Law and Religion Headlines
Friday, 19 January 2024
Russia: Religious persecution and issues – Bimonthly Digest Jan 01-15
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Religious leaders to mark MLK Day with early start for 2024 voter mobilization
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
Thursday, 18 January 2024
VIRTUAL EVENT, 18 January 2024 (9AM ET): Religious Actors and Peacebuilding in Ukraine
(Denys Brylov, Tetiana Kalenychenko, Andrii Kryshtal, Catherine Wanner, Nicholas Danysenko, and Mary Glantz, The United States Institute of Peace)
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Around 130 Mennonites, calling for Gaza cease-fire, arrested on Capitol Hill
(Justin Wm. Moyer, The Washington Post)
Understanding the contested religious histories behind the Gaza War
(James Walters, London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog)
Faith-based social services in Czech Republic torn between tradition and secularism
(Religion Watch, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
January/February 2024
(Liberty Magazine)
Iran: Baha’i mother and sons sentenced to jail in Iran
(Iran Wire)
The interrelationship between freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and the rule of law
(Jessica Giles, Journal of Law and Religion)
Status between law and religion: Introduction
(Timothy Lubin, Journal of Law and Religion)
Life at the margins: religious minorities, status, and the state
(Mona Oraby, Journal of Law and Religion)
Religious freedom and sacred lands
(Sonia Sikka, Journal of Law and Religion)
China: Fueling online antisemitism is China’s new tool against the West
(Josh Rogin, The Washington Post)
Why Pope Francis and others want to ban surrogacy
(Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
Hundreds pack Los Angeles church as exiled bishop, priest speak against Nicaragua regime
(Theresa Cisneros, Catholic News Agency)
Turkish security forces nab 22 Daesh suspects
(Daily Sabah)
Becket releases its fifth edition of the Religious Freedom Index
(Becket Law)
Jehovah’s Witnesses go to trial against Norway after state registration is revoked
(Kathryn Post, Religion News Service)
New US Bishops’ report identifies 5 top areas of religious liberty concerns
(Kate Scanlon, OSV News)
Emhoff will discuss antisemitism and gender equity at World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland
(Darlene Superville, Associated Press)
School did not violate Title VII in denying religious exemption to covid rules
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Dozens of Black churches receive total of $4 million for historic preservation
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)
Christian teachers reinstated after being placed on leave for refusing to conceal child gender issues from parents
(Ari Blaff, National Review)
Religious freedom is under attack
(Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, National Review)
Dozens of priests arrested in 2023 as authoritarian regimes crack down on Church
(Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU))
Russia, TV channel of an Orthodox oligarch under EU sanctions
(Ievgeniia Gidulianova with Willy Fautré, Bitter Winter)
Anti-Catholicism spreading in Moscow and Minsk – OpEd
(Paul Goble, Eurasia Review)
Russia: Criminal case for repeat "discreditation"
(Victoria Arnold, Forum 18 News Service)
“Sufficient interest” in faculty petitions
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
“Gender-critical” views as a protected belief – again: Meade
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Canada: disclosure of personal religious records: Vabuolas
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Canada: After days of confusion, Trudeau government says it will abide by ICJ on genocide case against Israel
(Evan Dyer, CBC News)
Almost two-thirds of Americans approve pro-life sidewalk counselors at abortion clinics, poll finds
(Mark A. Kellner, The Washington Times)
Ecuadorian bishops plead for peace, harmony amid rising gang violence
(La Croix International)
Jerusalem: France reaffirms its mandate to protect Christians
(InfoChrétienne)
The rising tide of discrimination in the Western Balkans
(G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Bangladeshi Islamists oppose transgender protection law
(Emran Hossain, Union of Catholic Asian News)
India: Modi’s promised Ram temple is set to open and resonate with Hindus ahead of India’s election
(Sheikh Saaliq and Biswajeet Banerjee, Associated Press)
India: In new temple to Lord Ram, the Indian city of Ayodhya hopes to shed a disturbing history
(Richa Karmarkar and Yashraj Sharma, Religion News Service)
Nicaragua expels Catholic Bishop Alvarez, priests amid crackdown
(Reuters)
Religious leaders meet with EU to weigh situation in the Middle East
(Conference of European Churches)
Newest NATO member escalates prosecution of Christians to Supreme Court
(Joy Pullmann, The Federalist)
CA church, preschool again free to serve children as part of food program
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Supreme Court stays out of fight over transgender student bathroom access
(Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
Irish Medical Council strips directive banning ‘deliberate killing’ of patients
(Daniel Payne, Catholic News Agency)
Australia: Should Australian parliaments axe the Lord’s Prayer? In Victoria it’s up for debate
(Benita Kolovos, The Guardian)
Turks do not trust country’s religious directorate, cults : study
(Turkish Minute)
Malaysia charges two with ‘wounding religious feelings’ in now-banned film
(Al Jazeera)
Rights groups call for us to designate Nigeria for religious freedom violations
(Timothy Obiezu, Voice of America)
The Brussels-led pathologization of speech
(Frederick Attenborough, The European Conservative)
Religion Watch, Volume 39 No. 2
(Religion Watch, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Two weeks in review, 1–14 January
(Justina Uriburu, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)
Global Interfaith Monitor No. 19
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Legal Journal Number 4 (19): January (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)
Social action of minority religious confessions in Spain (Spanish)
(Sebastián Mora Rosado, Guillermo Fernández Maillo, José Antonio López-Ruiz, Agustín Blanco Martín, Observatorio del pluralismo religioso en España)
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
EVENT, 16 January 2024 (12PM ET): The State of Religious Freedom in America (Washington, DC, USA)
(Os Guiness, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Eric Patterson, Montse Alvarado, Religious Freedom Institute)
Monday, 15 January 2024
MLK’s dream for America recalled in celebrations held across the US
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)
Law, religion, and decolonization
(Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Religion and law in Ireland’s post-colonial nation-building
(David Kenny and Peter McCarthy, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
The Orthodox Church and Moscow’s colonial policies in Siberia
(Stanislav Panin, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Spiritual decolonization, national security, and religious freedom: Squaring a triangle in the case of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
(Andriy Fert and Dmytro Vovk, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Decolonizing the Indonesian penal code
(Dicky Sofjan, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Communist law and the protection of religious freedom in Poland
(Piotr Szymaniec, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Portuguese colonization, Catholic faith, and the relativization of secularism in the jurisprudence of Brazil’s Supreme Court
(Ana Cristina Melo de Pontes Botelho, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
Is homocolonialism a sound argument to advance human rights for LGBTQ+ people?
