Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 4 September 2023
Law and religion round-up – 3rd September
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Kovačević v Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the saga of the Dayton Peace Agreement’s incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights
(Kushtrim Istrefi, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
WCC signs joint letter urging G20 leaders toward New International Financial and Economic Architecture
(World Council of Churches)
Empirical study of religious liberty decision in the federal courts: The Establishment Clause cases
(Greg Sisk, Mirror of Justice Blog)
Christians worldwide increasingly persecuted, perpetrators go unpunished
(Christian Network Europe)
People across 24 countries continue to view UN favorably
(Moira Fagan, Pew Research Center)
Australia: Senate inquiry examining if ACT government should hold inquiry into Calvary Hospital takeover hears from church representatives
(Harry Frost, ABC News Australia)
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum leads brief against religious school discrimination exemptions
(Julia Shumway, Herald and News)
Washington State abandons its namesake’s legacy on religious liberty
(Lathan Watts, National Review)
Saturday, 2 September 2023
Turkish police nab suspected members of Daesh terror group
(TRT World)
Friday, 1 September 2023
Center welcomes new Associate Director Hannah Clayson Smith
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University)
2023 Oxford Conference: Civilizational Perspectives on Human Dignity
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies, BYU Law)
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS, due 1 September 2023: The Claremont Prize for the Study of Religion
(The Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, Columbia University)
The revelation of the Book of Mormon at 200 [podcast]
(Steven Filippi, Sarah Butcher, and Jack Dugan, OUPblog: Religion)
Iraq: A Patriarch flees Baghdad: Sako’s departure shocks Christians in the Middle East
(Joseph Amar, Commonweal)
Religious parents ask federal appeals court to allow individual opt-outs from storybook mandate
(Becket)
Jewish couple denied child placement services by United Methodist agency have standing to sue
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Iraq: Demolition of iconic centuries-old minaret triggers outrage in Iraq
(Scientology Religious Freedom Blog)
The Good Friday Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights
(Anurag Deb, UK Human Rights Blog)
Ecclesiastical court judgments – August (II)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Muslim call to prayer can be amplified in New York City
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Sixty years later, King’s dream still calls
(Bridget Moix, Religion News Service)
The radical, irreverent and inclusive religion of Burning Man
(Kathryn Post, Religion News Service)
Episode 3 - FoRB and society: Sierra Leone's path to religious coexistence (podcast)
(Spotify, International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB))
New book: Religious Accommodation and its Limits
(Farrah Raza, Bloomsbury Publishing)
Is hate speech illegal?
(Freedom Forum)
Activists prepare for yearlong battle over Nebraska private school funding law
(Margery A. Beck, Associated Press)
8th Circuit rejects Satanic Temple's complaint over closing park to its display
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
How this ‘angry, woke’ college student became the founder of a leading international interfaith organization
(Marjorie Cortez, Deseret News)
As New York’s migrant crisis grinds on, some faith-based organizations go it alone
(Fiona André, Religion News Service)
Russia: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest Aug 16-31
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral. 1. After the Russian bombing, help is needed for reconstruction
(Ievgeniia Gidulianova with Willy Fautré, Bitter Winter)
Ukrainian Association of Jewish Studies strongly condemns Russia's theft of Jewish artifacts in Ukraine
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Vatican seeks to tamp down outrage over pope’s words of praise for Russian imperial past
(Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)
“Chain of torture chambers is the most important legacy of the Russian Empire" - Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk on the Pope's statement
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Uganda: Pastor’s conviction highlights Uganda's growing problem of ritual sacrifice
(John Semakula, Religion Unplugged)
Praying high school coach returns to gridiron Friday night, will take a knee after the game
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
CAIR welcomes halal meal accommodations in two Maryland public school systems
(Ismail Allison, Council on American-Islamic Relations)
China: Buddhists a majority in China as Christianity’s growth struggles
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)
China issues new requirements for religious groups
(Yang Ming, Voice of America)
China: Dismay over China’s clampdown on folk religious practices
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
China bars Chinese bishops from traveling to see pope in Mongolia
(Claire Giangravé, Religion News Service)
Liberia: Bishops in Liberia caution Catholic lawmakers against “inaction” to oppose abortion
(Magdalene Kahiu, ACI Africa)
Prosecutors argue that Finnish politician's interpretation and publication of Bible verses is "criminal"
(ADF International)
Newest NATO country escalates prosecution of Christians for quoting the Bible
(Joy Pullmann, The Federalist)
After leading minister joked about Nazis, Finland moves to criminalize Holocaust denial
(Andrew Lapin, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Interfaith resilience in the face of existential threats
(United Religions Initiative)
France’s public schools will enforce a dress code banning robes worn by some Muslims, president says
(Associated Press)
Court ok's denial of unemployment benefits for religious objector to covid vaccine mandate
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
A Swiss university is hiring its next Jewish studies professor. Jews need not apply.
