Law and Religion Headlines
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
House Democrats launch bill to ban religious exemptions for abortions, gender transition services
(Dr. Susan Berry, Breitbart News)
Senate rejects religious-objections bill, despite House support
(Melinda Deslatte, Minden Press-Herald)
Attorney says mosque, city in negotiations
(Ben Schwartz, Lexington Clipper-Herald)
Christian woman refuses to leave home after blasphemy accusation
(Asif Aqeel, World Watch Monitor)
Oklahoma thinks trans student bathroom use is an ‘emergency’
(Steve Williams, Care2.com)
Louisiana Senate committee kills Pastor Protection Act intended to safeguard clergy who deny gay marriages
(Rebekah Allen, The Advocate)
Society's most vulnerable hurt most by gov't crackdowns on religious freedom, Ryan Anderson says
(Samuel Smith, The Christian Post)
MCA president insists both parents decide religion for children, not just one
(Ida Lim, Malay Mail Online)
Louisiana poised to expand hate-crime law to protect police
(Dana Farrington, NPR)
NFL awards 3 Super Bowls to states that don't have anti-LGBT 'religious freedom' laws
(Jim Buzinski, Outsports)
Nun dies after being shot in South Sudan
(Ruth Gledhill, Christian Today)
Samoan church leader calls for ban on Muslims
(Ruth Gledhill, Christian Today)
Tallest cross in English-speaking world can go ahead after lawsuit is ended
(Ruth Gledhill, Christian Today)
Sudanese pastor may face death penalty after five month illegal detention
(Harry Farley, Christian Today)
Sending weapons to 'Christian militias' in ISIS war in Iraq is 'bad idea,' Chaldean patriarch warns
(Samuel Smith, The Christian Post)
Atheists now outnumber Christians in England and Wales as sharp religious decline continues
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post)
Iranian court sets high bail for 3 imprisoned Christians to 'cripple' church economically, says activist
(Anugrah Kumar, The Christian Post)
Ohio valedictorian leads Lord's Prayer with graduates defying atheist group's lawsuit threat
(Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post)
Students re-insert prayer at graduation ceremony
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Eleven states sue US government over transgender bathroom policy
(Molly Redden, The Guardian)
State officials sue U.S. government over transgender bathroom policy
(Daniel Trotta, Reuters)
College tennis player sues for religious discrimination
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Orin Duffin, Mormon tennis player, sues Idaho State University for religious discrimination
(Andrew Blake, The Washington Times)
Swiss ruling overturns Muslim pupils' handshake exemption
(The Guardian)
Dispute over selection of new pastor dismissed under ecclesiastical abstention doctrine
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Sweden to launch its first state-funded imam course
(The Local SE)
Remarks by President Obama in address to the people of Vietnam
(Office of the Press Secretary, The White House)
In Vietnam, Obama calls for increased freedom of religion among other human rights
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Linked to emperor, Ise Shrine is no ordinary shrine
(Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press, The Big Story)
WHS: Humanitarian summit has ‘set new course,’ says Ban, calling for action on commitments
(UN News Centre)
For Allah, China and Marx: theological mix for young imams
(AFP, The Express Tribune)
Israeli minister blocks burial of killed Palestinian attackers
(Agence France-Presse)
German Pegida row over non-white photos on Kinder bars
(BBC News)
Top Shi'ite cleric urges restraint in assault on Iraq's Falluja
(Maher Chimaytelli, Reuters)
Taliban replaces leader killed in U.S. drone strike
(Antonio Olivo, The Washington Post)
Israeli Jews, Arabs have different perspectives on discrimination in their society
(Michael Lipka, Pew Research Center Fact Tank)
Sudan: Massacre in Heiban as Nuba 'genocide' enters sixth year
(Elizabeth Kendal, Lapido Media: Centre for Religious Literacy in World Affairs)
Bahrain: Senior Islamic scholars affirm independency of religious institutions
(AlWefaq National Islamic Society)
Lebanese leaders hope pope-imam meeting leads to new relationships
(Doreen Abi Raad, CatholicPhilly.com)
This new religion is causing an existential crisis at American colleges and universities, NYU prof says
(Leonardo Blair, Christian Post)
Religion no justification for not shaking teacher's hand, Swiss authorities rule
(Deutsche Welle)
A response to Wendy Doniger’s “The Repression of Religious Studies”
(Arvind Sharma, Huffpost Religion)
Abe treads fine line in Ise Shrine tour as Shinto religion faces challenges
(Isabel Reynolds, The Japan Times)
Journalists: What do emotions have to do with spirituality? Dalai Lama says a great deal
(Ira Rifkin, Get Religion (blog))
We can help Kosovo become fertile ground for religious pluralism
(Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Interfaith panel discusses responding to refugee crisis
(Elizabeth A. Elliott, National Catholic Reporter)
Pope Francis and the risk of ‘interfaith correctness’ with Islam
(John L. Allen Jr., Crux)
Ahead of PM Modi's visit, top US Senators voice concern over religious freedom in India
(Daily News and Analysis)
Muslims think US 'has gone completely insane' over LGBT issues, Muslim leader says
(Napp Nazworth, Christian Post)
House faces another LGBT fight
