An 11-year-old rape victim in Paraguay gave birth to a baby girl on August 13, stoking debate about abortion law in that country. The former partner of the 11-year-old’s mother is accused of the rape. The baby weighed 3.3 kilos and was born by caesarean section. Post-operative recovery is going well. Paraguayan law permits abortion Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Law’
11 weird laws regulating behaviour in church
Friday, July 11th, 2014People have quite diverse notions about the right and proper way to behave in church. Here are 11 weird laws from the USA that, if ignored, could send you from church to jail without passing “go” 1. In Alabama It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church. 2. In Rehoboth, Read more
Need for honesty around Qur’an
Tuesday, May 27th, 2014
In the aftermath of Islamic jihadis — the Boko Haram — enslaving Christian school girls in Nigeria, the Muslim intelligentsia, instead of doing some serious introspection, has chosen to exercise damage control. Columns by my co-religionists have appeared in newspapers ranging from the Toronto Star to The Independent in London and on CNN.com, where they Read more
Easter laws outdated
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014
New Zealand is now a secular, pluralist country with citizens who hold all kinds of views. Many people worship Jesus Christ, and practise restraint at Easter time as part of their beliefs. Many more do not. Christianity still has a powerful place in the culture – it underpins our ethics and our judicial system, much of Read more
Faith in the workplace
Tuesday, April 15th, 2014
Bosses all over the Western world have been warned. Unless they make allowances for the religious faiths of their ever more diverse workforces, they will suffer lawsuits, official rebukes and protests from staff. Employees increasingly expect to be able, for example, to dress in accordance with their faith while at work, and be given appropriate Read more
Murky law in Crimea land grab
Friday, March 21st, 2014
While pro-Russian and pro-Western media have been spinning the Crimea crisis as either a heroic exercise in righting a past wrong or a land grab by a new Hitler, the legal position is far from straightforward. Crimea was once an independent Tatar khanate, captured by Russia in the 18th century. The Tatars were deported by Read more
More laws are needed as religion declines, top judge says
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013One of Britain’s most senior judges has blamed a decline in religion and traditional moral values for the growing number of laws needed to maintain order. Lord Sumption, a Supreme Court Justice, said laws now reached into areas of life once left untouched by such regulation with 3000 new criminal or administrative offences added to Read more
Russians could now go to prison for blasphemy
Friday, July 5th, 2013While most of the Western World turns a blind eye to blasphemy, Russia has just enacted a tough law that imposes heavy fines or even a prison term. The law applies to “public acts that manifest patent disrespect for society and are committed with the aim of offence to the religious feelings of believers”. The Read more
The law and Martin Luther King Jr
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Fifty years ago this week, the great American preacher, Martin Luther King Jr, published a letter explaining his stand on civil disobedience. He was in jail at the time after being arrested for breaking Alabama’s law against mass public demonstrations. Some white clergymen had criticised him for leading illegal marches against segregation – a charge Read more
Irish government decides to legalise abortion
Friday, December 21st, 2012
Catholic and pro-life leaders have strongly criticised the Irish government for deciding to introduce legislation to legalise abortion in cases where the mother’s life is deemed to be at risk. The Fine Gael-run government’s action follows the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman who was admitted to a Galway hospital while miscarrying. She reportedly Read more