ADF Alliance Alert

Health Care Bill Gets House Approval, Abortion Funding Battle Shifts to Senate

ADF Alliance Alert — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:20:52 +0000

"The health care bill in Congress received its first favorable vote in a chamber of Congress on virtually a very narrow vote Saturday night. Passage of the legislation came after lawmakers voted for the Stupak amendment to remove abortion funding from the legislation."

12 Reasons The Cross Is Not A Violation of Freedom

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:26:37 +0000

"Real religious freedom is not freedom from religion, says a historian writing in response to this week's European court decision discouraging crucifixes in Italian schools . . . "

The Price of Values : ADF Magazine Truth and Triumph Online

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:17:26 +0000

The November 2009 issue of the ADF magazine, Truth and Triumph, is now available online. Visit: http://www.adftruthandtriumph.org

Pa. prostitution case tossed over gov’t-funded sex

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:09:51 +0000

Boston Globe (AP): "A Pennsylvania appeals court says state police mishandled a prostitution investigation in which they gave a private citizen $360 so he could pay for sex at a massage parlor along with $180 for his trouble." Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Sun Cha Chon, No. 473 EDA 200, 2009 PA Super 212 (Penn. Super. Nov. 6, 2009)

Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:15:58 +0000

LifeSiteNews: "Life Decisions International (LDI) has released a revised edition of The Boycott List, which identifies corporations that are boycott targets due to their support of Planned Parenthood, the world's primary abortion-advocacy group."

Alexandria throws out adult store regulations

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:02:42 +0000

Washington Business Journal: "The board voted 5-1 not to initiate a proposed amendment to the city’s zoning regulations, according to deputy director of planning and zoning Barbara Ross. The measure would have required adult-oriented businesses to be more than 1,000 feet away from each other, and for such stores not to exist in Alexandria’s historic district."

Schools emerge as new tactic in “gay marriage” votes

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:57:46 +0000

Google News (AP): "In one ad after another, voters in California and Maine were besieged with images of what would supposedly happen if same-sex marriage were legal: Students on a field trip to a lesbian wedding, elementary kids gobbling up books featuring gay couples, kindergartners learning about homosexuality from their teachers."

The Christmas vs. holiday battle ensues

Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:49:59 +0000

Louisville Christian Examiner: "In early October, school children in Arizona were asked to make decorations for the National Christmas Tree. Those who made ornaments referring to Christ or Christmas were told they had to redo their artwork in order to leave out Christ. After the Alliance Defense Fund became involved, sending a letter to the NPS stating that banning such ornaments was unconstitutional, the NPS agreed and changed their mind on the religious ornament ban."

PA: Group looks to block strip club on Pittsburgh’s north side

Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:48:47 +0000

WPXI: "A group called HDV wants to open a 'Larry Flint Hustler Strip Club' in the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the new Rivers Casino in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh."

Texas jury convicts polygamist sect member of sexual assault of 16-year-old “spiritual wife”

Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:47:39 +0000

Metro News (AP): "Raymond Jessop, 38, was convicted late Thursday for having sex with the teen with whom he had a so-called spiritual marriage. He faces up to 20 years in prison when the jury reconvenes Monday to begin deciding his sentence."

Ohio: Suburban swingers club outrages neighbors

Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:47:10 +0000

WLWT: "Take a ride down U.S. Highway 52 in Clermont County and you would hardly notice it's there; a place called Cobra Cincinnati -- an adults-only swingers club. Cobra Cincinnati is not the first swingers club in the Tri-State area, but it has become one of the most controversial because of its location -- quiet New Richmond."

Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill Lacks Enough Votes, Vote Delay to Sunday Possible

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:46:30 +0000

LifeNews: "In a conference call with liberal activists, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer just revealed that the health care reform bill with massive abortion funding may lack enough votes for a majority. The bill is slated to get a vote Saturday evening, but he said that could be pushed back to Sunday or early next week."

Kentucky: Christmas gets its tree back

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:41:45 +0000

One News Now: "Governor Steve Beshear's administration previously decided to make this year's tree on capitol grounds a 'holiday' tree instead of a 'Christmas' tree, reportedly attempting to be inclusive of other religions. Kent Ostrander of the Family Foundation tells OneNewsNow that Kentucky residents' opposition kept the governor's staff busy."

Austin R. Nimocks on the Michael Medved Show: Freedom to oppose the redefinition of marriage

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:34:02 +0000

ADF Attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the Mendell case: Maine counselor’s career threatened for support of marriage The MP3 runs just over 22 minutes.

Protect Marriage Washington Asks Supreme Court to Continue to Protect Petition Signers

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:10:20 +0000

Today, Protect Marriage Washington asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case that seeks to prevent the release of the names of the 138,000 individuals who signed a Washington referendum petition in support of traditional marriage.

Past Rulings Haunt President Obama’s Judicial Nominee

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:33:00 +0000

Citizen Link: "Judge David Hamilton says lawmakers can pray to Allah – but not to Jesus. Federal District Judge David Hamilton has been nominated for a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."

Maryland Delegate: Calls on state AG to initiate marriage redefinition

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:24 +0000

Gazette.Net: "It's time for Maryland to stop lagging behind and become a leader again. At the beginning of the summer, the attorney general's office began researching and readying a legal opinion on whether Maryland could recognize valid out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses. Our community anticipates a decision any day, and the legal evidence is strongly in our favor."

