Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- Pope Francis arrived in Brazil on Monday for his first international trip as pontiff. On a visit to a Brazilian slum, the Pope criticized a “culture of selfishness and individualism”
- On Tuesday, House lawmakers approved an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill to prevent the appointment of nonreligious military chaplains
- On Wednesday, Orthodox candidates were elected as Israel’s chief rabbis
- Officials in the third-largest county in Pennsylvania have agreed to issue same-sex marriage licenses despite a state law that bans the practice
- In New York, refunds will be issued to same-sex spouses previously forced to pay New York estate taxes on the death of their partner
- An article on the shifting religious balance of power in the United States, and whether the religious left could become the new “moral majority.” Peter Steinfels is skeptical.
- The British government plans to investigate whether other Jews were denied employment benefits after an Orthodox Jew who refused to work on the Sabbath won a landmark appeal
- A non-Muslim Chinese couple who posted a photo of themselves eating pork during Ramadan face up to 15 years in prison in Muslim-majority Malaysia for sedition and other crimes
- Malaysian Muslims are asking the Vatican’s first envoy to Malaysia, Archbishop Joseph Marino, to return to Rome after he stated that Christians may use the word “Allah” to describe God
- State lawmakers in North Carolina have given final approval to ban courts from recognizing “foreign law” in family court matters
- Senator Rand Paul is encouraging churches to challenge the IRS with bold political speech
- The New York Times profiles Mormons who go online searching for answers about their church