Religious Rights Watch

Normally, when one thinks of trespassing, you think of someone illegally being somewhere they have no right to be, or where they just don't belong.  You don't think of college students being in a public area on their own campus.

It turns out the you can get charged with trespassing at the University of Calgary if you set up a pro-life display - even if you're a student.  Six such students have been charged with trespassing after the University initially approved their display, then seemingly changed course after administrators didn't like the graphic nature of the display.  In other words, the difference between trespassing and not trespassing is the nature of your views.

From Lifenews:  read more »

LifeNews reports that the Australian Communications and Media Authority, (that country's Internet censorship agency), is in the process of fining a forum based website in that country up to $11,000 dollars per day  for linking to an American site that publishes pictures of babies that died as the result of abortion.

So how does something like this happen?  It happens when government agencies, set up with good intentions, grow and get away from their original mission.

The net nanny agency was created to help reduce the amount of child pornography online, but it has gone beyond that to prohibit Australians from accessing any sites it deems objectionable.  read more »

On Monday, a 3-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the Texas law allowing moment of silence following the Pledge of Allegiance in school classes -- including the opportunity for silent prayer, reflection, meditation -- was constitutional. Besides Texas, 25 other states have moment of silence laws.

The Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in a press release following the court's decision said: "The United States Constitution plainly protects young Texans' right to observe a moment of silence before school each morning. In an age where children are bombarded with distractions, beginning each school day with a moment of silence offers a welcome moment of quiet contemplation."  read more »

It seems that the battle in America to protect the First Amendment rights of Americans never seems to end. Yesterday, the 10th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado heard arguments on whether or not to affirm the free speech rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution for a high school student named Erica Corder.

Erica was punished by the Lewis-Palmer High School near Colorado Springs in 2006 when she gave remarks as a class valedictorian at her high school graduation. Her attorneys argue that school officials intimidated her and forced her into writing an apology for expressing her religious beliefs in her 30-second message at graduation.  read more »

President Obama took another step forward in his pro-abortion agenda recently by removing Bush administration protections for doctors and hospitals who refuse to perform abortions.  The regulations were put in place after reports of increasing pressure on those in the medical profession to do abortions in spite of federal laws that are supposed to prohibit such violations of conscience.

The abortion rights crowd claim that it inhibits a womans "right" to an abortion if a doctor has a "right" to avoid performing one because or reasons of religion or conscience.  Which essentially makes abortion a "right" of greater importance than religious freedom.  Despite which one of the two are actually in the Constitution.

Obama's HHS officials are proposing to rescind the rule in its entirety.  read more »

It seems that over one-hundred and eighty clergy members of nine different deonominations in Vermont have made a public declaration of their support for gay marriage in that state.  This move is just in advance of consideration of a gay marriage bill by that state's Senate Judiciary Committee.

Currently, Vermont already has gay "civil unions", (the first state in the country to allow the practice), but that's not enough for these guys.  They've decided that it such an important issue that it's necessary for them to come out from behind the pulpits and stand up for calling evil good - and demand that the state sanction it.   read more »

A Tennessee elementary school is censoring the words "In God We Trust" and "God Bless the USA" on student made posters in its hallway.  The school leaership claims the offending language was covered up because it included the word "God", and as a result was in violation of existing school board policy.  read more »

Religious rights in America took two steps forward and one step backward this week. In a very pleasant surprise yesterday, the United States Supreme Court unanimously allowed the city of Pleasant Grove City, Utah, to choose which donated monuments, including a Ten Commandments monument, belong in a city public park. The Supreme Court, in a 9-0 decision, ruled that the city could refuse to display Summum's Seven Aphorisms in its public park.

This means that cities and state governments around America will no longer be forced with threats by the ACLU to include displays devoted to atheism just because the city or state government wants to display a Nativity scene. Most Americans will recall the anti-Christian bigotry which Democrat Governor Christine Gregoire displayed in Washington state last Christmas when she allowed a hateful anti-Christian display to be so prominent in the Washington state capitol building next to a Christmas display.  read more »

Americans' religious rights and First Amendment rights continue to be eroded as evidenced by the jailing of a black pastor from a Berkeley, California church last week. He was the first person convicted -- two months ago -- under Oakland's law preventing pro-life protesters from coming within 8 feet of anyone entering an abortion clinic.

The Union City pastor, Walter Hoye, received a $1,000 fine, 30 days in jail (although in the future pro-lifers can be actually be put in jail for up to two years) and 3 years' probation. This courageous pastor told the judge: "I believe that an unjust law is no law at all." Pastor Hoye even answered Alameda Superior Court Judge Hing's question of whether or not he would abide by an order to stay 100 yards away from the Oakland abortion clinic with a principled "No."  read more »

Some good news (and common sense) out of California this week.  A jury ruled that a group of firefighters rights were violated when they were forced to participate in a 2007 San Diego gay pride parade.

The firefighters were ordered to participate over their objections, and drive a city fire truck in the parade - being subjected to explicit advances and obscenities along the way.  A jury saw things their way, deciding that their rights had been violated.

A jury of eight women and four men deliberated for 2½ days and found that the firefighters, who were ordered to ride a fire engine in San Diego's 2007 homosexual parade, were sexually harassed by homosexual participants and spectators. ...  read more »