston, Pew Research Center: Social and Demographic Trends)
Some Nigerians blame government, not religious leaders, for shocking school abuses
(Paul Carsten, Reuters)
Indian Muslims anxious as court prepares to rule on destroyed mosque
(Mayank Bhardwaj, Reuters)
Is American Christianity in decline?
(Mark Movsesian, Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
Title of liberty raised in three-country tour of Central America
(Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
First Presidency welcomes leader of Muslim World League
(Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
2nd Circuit allows Christian adoption agency to continue ongoing cases pending appeal on anti-discrimination law
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Appeals court temporarily stops NY officials from threatening adoption provider for its religious beliefs
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Judge strikes down new Trump rule on religious objections
(Larry Neumeister, Associated Press)
Why Joe Biden was denied communion at a church
(Bruce T. Morrill, The Conversation)
EVENT, 6 November 2019: Systematic, Ongoing, Egregious: Religious Prisoners of Conscience - A Global Crisis
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
EVENT, 6 November 2019: Current Challenges in Refugee Policy: Kids, Courts, and Refugee Resettlement in Global Perspective
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Tuesday, 5 November 2019
Hate crime charges filed in plot to bomb synagogue
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Southern Colorado man charged with federal hate crime for plotting to blow up synagogue
(U.S. Department of Justice)
Radical Pakistani cleric continues sit-in; PM won’t resign
(Kathy Gannon, Associated Press)
Islamic State exacts revenge on Turkey for selling out Al-Baghdadi – OpEd
(Nauman Sadiq, Eurasia Review)
Canada's state religion
(David T. Koyzis, First Things)
Abortion law, same sex marriage and opposite sex civil partnership in Northern Ireland: update
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
"Prosperity gospel" minister joins White House staff
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Organization lacks standing to claim sexual orientation discrimination by Christian business owners
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Bankruptcy court upholds order to sell church property
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
HHS to allow grantees to refuse to serve LGBT clients
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Adoption groups could turn away LGBT families under proposed rule
(Derrick Bryson Taylor, The New York Times)
Ministerial exception requires dismissal of elementary teacher's pregnancy discrimination suit
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
European court criticizes Greece's procedure for exemptions from compulsory religion courses
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Judgment Papageorgiou and Others v. Greece - System for exempting schoolchildren from religious education classes breaches the European Convention
(European Court of Human Rights)
French bishops mull payments for church sex abuse victims
(Associated Press)
FBI: Man who spoke of hating Jews held in temple bomb plot
(Colleen Slevin, Associated Press)
Kentucky Supreme Court dismisses organization’s T-shirt refusal lawsuit for lack of standing
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
New HHS rule would allow child placement discrimination based on religion
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Nicaraguan bishop still experiencing ‘severe social, political and economic crisis’
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Brazilian president posts video on Twitter comparing bishops to hyenas
(Eduardo Campos Lima, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
CRISPR gene technology poses new moral questions
(Charles C. Camosy, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Catholic, other religious groups endorse ‘Faithful Democracy’ statement
(Mark Pattison, Catholic News Service)
Why a prominent Muslim leader is visiting with Latter-day Saints this week
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
Buttigieg's comments on restricting religious freedom prompt calls for clarification
(Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency)
The new Middle East that's coming
(Conn Hallinan, Foreign Policy in Focus)
Religion Photos of the Week
(Kit Doyle)
Could a revived ‘theology of hope’ restore faith in hopeless times?
(Martin E. Marty, Religion News Service)
Church of England Parochial Fees 2020
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Israel 2019, at the mercy of the Chief Rabbinate
(Akiva Eldar, Al-Monitor: Israel Pulse)
EVENT, 5 November 2019: The contingency of contingency: some reflections on the relationships between innovation, religions, faiths and spirituality
(Luca Diotallevi, Roma Tre University, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento)
Article 3 ECHR and returning an Afghan Christian convert: AA v Switzerland
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Switzerland would breach the Convention by returning to Afghanistan an Afghan convert to Christianity
(Press Release - European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg Consortium)
Monday, 4 November 2019
Anti-Semitic hate crimes in Sweden rise by 53% to all-time record high
Risking Turkey’s ire, Iraqi Kurds back Syrian brethren
(Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor: Iraq Pulse)
Baghdadi's death complicates Turkey's plan in Idlib
(Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor: Turkey Pulse)
Supreme Court takes first abortion rights case with Kavanaugh on the bench
(Jessica Mason Pieklo, Rewire.News)
Religious harmony not an option but a necessity, say interfaith experts at conference
(Lester Wong, Singapore Times)
In China, every day is Kristallnacht
(Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post)
On the 70th anniversary of Communist China, to show their loyalty to the regime, Buddhist masters were forced to sing patriotic songs, nuns ordered to dance.
(Wang Yichi, Bitter Winter)
On CCP’s orders, Bible characters “reborn” as Ancient Chinese
(Zhou Xiaolu, BItter Winter)
Utah teacher, principal placed on leave after Facebook post shows child dressed as Hitler for Halloween
(Gretel Kauffman and McKenzie Romero, Deseret News)
How to win a Nobel Peace Price: Who wins the Nobel Peace Prize? And what does it teach us about the last century?
(Russell P. Johnson, University of Chicago Divinity School: Sightings)
Indonesian woman tried for blasphemy ove mosque incident (Suzethe Margaret brings dog and faces 5 years in prison)
(Andreas Harsono, Human Rights Watch)
He helped write Indonesia’s strict adultery laws. Then he had an affair and was publicly flogged 28 times.
(Miriam Berger, The Washington Post)
Indonesia to expand abusive blasphemy law (revoke new provisions violating basic rights)
(Andreas Harsono, Human Rights Watch)
Five Indonesian Islamic scholars visit the United Kingdom to spread message of peace
(British Muslim Magazine)
It isn't just the Rohingya. Myanmar is now attacking Buddhists in Rakhine State, too.
(Jonathan Gorvett, Foreign Policy)
‘Beyond the mosque’: Seeing Islam’s diversity reflected in worship spaces
(Aysha Khan, Religion News Service)
Mosque clean-up shows Hong Kong is a city that stands up for everyone’s rights
(Ho Wai Yip, The Conversation)
New exclusive video: Another "Transformation through Education" camp for Uyghurs exposed in Xinjiang
(Massimo Intorvigne, Bitter Winter)
Equality, reconciliation and instability: the challenges before the South African Constitutional Court
(Rosalind English, UK Human Rights Blog)
Thinking along with Douthat and Burge: Where are the empty pews and why are they empty?
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
The overstated collapse of American Christianity
(Ross Douthat, The New York Times Opinion)
American Religion in 2030
(Ryan P. Burge, Religion in Public (Blog))
Podcast: The high stakes of religious liberty
(Kristen Waggoner, The Gospel Coalition)
USCIRF supports sanctions on Iranian official responsible for Baha’i persecution
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
US growth of Islam creates need for religious scholars
(Jeff Karoub, Noreen Nasir, Religion News Service)
Afghanistan's last Jew gets ready for the Taliban - again
(Emran Feroz, Foreign Policy)
Mohler, prominent Southern Baptist, will be nominated to lead denomination
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
Greek system for exempting schoolchildren from religious education classes breaches the European Convention
(Press Release, European Court of Human Rights)
Mandatory religious instruction again: Papageorgiou
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
EU Court fines greece over religious class exemption method
(The National Herald)
Denying journalist access to asylum-seeker ‘reception centre’ in Hungary violated Article 10 ECHR
(Dirk Voorhoof and Ronan Ó Fathaigh, Strabourg Observers)
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