Law and Religion Headlines

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Monday, 20 December 2021

Law and religion round-up – 19th December
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Australia: Religious freedom laws go under microscope
(Australian Associated Press)

Australia: Submission to Parliamentary committee on the Religious Discrimination Bill
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)

Aussie archbishop cites own illness in opposing draft euthanasia law
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

How religious can your religious school actually be?
(Asma Uddin, Deseret News)

Satanic Temple holiday display to be installed at Illinois state capitol building
(Jon Jackson, Newsweek)

Religious minorities in Soviet Lithuania: Secret meetings in forests
(The Baltic Times)

Saudi Arabia: Yemeni man sentenced for apostasy
(Human Rights Watch)

Q&A with Daisy Khan: How she advances women's rights informed by Islam
(Chelsea Langston Bombino, Religion Unplugged)

Muslim nations pledge to help unlock frozen Afghan assets
(Union of Catholic Asian News)

BIC New York: UN Calls on Iran to end religious discrimination
(Bahá’í World News Service)

Homeless get bah humbugged by city council
(Becket)

Two weeks in review, 6 – 19 December 2021
(Gail Lythgoe, EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law)

24 inmates awarded BA degree in pastoral ministry will serve NC prisons as ministers
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

"Russian House" was opened in a captured Mormon meeting house in the occupied Donetsk
(Institute for Religious Freedom)

Friday, 17 December 2021

Video: Catherine Wanner on religion in post-communist countries
(Talk About: Law and Religion - Blog of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies)

Religion Watch, Volume 37 No. 1
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)

At Canada’s top university, leading Jewish groups lose an antisemitism battle
(Arno Rosenfeld, Forward)

Canada: London Ont., looking at joining other cities’ support of legal challenge of Quebec’s Bill 21
(Sawyer Bogdan, Global News)

Rashad Hussain confirmed as first Muslim US religious freedom ambassador
(Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service)

USCIRF welcomes confirmation of a new Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)

CEC to enhance church voices in European institutions through advocacy
(Conference of European Churches)

Egyptian Christian activist Patrick George Zaki released pending trial
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Christian prisoners in North Korea are being beaten, tortured and starved - report
(Julian Mann, Christian Today)

Chinese couple lose their appeal against seven-year prison sentence for selling Christian literature
(Donna Birrell, Premier Christian News)

The real test for China and Iran - opinion
(Vas Shenoy, The Jerusalem Post)

Congress approves import ban targeting forced labor in China
(Ellen Knickmeyer and Aamer Madhani, Associated Press)

If the US doesn't stand up for China's ethnic and religious minorities, who will?
(André Carson, CNN)

China: Faithful disobedience: Yet another emperor seeks to obliterate Christianity
(Daryl McCann, Spectator Australia)

European Parliament calls for immediate and unconditional release of Cuban pastor
(CSW: Everyone Free to Believe)

Germany: Frankfurt court strikes down censorship zone around abortion organisation
(ADF International)

“Faith for Rights” approach to promoting sustainable peace
(Knox Thames)

Holy Land Christian leaders want guarantees on protection
(The Iona Institute)

Azerbaijan to commemorate International Holocaust Day
(Jeremy Sharon, The Jerusalem Post)

Ex-hostages doing well, have left Haiti, mission agency says
(Peter Smith and Christopher Sherman, Associated Press)

Court rejects group’s effort to regulate town green church
(Dave Collins, Associated Press)

Putin gives Pope birthday call, praises his global role
(Associated Press)

European Court of Human Rights: “Scientology cannot be banned in Russia”
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter)

In Kashmir, closed mosque belies India’s religious freedom
(Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press)

India: Don't exclude non-Hindus from auction process for shop leases in temple : Supreme Court directs AP govt authorities
(Mehal Jain, Live Law)

India: Christian school attacked by 300 Hindu nationalists in India
(Donna Birrell, Premier Christian News)

Why India’s Ladakh is witnessing growing discontent
(Rifat Fareed, Al Jazeera)

Lawsuit filed after U.S. military discriminates against company because of inspirational “dog tags”
(First Liberty)

5th Circuit denies en banc review in teacher qualified immunity case
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Defense Authorization Act requires religious exemptions from COVID vaccine mandate
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Tribe sues claiming energy project violates its religious rights
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

8th Circuit hears oral arguments in religious challenge to health care transgender anti-discrimination rules
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)

Religious hospitals argue for liberty in transgender mandate case
(John Burger, Aleteia)

Buddhist scholar Duncan Ryuken Williams wins prestigious Grawemeyer religion prize
(Shyamal Sinha, European Times)

Ukraine: Head of state meets with representatives of Ukrainian Council of Churches, signs law on military chaplains
(President of Ukraine)

