Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 1 May 2017
As ‘a matter of conscience,’ a Kentucky judge refuses to hear adoption cases involving gay parents
(Samantha Schmidt, The Washington Post)
On May 1 Wiccans celebrate Beltane
(Gary Nguyen, World Religion News)
Guns and religion: How American conservatives grew closer to Putin’s Russia
(Rosalind S Helderman and Tom Hamburger, The Washington Post)
God, guns and Russia: Washington Post fails to note crucial detail about summit on persecuted Christians
(Bobby Ross Jr., GetReligion)
The German military has a right-wing extremism problem
(Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Foreign Policy)
Correction please: The New York Times struggles with a fine detail in United Methodist law
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)
Zogby's dissent in the USCIRF Annual Report
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Why I issued a dissent to USCIRF’s 2017 Annual Report
(James Zogby, hu pos)
Ashers Baking refuses order for gay engagement cake
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
‘Chilling’ Piskie riposte to GAFCON Communiqué
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Primus responds to GAFCON communique
(The Scottish Episcopal Church)
Sofia Science Festival 2017: “Religion and Science” with Malcolm Love
(Imanuel Marcus, The Sofia Globe)
2017 McDonald Distinguished Scholar Lectures available on YouTube
(Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory Law)
Pope Francis to Grand Imam: We must “unmask the violence that masquerades as sanctity”
(Diane Montagna, Aleteia)
Is Pope Francis' Egypt visit new beginning for Vatican-Azhar ties?
(Ayah Aman, translated by Pascale el-Khoury, Al Monitor: Egypt Pulse)
Supreme Court will not review controversial ban on gay therapy
(Pacific Justice Institute)
Pope Francis winds up trip to Egypt
(Jim Kane, NPR)
Two key takeaways from the Pope’s TED talk
(Massimo Faggioli, Religion & Politics Fit for Polite Company)
Pope urges mediation to end North Korea crisis, avert devastating war
(Philip Pullella, Religion News Service)
Pope Francis warns war over North Korea could destroy 'a good part of humanity'
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Pope: Humanity couldn't bear war with North Korea
(Steve Almasy, CNN)
How North Korea’s political ideology became a de-facto religion
(Antonia Blumberg, Huffington Post)
Kim Jong Un is a survivor, not a madman
(Adrei Lankov, Foreign Policy Argument)
Catholics bring Pope Francis’s call to protect creation to climate march
(Dennis Sadowski, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Catholic leaders decry fourth Arkansas execution in eight days
(Carol Zimmermann, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
New Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters hosts first open houses
(Nathan Glover, World Religion News)
Russian parliament's newspaper on effects of court's decision
(Parlamentskaia Gazeta, Russia Religion News)
Will al-Qaeda and IS unite?
(Hamdi Malik, translated by Cynthia Milan, Al Monitor: Iraq Pulse)
Russian parliament notices American concern for Jehovah's Witnesses
(Parlamentskaia Gazeta, Russia Religion News)
Holocaust museum speaks up for Jehovah's Witnesses
(Portal-credo.ru, Russia Religion News)
Consideration of Pokemon hunter case ends
(RIA Novosti, Russia Religion News)
Russian prosecutor demands jail time for man who played Pokemon in church
(Reuters)
ISIS captives rescued in Mosul reveal 'unimaginable' horrors inflicted by terror group
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post)
Dissident Orthodox priest interprets court's decision
(Portal-credo.ru, Russia Religion News)
Pity Uncle Sam, who struggles with an unanswerable question: What is a ‘religion’?
(Richard Ostling, Get Religion)
Major pro-life advocate Charmaine Yoest appointed to key HHS role
(Catholic News Agency, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Alabama legislature passes child placement refusal bill
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Bears Ears National Monument, sacred to native tribes, faces a challenge to its status
(Lauren Markoe, Religion News Service)
Trump proclaims May annual Jewish American Heritage Month
(Times of Israel)
Trump declares May as Jewish American heritage month
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
A US government body on religious freedom is accused of going easy on Israel
(Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Law and religion round-up – 30th April
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Europe's parliamentarians promote rights of parents and children of religious minorities
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Challenge to Pennsylvania legislative prayer practices survives motion to dismiss
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
100 days in, Trump’s chipping away at religious freedom
(Liz Hayes, Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
Jerry Falwell Jr. calls Donald Trump the "dream president" for Evangelicals
(Ed Mazza, Huffpost)
Episcopal Church ready to make history with Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
(Mary Frances Schjonberg, Episcopal News Service)
My Beijing: the sacred city
(Ian Johnson, The New York Times)
West Virginia governor signs bill to stop underage abortions without parental notification
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
Arkansas disorderly conduct law upheld against abortion protesters
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
ISIS a reenactment of Biblical war between Israel and the Amalekites, military analysts say
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post)
What will Turkish President Erdogan's new powers mean for Christians?
