In Ex parte Tiara Brooke Lycans, (AL App., July 28, 2017), an Alabama appellate court refused to issue a writ of mandamus ordering a trial judge who also serves as a preacher of a fundamentalist Christian church to recuse himself in a divorce action in which the wife, a lesbian,…
Law and religion round-up – 27th August
From Religion and Law Roundup (27 Aug 2017): cases and news related to: Brexit and the UK courts Data protection after Brexit Sparing the rod in Scotland? Triple talaq in India Charges for entry to C of E churches and cathedrals Click here to view full article at www.lawandreligionuk.com
New law: Christian adoption agencies won’t be forced to give kids to gay couples in Texas
June 16, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott yesterday signed into law a bill that protects Christian adoption agencies from being forced to place children in homosexual-led households that intentionally deny the child a mother or a father. HB 3859, the Freedom to Serve Children Act, allows faith-based adoption…
ICE Roundup of Chaldean Christians Leads To Lawsuit
Last week ACLU of Michigan sued to stop the deportation of 114 Iraqi nationals, many of whom are Chaldean Christians, who were arrested in immigration raids in metropolitan Detroit. Some of the Iraqis arrested were Shiite Muslims and converts to Christianity, while raids in other states arrested Kurdish and Yezidi…
Church of Scotland votes on same-sex marriage: updated and corrected
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has agreed in principle to the report of its Theological Forum, An Approach to the Theology of Same-Sex Marriage. According to the Kirk’s press release, in presenting the report the Forum’s convener, the Very Revd Professor Iain Torrance, said that he and…
The CJEU ruling media storm is much ado about nothing
The case sought a preliminary ruling on the question of whether a blanket ban on the wearing of religious symbols by a private employer would amount to direct discrimination under the meaning of the Employment Directive. The Church of England has issued a statement expressing its grave concern over the…
Wrap-up: Church court divorce void
A case before the Supreme Court of India has garnered a lot of attention. The issue concerns Christian divorce law in the country: Christian personal law cannot override the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Divorce Act, 1869, the Supreme Court held on Thursday while dismissing a PIL seeking…
Suit Seeks To Have Archbishop Sheen’s Remains Moved To Illinois
Sheen is about to be beatified by the Vatican– a step toward Sainthood. The Beatification Ceremony will take place in Peoria since Peoria’s Bishop Daniel Jenky was the Promoter for the Cause of Sainthood for Sheen. According to the New York Times, New York church officials object to moving the…
Face-Recognition Technology Knows When You Are At Church
This is not directly a story about religion and law, though it would not surprise me to hear of a few lawsuits filed that are related to the technology being used in churches. A new facial-recognition technology by Face-six has been installed by a number of churches around the world. The…
Church lawsuits in NY and Louisiana—”already a defeat for you”?
Here are two recent cases involved disputes among church members. The cases are interesting in a prurient sort of way; the theological and practical issues (for believers) are more substantive. Firing Your Pastor: Who Decides? The first dispute arose when the pastor of a small church in New York state reduced the…