Law and Religion Headlines
Monday, 1 March 2021
Faith, trauma, and transnational connections in India’s farmer protests (Responding to: Sikh identity in the Indian farm protests)
(Shruti Devgan, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Nearly 200 US and UK scholars back British lecturer who called Jewish students ‘pawns’ of Israel
(Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Black, white, and born again: How race affects opinions among Evangelicals
(Diana Orcés, PRRI)
Friday, 26 February 2021
Court clears way for indoor worship services in northern California
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)
Israel faces criticism for not including Palestinians in vaccine success
(Yara M. Asi, Religion Unplugged)
U.S. Catholic Bishops meet to consider excommunicating President Biden
(Religion Today)
X and Y v. Romania: the ‘impossible dilemma’ reasoning applied to gender affirming surgery as a requirement for gender recognition
(Sarah Schoentjes, Strasbourg Observers)
11th Circuit en banc hears oral arguments in case of juror who heard from a higher being
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Judges hear former US Rep. Corrine Brown’s appeal over dismissed juror
(News 4 Jacksonville)
EEOC sues on behalf of Seventh Day Adventist hotel employee
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
EEOC sues Solé Miami for religious discrimination
(U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
Required measles inoculation upheld
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Russia: Two and six years in prison for mother (69) and son (46)
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Campaign aims to foster respect for religious freedom, sites
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Germany/Syria: Conviction of Syrian official for crimes against humanity a historic victory for justice
(Amnesty International)
Japanese historical document details martyrdom of Japanese Christians
(Heritage Daily)
Japan's top court says land offer for temple unconstitutional
(The Mainichi)
U.S. COVID restrictions on religion: I'm still attending Mass from my church parking lot
(Tim Busch, USA Today)
The Equality Act can become law — if Democrats will add religious exemptions
(Jonathan Rauch, The Washington Post Opinion)
There is a better way forward than the Equality Act
(Chelsea Langston Bombino, Religion Unplugged)
House votes to expand legal safeguards for LGBTQ people
(Kevin Freking, Associated Press)
House votes to pass Equality Act, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
(Felicia Sonmez and Samantha Schmidt, The Washington Post)
Faith in numbers: behind the gender difference of nonreligious Americans
(Ryan Burge, Religion Unplugged)
PBS documentary 'The Black Church' paints history through gospel music
(Jillian Cheney, Religion Unplugged)
Baha'i International Community statement to the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
(Bahá’í International Community)
Religious diversity belongs in the public square — and in your business
(Boyd Matheson, Deseret News Opinion)
The 1776 Report: Mind the (religion) gap
(Joel A. Brown, Sightings: The Martin Marty Center, University of Chicago Divinity School)
High Court (UK): Covid self-employed support scheme does not unlawfully discriminate against women
(Henry Tufnell, UK Human Rights Blog)
WEBINAR: 26 February 2021 (3 PM CET): Human rights of Baha’is – Seizure of Baha’i Properties in Ivel
(Hans Noot, WWilly Fautré - Director and Editor-in-CHans Noot, Willy Fautré, Jos Douma, Karlijn van der Voor, Björn Hoop, moderated by Myra Koomen, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
UN adoption of Pakistan-led resolution on inter-religious dialogue great victory: Qadri
(Mohammad Ali, UrduPoint)
Dozens of states ignoring guidance to prioritize clergy for COVID vaccine: Report
(Tobias Hoonhout, National Review)
World NGO Day: Standing up for those who stand up for others
(Ellis Heasley, FoRB in Full: A blog by CSW)
Latter-day Saint Charities commits US$20 million in support of UNICEF’s global COVID-19 response
(Newsroom: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
‘Nobody came, nobody helped’: Fears of anti-Asian violence rattle the community
(Marian Liu and Rachel Hatzipanagos, The Washington Post)
Missing community, these college students innovated church online into pod watch parties
(David Hancock, Religion Unplugged)
Massacre in the mountains: How an Ethiopian festival turned into a killing spree
(Bethlehem Feleke, Eliza Mackintosh, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase, CNN)
NCCM deeply concerned after another attack on black hijabi woman in Edmonton
(National Council of Canadian Muslims)
Tajikistan: JW Shamil Khakimov (70), prisoner of conscience adopted by USCIRF
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Eritrea: Christian prisoners Twen Theodros and Mussie Eyob are free!
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Crimea: Muslim meetings for worship main target of "anti-missionary" prosecutions
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
Catholicism, Joe Biden, and U.S. politics: A Conversation with Massimo Faggioli
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Korea's Supreme Court accepts secular conscience objection to military service
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Korean Supreme Court acquits man refusing to train with reserves
(Korea JoongAng Daily)
Malaysia's top court restricts scope of state power to enact sharia law
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Federal Court unanimously declares Selangor Shariah law criminalising ‘unnatural sex’ void, unconstitutional
(Ida Lim, Malay Mail)
Shariah lawyers see Federal Court’s ‘unnatural sex’ decision as closing doors to hudud in Malaysia, inviting challenges to other state Shariah enactments
(Ida Lim, Malay Mail)
Special report: church building in Belarus seized, religious freedom remains under attack
(The Alabama Baptist)
With no support from government or society, Covid-19 has hit Somali Christians harder
(Jonatán Soriano, Evangelical Focus)
Recent examples of privatised censorship and digital self-justice
(Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination in Europe)
AP photos: Hindu festival draws crowds of bathers to rivers
(Rajesh Kumar Singh, Associated Press)
Photos of the Week: Purim in Israel, Magh Mela in India
(Kit Doyle, Religion News Service)
Vatican foreign minister: religious freedom ‘being eroded’ by COVID-19 response
(Catholic News Agency)
The right of religious freedom in light of the coronavirus pandemic: the Greek case (PDF)
(George Androutsopoulos, MDPI)
Coup in Myanmar follows history of severe religious freedom violations
(Jay Church, International Christian Concern)
Love country and party': Taiwan criticizes China for religious persecution
(Sylvia Teng, Taiwan News)
Taiwan slams China for tightening religious freedom through law
(Focus Taiwan)
China's secret weapon: Changing the meaning of 'human rights'
(Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter: A Magazine on Religious Liberty and Human Rights in China)
Bosnian court sentences former IS fighter to 6 years in jail
(Associated Press)
German police raid suspected Islamic extremists in Berlin
(Associated Press)
Alabama to allow spiritual advisor at inmate’s execution
(Kim Chandler, Associated Press)
Top German bishop laments ‘scandalous’ image of church
(Associated Press)
What does supporting public schools have to do with religious liberty? A lot!
