Some interesting law & religion stories from around the web this week:
- A New York trial court held that an agreement negotiated before a Jewish rabbinical court (Bet Din) is unenforceable because it was not formally acknowledged in the manner required by NY Domestic Relations law
- On Wednesday, Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill on gay marriage, making Illinois the 16th state to allow same-sex marriage
- The general synod of the Church of England has voted narrowly against the appointment of women as bishops
- Plans to move the US Embassy to the Vatican within the grounds of the larger American embassy to Italy are causing controversy
- Pope Francis said the Catholic Church will not accept a Middle East without Christians, who are often forced to flee areas of unrest in the region
- Jews in Israel are increasingly ascending the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, a sacred site controlled for centuries by Muslims, who see the visits as a provocation that could undermine the fragile peace talks started this summer.
- Muslims and Jews of Europe, united under the leadership of the Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders (GEMJL), call on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to rescind its allegedly anti-democratic resolution that labels male circumcision a “violation of the physical integrity of children”
- An Ohio county court has upheld a school board’s decision to fire a science teacher for teaching creationism and religious doctrine in his middle-school classroom