Law and Religion Headlines
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Amid wave of attacks on religious facilities, Justice Department pledges action
(Scott MacFarlane, CBS News)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
VIRTUAL EVENT, 1 July 2025: China's Changing Religious Landscape
(Asia Society)
Monday, 30 June 2025
Opinion: Mahmoud v. Taylor
(Supreme Court of the United States)
Supreme Court says Maryland parents can pull their kids from public school lessons using LGBTQ books
(Mark Sherman, Associated Press)
Court allows parents to opt their children out of school lessons involving LGBTQ+ themes
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)
Supreme Court requires religious opt-outs from secular lessons in public schools
(American Civil Liberties Union)
Supreme Court restores parental opt-outs for Pride Storybooks
(Becket)
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS, deadline 30 June 2025: Advancing Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in a Polarised, Digitalised, and Unequal World
(Leiden University)
Assisted dying, England and Wales – an overview
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Go-ahead for former library to be used as mosque
(Twm Owen, BBC)
Facing a precarious future in Hong Kong
(Peter Maize, Christianity Today)
Russia continues to violate Witnesses’ freedom of worship despite landmark 2010 ECHR ruling
(Jehovah's Witnesses)
20 US bishops join interfaith effort opposing ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
(Kate Scanlon, OSV News)
Nicaragua crackdown on Christianity deepens amid political power grab
(Obianuju Mbah, Christianity Today)
Crowds block Armenian security forces seeking to arrest a clergyman who criticized the government
(Avet Demourian, Associated Press)
Protecting religious liberty in the court of law is not enough. Why the real challenge is in the ‘court of public opinion’
(Sarah Jane Weaver, Deseret News)
Congo Christian leaders submit peace plan draft to President amid Security Crisis
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
African Church leader backs new report urging reforms on debt relief
(Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
German court overturns ban on far-right antisemitic magazine, citing freedom of expression
(Grace Gilson, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Uzbekistan: Judge refuses to explain rejecting 8 Muslims' appeals
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
Uzbekistan: Courts hand two prisoners of conscience extra jail terms
(Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service)
Obeying God rather than men
(Paul D. Scalia, Public Discourse: The Journal of the Witherspoon Institute)
Pakistan: The EU should suspend its trade privileges. Why? Focus on the blasphemy laws in June
(Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
MEPs out in force to support Budapest pride event
(EU Today)
Strengthening religious tolerance: A lesson from Uzbekistan
(Asep Saepudin Jahar and Kamilov Muzaffar Muratovich, The Jakarta Post)
Muslim American Members of Congress call out vile, anti-Muslim, racist attacks on Zohran Mamdani
(Ilhan Omar, U.S. House of Representatives)
For many South Asian and Muslim New Yorkers, Mamdani’s political upset gives them hope
(Terry Tang and Mariam Fam, Associated Press)
Comment on "bulldozer jusice"
(X, Nazila Ghanea)
Supreme Court upholds Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing pornography online
(Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press)
Violence against religious minorities undermines India’s democracy
(Vishal Arora, Religion Unplugged)
From the marriage contract to breaking the glass under the chuppah, many Jewish couples adapt their weddings to celebrate gender equality
(Samira Mehta, The Conversation)
Friday, 27 June 2025
Justice Department closes investigation into Muslim-centered community near Dallas
(Jim Vertuno, Associated Press)
Religion Watch, ‘Volume 40 No. 7’
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Can churches be sanctuaries? A First Amendment analysis
(Scott A. Leadingham, Freedom Forum)
Canada: ‘I felt so helpless’: Winnipeg woman forced to remove hijab on Flair Airlines flight
(Danton Unger, CTV News)
Should the Equality Act be Amended to Make Explicit Reference to ‘Conscience’?
