The sexuality of cakes has become an issue yet again: this time in Dublin rather than Belfast. In May 2016, an unnamed man placed an order with a bakery in Dublin for a cake decorated with the (slightly garbled) words: “BY THE GRACE OF THE GOOD LORD, I (name […]…
Abortion, street preaching, and more from Law and Religion Roundup
From Hung Parliament to Bung Parliament… Abortion in Northern Ireland Street preaching News from Trumpton: Trinity Lutheran An ecumenical matter AMiE and the missionary’s position Cardinal charged with sexual abuse To lose one Cardinal Prefect may be regarded as unfortunate, to lose two… Islamic finance Click here to view…
Court Rules Kentucky Print Shop Has Right to Avoid Making Gay Pride T-shirts
A Kentucky appellate court on Friday ruled that the Christian owner of a printing shop in Lexington had the right to refuse to make T-shirts promoting a local gay pride festival. The dispute represents the latest court fight testing the limits of antidiscrimination protections for gays and lesbians following […]…
Judge dismisses LGBT case against Christian pro-family advocate
A U.S. federal district judge has dismissed an LGBT case five years after the lawsuit was filed against a Christian pro-family advocate who was charged with “crimes against humanity” for aiding faith leaders and fighting the LGBTQ agenda in Uganda. On June 5, Massachusetts District Judge Michael Ponsor dismissed the…
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…
From Law and religion UK – 25th June
The current week’s roundup of news from the UK (and a bit of the EU and even Texas) from lawandreligionuk.com. EU-UK Brexit talks The Queen’s Speech and the Great Repeal Bill The new Lord Chancellor General Synod Papers Independent report on handling of Peter Ball case Caste discrimination The Vatican,…
Christian virtue doesn’t come from the law
Some decades ago, the famous Christian scholar Harry Emerson Fosdick was invited to speak to the American University student body in Beirut, Lebanon. His listeners represented at least 27 different religious affiliations. Fosdick silently studied his audience and then asked them all: “What is your religion doing for your character?”…
Texas adoption bill OK’s rejection of non-Christian parents
Texas adoption bill OK’s rejection of non-Christian parents Many state-funded Texas adoption agencies routinely deny non-Christian, gay, and unmarried applicants on religious grounds — and now they are backing legislation being considered Tuesday by the state House designed to protect them from potential lawsuits. The private organizations, which are paid…
Legal group fights to restore off-site voluntary Bible class for Michigan students
A legal group is fighting to restore an off-site Bible class in Michigan after it was canceled by a school district due to complaints from a secular group. The law office of Rickard, Denney, Garno & Associates, which is affiliated with the religious liberties organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), is…
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…
Christian University Going To Supreme Court of Canada Over Moral Code
Trinity Western University (TWU) has earned a reputation as a top-notch academic institution founded on Christian beliefs — but to found its own law school it will have to go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to defend its academic and religious freedom. The court will hear…
Printing T-Shirts and Religious Freedom
The decision in Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission v. Hands On Originals (Ky CA, No 2015-CA-000745-MR; 12 May, 2017) was an appeal from an earlier decision discussed in a previous post, “Cakes, t-shirts and religious freedom- an update” (28 April, 2015). To quote the previous summary: [A] printer of…
Kentucky governor signs bill to safeguard Christian students’ religious liberty
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has signed into law a bill known as the “Charlie Brown law” which safeguards the freedom of religious expression of Christian students in public schools. Senate Bill 17, which protects a public school student’s freedom to express religious viewpoints and wear religious clothing without fear of…
Law and religion round-up – 21st May
From Law and Religon Roundup: General Election 2017 The three main UK parties’ manifestos are now published: Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat. Unsurprisingly, there is little about “religion” in any of them; however, the Lib Dems have said that, if elected, they will introduce opposite-sex civil partnerships, while the Tories…
Education Minister David Eggen issues order for Christian schools to accommodate LGBTQ students
An outside adviser has urged the education minister to close a “significant gap” in law that sets different expectations for public and private schools’ accommodation of LGBTQ students and staff. Education Minister David Eggen issued a ministerial order Thursday based on the adviser’s report, telling two defiant Edmonton-area Christian private…
Law and religion round-up – 14th May
A few items from Law and Religion UK: “Reciprocal heresy trials”, an episcopus vagans and Matthew 6:3 Humanist marriage in Northern Ireland Ireland, blasphemy and Stephen Fry Swiss canton says “no” to burqa ban Ritual slaughter, infant circumcision, hijabs and burkinis – again Ecclesiastical Law Journal Read these and more…
Jesus Christ and the case for Deific Law
Sharon Hofisi Legal Matters — For the purpose of precision, let me, with alacrity, begin by considering the basic definition of law. Professor Lovemore Madhuku, who is doubtlessly one of the best legal thinkers who can demystify the law, defines law simply as “rules and regulations that govern human conduct…
Arkansas Mass Executions And Christian Nonviolence
Arkansas is set for a mass execution of eight people within a 10 day period, starting April 17. The rush to kill exists because one lethal injection drug — which has caused multiple botched executions — is about to expire. Replacing these weapons has become challenging since drug companies have…
Supreme Court of Canada to review congregational expulsion: Highwood Congregation v Wall
In Wall v Judicial Committee of the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses 2016 ABCA 255 (CanLII), Mr Wall had sought judicial review of his expulsion from the Highwood Congregation. A chambers judge had concluded that the Court of Queen’s Bench had jurisdiction to hear the application and the Court of…
Church of Scotland Theological Forum reports on same-sex marriage
The Theological Forum of the Church of Scotland has produced a report, An Approach to the Theology of Same-Sex Marriage, in advance of next month’s General Assembly. The report examines three overlapping kinds of argument in some detail: arguments based on understandings of human rights; analogical arguments which try to…
Law and religion round-up – 23rd April
From Law and religion round-up – 23rd April …the General Election, June 2017 Manchester Gorton by-election Lobbying: a reminder to third-party campaigners Other election issues The Church of Scotland and same-sex marriage Church of Scotland General Assembly 2017 Polygamy on trial in Canada Shergill v Khaira yet again News from…
Christian Bakers, Gay Weddings, and a Question for the Supreme Court
On Monday morning, the Supreme Court put off, for a second time, the decision whether to hear Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, but the core of the issue is unlikely to remain unresolved for long. The case is just one of a number of disputes in which small-business…
Religious Free Speech in Australia: CDF v Gaynor
Can a reserve member of the Armed Forces make controversial, religiously motivated, political comments on a private website contrary to Defence Force policy? Sadly, the answer provided by the recent decision in Chief of the Defence Force v Gaynor [2017] FCAFC 41 (8 March 2017) is, No, not without having…
New South Dakota Law Protects Religious Child-Placement Agencies
ACLU reports that on March 10, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard signed SB 149 (full text) into law. The new law protects adoption and foster care agencies that act in accordance with religious or moral beliefs in placing children, providing in part: It also explicitly bars any adverse action by…