Let us work to extend the rights and freedoms so many of us enjoy to all the world's citizens – to speak and worship freely; to live free from violence and oppression; to make of our lives what we will. And let us work to achieve lasting peace and security for the state of Israel, so that the Jewish state is fully accepted by its neighbors, and its children can live their dreams free from fear.
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Friday, September 18, 2009
President Reaches Out Internationally With Rosh Hashanah Greetings
Jewish Newspaper Interviews Scalia On Religion and State
My court has a series of opinions that say that the Constitution requires neutrality on the part of government, not just between denominations ... but neutrality between religion and non-religion. I do not believe that. That is not the American tradition.He also remarked:
I am not sure how Orthodox Jews feel about the Establishment Clause, but I assume they do not like driving G-d out of public life.
State Department Hosts Iftar
I think that American embassies have been holding Iftars for decades. Our diplomatic posts have held hundreds of events to celebrate Ramadan this year alone. And I am proud that we have so many Muslims serving in our Foreign Service and our Civil Service who are playing an important role in advancing our nation’s foreign policy interests and strengthening the bonds of cooperation and understanding with Muslims at home and abroad.Pakistan's The News reported on the dinner.
Creationist Views of Florida Mayoral Candidate Debated
EEOC Sues Clothing Chain Over "Look Policy" Barring Head Coverings
School Principal, Athletic Director Acquitted of Contempt In Prayer Case
National Groups Want Bush Administration's RFRA Memo Withdrawn
The OLC Memo wrongly asserts that RFRA is “reasonably construed” to require that a federal agency categorically exempt a religious organization from an explicit federal nondiscrimination provision tied to a grant program. Although the OLC Memo’s conclusion is focused on one Justice Department program, its overly-broad and questionable interpretation of RFRA has been cited by other Federal agencies and extended to other programs and grants. The guidance in the OLC Memo is not justified under applicable legal standards and threatens to tilt policy toward an unwarranted end that would damage civil rights and religious liberty....
We accordingly request that the Obama Administration publicly announce its intention to review the OLC Memo, and that at the end of that review, withdraw the OLC Memo and expressly disavow its erroneous interpretation of RFRA....
The Anti Defamation League (one of the signatories) issued a press release calling attention to the letter. [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Court Says Congregation Cannot Disaffiliate From National Church Body
Today Is Constitution Day, As Contempt Trial In School Prayer Case Begins
City Council Acts To Keep Invocations Non-Sectarian
Florida Church's Lawsuit Challenges Zoning Denial
Do Government Economic Incentives Trigger Church-State Limits For Grocery?
Dutch Supreme Court Says Football Chant Violated Ban on Insulting of Religious Group
The chants are now banned in stadiums, but it was one of those chants by a fan in the street nearby that led to the conviction upheld this week. A supporter of the Hague football club ADO was arrested in 2006 for chanting: "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas." The Supreme Court upheld his sentence of 80 hours of community service and two years' probation. According to Dutch News, the court rejected his defense that the chant was merely a way to provoke Ajax fans, and was not intended to be anti-Semitic.
Treatment Of Muslims By French Army Criticized
Teacher Awarded Qualified Immunity In Suit For Remark Against Creationism
Public officials must be able to do their jobs without fear that every misstep, however slight, will subject them to liability and the paralysis which goes with such a fear. Thus, the doctrine of qualified immunity looks to whether there was a clearly established right in issue.... The law as it existed in the fall of 2007 did not make clear that a single statement in an area of the law which lacks precision could violate the Constitution. The decision here on the merits advances the clarity of Farnan’s right to be free of anti-religious comments, but the extent of the advance and the results of future applications of the doctrine of qualified immunity in this area are for another day and another court.The court's disposition of the case also bars future claims by plaintiff for attorneys' fees and costs. The OC Register reported on the decision and indicated that plaintiffs plan an appeal to the 9th Circuit.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Israeli Student's Legalistic Protest of Hametz Law Fails
Missouri Court Says Negligence Is Enough In Sex Abuse Case Against Church
Cuba Will Now Permit Group Christian Services Inside Prisons
New Poll Compares Conservative and Progressive Religious Activists
In terms of future public engagement, both conservative and progressive activists strongly emphasized the importance of being publicly visible and politically active. Conservative activists were more likely to emphasize the importance of prayer, whereas progressive activists were more likely to emphasize the importance of civility, pluralism, and social justice.
