1. Articles from noreply@blogger.com (Howard Friedman)

    1-24 of 654 1 2 3 4 ... 26 27 28 »

    1. Britain Releases 2011 Census Data On Religious Affiliation and Characteristics of Population By Religion

      Explore Religion Clause
      Last week, Britain's Office for National Statistics released new data from the 2011 census on religious affiliation for residents of England and Wales. The data on numbers and median age shows 33.2 million Christians, 14 million with no religion, 2.7 million Muslims, 817 thousand Hindus, 423 thousand Sikhs, 263 thousand Jews, and 248 thousand Buddhists. Other tables show religion by ethnicity, religion by country of birth, and ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Wales Britain England

    2. USCIRF Wants U.S. At United Nations To Focus On Religious Freedom Violations In 5 Countries

      Explore Religion Clause Human Rights

      Yesterday the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released the text of a letter that the Commission has recently sent to Secretary of State John Kerry urging the U.S. to raise specific issues during the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review this month. USCIRF wants the U.S. to  question violations of religious freedom and human rights in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Bangladesh.

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Russia Azerbaijan Bangladesh

    3. Does White House Fitness Council's Encouragement of Yoga Violate Establishment Clause?

      Explore Religion Clause Yoga

      The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition promotes the White House's efforts to get American's to adopt healthy lifestyles. One of the Council's efforts is PALA+, part of the President's Challenge, which includes the Yoga PALA Challenge. Encouraging participation, the Yoga PALA Challenge website says:Yoga has become a universal language of spiritual exercise in the United States, crossing many lines of religion and ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: White House

    4. 2 Studies Released: Religious Courts In US and State Bans on Applying Foreign Or Religious Law

      Explore Religion Clause
      Earlier this week, the Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life released two related studies. The first, titled Applying God’s Law: Religious Courts and Mediation in the U.S. surveys the routine operation of religious courts across the United States. The second is titled State Legislation Restricting Use of Foreign or Religious Law.  It surveys developments in 32 states in which legislation has been proposed, including 6 in which legislation ...
      Read Full Article

    5. Hundreds of Thousands of Bangladeshis Demonstrate For Blasphemy Law

      Explore Religion Clause
      In Bangladesh today, hundreds of thousands of protesters supporting the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam descended on the capital Dhaka in support of 13 demands by the group, including a call for enactment of a blasphemy law with a death penalty aimed at those the protesters call "atheist bloggers." As reported by Al Jazeera the protests are a reaction to trials and sentences imposed on leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami party for crimes ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Bangladesh Dhaka Jamaat-e-Islami

    6. Virginia Law On Marriage Officiants Discriminates Against Sikhs

      Explore Religion Clause

      In In re Dhanoa, (VA Cir. Ct., March 29, 2013), a Virginia trial court held that while Sikh temples do not have clergy, and thus members cannot rely on Va. Code Sec. 20-23 to perform marriage ceremonies, Sikhs do qualify under Va. Code Sec. 20-26 as members of a religious society that does not have ordained ministers.  The court went on to hold that two of the conditions imposed by ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Virginia Aclu

    7. Sikh Man Says Califronia's Assault Weapons Ban Violates His Religious Beliefs

      Explore Religion Clause
      A lawsuit filed in a California federal district court this week by a Yuba City man alleges that California's ban on assault weapons, as well as its ban on carrying loaded firearms in one's vehicle and certain other places, violates the free exercise rights of plaintiff, a Sikh.  The complaint (full text) in Khalsa v. State of California, (ED CA, filed 3/12/2013) alleges:Mainstream Sikh doctrine ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: California Gobind Singh Deo Yuba City

    8. Melissa Rogers To Be Appointed To Head President's Faith-Based Office

      Explore Religion Clause
      Melissa Rogers will be appointed to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, according to a press release today from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Rogers is Director, of the Wake Forest University Center for Religion and Public Affairs and is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.  She previously served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Joshua DuBois Brookings Institution Melissa Rogers