(Paul Singer, USA Today)
Atheist activist, pastor reach settlement over America's tallest cross lawsuit
(Jane Caffrey, KRISTV.com)
Louisiana Senate committee kills Pastor Protection Act intended to safeguard clergy who deny gay marriages
(Rebekah Allen, The Advocate)
Feds target religious bias in zoning fights
(Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit News)
Obama: Vietnam making economic progress, still lagging on religious freedom
(Christian Examiner)
Venezuela – Tracking the disintegration of a socialist utopia
(Michael Peabody, ReligiousLiberty.tv)
How to make your gender disappear
(Jared Oliphint, The Gospel Coalition)
Jehovah’s Witnesses and discrimination: JWs Association v Turkey
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Turkey: Refusing worship place to Jehovah’s Witnesses breached human rights law
(Council of Europe: Human Rights Europe)
Turkey violated religious freedoms of Jehovah Witnesses: ECHR
(Hürriyet Daily News)
Residents critical of large-scale religious conversion in Meiktila
(Khin Su Wai, Myanmar Times)
Religious leaders against domestic violence urge congress on gun laws
(Nathan Glover, World Religion News)
Pakistan court annuls Zia-era change to Christian divorce law
(The Hindu)
‘Do No Harm Act' would forbid religious objection to ‘any healthcare’ service
(Lauretta Brown, CNSNews.com)
Hard-line cleric clinches Assembly of Experts leadership
(Arash Karami, Al-Monitor: Iran Pulse)
The ‘us vs. them’ ideology of radical Salafis
(Laleh Bakhtiar, Religion News Service)
Cultural advisers help Hollywood rework Muslim stereotypes
(Julie Poucher Harbin, Religion News Service)
Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation
(Forum 18 News Service)
Government to investigate use of British cluster bombs in Yemen
(Harry Farley, Christian Today)
China sees sevenfold increase in persecution against Christians
(Harry Farley, Christian Today)
ISIS suicide bombs kill 120; rescue workers step through 'puddles of blood' to save victims
(Stoyan Zaimov, The Christian Post)
Nation's largest Atheist group files complaint against Christian school for policy on LGBT acts
(Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post)
Germany right-wing party AfD walks out of Muslim meeting
(BBC News)
Japan's Shinto shrines in crisis despite Abe pushing religion
(Isabel Reynolds, Bloomberg)
Tunisian Islamic party re-elects moderate leader
(Carlotta Gall, The New York Times)
First ever Sikh parade celebrates growing community in Denver area
(Katy Canada, The Denver Post)
Arizona city bars Satanic Temple prayer at council meeting
(The Associated Press, The Big Story)
Kazakhstan church raids a ‘backward step’
(World Watch Monitor)
Kazakhstan’s contribution to inter-religious and intercultural global dialogue
(Arystanbek Mukhamediuly, The Astana Times)
Khartoum releases Christian minister, holds another 'pending charges'
(World Watch Monitor)
Hindus, Muslims join hands to save Sankat Mochan
(Ishita Mishra, The Times of India)
Federal judge blocks Ohio move to defund Planned Parenthood
(Robert Higgs, Cleveland.com)
Court issues TRO against Ohio's cutoff of funding for Planned Parenthood
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Bill would prohibit excluding aliens' admission to U.S. on religious grounds
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Russian Church urges to international control over currency issue and criticized offshores
(Interfax-Religion)
Should doctors start prescribing religion for their patients? Harvard study shows beneficial effects for women of attending religious services
(Muris Houston, The Irish Times)
People of no religion outnumber Christians in England and Wales – study
(Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian)
Russia stronger than West because it has more perfect weapon, prayer - Patriarch Kirill
(Interfax-Religion)
Lukashenko proposes arrangement of meeting between Pontiff and Patriarch of Moscow for sake of peace in Donbass (updated)
(Interfax-Religion)
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar aims at eliminating Syria as a secular state, an expert believes
(Interfax-Religion)
EVENT, 24 May 2016: International Religious Liberty Summit: Effective advocacy during the 2016 election and beyond
(sponsored by the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute and the Seventh-day Adventist Church)
EVENT, 22-24 May 2016: Fourth ACLARS Conference: "Religious Pluralism, Heritage, and Social Development in Africa"
(hosted by the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies)
Monday, 23 May 2016
'Our meeting is the message': Pope Francis embraces senior imam
(Agence France-Press, The Guardian)
Pope meets Egypt's Grand Imam, sign of renewed interfaith relations
(Africa News)
China’s coming clampdown on religion
(Daniel Philpott, Arc of the Universe: Ethics and Global Justice)
Mpho Tutu forced to quit priesthood in South Africa over same-sex marriage
(Peter Kenny, Ecumenical News)
Rohingya refugee: We were hunted down by mob in Myanmar
(Al Jazeera)
Why Tunisia’s top Islamist party rebranded itself
(Sarah Souli, Al-Monitor)
German Muslims defend religious freedom, support constitution
(Jennifer S. Bryson, Arc of the Universe: Ethics and Global Justice)
Solidarity Sabbath Sermon
(Special Worship at Faith Baptist Chinese Church, Vancouver, Canada, Lantos Foundation on YouTube)
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