Law and Religion Headlines
Thursday, 15 August 2019
ACLJ files lawsuit against Virginia real estate board for targeting "Jesus Loves You"
(Jordan Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice)
Suit challenges Virginia Fair Housing Act provision barring religious language in ads
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Court: ‘Back-room deliberations’ at Cal State–San Marcos unconstitutional
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Pro-life group wins challenge to university's student fee allocation process
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Breaking news: Ashers Baking heads for Strasbourg
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Inquiry – ‘Positions of Trust’ within faith settings (APPG on Safeguarding in Faith Settings
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
‘A dormant volcano’: Kashmir’s streets are quiet, but residents seethe with resentment
(Niha Masih, The Washington Post)
Troops let Muslims go to mosques in locked-down Kashmir
(Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press)
India’s splitting of Kashmir opposed in Muslim border city
(Sheikh Saaliq, Associated Press)
Modi’s Hindu vision of India sees smooth passage on Kashmir
(Amrit Dhillon, Associated Press)
Captured ISIS fighters get short sentences and art therapy in Syria
(Liz Sly, The Washington Post)
Modi ushers in a new intolerant India and revokes multicultural democracy
(Reeta Tremblay, The Conversation)
Explaining ‘Rakshabandhan’ – a Hindu festival that celebrates the brother-sister bond
(Mathew Schmalz, The Conversation)
Trump administration proposes protecting federal contractors who fire or hire workers based on religious beliefs
(Sarah Pulliam Bailey and Julie Zauzmer, The Washington Post)
UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Sri Lanka
(MENAFN)
USCIRF Commissioner Tenzin Dorjee calls for release of religious prisoner of conscience Gulmira Imin
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
USCIRF statement on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Movsesian on Wilken on religious freedom
(Mark Movsesian, Law and Religion Forum)
USCIRF applauds announced changes to Saudi male guardianship system
(U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom)
Lawyers commenting on NSW abortion law changes
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
Quebec's totalitarian moment and lost of Catholic culture
(Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett, The Catholic Thing)
Quebec’s Bill 21 and the enforcement of ‘liberal values’
(Asma T. Uddin, Religious Freedom Center, Freedom Forum Institute)
Podcast: India and Pakistan clash in Kashmir, the most dangerous place in the world
(Dorothy Wickendon, The New Yorker)
Challenge to New York's elimination of religious exemption from vaccination is argued in court
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Kashmir curfew partially eased for prayers amid lockdown
(Ashok Sharma, Associated Press)
As China cracks down on Uighurs, a Uighur American joins the White House
(Amy Mackinnon and Robbie Gramer, Foreign Policy)
Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Religion Watch, August 2019, Volume 34 No. 10
(Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion)
Malaysia ministers want Muslim preacher Zakir Naik expelled
(Al Jazeera)
Labor Dept. proposes granting businesses with federal contracts 'religious exemption' in hiring
(Tal Axelrod, The Hill)
Trump labor agency says religious contractors free from bias law
(Paige Smith and Ben Penn, Bloomberg Law)
Feds eye broad bias law loophole for religious contractors
(Law 360)
Melbourne archbishop ready to defy law over seal of confession
(Catholic News Agency)
Archbishop says prison preferable to complying with child abuse confession law
(Lisa Martin, The Guardian)
Enforcing the registration of marriages – lessons from Scotland
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
An openly gay candidate is running for president in Tunisia, a milestone for the Arab world
(Claire Parker, The Washington Post)
Spot the news here: First openly gay presidential candidate in 'Arab' or 'Muslim' world?
(Terry Mattingly, Get Religion)
Over 60% of Russians identify as Orthodox, 1 out of every 6 is atheist - poll
(Interfax-Religion)
CA Mayor: Criticism of my Christian-only meeting “smacks of religious bigotry”
(Hemant Mehta, Patheos Blog: Friendly Atheist)
Scholars declare Jehovah's Witnesses' biblical citation extremism
(Credo Press, Russia Religion News)
When limitless relativism meets limitless moralism
(Daniel J. Mahoney, Law & Liberty)
African bishop: Church must work to end violence against albinos
(Bronwen Dachs, Catholic News Service)
As Amazon synod approaches, new focus given to indigenous rights
(Elise Harris, Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse)
3rd Circuit upholds cross on county seal, citing Supreme Court’s Bladensburg cross ruling
(Don Byrd, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty)
Georgia's prisoner grooming policy struck down
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Former Jehovah’s Witnesses recount years of sex abuse ahead of landmark case
(Gabrielle Fonrouge, Alex Taylor and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, New York Post)
Sex abuse lawsuit against Jehovah's Witnesses to be filed today
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Jordan halts film that refers to historical Jewish presence
(Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press)
New survey reveals which religions New Zealanders trust most – and least – after Christchurch shootings
(Simon Chapple, The Conversation)
ELCA declares self a ‘sanctuary church body,’ marches to ICE building in Milwaukee
(Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service)
Pete Buttigieg hires the first faith outreach director of the 2020 campaign
(Julie Zauzmer, The Washington Post)
‘He gets it’: Evangelicals aren’t turned off by Trump’s first term
(Julie Zauzmer, The Washington Post)
‘Using the Lord’s name in vain’: Evangelicals chafe at Trump’s blasphemy
(Gabby Orr, Politico)
Khmer Rouge genocide: Nuon Chea’s death has major implications for justice in Cambodia
(Rachel Killean and Peter Manning, The Conversation)
The rise of anti-Semitism on the left
(Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post)
It's not just men: White conservative women have played key role in abortion policy changes this year
(Janell Ross, NBC News)
The state of abortion and contraception attitudes in all 50 states
(PRRI)
Poll: 23 percent of Louisiana residents oppose abortion in all cases — more than any other state
(Elizabeth Crisp, The Advocate)
Poll: Partisan divide on abortion grows
(Jessie Hellmann, The Hill)
Religious feast highlights interfaith unity in Senegal
(Qantara.de)
As education moves online, an interfaith-education group wants to move with it
(Goldie Blumenstyk, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Mexico wants to run a tourist train through its Mayan heartland — should it?
(Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, The Conversation)
Former Muslim chaplain alleges workplace discrimination at New York prison
(Aysha Khan, Religion News Service)
Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Abortion support remains steady despite growing partisan divide, survey finds
(Ariana Eunjung Cha and Scott Clement, The Washington Post)
Federal judge says prisoners must be allowed 3-inch beards for religious reasons
(Greg Land, Law.com)
Sikh community celebrates law banning religious garb discrimination
(Rachel Vick, Queens Eagle)
We need Christian nationalism because religious neutrality has failed
(Matthew Cochran, The Federalist)
Howrah protest linked to rate card, not religion: Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal
(Live Mint)
Rather die than prove my religion before entering temple: Mamata Banerjee
(NDTV)
He says a priest abused him. 50 years later, he can now sue.
(Rick Rojas, The New York Times)
Marriage registry changes could lead to disestablishment, fears General Synod member
(Cara Bentley, Premier)
US asks Palestinians to explain hate speech, antisemitism
(Tovah Lazaroff, The Jerusalem Post)
CofE commissions review into Smyth case
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Nizhny Novgorod Jehovah's Witnesses lose court appeal
(Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Russia Religion News)
When religious bigotry is repackaged as #ChristianPrivilege
(Michele Blood, The American Conservative)
Here’s what Israeli Jewish voters find important and less important in the next election
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Baptist college kicks out transgender student after surgery
(Associated Press)
Nigeria’s Shia leader flies to India for medical treatment
(Sam Olukoya, Associated Press)
Saudi Arabia: Important advances for Saudi women
(Human Rights Watch)
Saudi Arabia relaxes legal restrictions on women
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
First Lady Melania Trump begins planning for the 2019 Christmas season at the White House
(The White House)
White House already planning for Christmas
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Oregon man refuses to pay taxes because he’s a Christian who opposes abortion
(Hemant Mehta, Patheos Blog: Friendly Atheist)
Federal court halts Anchorage’s hostility toward sexually assaulted women
(Alliance Defending Freedom)
Australia: Public servant sacked for social media comments
(Neil Foster, Law and Religion Australia)
Homeless shelters excluded from city's anti-discrimination ordinances
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Kazakhstan: Officials try to force registration signature withdrawals
(Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service)
More than thoughts and prayers: The Catholic Church and gun control
(Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged)
Monday, 12 August 2019
Religious leaders in Cuba are bravely confronting the regime’s oppression | Opinion
(Teo Babun, Miami Herald)
Religiously unaffiliated people face harassment in a growing number of countries
(Virginia Villa, Pew Research Center Fact Tank)
French cannabis debate ignores race, religion and mass incarceration of Muslims
(David A. Guba Jr., Religion News Service)
‘Religion is irrelevant in charity’
(Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, The Hindu)
Zomato delivery riders’ pay dispute takes religious turn in latest controversy
(Inc 42)
School that barred transgender student Gavin Grimm from boys’ restroom violated his rights, judge rules
(Debbie Truong, The Washington Post)
Court rejects school's transgender bathroom restrictions
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
7th Circuit clarifies application of ministerial exception doctrine
(Howard Friedman, Religion Clause)
Law and religion round-up – 11th August
(Frank Cranmer, Law & Religion UK)
Ben Field verdict – statement from Archdeacon of Buckingham
(David Pocklington, Law & Religion UK)
Christianity and Marxism: Church leaders in central and eastern Europe remain surprisingly loth to condemn their old adversary
(The Economist [Erasmus: Religion and public policy])
Russian bureau drops case against two Jehovah's Witnesses
(Taiga.info, Russia Religion News)
Train station experiment reveals one way to counteract bias against Muslims
(Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times)
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