James L. Paris's Blog, page 74

Leading Australian Law School Now Teaches on ���Benefits��� of Sharia Law

Significant elements of Islamic religion and culture continue to be woven into the fabric of Western society around the world.

Another example of this comes to us from the land down under, Australia, where it has been learned that at what most consider to be that country���s most prestigious law school, Sydney University, noteworthy components of sharia law, including permissibility of both polygamy and child marriage, are now being taught.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Sydney offers a course called Muslim Minorities and the Law, in which a textbook is used that says ���sharia and common law are not inherently incompatible.���

The textbook explains that sharia and common law ���are both ���law��� in the sense they represent and communicate a set of ���norms��� that operate at both individual and a community level.���

The textbook speaks in beneficial terms about polygamy and explains it in some measure, saying, ���A man can marry up to four wives at the same time but must provide for each one equally���He must also spend an equal amount of time in the household of each wife. If he does not do this, it is considered an act of injustice.���

On the subject of child marriage, the text reads, ���There is no minimum age for a contract of marriage, but it should not be consummated if that would cause harm to the putative spouse.���

Well, at least there���s that.

Through a spokesman, Australia���s Federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham, registered his concerns to The Daily Telegraph about such courses, saying, ���Equality of the law, under the law and before the law should be one of the first principles in our law schools.���

���We all operate under the one legal framework in Australia, applied consistently to all and that is not a matter for negotiation.���

Birmingham���s office also spoke declaratively on the matter of Australian taxpayer monies being used to promote ideologies not in keeping with the nation���s citizens, saying, ���Universities must keep in touch with Australian community expectations and that includes respect for and adherence to Australian law.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

EU Population is Rising���but Not Because of an Increase in Births

The population of the countries that comprise the European Union (EU) is on the rise, but it has nothing to do with the birthrate outpacing the rates of deaths.

It���s because of migration.

According to EURACTIV, Eurostat, the EU���s statistics office, noted the change in the natural population of the body���s 28 nations was, in fact, neutral, in that there were the same number of births and deaths recorded (5.1 million) for year 2016.

It is, therefore, migration to those nations that accounts for the net population increase of 1.5 million last year.

Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, the EU���s chief legislative body, recently suggested to the media that the scope of the migration crisis is actually being ���underestimated��� by the continent, and that if Europe does not do more to help address the factors driving the surge of migrants, like wars and famine, that ���millions of Africans��� will be headed Europe���s way in the coming years.

What makes Tajani���s comments significant is that they imply migration to Europe is actually a problem, which differs from the postures of so many other EU-centric politicians who have been quite welcoming of the migrants.

Although several, individual EU countries actually saw drops in population last year, key member nations, like Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, posted big increases (although the UK voted last year to leave the EU, the withdrawal is not scheduled to take place until 2019).

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

CFPB Issues New Rule Making It Easier for You to Sue Your Bank, Credit Card Company

When you enter into agreements with banks and credit card companies, there is a section of the terms that addresses how disputes are to be handled. Very frequently, the section declares that by becoming a customer, you accept that any formal disagreement with the corporate powers that be shall be handled by way of arbitration, rather than litigation.

While arbitration as a means to settling disputes may offer benefits to consumers, including speed of process, less formality, and (ideally) less cost, one of the big problems with it has to do with the oft-stipulated requirement that agreeing to arbitration means customers are disallowed outright from litigating.

Well, according to CNN Money, a new rule just passed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) decrees that financial services companies can no longer utilize arbitration clauses as a mechanism by which to prevent consumers from bringing class action suits against them.

Arbitration clauses have long been standard features of bank and credit card agreements, and a typical component of those is a prohibition against the consumer bringing legal action against the financial institution. As a matter of fact, Wells Fargo has attempted to invoke the terms of mandatory arbitration clauses to help stem the tide of lawsuits it���s facing over the account fraud scandal that came to light last year.

The ability to use arbitration clauses in that way, however, is on the way out.

���Our new rule will stop companies from sidestepping the courts and ensure that people who are harmed together can take action together, said CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Survey: Majority of Americans Say Disintegrating Culture Makes It Tough to Raise Kids Today

Are you one of those folks who thinks the culture is going down the tubes, and that raising kids and grandkids to have good morals and ethics is basically impossible now?

If so, recently-released results from a survey conducted by the American Culture and Faith Institute (ACFI) reveal that you are in no way alone.

The data indicates that just over half of all Americans believe the current culture pervasive throughout the United States exerts a net negative influence on those kids age 18 and younger.

As you might imagine, those numbers go up significantly among people who self-identify as having a decidedly spiritual orientation.

66 percent of adults who say they are ���born-again��� see the culture as negatively impacting children, overall, while a whopping 93 percent of those claiming to maintain a ���Biblical worldview��� say the culture is yielding a negative effect on young people.

