Christian Leaders Close Church of Holy Sepulcher In Protest of Israeli Tax and Land Policies

Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian church leaders have closed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (believed to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial) in Jerusalem in protest of two legal moves by Israeli government officials. YNet News today describes the disputed actions:

As part of a battle with Finance Ministry over budgets to the capital, the Jerusalem Municipality informed the Finance, Interior and Foreign ministry and the Prime Minister's Office that it had started collecting property tax debts of more than NIS 650 million from some 887 properties across the city which belong to churches and United Nations institutions.

Municipality officials said these properties did not include houses of worship, which are exempt from paying property taxes by law, but rather properties used for non-prayer activities, including commercial activities.

Churches are exempt from paying property taxes as part of an agreement with the state, but the Jerusalem Municipality says it is not being compensated by the state for the money it is losing by not collecting these taxes.

Later on Sunday, an Israeli cabinet committee is due to consider a bill that would allow the state to expropriate land in Jerusalem sold by churches to private real estate firms in recent years.

The stated aim of the bill is to protect homeowners against the possibility that private companies will not extend their leases. The churches, major landowners in the city, say such a law would make it harder for them to find buyers for their land.

A statement from church leaders calls the moves a "systematic and unprecedented attack against Christians in the Holy Land."

European Court Upholds Company's Religiously Objectionable Ads

In Case of Sekmadienis Ltd. v. Lithuania, (ECHR, Jan. 30, 2018), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Lithuania's State Consumer Rights Protection Authority violated a clothing company's freedom of expression when it imposed a fine because of a series of the company's ads that were seen as offending Christians. The Economist, reporting on the decision, described the ads:

The case refers to a Kalinkin campaign in 2012 which featured a bare-chested young man and a woman, both with halos: the man was sporting jeans and tattoos, and the female figure wore a white dress with a string of beads. The captions consisted of lines such as: “Jesus, what trousers!”, “Dear Mary, what a dress!” and “Jesus, Mary, what are you wearing?”

The European Court concluded that Lithuanian courts "failed to strike a fair balance between, on the one hand, the protection of public morals and the rights of religious people, and, on the other hand, the applicant company’s right to freedom of expression."  The Court issued a press release summarizing the decision. Chamber judgments may be appealed to the Grand Chamber.

Court Stays Removal Of 50 Indonesian Christians Living In New Hampshire

In Devitri v. Cronen, (D MA, Feb. 1, 2018), a Massachusetts federal district court stayed the deportation of 50 Indonesian Christians living in New Hampshire while they seek to reopen their cases based on changed country conditions. The Indonesians, who had orders of removal issued against them, had been living under a 2010 humanitarian program called "Operation Indonesian Surrender." Last summer the government terminated the program and told petitioners that they would need to return to Indonesia within 60 days.  Petitioners say they are likely to face persecution or torture in Indonesia because of their Christian faith. AP reports on the decision.

Pence's Speech To Knesset Gets Theological Criticism

An interesting opinion piece in Haaretz this week titled Lucky the Jews Didn’t Understand What Mike Pence Was Really Saying [access requires subscription or sign-up] suggests that a close analysis of the theological underpinnings of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's speech to the Knesset on Monday (see prior posting) shows that it was based on Christian supercessionist beliefs. Here are a few edited excerpts that give a flavor of the analysis:

Pence explained that, "It was here, in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, that Abraham offered up his son, Isaac, and was credited with righteousness for his faith in God."...

In Genesis 15 ... God takes [Abraham] outside and says that he will have as many descendants as the stars.... Abraham then "had faith in the Lord, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness."

[According to doctoral student Joshua Blachorsky] ... this verse was central to the thought and work of the apostle Paul, who in his letter to the Romans ... uses this verse to explain that Abraham was considered "righteous," worthy of salvation, not because of his observance of the commandments ("works") or his circumcision, the act by which he entered into a divine covenant, but because of his faith.

In Christian readings of Paul, the Jewish Torah and its commandments ... cannot bring about the promises of inheritance to Abraham. Rather, only faith can bring about salvation....

In this reading, Abraham is the father of the faithful, not the father of the circumcised....

The U.S. Vice President stood before the assembled delegates of the Jewish state ... and told them, right after talking about the Holocaust, that Abraham was not their father but that Abraham was his father.