    9. Hungarian Parliament Passes Constitutional Amendment Giving Parliament Power To Recognize Religious Commuities

      Explore Religion Clause

      Deutsche Welle reports that yesterday the Hungarian parliament passed a package of Constitutional amendments. Among other things, they limit the power of the country's Constitutional Court. They also effectively overrule a Constitutional Court decision handed down last month (see prior posting). That decision invalidated Hungary's Law on Legal Status of Churches that required all but 14 traditional faiths to apply to Parliament for recognition. The new constitutional amendments ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Hungary Constitutional Court

    10. Pakistani Muslims Burn Christian Homes After Christian Is Charged With Blasphemy

      Explore Religion Clause Human Rights

      CNN reports today:Outraged Pakistani Christians took to the streets of Lahore on Sunday, protesting a rash of violence against their community over the weekend.  Demonstrators denounced the burning of more than 100 homes of Christians on Saturday -- a spree spurred by allegations that a Christian man made remarks against the Muslim prophet Mohammed.The blasphemy charges were filed against Sawan Masih who denies the charges and says they were ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Lahore Pakistan Human Rights Commission

    11. UN Special Rapporteur Presents Findings On Rights of Religious Minorities

      Explore Religion Clause Human Rights
      On March 5, Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, presented a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council on protecting religious minorities. (UN Press Release.) The Report (dated Dec. 24, 2012) (full text) concludes:Human rights violations against persons belonging to religious minorities include disproportionate bureaucratic restrictions; denial of appropriate legal status positions needed to build up or uphold a religious infrastructure; systematic ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: UN Human Rights Council

    12. Hungary's Constitutional Court Invalidates Law On Status of Religious Communities

      Explore Religion Clause
      AP reports that on Tuesday, Hungary's Constitutional Court struck down the country's law on the Legal Status of Churches, Denominations and Religious Communities that was passed by the National Assembly (Hungary's parliament) at the end of December 2011 (see prior posting). The law recognized only 14 "traditional" religious faiths instead of the 300 that had previously been recognized.  Faiths not specified in the new law were permitted ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Hungary National Assembly Constitutional Court

    13. Lawsuit Challenges California School District's Yoga Offerings As Government Support of Religion

      Explore Religion Clause
      The National Center for Law and Policy announced yesterday that it has filed a lawsuit in state court in California challenging the Encinitas Union School District's decision to offer a yoga program as part of its curriculum.  According to the press release:The lawsuit is the result of EUSD’s decision to accept $533,000 from the Jois Foundation in exchange for providing the religiously-based organization access to its ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: California Indiana University

    14. Canadian Prime Minister Announces Opening of Office of Religious Freedom

      Explore Religion Clause
      Northumberland View reports that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday announced the creation of the Office of Religious Freedom within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. According to the ORF website: "the Office has been created to promote freedom of religion or belief as a Canadian foreign policy priority." Harper also announced the appointment of Dr. Andrew Bennett as Ambassador to the Office. (See prior related posting.)
      Read Full Article

    16. House Passes Bill To Allow FEMA Aid To Houses of Worship Damaged In Hurricane Sandy

      Explore Religion Clause
      As reported by the Huffington Post, by a vote of 354-72 yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 592, the Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act.  The bill, which now goes to the Senate for consideration, adds houses of worship to the list of types of private non-profit facilities eligible for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The change is aimed at assisting houses of ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Americans United U.S. Senate Huffington Post

    17. Britain's House of Lords Debates Role of Religion In Society

      Explore Religion Clause

      Last Thursday, Britain's House of Lords held a 90-minute debate on the role of religion in society in the United Kingdom. (Full text of the debate.) Lords from numerous faith traditions spoke. The concluding statement was made by Baroness Warsi, Minister for Faith and Communities, who said in part:This Government believe that religion plays a vital role in British society. Not only do we support people in their ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: United Kingdom Britain England

    18. UN Special Rapporteur Focuses On Right To Religious Conversion and Freedom From Forced Conversion

      Explore Religion Clause Human Rights , Proselytization

      According to a UNHR press release, last week United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, presented to the General Assembly a report prepared in August (full text) that focuses on the right of religious conversion, as well as the right not to be forced to convert. The report says in part:Countless reports of grave violations  of the right to freedom of religion or belief ...