And as far as they���re concerned, things only get worse from here.

60 percent of survey respondents say they believe it will be even more challenging 10 years down the road to raise kids with Biblically-centered values, while another 29 percent say that to do so will be about as difficult as it is right now. A mere 11 percent of respondents say that raising kids will actually be easier in 10 years.

Weighing in on the results, ACFI executive director George Barna asked the $64,000 question.

���Culture is the inescapable context in which children are raised,��� he noted. ���But it is adults, including parents, who shape and control that culture. If adults believe our culture is harmful to children ��� including their own ��� then why aren't they changing it?���

Why, indeed?

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Anti-Semitism Abounds: Canadian Textbooks Call Israeli Kids ���Spies��� and ���Soldiers���

Evidence of a worldwide explosion in institutional anti-semitism continues to find its way into the light.

Among the latest pieces of information to that effect: According to the Toronto Sun, roughly 800 elementary schools within Canada���s Ontario province received a sixth grade social studies textbook that says Israel violates the human rights of its children by recruiting them to be ���spies and soldiers,��� and also goes as far as to say that Israel kidnaps children to serve as soldiers, forcing them to fight.

The textbook, Canada and the Global Community, is published by Nelson Canada, and, rather disturbingly, received the seal of approval of both Curriculum Services Canada, the country���s agency that serves to approve textbooks for use in the nation���s schools, as well as the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Scary stuff, to say the least.

In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer of B���nai Brith Canada, Michael Mostyn, said, ���The distribution of this textbook will surely have negative ramifications on Jewish students across the province if their peers were to, using its contents, charge Israel of kidnapping child soldiers.���

���The Ministry has an obligation to not only correct these errors but to teach the reality of the situation ��� that it is Palestinian leaders who use child soldiers,��� continued Mostyn. ���It is terrorist organizations like Hamas, the political authority in the Gaza Strip, who continue to promote children as terrorists and suicide bombers, while entities like the Palestinian Authority promote jihad and martyrdom in textbooks and other materials. Including these facts will restore balance and accuracy to the coverage of this sensitive issue in our classrooms.���

The ���latest��� is that the Ontario Ministry of Education has sent stickers to the relevant schools to be used in covering the errors in the books. That said, stickers don���t explain what is going on inside the corridors of power deep within Canada���s education system that allowed for the supposed ���errors��� in the first place.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Out of Work? Gap in Resume? How You Account for the Time May Determine If You Work Again

Here���s one of the world���s worst-kept secrets: It���s tough out there.

Despite supposedly-plummeting unemployment and a tighter job market, there are lots of people who���ve been out of work for long periods, and find themselves having to artfully account for that time when they seek work.

Problem is, too many people are not doing a good job explaining their resume gaps, and are struggling to land work as a result.

An article over at CNBC.com points out that while such gaps don���t have to spell doom to your chances of finding meaningful employment, how much affect they have on your hireability ultimately has a lot to do with just how you explain your situation.

According to certified career development coach Jill Ozovek, your first priority should be to expect an interview question about the resume gap, and be prepared to speak intelligently, even impressively, about it.

Ozovek cites answers like ���I just got laid off and I've been trying to figure it out��� as the kind that will help ensure you don���t see the inside of a cubicle again.

Instead, says Ozovek, ���Be in control of your story. Whether your gap was self-imposed or not, connect the dots and craft a story.���

And what makes for a great story? Having made productive use of that time out of work in such a way that it speaks particularly well of you.

Take classes that add to, or enhance, your professional skill set, to include picking up a certification in an area relevant to your career.

���There���s no shortage of ways to continue to improve yourself,��� says Ozovek. ���You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Church of England Makes It Official: Will Affirm Transgenders

As reported by The Christian Post, the Church of England has officially declared that it will not only welcome transgender persons to the church, but will also affirm them, as well.

From a motion that passed during a meeting of the General Synod over the weekend:

���That this Synod, recognizing the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person���s gender transition.���

As a matter of fact, not only did the motion pass, but it did so by a wide margin. In the House of Bishops, the favorable vote was 30-2; in the House of Clergy, the margin was 127-28; and in the House of Laity, the motion prevailed by a vote of 127-48.

At the outset of the weekend assembly, Rev. Christopher Newlands of the Blackburn Diocesan Synod spoke encouragingly about the prospect of the measure passing, saying, ���I hope that we can make a powerful statement to say that we believe that trans people are cherished and loved by God, who created them, and is present through all the twists and turns of their lives.���

And that wasn���t all. The gathered also passed a motion that supports a ban on conversion therapy for gays and lesbians.