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
What do Turkey and Israel have in common? A different take on religious nationalism
(Jocelyne Cesari, London School of Economics)
Revisiting religious pluralism in Ukraine (Jose Casanova)
(YouTube Video, Ukrainian Research Institute Harvard University)
Is social media ethical? (Including multiple responses)
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
A holistic approach to law and Islam
(Rahimjon Abdugafurov, Emory CSLR)
Diocese in India says arrest of nun for ‘attempted conversion’ a revenge ploy
(Nirmala Carvalho, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
Why the religion provisions in the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill need amending
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Children recruited by Colombian armed groups are now ambassadors for peace due to Catholic missions (Spanish)
(Religión Digital)
Why has France's Islamist separatism bill caused such controversy?
(Cailey Griffin, Foreign Policy)
Spanish bishops comment on the fervent secularist sermon of the Minister of Culture (Spanish)
(Religión en Libertad)
The authorities "certainly discriminate against us": Cardinal Blázquez's complaint for Covid restrictions (Spanish)
(Religión en Libertad)
The Muslim community reminds Fragoso that there are 30 Islamic cemeteries in Spain (Spanish)
(El Periódico Extremadura)
Jewish communities ask the prosecutor to investigate a neo-fascist act (Spanish)
(Miguel González, El Pais)
Catholic Church condemned "intolerable attacks" on the Jewish community during neo-Nazi march in Spain (Spanish)
(Nuevo Mundo Israelita)
Since this California church began flouting pandemic restrictions, attendance has surged
(Sam Kestenbaum, The Washington Post)
More than 1,400 evangelicals, other faith leaders condemn religion at insurrection as ‘heretical’
(Jack Jenkins, The Washington Post)
Thursday, 25 February 2021
ONLINE EVENT, Thursdays in February (1:30PM EST): Voices of Black Faith Freedom
(Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
EVENT, 25 February 2021: European Regional Pre-Assembly for WCC 11th Assembly, Warsaw, Poland
(Conference of European Churches)
WEBINAR, 25 February 2021 (11AM MST): “The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again” with Robert D. Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett
(BYU Wheatley Institution)
WEBINAR, 25 February 2021 (1:30PM SGT): A Secular Need: Islamic Law and State Governance in Contemporary India
(Centre for Asian Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore)
VIRTUAL EVENT, 25 February 2021 (11AM EST): FoRB Victims List and Religious Prisoners of Conscience Project Update
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
ONLINE BOOK LAUNCH, 25 February 2021 (14:00 GMT+2/UTC+02:00): Grievous religious persecution: a conceptualisation of crimes against humanity of religious persecution (2020)
(Werner Nicolaas Nel, South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC) and the International Institute for Religion Freedom)
The government cannot dictate your conscience: Government restrictions on conscience protection should be opposed by all in a free society.
(Michael S. Parker, National Catholic Register)
Wednesday, 24 February 2021
WEBINAR, 24 February 2021 (11AM MST): Religious Freedom: Economics & Equality
(Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center)
WEBINAR, 24 February 2021 (4PM EST): COVID Vaccination Challenges: Ethical Imperatives and Local Realities
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University; G20 Interfaith Forum; World Faiths Development Dialogue; and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities)
Former Ghana lawmaker: referencing soldiers by their religion is divisive and toxic
(Ghana MMA)
U.K. churches viewed more positively since COVID-19 pandemic, new survey shows
(Jillian Cheney, Religion Unplugged)
As storm cripples Texas' energy grid, people of faith rally to help
(Bobby Ross Jr., Religion Unplugged)
Financial Times reports that the UK is to call for UN probe of Uighur camps in China’s Xinjiang province
(David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool)
Letter to the Economist regarding the horrors in Xianjin, China
(Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Ewelina U. Ochab, Zachary D. Kaufman, Kyle Matthews, John Packer, Michael Polak, Nury Turkel, Joanne Smith Finley, Medium)
Book Release: Dispute between the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church: A Burden on North Macedonia?
(Otmar Oehring, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung)
Dignity and discrimination
(Frederick Mark Gedicks, SSRN)
Lawmakers vote to make Virginia first Southern state to abolish death penalty
(Laura Vozzella and Gregory S. Schneider, The Washington Post)
National Cathedral invites evangelical to preach, triggering fierce storm of protest
(Terry Mattingly, OnReligion)
Why Nigeria’s religious leaders should learn more about climate change
(George Nche, The Conversation)
A critical look at what’s missing from Muslim education in South Africa
(Nuraan Davids, The Conversation)
Fort Worth loses fight for church properties as US Supreme Court declines to hear diocese’s case
(David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service)
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