Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 2 October 2023

Shocking survey in France: 91% of Jewish students say they have been victims of antisemitic acts at university
(Yossi Lempkowicz, European Jewish Press)

French schools’ ban on abayas and headscarves is supposedly about secularism − but it sends a powerful message about who ‘belongs’ in French culture
(Carol Ferrara, The Conversation)

Legal spirits 053: Tom Berg on religious liberty in a polarized age
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)

HK’s oldest church displays Chinese flag ignoring criticism
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Fighting for freedom of speech - Jimmy Lai’s 1,000 days in prison
(Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes)

The legal and theological theory of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery
(Renée K. Gadoua, Religion News Service)

Israel’s secular-religious divide highlighted in holiday incidents
(Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post)

Tanzania: Ministers urge Tanzanians to avoid mixing politics and religion
(Louis Kalumbia, The Citizen)

Greek Orthodox students denied exemption from religious classes: Ruling sparks debate
(Greek City Times)

Fiji: Government will uphold religious freedom: Vosarogo
(Sivaniolo Lumelume, FBC News)

Can foster care agencies receiving public funds screen families based on religion? Legal experts (still) don’t agree
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

Psychedelic church that gives members mushrooms raided by Detroit police
(Brandon Hudson and David Komer, Fox 2 Detroit)

The Secretary General of AIDLR participates in the colloquium "Religious freedom and freedom of expression" organised by the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic
(International Association for the Defence of Religious Liberty)

Spain: The Government grants "deeply rooted" to the Bahá'í Community, with 5,000 followers and 17 places of worship (Spanish)
(Europa Press)

Kazakhstan: USCIRF releases report on the prosecution of online religious activity in Kazakhstan
(United States Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Sunday, 1 October 2023

EVENT, 1-5 October 2023: Religion & the Cultures of Democracy: Community and Critique (Charlottesville, VA, USA)
(The University of Virginia)

Saturday, 30 September 2023

CALL FOR PROPOSALS, deadline for responses 30 September 2023: 2024 ACLARS Conference Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
(African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS))

Friday, 29 September 2023

SURVEY, deadline 29 September 2023: The status and experience of the rights and responsibilities to religious freedom within the faith communities of South Africa
(CRL Rights Commission)

RESEARCH SOLICITATION, deadline 29 September 2023: Examination of Antisemitism in the OSCE Region
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

HYBRID EVENT, 29 September 2023 (9:30AM ET): OAS Dialogue - Freedom of Conscience, Religion or Belief and Pluralism (Washington, DC, USA)
(OAS Department of Social Inclusion)

Fact sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration takes landmark step to counter antisemitism
(The White House)

A green card processing change means US could lose thousands of faith leaders from abroad
(Giovanna Dell'Orto, Associated Press)

School board member sues to vindicate her reading of Bible at board meetings
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

IOC allows Paris Olympics participants to wear hijabs at athletes’ village
(Al Jazeera)

French schools’ ban on abayas sends a message about who ‘belongs’ in French culture
(Carol Ferrara, Religion News Service)

Vatican, other faith leaders join in push for end of death penalty in Louisiana
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)

How college can be a pathway to making Muslims more welcome
(Musbah Shaheen, Matthew J. Mayhew, Christa Winkler, Alyssa Rockenbach, Religion News Service)

New Hong Kong cardinal says Vatican’s China policy ‘not naïve’
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Women as powerful agents of transformation for peace
(YouTube Video, International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation)

India: A Uniform Civil Code: What is it and could it work in India today?
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

India: Sikhs protest in Amritsar after Canada's allegations
(Deutsche Welle)

85 years after Kristallnacht, Germany to begin rebuilding grand synagogue in Hamburg
(Jackie Hajdenberg, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Nigeria: An illustrative approach to religious freedom violations in Nigeria
(Dennis P. Petri, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

Pakistan: Blast at Pakistan procession to mark prophet’s birthday kills at least 52
(Al Jazeera)

Japan’s Unification Church wants 'insulting' TV program shut
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Living under the dark shadow of 9/11
(Nasim Ahmed, Middle East Monitor)

Muslim community in Belgium appeals to ECHR over controversial rules
(International Quran News Agency (IQNA))

Why the Lautenberg Amendment is needed for persecuted religious minorities
(ERLC Staff, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission)

Around the institute: What’s happening at first liberty
(First Liberty)

Crowd gathers to demand reopening of Russian Orthodox church in Bulgaria
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

Tunisia: “Significant increase in hate speech against religious minorities”
(Jonatán Soriano, Evangelical Focus)

EEOC sues Chipotle for religious discrimination and retaliation
(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC))

Churches express solidarity with refugees—and those helping them—in Lampedusa
(World Council of Churches)

Augusto Santos Silva applauds Portugal’s global leadership in religious freedom
(Sheras Fernandes, BNN)

DRC: Religious freedom in the DRC: equality between Kimbanguists, Catholics and Protestants
(Fatshimetrie)

Guatemala: Jewish community appreciates the efforts of the Government of Guatemala
(GT News)

Brasilian devotee accepts important Inter-Religious dialogue role in Rio
(Baladeva Das, International Society for Krishna Consciousness)

Congressman Thanedar forms Congressional caucus to combat religious discrimination
(India Today)

Yemen: Religion, peace and conflict country profile
(The United States Institute of Peace)

