Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- An Israeli government committee approved a proposal to phase out wholesale exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men
- A Southeast Texas school district is appealing a ruling that allowed high school cheerleaders to display banners with Bible verses at football games
- French firms in urban areas are facing problems arising from religious demands from their employees
- Luhrmann on why belief is the least part of faith
- Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled against parts of an election law approved by the Islamist-led legislature that had lifted a long-standing ban on the use of religious slogans during campaigning. The court stated that not banning religious slogans runs counter to national unity.
- Amma, an Indian guru known as “the hugging saint,” has built a vast international spiritual organization
- Security forces in Myanmar struggled to bring peace to the city of Lashio after Buddhist mobs set fire to a mosque, a Muslim school, and shops. This is the latest violent outbreak in a series of anti-Muslim attacks.
- A 318-page report detailing a series of violent riots against Pakistani Christians over the past decade blames politicians and law enforcement in the country for failing to take preventative action
- Map: where the world’s atheists live
- On Shia and Sunni Islam in Syria
- Earlier this week during his blessing in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis rebuked the mafia for “enslaving people”
- A statement of the Holy See highlights intolerance against Christians and emphasizes individuals’ fundamental right to believe and practice religious faith
- An Italian scholar claims to have found the oldest known Torah scroll in the University of Bologna library