(Andrew Hambler, Oxford Journal of Law and Religion)
Event report: Defining Islamophobia in 2025
(Cambridge Interfaith Programme)
Fact Check: Context missed from comparison touted as evidence of UK's two-tier religious freedom
(Reuters)
Church Moderator joins launch of ‘Scotland Demands Better’ campaign
(The Church of Scotland)
Meeting of the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine held in Kyiv and program for the Solemn Prayer Service “Prayer for Ukraine” approved
(Institute for Religious Freedom, Ukraine)
UCCRO meets with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
(Institute for Religious Freedom, Ukraine)
Do not forget the Crimean Tatars
(Luke Coffey, Hudson Institute)
Global Interfaith Monitor No. 36
(Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University)
Malaysia: Village chiefs reimagine leadership as service to society
(Bahá’í World News Service)
FOREF Europe welcomes Dr. Ján Figeľ as its new president
(Forum for Religious Freedom Europe)
Century-old Haifa building serves as meeting-place for friendship
(Bahá’í World News Service)
BIC explores oneness and interdependence in governance (podcast)
(Bahá’í World News Service)
Walking in solidarity with refugees is an obligation for all people of faith
(Religions for Peace)
An interfaith toolkit to protect girls’ rights
(Religions for Peace)
Religious leaders and Parliamentarians unite for peace in Rome
(Religions for Peace)
IGE hosts conversation with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani
(Institute for Global Engagement)
10 years after same-sex marriage ruling, these conservatives aim to roll it back
(Simon Montlake, Christian Science Monitor)
Romania’s 2025 presidential elections and the politicization of religion
(Lucian N. Leustean, Institute for Global Engagement)
Legal Journal Number 8 (20): June (Spanish)
(Observatorio de Libertad Religiosa de América Latina y El Caribe)
Majority of US adults support religious chaplains in public schools, a new AP-NORC poll shows
(Holly Meyer and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux, Associated Press)
WJC American Section Chair J. Philip Rosen leads mission to Washington to engage with top U.S. officials, foreign diplomats, other decision-makers
(World Jewish Congress)
EKD Council Chair in peace debate (German)
(Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland)
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
DOJ sues against law that saw church threaten to excommunicate priests
(Kate Plummer, Newsweek)
Justice Department sues Washington State over its new anti-Catholic law, Senate Bill 5375
(U.S. Department of Justice)
At BYU, leaders say the religious should learn the believer-friendly term ‘human flourishing’
(Tad Walch, Deseret News)
Women’s empowerment, protection, & leadership in Africa: Insights from the 2025 Ethiopia Harmony Week celebration
(G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Human trafficking in Africa: Insights from the 2025 Ethiopia Harmony Week celebration
(G20 Interfaith Forum Blog)
Japan’s Catholic bishops urge global nuclear disarmament
(Union of Catholic Asian News)
Ahead of the European Summit, COMECE urges relaunching EU’s peace and development mission
(The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE))
Japan: Unification Church and deprogramming
(Patricia Duval, Human Rights Without Frontiers International)
Assisted dying: what happens now the House of Lords has the bill?
(Daniel Gover, The Conversation)
Religious Freedom Annual Review highlights religion’s role in peace and human flourishing
(Jayden Barney, The Daily Universe)
Faith behind closed doors: analyzing personal religious practice in daily life
(Jack Shanley, PRRI)
Heavy jail penalties in the Linfen Golden Lampstand Church case
(Dong Quiyue, Bitter Winter)
Growing consensus on religious freedom benefits everyone, religious or not
(Joshua C. McDaniel, The Hill)
Despite a decline in churchgoing, more young adults are reaching for the Bible
(Mariya Manzhos, Deseret News)
Faith leaders and families sue to block Texas’ new Ten Commandments in schools law
(Jim Vertuno, Associated Press)
Power struggle in Armenia: Church and billionaires vs. Pashinyan
(Elnur Enveroglu, Azernews)
Lawsuit challenges Tennessee law against ‘harboring’ undocumented people
(Marie-Rose Sheinerman and Daniel Wu, The Washington Post)
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law explores advancing religious liberty during Nootbaar Fellows and State of religious freedom conferences
(Jessica Curtis-Castillo, Pepperdine University)
Armenian authorities arrest an archbishop and accuse him of plotting against the government
(Avet Demourian, Associated Press)
MAGA right attacks Zohran Mamdani’s religion following his win
(Nicole Markus, Politico)
Spirituality and religion: How does the U.S. compare with other countries?
(Jonathan Evans, William Miner, Chris Baronavski, Bill Webster and Justine Coleman, Pew Research Center)
2025 Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit: Day 2 recap
(University of Notre Dame Law School)
Challenge to narrow religious exemption in Maryland employment law is dismissed in part
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
As Germany’s far right builds ties with US conservatives, churches push back
(Mohammed Zain Shafi Khan and Madhri Yehiya, Religion News Service)
The Damascus church bombing and the collapse of Middle East Christianity
(Daoud Kuttab, Religion News Service)
It is necessary to “cultivate a society where everyone can believe freely” (Portuguese)
(7 Margens)
New podcast explores religion, politics
(Washington University in St. Louis)
Bishop Rhoades highlights religious freedom concerns
(Christopher Wells and Kielce Gussie, Vatican News)
Monday, 23 June 2025
The assisted dying debate has been about safety not sanctity – here’s why I think the bill passed the test
(Colin Gavaghan, The Conversation)
Assisted dying – medical anthropolgist on the complex practical and ethical road ahead
(Erica Borgstrom, The Conversation)
Orthodox Archbishop warns about growing religious repression in UN speech
(Javier Villamor, The European Conservative)
Pope Leo XIV: Always remember those persecuted for their faith
(Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News)
Suicide bombing at Damascus church kills 25, Syrian authorities say
(David Gritten, BBC)
Texas governor signs bill protecting student ‘released time’ for religious instruction
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
New Texas law will require Ten Commandments to be posted in every public school classroom
(Jim Vertuno, Associated Press)
Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
(case page, SCOTUSblog)
Supreme Court will hear case of Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were shaved by Louisiana prison guards
(Associated Press)
What counts as religious?: The Supreme Court takes a pass on the question in Catholic Charities v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission
(Noah Farley, The Federalist Society)
Police say a man opened fire outside a church before staff fatally shot him, averting mass shooting
(Paul Sancya and Holly Ramer, Associated Press)
Court to decide whether government officials can be held personally liable for violating inmate’s religious liberty
(Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog)
Articles of interest - 23 June 2025
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Germany’s young Jewish and Muslim writers are speaking for themselves – exploring immigrant identity beyond stereotypes
(Agnes Mueller, The Conversation)
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