Thursday, 28 September 2023

EVENT, 28 September 2023: The Black Church & Religious Freedom Conference
(University of Notre Dame Law School)

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

Building bridges, breaking barriers: The role of religious freedom in building a free, just, and mutually supportive society
(Marianna Richardson, G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)

Human Rights Council holds general debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention
(United Nations Human Rights Council)

Justice Department marks 23rd anniversary of federal religious land use law by announcing community outreach program and resources to increase awareness of protections for faith-based groups
(U.S. Department of Justice)

EVENT, 27-29 September 2023: UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna 1993 – Strengthening Imperatives 30 Years After (Vienna)
(The University of Vienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights, Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs)

Iran: Why Iran won't budge on mandatory hijab laws — according to the president's wife
(Steve Inskeep, NPR)

Iran says foiled 30 'terrorist’ attacks, arrested 28 Daesh/ISIS members
(Syed Zafar Mehdi, Anadolu Agency)

FFRF warns Auburn U over coach Freeze athlete baptism
(Freedom From Religion Foundation)

FFRF applauds Calif. county for rescinding Christian History Month
(Freedom From Religion Foundation)

California county rescinds 'American Christian Heritage Month’ after pressure from ACLU
(Ian M. Giatti, The Christian Post)

Legal fight over Oklahoma Catholic charter school draws help from national groups
(Chris Casteel, The Oklahoman)

Few persecuted Christians find refuge in US, new report finds
(Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)

Indigenous peoples secure decisive victory in Brazil
(Andrea Carvalho, Human Rights Watch)

Trudeau calls invite for Ukrainian who fought with Nazis 'deeply embarrassing'
(John Paul Tasker, CBC News)

Accused killer of Muslim family 'appeared giddy' and was smiling after arrest in London, Ont., court told
(Kate Dubinski, CBC News)

India LGBTQ wedding sparks controversy in Punjab
(Gagandeep Singh Jassowal, BBC News)

Helicopter raid in northern Syria captured Daesh/ISIS official: US military
(Firdevs Bulut Kartal, Anadolu Agency)

Southwest Airlines lawyers win reprieve from religious liberty training order
(Nate Raymond, Reuters)

Faith-based resettlement orgs celebrate moves to maintain refugee cap
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

Greek court: Orthodox students cannot be exempted from religion classes
(David I. Klein, Religion News Service)

Man brings gun and knives into a Virginia church service after vague online threats, police say
(Associated Press)

Israelis have grown more skeptical of a two-state solution
(Sarah Austin and Johnathan Evans, Pew Research Center)

History professor named PRRI fellow for second straight year
(Zoee Simmons, California State University San Marcos)

India: Inside the vast digital campaign by Hindu nationalists to inflame India
(Gerry Shih, The Washington Post)

India: Anti-Muslim hate speech in India concentrated around elections, report finds
(Kanishka Singh, Reuters)

Armenian priest fears for Karabakh's Christian heritage amid mass exodus
(Felix Light, Reuters)

The second Armenian genocide
(Mark Movsesian, Compact Magazine)

Nigeria: Sentenced to death for WhatsApp lyrics, petition for Nigerian musician’s release brought to UN working group
(ADF International)

Vatican presses world leaders at UN to work on rules for lethal autonomous weapons
(Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press)

Employees failed to show sincere religious beliefs for vaccine exemptions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Democracies in Asia risk failing on religious freedom
(Suzan Johnson Cook and Katrina Lantos Swett, Real Clear Politics)

Ohio high school football coach resigns after players use ‘Nazi’ in play calls
(Andrew Lapin, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Kazakhstan: Still jailed despite 2021 UN "immediate" release call
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

Kazakhstan: Prisoners of conscience refused conditional early release
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

Opportunities and limits of religious diplomacy
(Svitlana Babynska, Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

Colorado city settles with church over RV ‘hospitality ministry’ lawsuit
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Religious liberty is becoming a go-to right for everyone
(Mark Silk, RNS Column: Spiritual Politics)

Jesuit agency head in UK blasts call to scrap UN refugee convention as ‘appalling’
(Charles Collins, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Blasphemy laws fuel religious intolerance, Humanists UK tells UN
(Humanists UK)

Religion and identity in an age of individualization
(Ted A. Smith, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

Caster Semenya v. Switzerland: eligibility of intersex female athlete in female athletic events
(Tsubasa Shinohara, Strasbourg Observers)

Imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop nominated for European Parliament human rights award
(Diego López Marina, Catholic News Agency)

Methodist community in religious freedom fight against NJ regarding Sunday beach access
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)

Pakistan’s Ahmadis living in fear as graves, religious sites attacked
(Abid Hussain, Al Jazeera)

UN criticises France’s ban on its Olympic athletes wearing headscarves
(Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian)

France’s abaya ban risks isolating Muslim students, experts say
(Sophie Stuber, Al Jazeera)

Laotian bishop: Church gives new impetus to society
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

The government adopted discriminatory and unconstitutional defense legislation
(Tolerance and Diversity Institute)

Many anti-Semitic artifacts in Cologne cathedral
(Christian Network Europe)

Ukrainian parliament doesn't have enough votes to ban Moscow-linked church
(Ukrainska Pravda, Yahoo News)

Religion and schools
(Courthouse News Service)

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