The Ninth Circuit has ruled 2-1 in the long-awaited sex-sex marriage case and affirmed the lower court in finding the law unconstitutional. Eighteen months ago former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the ban on same-sex marriage. Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote the lengthy opinion below upholding Walker and striking down the law. The Court ruled that “[b]y using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so, the People of California violated the Equal Protection Clause.”
Category: Religion
The Catholic bishop of Harrisburg, Pa., Bishop Joseph McFadden is being criticized for comments where he compares American public schools to the system that Hitler and Mussolini sought to create. I actually think that part of the criticism of McFadden is misplaced, though he is certainly worthy of criticism. McFadden’s controversial statements follow a call for Catholics to organize against President Obama and his health care program by leading Catholic leaders.
Continue reading “Catholic Bishop: Hitler and Mussolini Would Love American Public Schools”
The Iranian Supreme Court has added its authority to the campaign against free speech in the Islamic Republic by upholding the death sentence of Iranian-born Canadian resident Saeid Malekpour, who is charged with “insulting the sanctity of Islam” and “corruption on earth.” Malekpour was arrested while visiting his ailing father because his photo-uploading software was used by a porn website even though it appears to have been done without his knowledge. Citizens around the world have rallied to his side, but the court insisted that Sharia law demands death.
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Last Sunday, most U.S. Catholics heard a letter read from the pulpit imploring them to oppose the Obamacare provision requiring most healthcare plans to cover contraceptive services for women. The reason given was that Catholic hospitals and universities would have to “shutter their doors” in order to avoid heresy and be true to the faith. As part of the concerted effort, the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty announced that the Obama administration’s requirement goes against “the mandate of Jesus Christ.” Even though the earthly mandate contains an exemption for purely religious organizations, the all-male U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is clearly on the offensive in this politically charged debate about women, privacy, and the right of families to decide for themselves the number of children they can support.
Continue reading “Catholics, Contraception & The Heretical 98%”
Despite widespread predictions to the contrary, a federal court in Salt Lake City has ruled that the Sister Wives challenge of the statute anti-polygamy law can go forward and denied the effort to dismiss the lawsuit. The long and detailed ruling of United States District Court Judge Clark Waddoups agreed with our arguments that we have standing to challenge the state law. The standing question has long been discussed as the most significant barrier for the family in seeking a ruling on the merits. Prior such challenges have been denied at the standing stage.
Continue reading “Federal Court Rules Sister Wives Case Can Go Forward”
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have published a startling article in Science Magazine stating that drug addicts may have brain abnormalities that give them a predisposition toward addiction. It could radically change how we view addiction and its causes.
Continue reading “Study: Drug Addicts May Have Abnormal Brains Prone To Addiction”
The Church of Scientology has lost another case involving its allegedly fraudulent practices in extracting money from followers. A Paris appellate court has upheld the entirety of a fraud conviction and the fine of hundreds of thousands of euros against the Church of Scientology. The ruling comes at a time when current members have joined former members in challenging the practices of the Church.
Continue reading “Paris Appellate Court Upholds Fraud Conviction Against Church of Scientology”
We have previously seen stories of the banning or threatening dogs by Muslims who believe that all dogs are “unclean” and an afront to Islam. Now, Hasan Küçük, a Turkish-Dutch representative on The Hague city council for the Islam Democrats, has called for all dogs to be banned from The Hague, the third-largest city in the Netherlands.
Continue reading “Dutch Politician Proposes Ban On Dogs In Hague As “Unclean” Under Islam”
It appears that Henry VIII is alive and well in Afghanistan . . . but not his wife. In another horrendous attack on a woman in that country, police are seeking Sher Mohammad who they say strangled his wife for giving birth to a girl rather than the boy that he wanted. Putting aside the man’s apparent ignorance of the fact that it was he who determined the gender of the child, it is another example of how women in some of these insular Muslim communities are treated as chattel. The man’s mother, Wali Hazrata, is accused of tying the feet of 22-year-old Stori or Estorai. She has been arrested while her son is believed to be with an illegal militia group.