Christian Citizenship Applicant Protests Vaccination Requirement
City's Settlement of RLUIPA Lawsuit Leaves Challenged Ordinance In Effect
EEOC Sues On Behalf of Jehovah's Witness Fired For Refusing Halloween Participation
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
10 Commandments on City Hall Property Is Problematic
Teens Sue After Ejection From Stadium For Refusing To Stand During "God Bless America"
Proposed Landmark Law Would Protect Church Slated For Closing
3rd Circuit Hears Oral Arguments On School Holiday Concert Policy
Goa Rejects Christian Requests For Burial Grounds
Advocacy Group Launching Campaign To Encourage Religious Speech On Public Campuses
Monday, September 14, 2009
Paper Reports On Parallel Orthodox Jewish Social Service System
With their own judicial order, ambulance brigade, civilian patrol, school system and political force, Orthodox Jews here live, in large part, in a parallel society, with dual public services mirroring those municipal bodies that officially govern. When they collide, controversy is often sparked.[Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
Religious Homeless Shelter and Treatment Program Not Limited By Fair Housing Act
The court ... finds the following to be core ecclesiastical matters with which the government may not interfere: a religious organization's teaching, preaching, and proselytizing to individuals on its own property; a religious organization's preferential treatment of guests on its property who attend religious services; a religious organization's limiting participation in a residential addiction recovery program to individuals who are or who wish to be of the same faith; and a religious organization's imposing requirements that guests and residents on its property attend and/or participate in religious services and activities.
Recent Articles of Interest
- Wilbren Van der Burg & Frans W.A. Brom, In Defense of State Neutrality, (in: K.P. Rippe (Hrsg.), Angewandte Ethik in der Pluralistischen Gesellschaft, Freiburg, CH: Freiburger Universitätsverlag, 53-82).
- Brooke Goldstein & Eitan Meyer Aaron, "Legal jihad": How Islamist Lawfare Tactics are Targeting Free Speech, 15 ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law 395-410 (2009).
- Eugene K.B. Tan, From Clampdown to Limited Empowerment: Soft Law in the Calibration and Regulation of Religious Conduct in Singapore, 31 Law & Policy 351-379 (2009).
- I.CON Debate! on The Crisis of the Secular State, Article by Lorenzo Zucca; response by Andras Sajo. 7 I.CON: International Journal of Constitutional Law 494-528 (2009).
- Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. XXIV, No. 2, 2008-09 has recently appeared.
Suit Challenging Star of David In US Supreme Court Dismissed As Frivolous
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Court Blocks Release of Names of Referendum Petition Signers
Plaintiffs have established that it is likely that supporting the referral of a referendum is protected political speech, which includes the component of the right to speak anonymously.... In light of the State’s own verification process and the State’s own case law, at this time the Court is not persuaded that full public disclosure of referendum petitions is necessary as "an important check on the integrity of the referendum election process." ... Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have established that it is likely that the Public Records Act is not narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling governmental interest of preserving the integrity of the referendum process.AP reported on the decision on Friday. According to Friday's Seattle Times, Washington's Attorney General will appeal the decision to the 9th Circuit.
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Sosa v. Lantz, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79677 (D CT, Sept. 2, 2009), a Connecticut federal district court, finding little likelihood of success on the merits, refused to grant a preliminary injunction to an inmate who alleged that authorities forced him "to participate and support the Muslim religion" by assigning him to a cell with a Muslim prisoner who prayed aloud five times each day.
