Today Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration announced that the Justice Department will no longer attempt to defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) (which defines “marriage” as between one man and one woman and “spouse” as a member of the opposite sex) from challenges in states that recognize gay marriage.
Category: In the News
PE.com : YUCAIPA: ‘In God We Trust’ to be displayed
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Russia’s Medvedev calls for Egypt to respect religious rights (ChannelNewsAsia)
EXCERPT: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday urged Egypt to hold legitimate elections and respect religious rights following the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “Russia hopes democratic procedures in Egypt will be fully restored and all legitimate electoral procedures will be used for this,” Medvedev said in a statement published on the Kremlin website….
Giles County, VA. To Rehang 10C Plaques in Public Schools
WSLS 10 News, Roanoke, Virginia, 1-20-2011 Giles County School Board votes unanimously to reinstall 10 Commandments plaques in all public schools.
Egypt’s Coptic Christians Call for More Religious Freedom (AJE)
EXCERPT: Angry protests by Egypt’s Christian Copts have become a familiar scene. Hundreds clashed with police last November over plans for a new church building in Giza, leaving two protesters dead. And in January of that year, Copts protested in the southern town of Nag Hamadi after six members were killed in an attack on…
A Tennessee mosque, a good American story (First Amendment Center)
EXCERPT: By Charles C. Haynes, Director of the Religious Freedom Education Project December 31, 2010 — The No. 1 religion story of 2010 was the emotional, often ugly debate over plans for an Islamic center two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan, according to Religion Newswriters Association members – and just about everyone else making…
Religious Liberty 2010 – A Year in Review
By Jason Hines – 2010 has been an interesting year in the area of church-state relations, both at home and abroad. While we cannot cover every event of magnitude that took place this year in this forum, we will touch on some of the more important events have taken place over the last 365 days….
Secrecy v. Transparency – Wikileaks and the Gospel
The keywords for today are “Secrecy” and “Transparency.” There are good secrets and bad secrets. Things to be concealed and things to be revealed. Some people want to know, others want to hide. Secrecy is an valuable commodity. From universities that want to protect professors’ academic freedom by keeping their controversial viewpoints from public criticism…
In Peru, ‘historic’ religious liberty legislation passes (ANN)
Law recognizes religious pluralism; all faiths to enjoy same ‘rights, obligations and benefits’ 7 Dec 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Adventist News Network Staff Members of Peru’s congress voted last week to approve legislation guaranteeing the religious liberty of all citizens, a freedom already recognized by the South American country’s constitution. The act comes…
The case against legalizing marijuana in California (Philadelphia Inquirer)
EXCERPT: Prop 19 pushers argue that by taxing and regulating marijuana, the state will reap a tax windfall. But the act would let every landowner grow enough marijuana to produce 24,000 to 240,000 joints a year for “personal consumption.” Who would pay the $50-per-ounce tax on marijuana (a 100 percent tax) when he could grow…