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post)
Catholic bishops urged to review celibacy rules amid shortage of priests
(Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian)
FactCheck Q&A: do 80% of Australians and up to 70% of Catholics and Anglicans support euthanasia laws?
(Colleen Cartwright, The Conversation)
Rebel Catholic group defies church, ordains woman priest in NC
(Tim Funk, The Charlotte Observer)
Ukip MEP's 'death cult' remarks spark new Islamophobia row
(Peter Walker, The Guardian)
Gay vicar quits and attacks ‘institutional homophobia’
(Caroline Davies, The Guardian)
Cults, human sacrifice and pagan sex: how folk horror is flowering again in Brexit Britain
(Michael Newton, The Guardian)
San Diego schools fight against Islamophobia
(Derek Welch, World Religion News)
United Methodist church sets special session to discuss LGBT inclusion
(Corey Barnett, World Religion News)
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Russians hold anti-Putin protests before his fourth term
(World News)
Saturday, 29 April 2017
UMC court rules against lesbian bishop
(Press Release, Juicy Ecumenism: The Institute on Religion & Democracy's Blog)
Religious freedom dying in Russia, missionary says
(Diana Chandler, Baptist Press)
California is seceding from the Constitution
(David French, National Review)
USCIRF’s Annual Report: Rising Tide of Religious Freedom Abuses Abroad
(Fr. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., Religious Freedom Institute: Cornerstone Blog)
Freedom of religion prevails again at Council of Europe
(European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom)
The protection of the rights of parents and children belonging to religious minorities
(Resolution, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
CAIR Files Amicus Brief with 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’
(Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Friday, 28 April 2017
Mormon scholars file brief over Trump's travel ban
(Corey Barnett, World Religion News)
LGBT advocates seek to label opponents as U.S. hate groups
(Daniel Trotta, Reuters)
Pope Francis enters Egypt at a time of intense conflict between religion and politics
(Hamza Hendawi, Lee Keath, and Mariam Fam, Associated Press, America: The Jesuit Review)
Pope heads to Egypt with Christians in retreat across Middle East
(Crispian Balmer, Reuters)
Pope Francis delivers shot in arm to Egypt’s persecuted Christians
(John L. Allen Jr., Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Top Islamic scholar in Cairo hosts World Council of Churches on eve of Pope's visit to Egypt
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Pope Francis, in Egypt, delivers a blunt message on violence and religion
(Jason Horowitz, The New York Times)
Pope Francis in Egypt: To kill in the name of God is blasphemy
(Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency)
Pope Francis tells Muslim leaders in Egypt to fight violence in God’s name
(Christopher Lamb, Religion News Service)
In Egypt, Pope Francis says religious leaders must 'unmask' violence and hatred
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Egyptian government resists attempts to end torture
(Aya Nader, Al Monitor: Egypt Pulse)
Is Sufism the answer to extremism in Egypt?
(Jayson Casper, Al Monitor: Egypt Pulse)
Vatican asks Buddhists and Catholics to work together for global peace
(Elisa Meyer, World Religion News)
Election tests Indonesian democracy
(The New York Times)
Why American Sikhs think they need a publicity campaign
(Akinyi Ochieng, NPR)
Why religion is more durable than commonly thought in modern socidety
(Tom Gjelten, NPR)
Trafficking in India: ministries getting to the root of the problem
(Lyndsey Koh, Mission Network News)
The contradiction of “pro-choice but not pro-abortion”
(Steven Johnathan Rummelsburg, Catholic Exchange)
Mattis' balancing act: managing America's Middle East allies
(Husain Huqqani, Hudson)
We can defang the North Korean threat
(Arthur Herman, Hudson)
Arkansas executions damage 'our whole society,' Catholic group says
(Matt Hadro, Catholic News Agency)
Congress delays government shutdown
(Evan Wilt, Christian Headlines)
Americans attend church most for the sermons
(Leondardo Blair, Christian Post)
Bethlehem, not Berkeley, is the birthplace of free speech
(Everett Piper, Christian Post)
Should Christians abandon public schools?
(Andrea Ramierz, Religion News Service)
Christian schools: one way to bring order out of chaos
(Robert F. Davis, Christian Post)
Judgment day? Trump and religion at the 100-day mark
(Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service)
White House advisor reiterates Trump's commitment to religious freedom
(Catholic News Agency)
Mormon history scholars file court brief over Trump travel ban
(Hunter Schwarz, CNN Politics)
Does Turkey plan to continue airstrikes in Iraq and Syria?
(Metin Gurcan, translated by Timur Goksel, Al Monitor: Turkey Pulse)
Sunnis fear spread of Shiite influence in Iraq
(Wassim Bassem, translated by Sahar Ghoussoub, Al Monitor: Iraq Pulse)
The ’Splainer: What is female genital mutilation, and what does it have to do with Islam?
(Aysha Khan, Religion News Service)
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