In Henderson v. Kennell, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80752 (CD IL, Sept. 4, 2009), an Illinois federal district court rejected an inmate's claim that his free exercise rights were violated when the prison chaplain refused to permit him to change his religion from Christianity to Al-Islam, after previously changing it from Al-Islam to Christian. the court held that the prison: "has obvious reasons for preventing inmates from switching religions frequently and without following the specified rules. Correctional facilities have limited resources and must be able to plan on the number of inmates who may participate in religious services and holidays as well as those which require a specific religious diet."
In Collins v. Sisto, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81318 (ED CA, Sept. 8, 2009), a federal magistrate judge permitted plaintiff to move ahead with his claim that his First Amendment rights were violated when prison authorities refused to provide him, as a Muslim, with kosher instead of vegetarian meals. However the court held that defendants had qualified immunity as to the same claim under RLUIPA because at the time it was not clearly established that RLUIPA guaranteed this right.
In Mouton v. Gold, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81928 (ED OK, Sept. 9, 2009), an Oklahoma federal district court held that jail officials did not violate plaintiff's free exercise rights when they refused to provide him a copy of the Qur'an that he wanted not because he was a Muslim, but simply because he had a general interest in reading it.
In Thornton v. Hill, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81651 (WD OK, May 27, 2009), an Oklahoma federal magistrate judge allowed a pre-trial detainee to move ahead with his complaint that authorities confiscated two Bibles and other Christian literature from his cell.
In Slice v. Ferriter, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81934 (D MT, May 27, 2009), a prisoner complained she was required to participate in a faith-based "Therapeutic Community" program. A Montana federal magistrate judge recommended that the claim be dismissed because plaintiff had already lost her challenge on the same matter before the Montana Human Rights Bureau and had failed to appeal that decision.
British Court Allows Appeal of Order Barring Church's Anti-Gay Ad
India's Supreme Court Orders Reconsideration of Decision on School's No-Beards Policy
Moves Seek Return of 17-Year Old Convert To Ohio
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Lame Duck Hardliners In Indonesian Province Press For Strict Sharia Criminal Code
The jinayat covers consumption of alcohol, gambling and rape. However the greatest attention has been given to its punishments for adultery. Unmarried couples would receive 100 lashes with a cane, while married adulterers would be stoned to death. Now though opposition is growing to the death penalty for married adulterers from government officials. The new law would also punish those who give assistance to others violating the sharia law on adultery, such as beauty salons, motels or hotels.
Dawkins, Armstrong Debate Evolution and God In the Wall Street Journal
Making the universe is the one thing no intelligence, however superhuman, could do, because an intelligence is complex—statistically improbable —and therefore had to emerge, by gradual degrees, from simpler beginnings: from a lifeless universe—the miracle-free zone that is physics....Here is an excerpt from Armstrong's response:
Where does that leave God? The kindest thing to say is that it leaves him with nothing to do, and no achievements that might attract our praise, our worship or our fear. Evolution is God's redundancy notice, his pink slip. But we have to go further. A complex creative intelligence with nothing to do is not just redundant. A divine designer is all but ruled out by the consideration that he must at least as complex as the entities he was wheeled out to explain. God is not dead. He was never alive in the first place.
Most cultures believed that there were two recognized ways of arriving at truth. The Greeks called them mythos and logos. Both were essential and neither was superior to the other; they were not in conflict but complementary, each with its own sphere of competence. Logos ("reason") was the pragmatic mode of thought that enabled us to function effectively in the world and had, therefore, to correspond accurately to external reality. But it could not assuage human grief or find ultimate meaning in life's struggle. For that people turned to mythos, stories that made no pretensions to historical accuracy but should rather be seen as an early form of psychology; if translated into ritual or ethical action, a good myth showed you how to cope with mortality, discover an inner source of strength, and endure pain and sorrow with serenity.
In the ancient world, a cosmology was not regarded as factual but was primarily therapeutic; it was recited when people needed an infusion of that mysterious power that had—somehow—brought something out of primal nothingness: at a sickbed, a coronation or during a political crisis..... The Genesis creation hymn, written during the Israelites' exile in Babylonia in the 6th century BC, was a gentle polemic against Babylonian religion. Its vision of an ordered universe where everything had its place was probably consoling to a displaced people....
