Rev. Leo A. Walsh, S.T.D.
“Something Very Distinctive About Religious Freedom”: Martha Minow
Protection of religious liberty plays a unique role in our democracy, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow suggests, because it requires people to respect one another even when they sharply disagree.
Charity: How Our Tax Laws Affect Charitable Activities, Religious Institutions, and Free Speech
The architects of our nation took great care to constitute a limited government founded on personal responsibility and individual liberty. The institution of the church has an absolute freedom from the state. But when it comes to the financial side of the case, government has an economic lever over religious institutions. Do our internal revenue…
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…
Lifting The Veil: Muslim Women Explain Their Choice (NPR)
EXCERPT: For centuries, Islamic scholars have said that Muslim women must cover their hair. But many Muslim women don’t. There are about 1 million Muslim women in America; 43 percent of them wear headscarves all the time, according to the Pew Research Center. About 48 percent – or half a million women – don’t cover…
Article18: France — Controversial Veil Ban for Muslim Women Continues to Divide Nation
By Martin Surridge – France can’t seem to stay out of global headline news at the moment. In a two week period, Sarkozy’s government managed to team up with the U.N. to lead the charge against Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast, play an important military role in the ongoing efforts in Libya against Gaddafi’s forces,…
Obama’s Olive Branch Doctrine (PART II) Interfaith Tolerance & the Reshaping of U.S. Foreign Policy
President Obama’s middle-ground approach to the credible and well-established “Clash of Civilizations” theme – when formulating international religious freedom policy – is best understood when placed on a scale between tolerance and international consensus (an interfaith, “soft-power” approach), and America’s constitutional ideal of religious freedom and human rights (an Evangelical and “exacting” approach). Yet both policy methods delimit religious freedom, threatening it altogether.
Chinese police detain members of unregistered church (LA Times)
EXCERPT: Chinese police on Sunday detained more than 100 churchgoers who tried to hold an outdoor prayer service on a pedestrian bridge in Beijing after having failed to secure permission to open a church. Although it is not uncommon for police to raid unregistered churches, this latest bust in the very heart of Beijing suggests…
Article18: Egypt — 29 Christians Dead After Attacks on Egyptian Churches; Terrorist Violence Concerns Population of Changing Nation
By Martin Surridge – Just a couple weeks before the revolution in Egypt inspired the Middle East and captured the attention of the world, we posted a link to an article that explained how Egypt’s Coptic Christian community was calling for more religious freedom after attacks on churches in Nag Hamadi and Alexandria left 29…
Bus advertising campaign tackles Islamophobia (BBC)
EXCERPT: An advertising campaign to tackle Islamophobia has been unveiled on buses across the UK. Vehicles in several cities will carry the message “Muslims for loyalty, peace and freedom” in an attempt to challenge negative stereotypes of the faith. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, the group behind the campaign, said it hoped it would educate people…