Law and Religion Headlines

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Friday, 22 September 2023

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey tells atheists complaining about Auburn U. baptisms to back off
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Auburn coaches’ role in prayer event draws fire from atheist group
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)

Episcopal Church’s latest parochial reports point to denominational decline, hope for future
(David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service)

Uzbekistan: USCIRF deeply troubled by Uzbekistan’s backsliding on religious freedom
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

South African “hate speech” bill would violate human rights; Free speech experts address Parliament
(ADF International)

Legislation clarifying right of local authorities to support churches clears final hurdle in House of Lords
(The Church of England)

Bishop of Norwich’s response to Net Zero statement by PM
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Rejecting Policy Exchange's assault on British Muslim women
(East London Mosque)

Netanyahu tells UN that Israel is ‘at the cusp’ of a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia
(Associated Press)

Quran torn by Islamophobic group given to Turkish Embassy in Netherlands
(Abdullah Asiran, Anadolu Agency)

Turkey's Erdogan to Jewish leaders: Antisemitism is 'crime against humanity'
(Zvika Klein, The Jerusalem Post)

Iran hijab bill: Women face 10 years in jail for 'inappropriate' dress
(David Gritten, BBC News)

Iranian court gives a Tajik man 2 death sentences for an attack at a major Shiite shrine
(Associated Press)

Expanded protection of Utah lands did not violate Establishment Clause
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

New decisions on covid vaccine religious objection claims
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

United Healthcare Services sued by EEOC for religious discrimination
(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Photos of the Week: Yom Kippur; Brazilian religious freedom march
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)

Do Catholic colleges have a future?
(Nancy A. Dallavalle, Commonweal)

Pakistan: What happened to Zoroastrians in Karachi?
(Mohammad Salman, Deutsche Welle)

A California county calls off ‘American Christian Heritage Month’ after fierce backlash
(Sue Fishkoff, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Tajikistan: Secret Supreme Court hearing bans Jehovah's Witnesses
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)

Iranian Christians continue to suffer most from US reduction in refugee resettlement – report
(Article 18)

POWR Talk: What does Islam say about democracy?
(Courtney Freer, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

Free speech vs. blasphemy laws: artists charge Poland stifles their freedom
(Katarzyna Maria Skiba, Religion Unplugged)

Indonesia police slammed for violent action inside church
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

Turkish, Malaysian leaders condemn Quran burnings, populist discourse inciting hate speech
(Servet Gunerigok, Anadolu Agency)

Cuba: Ecumenical delegation meets with Cuban president Miguel Diaz Canél in New York
(World Council of Churches)

Colombia: WCC appointed as permanent accompanier in Colombian peace talks
(World Council of Churches)

Zimbabwe: “Migrants need security to stop moving,” says Archbishop Kaliyanil ahead of World Migrants and Refugees Day
(Arnold Neliba, Catholic Information Service for Africa)

‘Break the silence on persecuted Christians’ (European Parliament)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Over 2000 homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses searched in 6 years in Russia
(Willy Fautré, The European Times)

Bulgaria expels Russian church cleric, two others, on national security grounds
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))

The history of religious liberty in America (video)
(YouTube Video, National Constitution Center)

Pope Francis insists Europe doesn’t have a migrant emergency and challenges countries to open ports
(Nicole Winfield, Sylvie Corbet and Trisha Thomas, Associated Press)

Emmanuel Macron announces a “collection for religious heritage”, particularly for old churches (French)
(Le Monde with AFP)

Argentina: The Chamber of Deputies approved October 31 as the Day of the Evangelical and Protestant Churches (Spanish)
(Tiempo Argentina)

Thursday, 21 September 2023

HYBRID EVENT, 21 September 2023 (9AM ET): Engaging Youth in the Abolition of All Forms of Racism from a Faith Perspective to Achieve a Sustainable Future for All
(Religions for Peace, the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF), and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA))

HYBRID EVENT, 21 September 2023, (6:30PM ET): Religious Identity & University Discourse
(With Najeeba Syeed, Saginaw Valley State University)

HYBRID EVENT, 21 September 2023 (12:30PM EST): 2023 Kofi Annan Briefing: The Radical Catalyst of Faith: Driving Civil Society Contributions to the SDGs (New York City, NY, USA)
(Religions for Peace; Members of the Multi-Faith Advisory Council to the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development)

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

Merrick Garland calls out 'outrageous' accusation of religious discrimination
(Paige Skinner, The Huffington Post)

Garland fumes in exchange over religious discrimination: ‘So outrageous, so absurd’
(Sarah Fortinsky, The Hill)

HYBRID EVENT, 20 September 2023 (9:30AM ET): Innovative Intra- and Inter-faith Peacebuilding: Pursuing Freedom of Religion or Belief for the realization of the SDG 2030 Agenda and beyond (New York City, NY, USA)
(Search for Common Ground, The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, Faith to Action Network, Tearfund, Mensen Meet Een Missie)

EVENT, 20 September 2023 (9:30AM ET): USCIRF Hearing: Advancing Religious Freedom within the U.S. - India Bilateral Relationship (Washington, DC, USA)
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

China’s strange battle against Buddhists releasing mineral water into rivers
(Gladys Kwok, Bitter Winter)