Religion was not supposed to provide explanations that lay within the competence of reason but to help us live creatively with realities for which there are no easy solutions and find an interior haven of peace; today, however, many have opted for unsustainable certainty instead. But can we respond religiously to evolutionary theory? Can we use it to recover a more authentic notion of God?
8th Circuit Says No Damage Claims Against States Under RLUIPA Prisoner Provisions
In an amusing confusion of Hebrew terms, in denying plaintiff's request for an injunction giving him additional group study time to learn Hebrew, the court said: "his religion considers learning Hebrew to be a 'mikvah,' or 'good deed'." The court, of course meant "mitzvah". A "mikvah" is a ritual immersion pool. (See prior related posting.)
Friday, September 11, 2009
Suit Challenges Brooklyn Housing Project As Favoring Hasidic Residents of Area
There is a long history of tension between the Hispanic and Hasidic communities in the area. Plaintiffs claim that the Williamsburg Hasidic community has been the beneficiary of racial quotas despite federal court orders calling for an end to discriminatory practices. The waiting list for low-income housing is 90% Hispanic and African-American, while almost 50% of the 2,000 public housing units in the area are occupied by Hasidic Jews. (See prior related posting.) According to the New York Daily News, the lawsuit charges, among other things, that limiting buildings in the rezoned area to 8-stories favors Orthodox Jews who cannot ride elevators on the Sabbath, while taller buildings would create more housing. The rezoning project however does have support from both Catholic and Hasidic groups and from some politicians. The rezoning still has to be approved by the City Planning Commission. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
House Resolution Marks Today's Anniversary of 9-11
CNN reports on other major events that will take place today to mark the anniversary-- memorial services in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. (the time the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center) led by President Obama, Michelle Obama and White House staff on the South Lawn of the White House
Appeal To Utah Supreme Court Filed By FLDS In Trust Reformation Case
Ramdadan Brings Arrests For Eating In Egypt; Ridicule of Bachelors In Nigeria
Meanwhile Al Arabiya yesterday reported on a rather unusual Ramadan activity in Nigeria that apparently has received official sanction. The country's mainly-Muslim city of Kano each Ramadan holds a carnival title "kamun gwauro" (meaning "bachelor catch" in the local Hausa language). The hereditary Nalako (bachelors' hunter), wearing amulets, an animal skin, woven shirt and cap wanders around the city with a noose looking for unmarried men. Bachelors who are found are paraded around with singing and drumming and are forced to dance and sing a "bachelor song" to embarrass them into taking a wife.
Admissions Criteria of British Jewish School Bend After Court Decision
Chabad Group Sues Connecticut Town Over Zoning Refusal
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Britain Appoints First Jewish Civilian Chaplain For Military Forces
Plea Deal Entered In Charges of Importation of Monkey Parts
Suit Challenges Mississippi's Use of Religious Themes In Abstinence Teen Summits
Finland Convicts City Council Member for Anti-Islam Blog Posting
Muslim Prayer Rally Planned For D.C.; Some Christians Object
Apparently some Christians are objecting to the planned Muslim rally. Charisma Magazine yesterday reported on an e-mail circulating virally on the Internet from Mosy Madugba, head of Spiritual Life Outreach in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, calling for Christians to use prayer to oppose Islam's growing influence in the U.S. He ask Christians to fast from midnight on Sept. 25 until the Muslim prayer event ends at 7:00 p.m. His letter says in part: "It is warfare time. Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome."
Poll On Views of Religious Similarities and Religious Discrimination Released
City Council Substitutes Pledge of Allegiance For Prayer
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Maryland Town Will Buy Land In Religious Bias Settlement
USCIRF Faces Some Opposition In Congress
Lawsuit Seeks To Halt Baptist Group's National Election
UPDATE: AP reports that at a hearing on Wednesday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Jeanette J. Clark denied Lyons motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. This allows the election to proceed as scheduled on Thursday. The judge concluded there is no conflict between the Convention's bylaws and constitution, and that Lyons waited until the "last minute" to raise issues regarding election procedures.