State Supreme Court Victory For Fired Christian Fire Fighter

In Sprague v. Spokane Valley Fire Department, (WA Sup. Ct., Jan. 25, 2018), the Washington state Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision gave an initial victory to fire captain Jonathan Sprague who had been fired for using the fire department's e-mail and electronic bulletin board systems to disseminate information on the Spokane County Christian Firefighter Fellowship that he had formed. The court refused to find that a decision by the Spokane County Civil Service Commission acted as collateral estoppel against Sprague.  On the merits of the claim, the majority found that while the fire department's policy limiting the use of its e-mail system to official business is reasonable, it enforced the policy against Sprague in a way that was not viewpoint neutral. It found that the restrictions on Sprague's use of the bulletin board system were unreasonable. The majority concluded:

On remand, the burden will shift to SVFD to show by a preponderance of the evidence that it would have terminated Sprague even in the absence of his protected conduct. ... SVFD must additionally show that Sprague's termination was justified under ROW 41.08.080, which permits the termination of civil service employees like Sprague only upon certain conditions. Assuming that the trier of fact determines that Sprague's termination was not otherwise justifiable, the trier of fact should then determine the applicable amount of damages that Sprague suffered from SVFD's viewpoint discrimination.

The four dissenters argued that the case should be remanded for the trial court to determine whether the fire department in fact had an unwritten policy that was specifically hostile to religious viewpoints.

Christian Student Organization Sues University of Iowa Over Anti-Discrimination Rule

A Christian student organization, Business Leaders in Christ, brought suit yesterday against the University of Iowa challenging the University's de-registration of the organization.  The complaint (full text) in Business Leaders in Christ v. University of Iowa, (D IA, filed 12/11/2017), contends that the University objects to BLinC's requirement that its leaders agree to follow its Statement of Faith. The University concluded that the requirement violates the University's policy barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.  The University took action against the organization after a gay student who wanted to continue to pursue a same-sex relationship complained that he was not permitted to serve as vice president of BLinC.  The student organization's 20-count complaint contends that the University's action violates the 1st and 14th Amendments, as well as various other state and federal statutory and constitutional provisions. Becket issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Believer In Mark of the Beast Entitled To Unemployment Comp

In Kaite v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, (PA Commnw. Ct., Nov. 29, 2017), a Pennsylvania appellate court reversed the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review and held that a suspended employee whose unemployment compensation claim was rejected was justified in refusing to comply with an employer's fingerprinting requirement. Petitioner Bonnie Kaite contended that "she was raised to believe that any marking on the hands or head is the mark of the devil and will prevent her from getting into heaven...."  The court went on to say:

The United States Supreme Court has held that a conditioning of the availability of benefits upon an employee’s willingness to violate a cardinal principle of her religious faith effectively penalizes the free exercise of her constitutional liberties. Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398, 406 (1963).

Penn Live reports on the decision. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.] 

Magazine Profiles Christian Advocacy Organization

The Nation today published a long article titled The Christian Legal Army Behind ‘Masterpiece Cakeshop’: A special investigation into the rise of Alliance Defending Freedom.  Here is a short excerpt:

The overarching story highlighted in this substantial body of ADF’s briefs—most of which are available in public databases—is the organization’s painstaking construction, case by case and argument by argument, of a legal narrative asserting that Christians are under threat of persecution from the advance of LGBTQ and reproductive rights, as well as from secular schools and universities, and that the law must allow Christians to disregard, disobey, or even dismantle laws protecting those rights in order to protect their own rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion.

Indonesian Christians Get Temporary Stay of Deportation

In Devitri v. Cronen, (D MA, Nov. 27, 2017), a Massachusetts federal district court issued a temporary injunction barring the federal government from removing 51 Indonesian Christians who fear religious persecution if their final Orders of Removal are implemented. As explained by the court:

In 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) instituted a humanitarian program called Operation Indonesian Surrender, through which Petitioners were granted Orders of Supervision, allowing them to seek employment and subjecting them to certain mandatory conditions. Petitioners also received temporary stays of removal that were renewed over multiple years. In the summer of 2017, these individuals were informed that they would be removed from the United States.

Petitioners claim that they need additional time to exercise their statutory right to move to reopen their cases based on changed country conditions that arose after their Orders of Removal became final. The court asked the government for additional briefing on how long the temporary injunction should remain in effect to give a reasonable time to file a motion to reopen.  ACLU issued a press release announcing the court's decision.

Canadian Christian Couple Sues Over Alberta's Policy On Adoptions

In a lawsuit filed in Canada at the beginning of this month, an Evangelical Christian couple is challenging a decision by the Province of Alberta's Child and Family Services to refuse to approve them to adopt a child.  the refusal stemmed from the couple's Biblical views on marriage, sexuality and gender.  The complaint (full text) in C.D and N.D. v. Province of Alberta, (Q.B. AL, filed 11/1/2017), says that "Child and Family Services considered the Applicants' religious beliefs regarding sexuality a 'rejection' of children with LGBT sexual identities...."  It contends that the decision violates their rights under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Bus Driver Can Move Ahead With Religious Objection To Fingerprinting

In Kaite v. Altoona Student Transportation, Inc., (WD PA, Oct. 30, 2017), a Pennsylvania federal district court allowed a school bus driver to proceed with her religious discrimination and retaliation claims against her employer.  A newly enacted state law required the driver to undergo a background check, including fingerprinting.  According to the court, plaintiff, a devout Christian, sought an accommodation because of her belief that fingerprinting is the "mark of the devil" which is forbidden by the Book of Revelation.  Defendant refused any accommodation and dismissed plaintiff.  Legal Intelligencer reports on the decision.

