Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Air Force Institutes Scholarship Program To Train Chaplains
Former NFL Coach Invited Onto President's Faith-Based Council
Court Accepts Plea Deal With "Resurrection Clause" In It
School Agency's Creationism Neutrality Does Not Violate Establishment Clause
Illinois Break Away Episcopal Diocese Files Declaratory Judgment Action
India Supreme Court Rejects Muslim Student's Challenge To Grooming Rule
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
President Signs Law Extending Foreign Religious Worker Program To Sept. 29
Paper Says Catholic Church Knew of Priest Abuse Problem Earlier Than Previously Thought
decades before the clergy sexual-abuse crisis broke publicly across the U.S. Catholic landscape, the founder of a religious order that dealt regularly with priest sex abusers was so convinced of their inability to change that he searched for an island to purchase with the intent of using it as a place to isolate such offenders....
Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, founder of the Servants of the Paracletes, an order established in 1947 to deal with problem priests, wrote regularly to bishops in the United States and to Vatican officials, including the pope, of his opinion that many sexual abusers in the priesthood should be laicized immediately. [Full text of letters.]
Ontario Expands Permissible Religious References On Personalized Plates
Positive or neutral expressions of religious beliefs and mythology are permissible; including references to religious celebrations, titles, leaders and symbols. All religions and beliefs are permissible.... Negative, pejorative or derogatory reference to any religion whatsoever are not permitted.... Any meaning implying the superiority or exclusivity of one religion or creed over others or proselytizing statements are prohibited....
Suit On Court Employees' Bible Study Group Settled
Morocco Takes Action Against Shiites, Christians
According to Earth Times yesterday, the government campaign has now spread to countering Christian activities. Four Christian missionaries (3 Spaniards and a German woman) were expelled from Morocco after it was alleged that they were illegally engaged in Christian proselytizing at a meeting they held in Casablanca on Saturday. However sources close to the missionaries say that only Christians were attending the communion meeting. The actions against Shiites were prompted in part by a broader controversy in the Middle East over a statement made last month by Iranian official, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, who threatened Bahrain's sovereignty by announcing that Bahrain was historically a province of Iran. (New York Times, 3/29.)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Famous Indian Parliamentary Candidate Arrested For Anti-Muslim Speeches
Initially two criminal cases were filed against Gandhi, one charging his with violations of India Penal Code 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 295A (deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings), and 505(2) (circulating statements likely to create or promote ill-will between religious groups). The other was brought under Sec. 125 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election). Then on Sunday, according to India.com, additional charges were also filed by the Uttar Pradesh government under the National Security Act. Under that Act, a person arrested can be detained without bail for up to one year. However, he can contest his detention before a 3-person Advisory Board headed by a High Court judge.
Paper Profiles FLDS Ranch One Year After Raid
8 Venezuela Police charged In Attack on Caracas Synagogue
Senate Leader Will Repropose Federal Polygamy Task Force
Recent Articles of Interest
- Calvin R. Massey, Church Schisms, Church Property, and Civil Authority, (March 26, 2009).
- Harry G. Hutchison, Putting the World Back Together? Recovering Faithful Citizenship in a Postmodern Age, (George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 09-21 , March 25, 2009).
- Ali Khan, Jurodynamics of Islamic Law, (Rutgers Law Review, Vol. 61, No. 2, 2009).
- Albert H.Y. Chen, Three Political Confucianisms and Half a Century, (March 22, 2009).
From SmartCILP:
- Alan E. Garfield, Finding Shared Values In a Diverse Society: Lessons From the Intelligent Design Community, 33 Vermont Law Review 225-281 (2008).
- Jay Alan Sekulow & Erik M. Zimmerman, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum: Upholding the Government's Authority to Craft Its Own Message Through Privately Donated or Funded Monuments, Memorials, and Artwork, 3 Charleston Law Review 175-204 (2009).
- Lecture. The Bible and American Law. Lecture by Herbert W. Titus; responses by Jeffrey C. Tuomala and Michael J. DeBoer; responses by Herbert W. Titus, 2 Liberty University Law Review, 305-417 (2008).
- Symposium. The Supreme Court's Hands-Off Approach to Religious Doctrine. [Table of contents]. Introduction by Samuel J. Levine; articles by Christopher L. Eisgruber & Lawrence G. Sager, Richard W. Garnett, Andrew Koppelman, Bernadette Meyler and Kent Greenawalt, 84 Notre Dame Law Review 793-928 (2009). [Links are to full text of articles.]
- The Future of Law, Religion, and the Family. A 25th Anniversary Symposium. [Table of contents.] Foreword by Leah Ward Sears; Articles by Enola G. Aird, Stephen L. Carter, Don S. Browning, Margaret Brinig and Jean Bethke Elshtain, afterword by John Witte, Jr. 58 Emory Law Journal 1-102 (2008). [Links are to full text of articles.]
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Controversy Continues Over Notre Dame's Commencement Invitation To Obama
A lengthy AP report yesterday quotes a number of individuals connected with Notre Dame who support the invitation, pointing out that the University has a tradition of inviting newely-elected U.S. Presidents from both parties as commencement speakers. Inviting the first African-American U.S. President has special significance because of the long record of former Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh in the civil rights movement.
Meanwhile, at another Catholic college, St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S. Senator Robert Casey has cancelled his commencement address scheduled for May 9. While Casey offered no explanation, LifeSite News reported last week that Casey was strongly criticized by Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton for his recent vote against an amendment to restore the Mexico City Policy-- a policy that denied foreign aid funds to family planning groups that engaged in abortion counselling. (See prior posting.)