One of the highest-ranking Church of England officials, the Most Rev. John Sentamu, went on the record to say ���Top of Form that LGBT orientation and identity is not a crime. LGBT orientation and identity is not a sickness.���

Sentamu also assumed what many would surely see as a Biblically-curious position when he declared ���that LGBT orientation and identity is not a sin.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Christian Ethicists: Intimacy with Robots Not Aligned with God���s Plan for Us

While much of the talk about robots and robotics these days centers on the utility of the machines for the workplace, there���s another aspect to robots, one much darker, that is beginning to garner a great deal of attention.

As much as technology has often shown itself to be very much a doubled-edged sword, it would be difficult to say that anywhere else is that more apparent than it is with respect to the development of lifelike robots created to be sexual partners for humans.

But that is, stunningly, and sadly enough, where we are, presently. Worse, there is now a company in Japan, Harumi Designs, that actually makes sex robots in the image of children.

This latest example of the breathless descent into the abyss of immorality has captured the attention of a variety of observers, including Christian ethicists, who have very definite thoughts on the use of robots as sexual partners from the perspective of Christianity.

Tobias Winright, associate professor of Theological Ethics at Saint Louis University related his concerns to the The Christian Post in an email, saying, in part, ���As a Christian, I think non-mutual, non-consensual sexual activity is contrary to mutually donative love-making. Thus, sexual activity with a simulacrum seems to me quite a stretch from when two persons, who are made in God's image, sexually express their love for each other, transcending and giving beyond the self with the other, and thereby imaging God who is agape.���

For his part, Dennis P. Hollinger, the president and Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, told The Christian Post that sexual relations with robots ���is contrary to the very nature of sex, a very personal giving of one���s self to another.���

���From a Christian standpoint sex is a ���one-flesh��� relationship that is the most intimate, loving, uniting act between two human beings. Robots for sex in general should perhaps not be banned by law, but we must see robotic sex as intrinsically troubling ethically.���

Particularly disconcerting is that there even needs to be a discussion pointing out why sex with robots is ���ethically troubling.��� Indeed, that may be the most unfortunate thing of all.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Zuckerberg: The Church of Facebook Could Soon Replace Your Local House of Worship

That Mark Zuckerberg sure is ambitious.

As noted by CNBC.com, Zuckerberg, appearing recently at a Facebook event in Chicago, compared the social media platform he founded to church, going as far as to suggest that Facebook could actually replace church in several key respects.

���A church doesn���t just come together,��� Zuckerberg noted. ���It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation, makes sure they have food and shelter. A little league team has a coach who motivates the kids and helps them hit better. Leaders set the culture, inspire us, give us a safety net, and look out for us.���

���People who go to church are more likely to volunteer and give to charity ��� not just because they���re religious, but because they���re part of a community.���

So, to Zuckerberg, apparently, the role of faith, including a Christian orientation, is just not terribly influential when it comes to the decision to give of themselves to others.

���If we can do this,��� he continued, ���it will not only turn around the whole decline in community membership we���ve seen for decades, it will start to strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.���

It is frightening the degree to which Zuckerberg sees Facebook and church as being essentially interchangeable. But it speaks to the fear that many have had about social media sites since their inception; that they are part of a grand effort to enhance secular ���groupthink��� and, in the process, see to the diminishment of spirituality and the moral focus that is typically a standard accompaniment to it.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Ultra-Liberal NYC Mayor De Blasio ���Frustrated��� with Panhandling, Wants to Ban It

Well, THIS doesn���t seem very progressive-y.

It seems that New York City���s mega-liberal mayor, Bill de Blasio, has had it with���panhandlers.

You thought that previous word was going to read ���gun owners,��� or ���Republicans,��� something like that.

Actually, it���s no secret that the mayor has had it with those folks, as well, but it is apparently panhandlers that are really getting under his skin, at present.

As a matter of fact, de Blasio is so sick of panhandlers that he���s ready to ban the practice outright.

As reported by the New York Post, the mayor appeared Friday on WNYC radio, where he said he���d welcome a prohibition against panhandling.

���I���m saying that not as a matter of policy. I���m saying that as a human being, bluntly,��� de Balsio said.

���I just wish it didn���t exist. I am just expressing a frustration because I think it hurts the quality of life in many ways.���

De Blasio also said something revealing with respect to his perception of many panhandlers that certainly puts him in lockstep with the most ardent conservative:

���There are also people out there who are just begging for money and it is not out of dire economic need ���and that is frustrating to me.���

Yup, pretty much.

The mayor���s opinions on panhandling stand in stark contrast to what has long appeared to be his standard political posture. Just last year, de Blasio successfully advocated on behalf of laws that decriminalize public urination and public drinking in the Big Apple. That���s partly why some see His Honor���s recent declaration of frustration at panhandling as a moment when perhaps his real feelings inadvertently came out���just as he happened to be sitting in front of a microphone.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large