EXCERPT: At Religion Clause, Howard Friedman notes that Santa Monica could become the second California city to place on the 2012 ballot a ban on circumcision. A similar measure will be up for public referendum in San Francisco, prompting fierce opposition by many religious liberty advocates and others. Here’s a sample: The SF Chronicle’s editorial…
Category: Religion
Judge Rules Against Plaintiffs Claiming Murfreesboro Mosque Violated Their Rights (The Republic)
EXCERPT: A judge has ruled that the construction of a new mosque in Rutherford County does not harm the residents who sued the county over it, but allowed them to move forward on claims the county violated an open meetings law. Plaintiffs’ attorney Joe Brandon Jr. had argued that the mosque violated his clients’ constitutional…
Tennesee Senate Approves Bill to Ban Teaching of Homosexuality in Schools (Boston Globe)
EXCERPT: A bill passed yesterday by the Tennessee Senate would forbid public school teachers and students in grades kindergarten through eight from discussing the fact that some people are gay. Opponents deride the measure as the “don’t say gay bill.” They say it is unfair to the children of gay parents and could lead to…
OPINION: The Good Old Days? Not Quite
By Brent Buttler – In these days in which people’s rights seem up for grabs there is a tendency to wish we could go back to the good old days when people had more freedom to live as they chose to live. However, upon further research I have discovered that people’s freedoms have been eroding…
A Muslim American Reflects on Osama Bin Laden’s Death (Washington Post)
EXCERPT: By Arshad Chowdhury Osama bin Laden’s many victims include, first and foremost, those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and their grieving families, the soldiers sent to war and the loved ones they left behind, and a new generation forced to grow up in a more polarized and paranoid world. For all of them,…
Hundreds of Christians, Muslims clash in Cairo (AP)
EXCERPT: Hundreds of Christians and Muslims are hurling stones at each other in downtown Cairo hours after mobs set fire to a church in violence that killed 12 people and injured more than 200. Christian activist Bishoy Tamri says Muslim youths attacked a large crowd of Coptic Christian protesters marching from the headquarters of the…
Muslim Leaders Say U.S. Pilot Refused to Fly With Them Onboard (FOX News)
EXCERPT: Two Muslim religious leaders say they were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis on Friday and were told it was because the pilot refused to fly with them aboard. Masudur Rahman, who is also an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, said by phone from the terminal at Memphis…
Chinese Authorities Block Easter Service in Beijing (CNN)
EXCERPT: The site of a planned outdoor Easter service at one of China’s largest independent “house” churches was eerily silent Sunday as police blocked more than 500 worshippers from leaving their homes and detained more than 36 for attempting to attend religious services in Beijing, church officials said. The gathering place for worshippers was empty…
San Francisco Mulls Circumcision Ban (CBS News)
EXCERPT: Has the time come to cut out circumcision? Pro-foreskin forces say so, and some in San Francisco say they’ve collected enough signatures to put a proposal to ban circumcision before voters. The proposal would make it a misdemeanor to perform circumcision on a male under the age of 18 within the city. Anyone who…
Virginia Board Votes Against Proposed Same-Sex Adoption Rules (Washington Post)
EXCERPT: The Virgina State Board of Social Services has voted overwhelmingly against new adoption rules that some say would allow same-sex couples to adopt in the state for the first time. In a 7-2 vote Wednesday afternoon, the board opted against the new rules, first proposed by former governor Tim Kaine. In Virginia, only married…