China: Tech companies in China leverage censorship against religious content
(ChinaAid)

China: Among Uyghurs, China aims to ‘meld Islam with Confucianism’
(Eziz, Radio Free Asia)

India may be linked to Canadian Sikh leader's death - Trudeau
(Nadine Yousif, BBC News)

Vatican pushes nations to ensure religious freedom in Jerusalem
(Catholic Review)

Pope condemns hitting civilian targets after Caritas warehouse destroyed in Lviv
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Jewish pilgrims flock to historic Ukrainian city despite war with Russia
(Mansur Mirovalev, Al Jazeera)

US Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad: I showed what Muslim women can do in sport
(Iman Amrani, Al Jazeera)

A preacher to death row inmates says he wants to end executions. Critics warn he’s only seeking fame
(Sean Murphy, Associated Press)

Canada probe of India's role in Sikh separatist's murder strains ties further
(Kanishka Singh, Reuters)

Canada: Manitoba churches appealing unjustified church closures to the Supreme Court of Canada
(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms)

Canada: Freedom and equality not in conflict, report tells legal community
(Cardus)

Canada: Survivors and victim of 2017 Quebec mosque attack awarded medals of bravery
(CBC News)

Trudeau links India’s government to slaying of Sikh separatist leader in Canada
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)

India expels Canadian diplomat, escalating tensions after Trudeau accuses India in Sikh’s killing
(Krutika Pathi and Rob Gillies, Associated Press)

Ancient mosques damaged in Morocco earthquake
(Christopher Parker, Smithsonian Magazine)

Palestinian politicians lash out at renowned academics who denounced president’s antisemitic remarks
(Associated Press)

Lithuanian MPs vote down proposal to grant state recognition to neo-pagans
(The Baltic Times)

Religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccine mandate would cause undue hardship
(Robert S. Teachout, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM))

Catholic bookstore may post pronoun policy after winning exemption from Jacksonville’s law
(Valerie Richardson, The Washington Times)

The surprising ways religious Americans rate marriage and kids
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

What adults in other countries get wrong about American religion
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

MEPs launch another attack on the right to life
(Angelo Bottone, The Iona Institute)

Tunisian president’s remarks on Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic and prompt an uproar
(Associated Press)

Denying inmate permission to marry was RFRA violation
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Decision: Lenis v. Greece
(The European Court of Human Rights)

European Court says homophobic posting was not protected by human rights convention
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

EEOC sues Hank’s Furniture for religious discrimination
(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

Europe's rabbis move their headquarters to Munich
(Christoph Strack, Deutsche Welle)

Germany bans neo-Nazi group to send ‘signal against racism and antisemitism’
(Toby Axelrod, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Gov. Hochul unveils new plan to combat antisemitism in New York
(Julia Gergely, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Under Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals has become less European
(Jeff Diamant, Pew Research Center)

Exposition in European Parliament demands attention for persecuted Christians
(Christian Network Europe)

Religious alternatives to democracy?
(Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism, Institute on Religion and Democracy)

How a multi-faith, multiracial team of artists is waging a nationwide billboard campaign to fight antisemitism
(Sam Lin-Sommer, Forward)

Mandatory reporting: the Church of England’s response
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Pivotal moment for Church and State
(Mark Hill, Church Times)

Church of Scotland ministers protest against persecution of Christians in Pakistan
(The Church of Scotland)

Three contemporary Catholic approaches to democracy
(Matthew P. Cavedon, Canopy Forum on the Interactions of Law & Religion)

CEC-CCEE working group meets to revise Charta Œcumenica
(Conference of European Churches)

Christians, Jews and Muslims in France join forces to combat sex abuse
(Christophe Henning, La Croix International)

Japan: Why the Unification Church should not be dissolved. 1. A general outline
(Tatsuki Nakayama, Bitter Winter)

Japan: Why the Unification Church should not be dissolved. 2. Dissolving would be contrary to the law
(Tatsuki Nakayama, Bitter Winter)

Diocese of Charlotte seeks religious exemption after firing teacher for same-sex marriage
(James Farrell, Courthouse News Service)

Thai king’s estranged son urges open discussion of monarchy, in rejection of anti-defamation law
(Jintamas Saksornchai, Associated Press)

Indonesia: TikToker jailed for two years over pork video
(Derek Cai, BBC News)

Egypt: Jewish community in Cairo celebrates Rosh Hashanah for the first time in 70 years
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Uzbekistan turning down the volume on Islam
(Chris Rickleton, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)

Ongoing war between Azerbaijan and Armenia continues to put Christians at risk
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)

Submission to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
(Human Rights Watch)

Influential Muslim scholar receives award from Jewish organisation promoting Israel normalisation
(Middle East Eye)

World Economic Forum’s Faith in Action accelerator
(Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation)

Ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionists meet with Iranian President Raisi at United Nations
(The Jerusalem Post)

USCIRF releases new report on religiously based family law in the Middle East and North Africa
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

Iranian-Armenian pastor begins 10-year sentence for his ‘disturbing’ teachings
(Article 18)

Journalist faces lawsuit for alleged insult against religious officials
(Hurriyet Daily News)

Cuba’s political police threaten young evangelical Christian because of his leadership
(Yoe Suárez, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)

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