Excerpt: The Senate passed a defense bill with strong bipartisan support last week that includes important language to strengthen and protect the religious freedom of military members and chaplains. https://www.worldmag.com/mobile/article.php?id=28724
Author: ReligiousLiberty.TV
U.S. President Discusses Imprisoned Pastor with Iranian President
On September 28, President Obama picked up the phone and called Iranian President Rouhani who was traveling back to JFK airport after speaking at the United Nations in New York. In addition to discussing Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program, the presidents spoke about Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen, who was arrested because of his faith while visiting Iran over a year ago. This was the first time since the Islamic revolution of 1979 that a U.S. President has spoken with an Iranian president. Secretary of State John Kerry and the U.S. Congress have also been calling for Pastor Saeed’s release.
EEOC Files Suit On Behalf of Employee Who Objects to Biometric ID
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit on September 23 against Consol Energy on behalf of a Christian who refused to sign into work using a biometric hand scanner
OPINION: Does Religion Make Civilization Possible?
Not that long ago our communities instinctively understood that religion was a positive force. Barry Bussey briefly introduces what it is about religion that our forefathers and mothers thought was not only important but essential.
Religious Liberty News Briefs
On September 19, a bipartisan group introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent the federal government from discriminating through the tax code against individual religious believers who hold the principle that marriage is a union of one man and one woman. According to bill author, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID)H.R. 3133, the “Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,” “will ensure tolerance for individuals and organizations that affirm traditional marriage, protecting them from adverse federal action.” The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
Quebec Government Takes Aim at Religious Expression of Public Workers
Though, in its current form, the charter is limited to regulating the religious expression of government employees there can be little doubt that given time, considering the inflationary nature of state bureaucracy to expand its influence in citizen’s private lives, this policy of “neutrality” will move further toward the private sector employees.
“Examining the Government’s Record on Implementing the International Religious Freedom Act” – US House of Representatives
VIDEO:
Court Is ‘One of Most Activist,’ Ginsburg Says, Vowing to Stay – NYTimes.com
Excerpt: WASHINGTON – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 80, vowed in an interview to stay on the Supreme Court as long as her health and intellect remained strong, saying she was fully engaged in her work as the leader of the liberal opposition on what she called “one of the most activist courts in history.” http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/us/court-is-one-of-most-activist-ginsburg-says-vowing-to-stay.html?_r=0&
Egypt: Mob burns Adventist Church in Assiut (ANN)
The Assiut Adventist Church, located approximately 220 miles south of Cairo, was attacked by a mob and heavily damaged after it was set on fire. The pastor and his wife hid in their upstairs apartment and were not found by the attackers, who set the building on fire. The pastor and his wife were rescued from the burning building by Muslim neighbors.
The Wisdom of Solomon? The Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Abortion Decision 1970-1971
By George B. Gainer – This coming November 15, will make 25 years since I was asked to present “The Wisdom of Solomon? or The Politics of Pragmatism? The General Conference Abortion Decision 1970-71” to the gathered attendees at the Loma Linda University Conference on Abortion. The great majority of those present were shocked to learn that the General Conference of SDA’s was operating with 2 different sets of guidelines on abortion. The 1970 Abortion Guidelines, which were more restrictive, were the set made available to our own Adventist clergy and laity, as well as the general public. The 1971 Interruption of Pregnancy Guidelines superceded the 1970 Guidelines and opened the door to abortion on demand for any reason in our hospitals (16 months before Roe v. Wade). The liberalized 1971 Guidelines were sent exclusively to our SDA Medical Institutions and never made known to our clergy and laity or the public.