Category: Religious Liberty

Church-State Twist

September 9, 2010 by ZacKester

The [Ethiopian Orthodox Christian] Church's grip on Christians' personal lives will likely only increase with a bill before Egypt's parliament that would bar civil judges from making rulings that contradict church law in personal status cases involving Christians. 

Blasphemy Police

August 26, 2010 by ZacKester

Threats of “blasphemy” charges . . . in Pakistan have sent a Christian cleaning worker and a young inter-faith couple into hiding. In separate cases typical of how Pakistan’s blasphemy laws enable the predominantly Sunni Muslim society to terrorize lower-class Christians, the cleaning worker . . .

"Islamophobia? Not Really"

August 25, 2010 by Richard E. Coleson

"And when will the media cover the Left’s Conservative-ophobia?"

Two Countries Miles Apart on Gay Marriage & Religious Liberty, or Are They?

August 18, 2010 by ZacKester

Two registrars at Lambeth Council [England] are under investigation because they swapped shifts in order to accommodate their religious beliefs over homosexual civil partnerships. . .

"Justice" Done in Tanzanian Court

August 17, 2010 by ZacKester

Anglican evangelists . . . faced 10 months of hearings following their detention in October, 2009. They were arrested after Muslims invited them to participate in a religious debate at a neutral venue in the Kariakoo area of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. The evangelists . . . never faced their opponents but instead security agents who charged them with "illegal preaching." . .

Judge Acquits Young Mother Charged with Blasphemy in Pakistan

August 15, 2010 by ZacKester

This was yet another example of an innocent Christian being sent to jail and having their world turned upside down because a false accusation of blasphemy [this time by a Muslim shopkeeper]. Rubina should have never been charged in the first place and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome of this case. Given the recent murders of Christians accused of blasphemy, the legal team has also taken significant personal risks to see justice done . . ..'

Just Say "No" to Religious Freedom

August 13, 2010 by ZacKester

“There’s no demand for [religious freedom] from the public,” [Abdulla] Yameen [leader of the controlling Muslim party in Maldives] said. “If you take a public poll, 99 percent of the citizens will say ‘no’ to religious freedom.” Perhaps that's because “'if you engage any Maldivian in a discussion on Christianity and the person reports it to authorities, you can be in trouble.' . . . Read more »

Religious Liberty Trampled Worldwide, Again

August 12, 2010 by ZacKester

A rather biased article explains: "Commentators argue that the row [over a cross erected by scouts honouring the victims of the plane crash that killed the late Polish president Lech Kaczynski] has become a symbol of the social divide in Poland, where a staunchly Catholic and conservative older generation is struggling to hold sway in an increasingly emancipated post-communist society." Authorities in Tajikistan's northern city of Panjakent in Sughd province have prohibi Read more »

"2 Muslim Malaysians on Trial Deny Torching Church"

August 11, 2010 by ZacKester

Two Malaysian Muslims testified in court Tuesday to deny charges that they torched a Christian church in an incident that set off a string of assaults on places of worship early this year." Malaysia has unusually good inter-faith relations as compared to other developing-world countries. The very fact a trial is being held should not have surprised me so, but it did. Read more »

"British muslim children in danger of ‘Talibanisation’"

August 9, 2010 by ZacKester

Unsuccessfully walking a fine line, the chair of the British Muslims for a Secular Society begins to take a remarkably French approach to making Muslim children participate in theater and create drawings of people in violation of certain Muslims' beliefs: "Even if it offends liberal principles, the powerful must find a way of stopping Islamicists from promulgating their distorted creed." Translation: trample the rights of religious devotees.  Read more »

"Illiberal Education"

August 3, 2010 by ZacKester

After more than two months of controversy over a firing that should have never have happened, [Dr. Kenneth Howell of the University of Illinois] has been offered his job back. The turnaround underscores the scandal that continues at core institutions of our Western culture. The incident exposes, once again, the lie that is the popular conception of “tolerance,” so conventionally in vogue and by no coincidence a tenet of left-wing ideology. . .

"No Christianity Please, We’re Academics"

August 3, 2010 by ZacKester

Nevertheless, scholars ought to be concerned that Christians often report that the academy is a hostile environment. Are academics generally glad that such a perception exists? If not, how might it be dispelled? If it is based on genuine experiences, what can be done about a climate that tolerates religious discrimination?

Religious Liberty Trampled

July 30, 2010 by ZacKester

In what turns out to be a bad week for religious liberty/discrimination, Swiss authorities fine Muslim parents for keeping their kids from mandatory mixed-gender swim class even though the parents took them to private lessons and the New Zealand Ag Minister refuses to allow kosher slaughter of chickens. Wow. Read more »

"Shariah law is already here: Judge allows spousal rape on Islamic grounds"

July 27, 2010 by ZacKester

A NJ "judge dismissed . . . charges of sexual assault and criminal sexual conduct on the grounds that [the victim's] husband should not be punished for spousal rape because Islam permits it." More precisely, he lacked the requisite intent because he believed it permissible. Read more »

"Saudi clerics exempt women from wearing veils in France"

July 27, 2010 by ZacKester

Muslim women are exempt from [the religious requirements of] wearing full veils in France, which is planning to ban them, but . . . Read more »

"Obama Retreats From 'Religious Freedom' to 'Freedom of Worship'"

July 21, 2010 by ZacKester

The shift in terminology, though subtle, is very significant, because it can justifiably be interpreted to imply that religious freedom is restricted to the rites conducted in places of worship if only “freedom of worship” is being upheld. “Religious freedom” is a much broader concept [than "freedom of worship"], extending to the expression of one’s beliefs in many areas of life. . . . 

Stifling Religion to Stifle Religiously Motivated Behavior

July 16, 2010 by ZacKester

European public opinion is reacting to the quick growth of the Muslim population, their lack of assimilation into European society and increasingly aggressive activity by terrorists and extremists pushing for Sharia law. It is this threat, not anti-Muslim bigotry, which is fueling the support for tough, controversial measures. 

"Muslims Lying About Islamic Atrocities"

July 6, 2010 by Richard E. Coleson

"As Muslims around the world continue to deny basic human rights to women and non-Muslims, Muslim spokesmen maintain a pattern of denial and deception. Read more »

"Potential Honor Killing Victim Wants Charges Dropped Against Brother, Father"

July 6, 2010 by Richard E. Coleson

"[A]ccording to my most recent study in Middle East Quarterly, only among Muslim batterer-murderers do the woman’s family of origin and/or the husband’s family of origin sometimes collaborate in her honor killing. This never happens in western cases of domestically violent femicide. Read more »