Pence: US Will Fund Faith-Based Groups Instead of UN In Mid-East Relief

On Wednesday evening, Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the In Defense of Christians Solidarity Dinner in Washington, D.C. (full text of remarks).  He said in part:

In Egypt, we see the bombing of churches during Palm Sunday celebrations -- a day of hope transformed into a day of horror.

In Iraq, we see monasteries demolished, priests and monks beheaded, the two-millennia-old Christian tradition in Mosul clinging for survival.

In Syria, we see ancient communities burned to the ground, believers tortured for confessing Christ, and women and children sold into slavery.

Let me assure you tonight, President Trump and I see these crimes for what they are -- vile acts of persecution animated by hatred for Christians and the Gospel of Christ. And so too does this President know who and what has perpetrated these crimes, and he calls them by name -- radical Islamic terrorists....

Here’s the sad reality: The United Nations claims that more than 160 projects are in Christian areas, but for a third of those projects, there are no Christians to help. The believers in Nineveh, Iraq, have had less than 2 percent of their housing needs addressed, and the majority of Christians and Yazidis remain in shelters....

Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly. And tonight, it is my privilege to announce that President Trump has ordered the State Department to stop funding ineffective relief efforts at the United Nations. And from this day forward, America will provide support directly to persecuted communities through USAID.

We will no longer rely on the United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups. The United States will work hand-in-hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and private organizations to help those who are persecuted for their faith.

Claim of Fraudulent Luring Into Conversion To Christianity Dismissed on Ecclesiastical Abstention Grounds

In Rymer v. Lemaster, (MD TN, Oct. 4, 2017), a Tennessee federal district court adopted a federal magistrate's recommendation of Aug. 30, 2017 (full text) and dismissed on ecclesiastical abstention grounds a suit by a college student against a Baptist minister. Student Lincoln Rymer claimed that Roger Oldham who was acting as his spiritual adviser wrongfully obtained student information about him, and used that information and an attractive female student to lure him into converting to Christianity.  Plaintiff claimed over $15.7 million in damages flowing from the conversion.

Christian Church Heads In Jerusalem Protest Two Government Actions

In Israel this week, the heads of the major Christian denominations in the country-- Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Latin Catholic, and Ethiopian Orthodox-- signed a joint statement (full text) protesting two recent actions by the Israeli government, calling them "a systematic attempt to undermine the integrity of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and to weaken the Christian presence."  As explained by the Jerusalem Post:

The first is a Jerusalem District Court ruling from last month saying that the purchase of three major compounds adjacent to Jaffa Gate in the Old City were carried out legally, and as a result, were transferred from the Greek-Orthodox church to the rightwing NGO Ateret Kohanim Yeshiva....

The second issue is a bill proposed by the Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria which is signed by 39 other MKs across the political spectrum, that seeks to nationalize lands owned by churches in west Jerusalem and sold to private entrepreneurs....

Churches leased the disputed properties in west Jerusalem to the Jewish National Fund, mainly in the 1950s, parts of which ... [were then] sold to residents living there. In the next 20-50 years the lease periods will end, and the churches have reportedly sold parcels of the land to private entrepreneurs – a deal that ... creates future uncertainty....

The bill proposes to compensate all sides that would be harmed from the nationalizing of land.

New Mexico Paramilitary Christian Group Members Arrested In Child Abuse Investigation

Earlier this week, New Mexico authorities raided the Fence Lake (NM) compound of the paramilitary Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps in a child abuse investigation.  They arrested sect co-leader Deborah Green and two other group members, while another member was arrested in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. According to People, the defendants are variously charged with child abuse, criminal sexual penetration, failure to report a birth, and bribery of a witness. Peter Green has been charged with 100 counts of criminal penetration of a child.

Four more sect members were arrested yesterday on charges of failing to register the births of their 11 children.  They were apprehended as they were allegedly trying to flee the state in two vans filed with children. Fox News, reporting this, says that the group describes itself as "revolutionary for Jesus" and provides a free spiritual "ammo pack" to anyone requesting one.  Its website includes anti-Semitic and anti-same sex marriage language.

Discussing interviews with ex-members of the sect, AP reports that:

[L]eaders of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps exercised control over followers by forcing them into hard labor and refusing to give their children medical care. When members complained, sect co-leader Deborah Green would hold "trials" against them for questioning her authority.... The trials led to banishment to isolated sheds without toilets and from the sect's compound without being allowed to take their children....