UPDATE2: Press of Atlantic City reports that Delegates at the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention USA on Thursday elected Rev. Julius R. Scruggs as president, defeating Rev. Henry Lyons, by a vote of 4,108 to 924.
California Legislature Orders More Police Training On Dealing With Sikh Kirpan
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Free Exercise Defense To Marijuana Charges
9th Circuit: It Was OK To Ban Ave Maria From High School Graduation Ceremony
... [W]e do not seek to remove all religious musical work from a school ensemble's repertoire. Nor do we intend to substantially limit when such music may be played. We agree ... that religious pieces form the backbone of the musical arts. To ignore such a fact would be to dismiss centuries of music history. Instead, we confine our analysis to the narrow conclusion that when there is a captive audience at a graduation ceremony, which spans a finite amount of time, and during which the demand for equal time is so great that comparable non-religious musical works might not be presented, it is reasonable for a school official to prohibit the performance of an obviously religious piece.Bay City News yesterday reported on the decision.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Magistrate Says Remove "Five Percenters" From Prison "Security Threat Group" List
Defiant Sudanese Journalist Sentenced For Wearing Pants
Kentucky High School Team's Trip To Revival Raises Parental Concerns
New Religious Education Law Being Drafted In Kyrgyzstan
Dress Code Loosened For Women Lawyers In Gaza
Meanwhile last week Human Rights Watch criticized the Islamic dress code that has been imposed on school girls in Gaza. HRW's press release stated: "... since the school year opened in late August, schools have been turning away female students for not wearing a headscarf or traditional gown, on the basis of new unofficial orders to schools from Hamas authorities.... Previously, the uniform typically required for female public school students was a long denim skirt and shirt. The new orders appear to have been issued without any legal basis."
Monday, September 07, 2009
Bishops' Labor Day Statement Highlights Unionization Principles For Catholic Health Agencies
This document reflects and applies longstanding principles of Catholic teaching. It encourages civil dialogue between unions and employers focusing on how the workers’ right to decide will be respected. Under the agreement, management agrees not to use traditional anti-union tactics or outside firms that specialize in such tactics and unions agree to refrain from publicly attacking Catholic health care organizations.Separately, on the Labor Day theme, here are brief "Historical Highlights of the Religion-Labor Movement" reprinted from the Interfaith Worker Justice website.
Connecticut Diocese Plea to Stay Release of Abuse Records Referred To Full Supreme Court
Minnesota Senator's State Fair Joke Misfires
Recent Articles of Interest
From SSRN:
- Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto, Legalising Divorce in the Republic of Ireland: A Canonical Harness to the Legal Liberation of the Right to Marriage Among the Disenfranchised, (September 1, 2009).
- John D. Inazu, No Future Without (Personal) Forgiveness: Re-Examining the Role of Forgiveness in Transitional Justice, (Human Rights Review, Vol. 10, 2009).
- Patrick Parkinson, Christian Concerns with the Charter of Rights, (Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 09/72, Aug. 31, 2009).
- Louis J. Virelli, Administrative Evolution, (Stetson University College of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series Research Paper No. 2009-05, Sept. 3, 2009).
- Pnina Lahav, Seeking Recognition: Women's Struggle for Full Citizenship in the Community of Religious Worship, (Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 09-33, July 30, 2009).
- Steven Douglas Smith, Discourse in the Dusk: The Twilight of Religious Freedom, (Harvard Law Review, Vol. 122, p. 1869, 2009).
From SmartCILP:
- Joshua B. Gessling, From Ankara to Strasbourg: Developing a Comprehensive Supranational Litigation Strategy for Patriarchal Preservation in Turkey, 15 Buffalo Human Rights Law Review 109-157 (2009).
- Puja Kapai & Anne S. Y. Cheung, Hanging In a Balance: Freedom of Expression and Religion, 15 Buffalo Human Rights Law Review 41-79 (2009).