Vatican Promotor of Justice holds ties to Italy’s most famous cold case
(Elise Ann Allen, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Pope welcomes first group of asylum-seekers from Cyprus
(Cindy Wooden, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Argentina, Uruguay bishops fight push for euthanasia in their countries
(Inés San Martín, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)

Ethiopia’s Amhara region shattered after weeks of war
(Maria Gerth-Niculescu, Deutsche Welle)

Alluding to conflict with Russia, Ukraine’s Jewish president likens his nation to Jewish people
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Kyrgyzstan: Literature ban rejected: "repression is postponed for now"
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)

New podcast: Baptisms are in the headlines, at the moment, for better and for worse
(Terry Mattingly, GetReligion)

About that RNS/AP series on women leaders: Aren't most religions 'male-led'?
(Julia Duin, GetReligion)

Call for urgent solution to alleviate kosher food shortages in Northern Ireland
(Jewish News)

Church in Wales – new Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

Social media, anti-Zionism and unfair dismissal: Keable
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)

Electronic registration of births and deaths, England & Wales – II
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

UK: Gender-neutral passports: Campaigner Christie Elan-Cane loses Supreme Court case
(Joseph Lee, BBC News)

Legislation for Plan B – Four SIs approved
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)

French Catholics attacked during Immaculate Conception procession
(Zelda Caldwell, Aleteia)

On New York vaccine mandate, Gorsuch’s religious liberty maximalism comes up short
(Mark Silk, RNS Column: Spiritual Politics)

A pro-democracy faith movement is forming. Will it be enough?
(Jacob Lupfer, Religion News Service)

COMECE welcomes the CAP reform and encourages the EU to make it part of a broader ecological transition
(The Catholic Church in the European Union)

America's indifference to the plight of Nigerian Christians: A conversation about U.S. policy
(YouTube Video, Religious Freedom Institute)

Plaintiffs from conservative religious groups have more right to proceed pseudonymously in sex assault lawsuits
(Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Malaysia keeps minimum age for Muslim brides at 16
(Iskandar Zulkarnain and Nisha David, Benar News)

Jesus or George Floyd? Controversial icon stolen
(Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed)

Bosnia: Declining hate crimes are deceptive in Bosnia
(Kimberly Winston, Religion Unplugged)

IGE Global Horizons: December 2021
(Institute for Global Engagement)

Photos of the week: Pope Francis turns 85; Hindu promenade in Varanasi
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)

Thursday, 16 December 2021

WEBINAR, 16-17 December 2021 (9AM CET): Mapping Religious Difference in Europe: The Atlas of Religious or Belief Minority Rights
(University of Trento)

WEBINAR, 16 December 2021 (12:30PM EST): Common Ground: Engaging Religious Dimensions in the Search for Peace
(A Conversation with Sharon Rosen, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)

Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Poll: America growing more secular by the year
(Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)

About three-in-ten U.S. adults are now religiously unaffiliated
(Gregory A. Smith, Pew Research Center)

What’s your religion? In US, a common reply now is “None”
(Luis Andres Henao, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu and David Crary, Associated Press)

President Oaks champions blessings of religious freedom in address to students in Rome
(Church News)

Associate Director Elizabeth Clark receives award from Republic of Uzbekistan for protecting human rights
(International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University)

More Orthodox Jewish women are ordained; change is uneven
(Yonat Shimron and Ilan Ben, Associated Press)

Holy Land Christian leaders want guarantees on protection of people, sites
(Catholic News Service)

Israel: Ceding to the religious right, Israeli leaders reportedly table plan for egalitarian prayer space at Western Wall
(Shira Hanau, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

In Israel, calls grow to let religious Druze women drive
(Fadi Amun, Haaretz)

As Jews pray on Temple Mount, status quo in Jerusalem’s holiest site begins to shift
(Eetta Prince-Gibson, Religion News Service)

Christian officials accuse Israel of holiday discrimination
(Associated Press)

Kyrgyzstan: Violations of religious freedom of JWs condemned in Geneva
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

European Court/Norway: Controversy about the adoption of a Muslim child by a Christian family
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Russia: Freedom of religion or belief : Special bimonthly digest (01-15.12.2021)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)

Why the Court is avoiding a ruling on religious exemptions in the vaccine context
(Mark Movsesian, The Volokh Conspiracy)

Most courts – including SCOTUS – leaving vaccine mandates in place against religious liberty challenges
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)

Court rejects religious challenge to New York’s vaccine mandate for health care workers
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)

Barrett and Kavanaugh supply another majority to deny religious-liberty exemption
(Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review)

Survey: Americans concerned too many are seeking religious exemptions to vaccines
(Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)

Why the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled (for now) on vaccine mandates
(Mark Movsesian, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)

Q&A with CEC general secretary Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen
(YouTube Video, Conference of European Churches)

European churches urge people to get vaccinated against COVID-19
(Conference of European Churches)

Senegalese lawmakers draft tougher laws against LGBT
(Reuters)

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