Christian Group Sues Southern Poverty Law Center Over "Hate Group" Label

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based D. James Kennedy Ministries on Tuesday filed suit in an Alabama federal district court against the Southern Poverty Law Center for damages suffered when SPLC placed the Christian group on its Anti-LGBT Hate Group list. According to Al.com:

The lawsuit alleges that the SPLC "illegally trafficked in false and misleading descriptions of the services offered by DJKM and committed defamation against DJKM arising from the publication and distribution of false information that libels the ministry's reputation and subjects the ministry to disgrace, ridicule, odium, and contempt in the estimation of the public," according to a statement by the ministry....

Other defendants in the lawsuit include Amazon and Guidestar. The ministry alleges that it was excluded from the Amazon Smile program, which allows customers to donate to the charity of their choice when making a purchase.

Judge Wrongly Relied On Defendant's Christian Religious Background To Enhance Sentence

In Miller v. People of the Virgin Islands, (VI Sup. Ct., Aug. 9, 2017), the Virgin Islands Supreme Court remanded for re-sentencing a case in which defendant plead guilty as an accessory after the fact to embezzlement of funds from a hospital.  The Supreme Court concluded that the sentencing judge wrongly relied on defendant's religion to impose a longer sentence that the one recommended in defendant's plea agreement. The sentencing judge had referred to defendant's "claims to Christianity and her theology degree" in explaining the longer sentence.

Suit Challenges Christian-Only Ownership Rules In Chautauqua Cottage Community

A discrimination lawsuit was filed in a Michigan federal district court last week against the Bay View Association, a Lake Michigan summer community with roots in the Chautauqua Movement. The complaint (full text) in Bay View Chautauqua Inclusiveness Movement v. Bay View Association of the United Methodist Church, (WD MI, filed 7/10/2017), challenges provisions in the Association's rules that limit cottage ownership to practicing Christians.  The suit contends that this is religious discrimination that violates the U.S. and Michigan constitutions, the federal Fair Housing Act, and Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.  Petoskey (MI) News-Review reports on the lawsuit.

Christian Refugees To U.S. Outnumber Muslim Refugees So Far In 2017

A Pew Research Center analysis released last week shows that during the first months of the Trump Administration, Christian refugees admitted to the United States outnumber Muslim refugees. This is a change from last year.  During fiscal 2016, of refugees admitted, 46% were Muslim and 44% were Christian. But from Jan. 21 until June 30 of this year, 50% are Christian (9,598), 38% are Muslim (7,250), 11% are other religions and 1% have no religious affiliation.  The difference is in part accounted for by shifts in the countries of origin of admitted refugees.  During the first months of the Trump Administration, the largest number of refugees (3,235) came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Pence At Conference On Persecution of Christians Says ISIS Is Guilty of Genocide

Vice President Mike Pence delivered a nearly 25-minute speech yesterday in Washington, D.C. at the first-ever World Congress of Persecuted Christians. (Full text of remarks). (Press release from Liberty Counsel.) The event is sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  At one point in his prepared remarks, he said:

I believe ISIS is guilty of nothing short of genocide against people of the Christian faith, and it is time the world called it by name.

It is not clear whether he was announcing a formal labeling of ISIS activities as "genocide" which would then trigger obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Here are additional excerpts from the Vice President's speech:

I’m here on behalf of the President as a tangible sign of his commitment to defending Christians and, frankly, all who suffer for their beliefs across the wider world.  I stand here today as a testament to President Trump’s tangible commitment to reaffirm America’s role as a beacon of hope and light and liberty to inspire the world....

The reality is, across the wider world, the Christian faith is under siege.  Throughout the world, no people of faith today face greater hostility or hatred than the followers of Christ.  In more than 100 countries spread to every corner of the globe –- from Iran to Eritrea, Nigeria to North Korea –- over 215 million Christians confront intimidation, imprisonment, forced conversion, abuse, assault, or worse, for holding to the truths of the Gospel.  And nowhere is this onslaught against our faith more evident than in the very ancient land where Christianity was born....

In Iraq, at the hands of extremists, we’ve actually seen monasteries demolished, priests and monks beheaded, and the two-millennia-old Christian tradition in Mosul virtually extinguished overnight.  In Syria, we see ancient communities burned to the ground.  We see believers tortured for confessing Christ, and women and children sold into the most terrible form of human slavery.

Know today with assurance that President Trump sees these crimes for what they are: vile acts of persecution animated by hatred -- hatred for the Gospel of Christ.  And so too does the President know those who perpetrate these crimes.  They are them the embodiment of evil in our time.  He calls them by name -- radical Islamic terrorists....

But to be clear, adherents of other religions across the world have not been spared.  And we will speak for them and pray for them as well.  For as history attests, persecution of one faith is ultimately the persecution of all faiths.