“Gays, lesbians elected in record numbers Tuesday”

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:19:32 +0000

GayPolitics.com: "The group [The Victory Fund], which endorses openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) candidates, endorsed a slate of 79 contenders for 2009 races, a new record for a non-federal election year. Of those, 49 won their races outright and six are still unfinished. Thirteen additional openly gay candidates also won Tuesday."

Should Summary Judgment Have Been Granted in the Federal Proposition 8 Suit? Part Two

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:55:24 +0000

Vikram David Amar writes at Findlaw: "In this column, I'll continue my explanation of the defendants' contentions, and elaborate my arguments for why the judge's decision to proceed with the case was at least plausible."

The European Court of Human Rights is part of an aggressive and belligerent drive towards secularism

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:46:54 +0000

Independent.ie: ". . . this court is using the Convention on Human Rights as a fig-leaf to justify its secularist objection to religion per se."

Georgetown Panel on McDonald & the Privileges or Immunities Clause

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:43:42 +0000

Randy Barnett writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: "This indicates that the meaning of the long-ignored Privileges or Immunities Clause is now in play, and that the Court wants to squarely address this constitutional question, as Justice Thomas has long been urging it to do. Rarely do constitutional law cases involve the isolated issue of the original meaning of the text. Heller is one such case; McDonald could be another. Is it really possible that the court will restore not one, but two clauses of the Lost Constitution?"

ADF brief: Teen should not be denied citizenship for saying no to HPV vaccine

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:21:58 +0000

"Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have filed a brief with U.S. immigration officials on behalf of a 17-year-old British girl denied permanent resident status because she declined to be injected with a vaccine . . . "

Christian Clubs Gain Equal Access to Public Schools

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:18:18 +0000

Liberty Counsel: "Liberty Counsel has recently cleared the way for numerous Good News Clubs to use public school facilities for after-school programs. The Clubs, sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), are designed to teach good character and Christian values to children ages 5-12. Supreme Court precedent requires that schools grant CEF the same access to school facilities as is granted to secular after-school programs. Liberty Counsel litigates when schools discriminate against CEF. Below are a few recent victories . . . "

Yesterday Communism, Today Radical Islam

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:16:37 +0000

David Satter writes at Forbes: "Like the Soviets, the Islamic radicals promise their adherents an inevitable eventual victory . . . They share the same ideology and a victory for the Taliban is a victory for the system of thought that was responsible for the terrorist attacks on the U.S. It will also lead to a surge in support for radical Islam in the Muslim world, which, at the moment, has very few psychological defenses against it. In dealing with an ideological opponent, haggling and temporizing will not work. We must show the fanatics that they cannot win because we will not lose."

Top ten reasons why sharia is bad for all societies

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:12:23 +0000

American Thnker: "Traditional Muslims who understand the Quran and the hadith believe that sharia (Islamic law) expresses the highest and best goals for all societies. It is the will of Allah. But is Islam just in its laws that Muhammad himself practiced and invented? This article says no for ten verifiable reasons."

Clinton announces new Muslim initiatives

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:08:26 +0000

AFP: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a package of measures on Tuesday designed to help businesses and non-governmental groups around the Muslim world."

“Hate preacher calls for Queen to wear full Muslim dress”

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:06:38 +0000

"The Queen forced to wear a burkha and Buckingham Palace turned into a mosque - that was the vision of Britain under Sharia law proposed by a Muslim firebrand yesterday."

Video: “Texas abortion doctor: ‘Am I killing? Yes, I am’”

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:01:04 +0000

"[Dr. Curtis] Boyd is the only doctor in North Texas who will perform late-term abortions to women up to six months pregnant . . . 'Am I killing?' Boyd said. 'Yes, I am. I know that.'"

Hoyer: Health debate could stretch past Saturday vote time

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:46:02 +0000

The Hill: "As House Democratic leaders labored to resolve last-minute disputes in their party about abortion and spending, the man who controls floor action suggested the debate could go into Sunday or next week."

David Cortman on Reality Check Live: Silencing Christian Speech in the Public Square

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:07:11 +0000

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on Reality Check Live with Mike and Clairie Monokian to dicuss this: City of St. Louis agrees to end unconstitutional literature distribution policy. The MP3 run just over 7 minutes.

AL: Christmas festival draws crowds from all over

Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:59:04 +0000

The Huntsville Times: "Marsh points out that, despite the religious diversity of Americans, surveys done by the conservative Alliance Defense Fund have shown that at least 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas in some way. The Festival of Sacred Christmas Music is meant to remind people for the reason for the season."

Teacher Claims Fingerprinting Is ‘Mark of the Beast’

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:58:14 +0000

Wired.com: "A 22-year veteran kindergarten teacher in the Texas Bible Belt could lose her job for refusing, on religious grounds, to give fingerprints under a state law requiring them."

Senate Committee Holds Hearing On ENDA; Religious Exemption Discussed

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:51:11 +0000

Religion Clause Blog: "Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on S. 1584, the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity." Religion Clause Blog links to testimony from the hearing.

9th Circuit Will Rehear Catholic League’s Suit Against San Francisco En Banc

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:48:04 +0000

"The resolution criticized a directive by the Catholic Bishop that prohibited adoption placements with same-sex couples."

The Post-Nuclear Family

ADF Alliance Alert — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:24:59 +0000

"As boomers enter their second childhood, we may witness the historical irony of aged parents experiencing some of the chaos and uncertainty felt by their children."