- Judith E. Koons, Engaging the Odd Couple: Same-Sex Marriage and Evangelicalism in the Public Square, 30 Women's Rights Law Reporter 255-288 (2009).
- Gerard Magill, Using Excess IVF Blastocysts for Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Developing Ethical Doctrine, Secular and Religious, 37 Hofstra Law Review 447-485 (2008).
Sunday, September 06, 2009
South African Lawsuit Challenges Halal Certification Organization
In India, Suit Threatened Over Compulsory Hindu Prayer In Schools
UPDATE: An earlier article from Thaindian News gives more background as well as setting out the specific bhojan mantra that is prescribed (different from the one to which I earlier linked). This posting comment from "Erp" sets out more detail.
Large Churches Face Zoning Hurdles
Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Sumahit v. Parker, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78973 (ED CA, Sept. 3, 2009), a California federal magistrate judge recommended rejection of a prisoner's free exercise claim, finding that he had not described how restrictions on his access to Native American religious services burdened his ability to practice his religion.
In Johnson v. Sisto, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78943 (ED CA, Sept. 2, 2009), a Rastafarian prisoner complained that he was denied access to a vegan diet as required by his Rastafarian faith. A California federal magistrate judge recommended that most of his claims be dismissed because the defendants he sued lacked authority to provide him with a religious diet unless he obtained a religious diet card through the chaplain. However the magistrate recommended that plaintiff be permitted to proceed on his claim that on one occasion, when he was entitled to it, he was denied a religious diet meal.
In Jackson v. Verdini, (MA App. Ct., Aug. 21, 2009), a Massachusetts state appeals court affirmed (with a minor modification) a lower court's holding that the Department of Corrections provide an additional Imam to perform weekly Jum'ah services and that female officers be prohibited from touching the genital or anal areas of any male Muslim inmates except in emergency situations.
In Sandeford v. Plummer, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79571 (ND CA, Sept. 1, 2009), a California federal district court allowed plaintiff to move ahead with free exercise and equal protection challenges. Plaintiff alleged that jail staff failed to grant his request for an "Islamic Diet," access to Islamic religious services, and permission to wear a Kufi cap.
In Kaiser v. Shipman, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79413 (ND FL, Aug. 4, 2009), a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of Free Exercise and RLUIPA claims by an inmate who was not permitted to keep in his personal possession tarot cars, an alter cloth and runes to practice his faith,which prison authorities classified as Wiccan.
In Price v. Caruso, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79199 (ED MI, July 16, 2009), a Michigan federal magistrate judge recommended that a Jewish prisoner's monetary damage claim under RLUIPA be dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds, even though factual issues remained as to whether RLUIPA was violated by a ban on Jewish prisoners traveling between prison complexes to hold Sabbath services (in order to obtain 10 persons for a minyan).
In Burns v. Smith, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79525 (WD LA, July 16, 2009), a Louisiana federal magistrate judge refused to dismiss free exercise and RLUIPA claims by a pre-trial detainee challenging a detention center's apparent policy of withholding church services to detainees or inmates placed in lockdown for medical reasons.
In Muhammad v. McNeil, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79409 (ND FL, July 6, 2009), a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of two claims brought by a Muslim prisoner. Plaintiff sought a strict Halal diet that also took account of his medical needs for a meat-based low-residue diet. He also sought, for religious reasons, access to a dentist (at his family's expense) to remove 16 gold crowns installed in his youth which he says now violate his religious beliefs.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Christian Groups Are Proselytizing Dearborn, Michigan's Muslims
Louisiana Governor's State-Paid Trips To Churches Raise Controversy
ABP reports that a Jindal spokesperson reacted to Gaddy's letter by saying : [The Interfaith Alliance] opposes putting crosses up in honor of fallen policemen, has attacked the National Day of Prayer and advocates for same-sex marriage, so it's not surprising that they are attacking the governor for accepting invitations to speak at Louisiana churches." [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]