Hostility to Catholicism is one of the hearty perennials of the study of law and religion in America. I have recently argued i n this piece that there was an important shift in the political rhetoric of the late 19th and early 20th century from accentuating anti-Catholic to anti-Christian themes.…
Dismissal for opposition to same-sex adoption: Mr R Page
Is opposition on grounds of conscience to adoption by same-sex couples protected by equality legislation and the ECHR? That was the issue before the Tribunal in Mr R Page v NHS Trust Development Authority [2017] UKET 2302433/2016 . The background At the time of his appointment as a Non-Executive Director…
New paper: “The Two Separations”
From the Law and Religion Forum: Here’s a new paper of mine, The Two Separations . Here’s the abstract: There is nothing self-evidently attractive about separation — whether of church and state or anything else — as a model for individual or collective life. Pursuing separation is not like pursuing…
“The Conversation” misleads on impacts of same sex marriage
Two pieces in the Australian online forum “The Conversation” today make misleading statements about the possible impacts of the recognition of same-sex marriage in Australia, and warrant some response. One article suggests that there is no doubt that churches will still be able to decline to solemnise same-sex marriages. The…
Review of NT discrimination law- guest blog
The Northern Territory government has released a discussion paper called Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act (Sept 2017). It invites comments by 3 December 2017. You can almost get the tone of the paper from the title! After all, who in this fast-changing age could oppose anything called “modernisation”? But there…
Reluctant Judge Holds Cross On County Seal Is Unconstitutional
In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. County of Lehigh , (ED PA, Sept. 28, 2017), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that a large, central Latin cross in the seal and flag of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania violate the Establishment Clause under the Lemon test and the endorsement test. However…
South Carolina Supreme Court Resolves Property Dispute In Episcopal Church
In The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina v. The Episcopal Church, (SC Sup. Ct., Aug. 2, 2017), the 5-member South Carolina Supreme Court in 5 separate opinions spanning 77 pages resolved a property dispute that arose after a split in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.…
European Court Affirms Jurisdiction of Ecclesiastical Courts
In Nagy v. Hungary, (ECHR, Sept. 14, 2017), the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, by a vote of 10-7, upheld the exclusive jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts over contractual disputes that are matters of ecclesiastical law. In the case, a pastor in the Reformed Church of Hungary…
Copson, “Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom”
Until the modern period the integration of church (or other religion) and state (or political life) had been taken for granted. The political order was always tied to an official religion in Christian Europe, pre-Christian Europe, and in the Arabic world. But from the eighteenth century onwards, some European states…
Law and religion round-up – 24th September
A fe excepts rom the Law and Religion Blog UK’s roundup: Doug Chaplin: Living comfortably: the fiction of a stipend? which Gary Alderson conveniently summarizes as “a blog post on the recent press reports that Church of England stipends are enough to live on basically pointing out they are, as…
Laborde, “Liberalism’s Religion”
This seems to be a book not about liberalism as a kind of religion (or as valuing a particular kind of religion), but instead about what liberalism–particularly the secular liberalism of the kind championed by the author–ought to do with religion in today’s day and age. A book very […]…
Bennett, “Defending Faith: The Politics of the Christian Conservative Legal Movement”
Conservative Christianity has been and continues to be an important movement in American law. But it is difficult to read an even-handed account of it, since academic treatments tend to view it as a force of evil that must be identified, guarded against, and hopefully obliterated, and non-academic treatments […]…
“Agape, Justice, and Law” (Cochran & Calo eds.)
Here is an interesting set of essays on the relationship of the Christian virtue of agape– the distinterested love of others or love of neighbor–to law in general and a variety of legal disciplines in particular. The volume is pitched as an alternative to other more typical ways of […]…
Kaveny, “Ethics at the Edges of Law”
Later this year, Oxford University Press will publish a new book by lawyer and theologian Cathleen Kaveny, the Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology at Boston College. Professor Kavey presented her work at the inaugural session of our Center’s Colloquium in Law and Religion in 2012, […]…
Zelinsky, “Taxing the Church”
From Edward Zelinsky of Cardozo Law School comes this timely and important book about the relationship of religion and taxation in American law, Taxing the Church: Religion, Exemptions, Entanglement, and the Constitution . I was very pleased to read the entire manuscript in draft and to provide a blurb […]…
Christian pro-family leader wins five-year battle against ‘frivolous’ LGBT lawsuit
U.S. pastor and pro-family activist Scott Lively June 6, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — A federal district judge yesterday dismissed a leftist lawsuit against Christian pro-family advocate Scott Lively, who was sued for “crimes against humanity” for helping political and faith leaders in Uganda resist the LGBTQ agenda in the east […]…
Ontario Passes Law Allowing Gov’t to Seize Children From Parents Who Oppose Gender Transition
Canada’s Ontario province has passed legislation that allows the government to seize children from families if they refuse to accept their child’s chosen "gender identity" or "gender expression." Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacts as he and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (L) walk in the Vancouver Pride Parade […]…
State Department Releases 2016 International Religious Freedom Report
Yesterday the State Department released its 2016 International Religious Freedom Annual Report ( full text ). In remarks on the Report , Secretary of Sate Tillerson highlighted concerns about religious liberty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bahrain, China, Pakistan and Sudan. Importantly, Tillerson also emphasized the State Department’s conclusion […]…
Religion, real property, the EU and State aid: Congregación de Escuelas Pías Provincia Betania
Article IV of the Agreement of 3 January 1979 (“the Agreement”) between the Spanish State and the Holy See concerning financial matters provides that: “1. The Holy See, the Bishops’ Conference, dioceses, parishes and other territorial units, religious orders and congregations and ‘institutes of consecrated life’ and their provinces […]…
Vatican-Approved Article Criticizes Conservative Catholic Support of U.S. Evangelical Political Agenda
The Washington Post today reports that an article in the influential Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica– whose content is approved by the Vatican Secretariat of State– is critical of conservative Catholic support for the evangelical political agenda in the United States. The article is authored by the journal’s editor […]…
Court Enjoins Illinois Law Requiring Referrals Out For Abortions
In National Institute of Family Life Advocates v. Rauner , (ND IL, July 19, 2017), an Illinois federal district court granted a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs, a group of pro-life health care facilities and medical personnel, who object to Illinois SB 1564 . The statute, as a condition of […]…
Suit Challenges Hawaii’s Notice Mandate For Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
A suit was filed last week in Hawaii federal district court challenging Hawaii’s SB 501 enacted earlier this year that requires “limited service pregnancy centers” to disseminate on-site to patients a notice that says: Hawaii has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning […]…
Is Christian school in trouble over non-conformity with LGBTQ rules? Alberta gvmt won’t say
Alberta Education Minister David Eggen EDMONTON, Alberta, March 21, 2017 ( LifeSiteNews ) – The Alberta New Democratic Government has been sitting for four months on a report about how to deal with an independent Christian school society that is apparently violating legislation requiring all provincial schools to offer […]…
In Unusual Church Autonomy Dispute, Catholic School Can Require Immunization of All Students
In a case with an unusual twist, a Florida state appeals court yesterday upheld the policy of a Catholic school requiring immunization of all students, even when a parent has religious objections to immunization. In Flynn v. Estevez , (FL App., June 27, 2017), the appeals court held that […]…
Christian clubs can’t be forced to accept non-Christian leaders under new Kentucky law
An attack on ‘all comers’ mandates Tucked into a new Kentucky law that protects religious expression in public schools are provisions that protect college students’ freedom of speech and association. The so-called Charlie Brown law was prompted by a public school excising a Bible verse from its production of […]…