(Jackie Hajdenberg, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Religious charter schools are entirely constitutional
(Ryan Walters, Real Clear Education)
In Nicaragua, Catholicism is being extinguished
(John I. Jenkins, The Washington Post)
Myanmar's Cardinal Bo calls for ecological justice
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
‘One in two’ in Denmark support ban on Quran burnings
(The Local)
Domestic enforcement of the right to housing of applicants for international protection: a (small) victory in Camara v. Belgium
(Anaïs Brucher, Strasbourg Observers)
Judge rejects Southwest's 'gripe' over religious liberty training order
(Daniel Wiessner, Reuters)
Malaysia: My roots as a Tamil Muslim and the MIC interfaith event
(Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, Free Malaysia Today)
Iran: Top cleric decries Iran’s discrimination against Sunnis
(Iran International)
The politics of religion
(Frank Newport, Gallup)
Mongolia missioners mull challenges to religious freedom
(Cristian Martini Grimaldi, Union of Catholic Asian News)
Faith, trade behind Papua New Guinea’s Jerusalem embassy
(Kirsty Needham and Dan Williams, Reuters)
South Australian prisoner will die through ‘voluntary assisted dying’
(Michael Cook, BioEdge)
Thursday, 31 August 2023
CALL FOR PAPERS, abstracts due 31 August 2023: Migration, Law, and Religion/Culture
(Journal of Law, Religion and State, Bar-Ilan University School of Law and Reichman University)
Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Macron’s abaya ban nods to the right, splits the left
(Clea Caulcutt, Politico)
UN criticises France for banning abaya in schools
(Middle East Monitor)
France bans the abaya in schools: a history of the Islamic garment
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)
France’s abaya robe ban in schools: overreach from the state?
(Harriet Marsden, The Week)
France: Abaya ban triggers secular laws debate
(Stephanie Höppner, Deutsche Welle)
New York Times offers a fascinating look at France's painful religion and immigration puzzle
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
China: Measuring religion in China
(Pew Research Center)
China: ‘Worse than physical torture’ – how China uses exit bans to inflict suffering on human rights defenders and their loved ones
(FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Episode 2: FoRB and Democracy: A Conversation with Parliamentarians on FoRB and the Road to Democratic Renewal in the Gambia (podcast)
(Spotify, International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB))
Muslim call to prayer can now be broadcast publicly in New York City without a permit
(Karen Matthews, Associated Press)
Eritrea: USCIRF releases new report on Eritrea’s religious freedom violations
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Afghanistan: USCIRF releases new report on religious freedom and women’s rights in Afghanistan
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
The Christian home-schooler who made ‘parental rights’ a GOP rallying cry
(Emma Brown, The Washington Post)
Research on religious freedom’s Econ. impact
(Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)
New book: The Contest and Control of Jerusalem's Holy Sites: A Historical Guide to Legality, Status, and Ownership
(Marshall J. Breger and Leonard M. Hammer, Cambridge University Press)
Ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not apply to church's fraud claims against former pastor
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
US disrupts network led by smuggler with ties to Daesh/ISIS
(Michael Hernandez, Anadolu Agency)
Jewish faculty at NY college can move ahead with hostile work environment lawsuit
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Title VII claim for denying religious exemption from vaccine mandate moves ahead
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
AG Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights announce a $575K settlement resolving civil rights lawsuit against Jackson Township
(New Jersey Attorney General)
Quran burning in Sweden prompts debate on the fine line between freedom of expression and incitement of hatred
(Armin Langer, The Conversation)
History tells us that burning sacred texts and other books never ends well
(Anna Piela, Religion News Service)
California’s caste bill passes key hurdle with 50-3 Assembly vote
(Richa Karmarkar, Religion News Service)
Religious freedom takes practice, not just legislation
(Sofi Hersher Andorsky, Baptist News Global)
The exceptional case of Ghadamian v Switzerland: Private life and the obligation to regularize migrants
(Eva Sevrin, Strasbourg Observers)
Belarus: Is regime planning to liquidate New Life Church?
(Olga Glace and Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
St. Michael le Belfrey, York (I)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Ecclesiastical court judgments – August (I)
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Most Church of England priests say Britain no longer a Christian nation, warn of ‘extinction’
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Sri Lanka: Church urges Sri Lankan prez to address economic woes
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
As Armenian ambassador visits, WCC reiterates calls to lift blockade of Nagorno-Karabagh
(World Council of Churches)
Pacific churches call for Japan to halt wastewater dump
(World Council of Churches)
Finnish lawmaker on trial for ‘hate speech’ for defending traditional marriage
(Peter Pinedo, Catholic News Agency)
Latvian TV bans Orthodox services from broadcast
(Christian Network Europe)
Canada: Charges withdrawn against Fairview Baptist Church
(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms)
Interfaith dialogue and religious freedom: a project for the Near East and North Africa
(Meridian International Center)
UAB Conference addresses injustice and human rights violations in the Muslim world
(Global Village Space)
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