      Read Full Article

    19. Bhutan Bans Public Religious Events For 6 Months Before Elections

      Explore Religion Clause

      AP reported yesterday on the action of the Election Commission in the small, largely Buddhist nation of Bhutan banning public religious events from Jan. 1, 2013 until Parliamentary elections (expected to be held in June 2013) are completed.  Designed to prevent the mixing of religion and politics, the Commission's Oct. 1 Notification (full text) says in part:The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan provides for the political system ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Bhutan Election Commission

    20. Indian Court Says Scholarship Program Creates Religious Discrimination

      Explore Religion Clause

      In the Indian state of Gujarat on Monday, a 2-judge bench of the high court upheld the state government's refusal to implement a central government program that awards scholarships to children of 5 minority groups.  According to the Times of India, the court ruled that the program violates Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution by favoring students of one religious group over another. The Constitution bars the State ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Gujarat

    21. Pakistani Girl Exonerated Of Blasphemy By Police; Case Referred To Juvenile Court

      Explore Religion Clause
      In Pakistan on Saturday, police told a court that their investigation in the widely followed blasphemy case against a Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, has shown that there is no evidence that the girl has committed blasphemy. According to the Khaleej Times, the charge sheet submitted by police to the court alleges that the prayer leader of a nearby mosque, Mohammed Khalid Chishti, added holy pages to a shopping bag that ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Pakistan

    22. Hostility To Religious Practices Rises In Many Countries, Including U.S.

      Explore Religion Clause
      On Thursday, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a third in a series of reports on the extent to which governments and societies around the world restrict religious practices.  This latest report, titled Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion, traces changes in religious restrictions from mid-2009 to mid-2010. As of mid-2010, eighteen countries had very high levels of governmental restrictions on religion, while 15 countries had high levels ...
      Read Full Article

    23. Pakistani Girl Charged With Blasphemy Released On Bail

      Explore Religion Clause
      In Pakistan today, Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl being held on controversial blasphemy charges, was released on 1 million rupees ($10,500 US) bail. The New York Times reports that Masih was driven away in secrecy from a Rawalpindi prison to a waiting helicopter. The court found that she is 14 years old, with a mental capacity lower than that.  Masih, who works as a sweeper, was charged with burning ...
      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Rawalpindi Pakistan

    24. European Court Interprets When EU Country Must Grant Asylum For Religious Persecution

      Explore Religion Clause

      In Bundesrepublik Deutschland v Y and Z, (EU Ct. Justice, Sept. 5, 2012), the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted the EU's directive on the status of refugees in the case of two Pakistani members of the Ahmadiyya community who are seeking asylum in Germany.  As summarized by the Court's press release::The Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court,  Germany), before which the disputes have been brought, asks ...

      Read Full Article
      Mentions: Germany European Union
    1-24 of 654 1 2 3 4 ... 26 27 28 »
  1. Search:

  2. Categories

    1. Topics:

      Human Rights, Interfaith, Proselytization, Separation of Church & State, Terrorism, Yoga

  3. Topics in the News

    1. (38 articles) White House
    2. (34 articles) Pakistan
    3. (33 articles) Barack Obama
    4. (29 articles) America
    5. (28 articles) U.S. Senate
    6. (27 articles) Texas
    7. (25 articles) Scott Mange
    8. (23 articles) Aclu
    9. (23 articles) California
    10. (22 articles) US Supreme Court

  4. Popular Articles