(Dmytro Vovk, Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)
A proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2024
(The White House)
Atheists still have concerns about denial of care rule
(American Atheists)
US pastors struggle with post-pandemic burnout. Survey shows half considered quitting since 2020
(Peter Smith, Religion News Service)
In Iowa and beyond, evangelical Christian voters follow their party more than their faith
(Bob Smietana, Religion News Service)
Judge dismisses Notre Dame professor’s defamation lawsuit against student newspaper
(Associated Press)
Around the Web - 15 January 2024
(Law and Religion Forum, St. John's Law School Center for Law & Religion)
Russian Orthodox priest faces expulsion for refusing to pray for war victory
(Mark Trevelyan, Reuters)
UK government says the lslamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is antisemitic and moves to ban it
(Associated Press)
Street preacher arrested in Glasgow wins substantial damages from police
(Christian Today)
Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez and 18 priests arrive in Rome from prison, guests of Vatican
(Associated Press)
Articles of interest - 15 January 2024
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court supervision of church election invalidated by Mississippi Supreme Court
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
China: Guidelines instruct religions how to implement the new Patriotic Education Law
(Hu Zimo, Anglican Ink)
Japan proposes guidelines that would artificially multiply the “victims” of “cults”
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)
Examination of Witnesses Rt Hon Baroness Hayman and Rt Hon Baroness D’Souza
(Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, House of Commons)
Protest in Georgian capital amid anger over 'desecration' of Stalin icon
(Felix Light, Reuters)
Prosecutor appeals Bible-tweet case to Finnish Supreme Court
(ADF International)
A.D. v Malta: The continuous application of a defective asylum system
(Felix Peerboom, Strasbourg Observers)
Friday, 12 January 2024
Canada: B.C. Jehovah's Witnesses lose court battle over disclosing records on 2 ex-members
(Bethany Lindsay, CBC News)
An overlooked and undercounted group of Arab American and Muslim voters may have outsized impact on 2024 presidential election
(Youssef Chouhoud, The Conversation)
Canada: Charges against Canadians who defended religious freedom stayed
(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms)
Man stabs imam after shouting anti-Israel slogan at İstanbul mosque
(Turkish Minute)
HHS releases revised health-worker religious conscience rule
(Ian Lopez, Bloomberg Law)
A spiritual leader in Nepal known as ‘Buddha Boy’ arrested on charges of rape and kidnapping
(Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press)
Taiwan: Why temples are a top campaign stop in Taiwan’s election
(Jordyn Haime, Al Jazeera)
Afghanistan: Islamic State group claims responsibility for a minibus explosion in Afghan capital that killed 5
(Associated Press)
Afghanistan: UN concerned over Taliban arrests of Afghan women and girls for alleged Islamic headscarf violations
(Associated Press)
First meeting of After School Satan Club at Tennessee elementary school draws protesters
(Associated Press)
Florida welcomes students fleeing campus antisemitism, with little evidence that there’s demand
(Mike Schneider, Associated Press)
Church may move ahead with RFRA challenge to limits on its use of ayahuasca
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Iraq: Church destroyed by ISIS in Iraq completely restored 10 years later
(Diego Lopez Marina, Catholic News Agency)
FBI Salt Lake City releases PSAs in foreign languages to encourage hate crime reporting
(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Belarus: Repressive new Religion Law imposes compulsory re-registration
(Felix Corley and Olga Glace, Forum 18 News Service)
Vietnam: US requested to remove Vietnam from Special Watch List on religious freedom
(Voice of Vietnam)
Việt Nam committed to guarantee human rights, religious freedom: Foreign ministry
(Việt Nam News)
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