Continue reading “Afghan Man Allegedly Strangles Wife For Bearing Him A Girl Rather Than A Son”
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
I’d actually halfway finished a blog on a different subject today, when I was spun in a different direction. Thursday night I had done something I never do and watched the Republican Debate in Florida. It was frighteningly enlightening to say the least, but what stood out for me was Newt commenting that our President was a disciple of Saul Alinsky. I thought then “How many people today know who Saul Alinsky was and what he represented?” On last nights Bill Maher’s show, Bill asked the question “Who was Saul Alinsky?” as part of his New Rules segment. This morning in HuffPost, Frank Mankiewicz addressed a variant of the same question: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-mankiewicz/america-meet-saul-alinsky_b_1238953.html
The idea of following heroes to me has always seemed silly, yet there are people whose lives and work I deeply admire and to some sense try to emulate. My first was Clarence Darrow and it is therefore no coincidence that I am a denizen of this blog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Darrow . Clarence Darrow’s picture is used above because it is in the public realm, while mysteriously Saul Alinsky’s isn’t. Obviously, Saul Alinsky is another person whose life I admire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky Alinsky was a radical in his methods, but one who eschewed the doctrinaire self assurance of an ideologue. When asked if he ever considered joining the Communist Party he famously replied”
“Not at any time. I’ve never joined any organization—not even the ones I’ve organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it’s Christianity or Marxism. One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as ‘that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you’re right.’ If you don’t have that, if you think you’ve got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated. The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics, from the persecutions of the Inquisition on down to Communist purges and Nazi genocide.”
His was a belief that has resonated with me since those radical days in the 60’s, with the Movement, when I was surrounded by and courted by various ideologies, mostly Marxist whose rigidity of thought and party line belief, actually disgusted me. Yet there was Alinsky, the man who literally wrote the book on community organizing, who felt similarly towards ideological rigidity. He was truly an America Patriot, whose guiding idea was to assist downtrodden people to gain power over their lives and give them a chance to decide their fates. Alinsky was a man who achieved great success, if you define success as achieving ones goals. The disdain and demonization again being heaped upon him today comes from the very real threat his methodology has towards the 1% elite and curiously that aim of his was the reinstatement of “The American Dream” of freedom, equality and social justice. Continue reading “Who in Hell is Saul Alinsky?”
After my recent column on “Ten Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The Land Of The Free,” I ran a response to claims made by Senator Carl Levin (D., Mich.) who was the main sponsor of the legislation including the indefinite detention provisions. Levin has now run a letter to the editor in response to my column that I believe is highly misleading and leaves readers with a false impression of both the law and my column.
Continue reading “A Response To Senator Carl Levin: Part II”
Rick Bartlett, pastor of the Bastrop Christian Church in Texas, has been arrested for allegedly throwing a neighbor’s cat, Moody, off a bridge after caging and abandoning the cat for days in his truck.
Continue reading “Getting Moody: Preacher Accused Of Throwing Neighbor’s Cat Off Bridge”
The Senate Education Committee of the Indiana Senate has overwhelmingly voted to approve a bill allowing for the teaching of creationism in the state’s public schools. The Sponsor is Senator Dennis Kruse.
Continue reading “Indiana Senate Moves Toward Teaching Of Creationism In Public Schools”
We have previously discussed how history is being forgotten in the United States, England, and other countries. We can now add Germany to the list. While one would hope that there are certain historical facts that are indelible, one in five young Germans has no idea that Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp.
Continue reading “One in Five Young Germans Do Not Know Auschwitz Was A Death Camp”
This week’s most frivolous lawsuit was filed by Dr. Randeep Dhillon of Bakersfield on behalf of himself and Bol Punjabi All Regions Community Organization in California. Dhillon is suing Jay Leno for showing a picture of the Sikh holy shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar, India as the image of Mitt Romney’s summer home. The obvious parody is entirely protected but Dhillon has claimed that it constitutes libel.
Continue reading “Sikhs Sue Leno Over Joke Involving Sacred Temple”