Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- The International Criminal Court has rejected a request by clergy sex abuse victims to investigate former Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity
- The EEOC has sued an Illinois trucking company for allegedly violating the religious rights of two former Muslim employees who refused to deliver alcohol in 2009
- Protesters argue that policies of the North Carolina state legislature violate “Jesus Christ’s teaching to care for those with the least.” Conservatives respond that the best way to help the poor is “through private charity, providing jobs, and promoting self-reliance.”
- An envoy from Al-Azhar University in Cairo called on Pope Francis to declare that Islam is a peaceful religion as a prelude to restoring ties
- A Carnegie Mellon University student who dressed as a half-nude pope at a university-sponsored event will have indecent exposure charges dropped in exchange for 80 hours of community service
- With court order, 300 women pray at Jerusalem’s Western Wall
- WP: Today’s Iranian Presidential election shows waning political influence of Shiite clerics
- Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill urges monks to shun internet temptations
- Oregon’s Senate approved a bill making it more difficult for parents to opt out of state-required immunizations for their children when they enter schools or group child care. Parents will no longer be allowed to refuse immunization on religious grounds by simply signing a form
- NYT profiles Vox Veniae, a “postpolitical, postracial congregation” in Austin, Texas that some hope is the future of evangelicalism