Posts Tagged ‘free exercise’
Colorado Christian University v. Sebelius (2011)
December 22, 2011
Colorado Christian University is the first interdenominational Christian college to challenge in federal court a new Obamacare mandate that requires private employers to pay for abortifacients in their group health plans. Colorado Christian joined the monks at Belmont Abbey College pushing back against government intrusion into personal religious convictions that is unprecedented in the health [...]
Locke v. Davey (2004)
December 16, 2011
The Supreme Court held that the State of Washington did not violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by forbidding the use of state-funded scholarship money to receive degrees in devotional theology. Chief Justice Rehnquist’s majority opinion took note of the Becket Fund’s brief, which highlighted the anti-Catholic bigotry behind state Blaine Amendments. (State Blaine [...]
Breathing a sigh of relief for sacred religious practices (Hannah Smith in the Deseret News)
October 29, 2011
In early October, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that prohibits local governments from banning the practice of male circumcision. Unless challenged in the courts, this new state law appears to resolve a year-long debate that caught the attention of the U.S. Congress. At a time when victories for the rights of religious individuals [...]
Ambiguity causes concern for freedoms of military chaplains after repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (Hannah Smith in the Deseret News)
September 19, 2011
The repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy takes effect this month. Leaving to one side the debate about the policy itself, there are significant concerns for the U.S. military’s chaplaincy corps in the post-repeal era unless specific, robust protections for the chaplains’ religious liberty and free speech rights are explicitly adopted. What [...]
Yoder v. Morristown, New York (2006 – present)
July 27, 2011
A community of Swartzentruber Amish has been living peaceably in Morristown, New York for decades, and though they practice a traditional form of the Amish faith, they had never had trouble obtaining building permits or legally maintaining their homes and property. This changed in 2006 when the Amish began to receive tickets from the town [...]
New Bill Would Ban Many Religious Adoption Agencies
June 8, 2011
EWTN News reports on a new bill that would effectively ban many religious adoption and foster care agencies. The bill, titled the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, would in fact make it more difficult for many children to find families. The bill prohibits adoption and foster care agencies from considering marital status or sexual [...]
Beauty vs. Brutalism: a win for religious expression in architecture
May 20, 2011
After years of litigation, Washington DC’s Third Church of Christ, Scientist, is finally moving on from its battle with DC preservationists, and is planning a new church building at 16th & I Streets in downtown Washington. Its existing building is an eyesore that enjoys the dubious honor of being a landmark of the “Brutalist” style, [...]
Religious freedom for the Amish, and the rest of us
April 22, 2011
USA Today has an article covering the Becket Fund’s case, and several others, involving conflicts between the Amish and local regulatory officials. This type of conflict is becoming more common as technology advances and leaves the Amish’s simple lifestyle further behind. In our case, Yoder v. Morristown, a small New York town is prosecuting 12 [...]
Just in time for Passover: Dutch to ban kosher slaughter?
April 8, 2011
In a move largely perceived as targeting the Netherlands’ Muslim population, the Dutch Parliament is considering whether to ban humane religious slaughter. This would make it much more difficult for thousands of observant Jews and Muslims living in the Netherlands to obtain kosher or halal meat that they are religiously required to eat. For example, [...]
Why I Defend Goat Sacrifice
August 8, 2009
Eric Rassbach’s latest piece, entitled “Why I Defend Goat Sacrifice”, was published in the Wall Street Journal. To read this piece, please click here.
