Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Pro-Life Minister's Suit To Protect Protest Rights Moves Forward
Hindu Temple In India Wants Its Own Township
Cobb County Invocations OK; But Not Planning Comm'n. Choice Of Clergy
However in a parallel challenge to the invocation policy of the Cobb County Planning Commission, the court found that its policies in 2003-04 for selecting individuals to deliver invocations did violate the Establishment Clause. "[C]ertain faiths were categorically excluded from the list of prospective speakers based on the content of their faith."
Today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution discusses the decision.
UPDATE: The opinion is now available on LEXIS at 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64294 (ND GA, Sept. 8, 2006),
California Mayor Sees Christian-Shiite Spiritual War
Murray says he distinguishes between "mainstream" practitioners of Islam, and Shiites. He says, "Since the Crusades, there's been a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of people. I think it's a historical reality, and the rubber's meeting the road again. Either the Judeo-Christian philosophy will survive or the Islamic philosophy will survive." Mayor Murray says the noontime event was not about government sponsorship of religion; rather it was about free speech by individual officials. Murray’s remarks apparently included allegations that Shiites believe that it is acceptable to lie, cheat, steal and kill, as long as it ultimately glorifies Allah. He added: "Folks, they're not like us. They're not like us at all, and for them, their war has been going on for 1,200 years."
UPDATE: Sacramento-area Muslims are asking for an apology from Mayor Murray. (Associated Press, Sept. 11).
Friday, September 08, 2006
2005 Bankruptcy Law Makes Charitable Giving Difficult For Debtors
Evangelicals And American Foreign Policy
The full article is definitely worth reading.The three contemporary streams of American Protestantism (fundamentalist, liberal, and evangelical) lead to very different ideas about what the country's role in the world should be. In this context, the most important differences have to do with the degree to which each promotes optimism about the possibilities for a stable, peaceful, and enlightened international order and the importance each places on the difference between believers and nonbelievers. In a nutshell, fundamentalists are deeply pessimistic about the prospects for world order and see an unbridgeable divide between believers and nonbelievers. Liberals are optimistic about the prospects for world order and see little difference between Christians and nonbelievers. And evangelicals stand somewhere in between these extremes....
Evangelicals are likely to focus more on U.S. exceptionalism than liberals would like, and they are likely to care more about the morality of U.S. foreign policy than most realists prefer. But evangelical power is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and those concerned about U.S. foreign policy would do well to reach out. As more evangelical leaders acquire firsthand experience in foreign policy, they are likely to provide something now sadly lacking in the world of U.S. foreign policy: a trusted group of experts, well versed in the nuances and dilemmas of the international situation, who are able to persuade large numbers of Americans to support the complex and counterintuitive policies that are sometimes necessary in this wicked and frustrating -- or, dare one say it, fallen -- world.
7th Circuit Hears Arguments In Indiana Legislative Prayer Case
House Committee Approves Public Expression of Religion Act
UPDATE: The vote in the House Judiciary Committee to approve the bill was 7-5, along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats against. (Associated Baptist Press.)
Secular Coalition Rates Congress Members' Voting Records
Storefront Churches and Decaying Downtowns A Municipal Worry
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Cayman Officials Kept In Dark By UK Over Human Rights Convention Applicability
Elementary School Enjoined In Gideon Bible Distribution
The suit was originally filed to challenge the school board's decision to permit the Gideons to distribute Bibles in the classroom to fifth graders. While the litigation was pending, the school board adopted a new policy that permitted distribution of any kind of literature, including Bibles, to students in any grade, on 48 hours notice, with distribution being limited to the hallway in front of the administrative offices and the cafeteria area during limited time periods.
National Days Of Prayer For 9/11 Anniversary Proclaimed
The Proclamation concludes with this request: "I ask that the people of the United States and their places of worship mark these National Days of Prayer and Remembrance with memorial services, the ringing of bells, and evening candlelight remembrance vigils. I also invite the people of the world to share in these Days of Prayer and Remembrance."
2nd Circuit Holds Evangelicals Not "Vulnerable Victims" In Fraud Case
The trial court used that finding to enhance the offense by two levels, as permitted by U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b). However, the Second Circuit held:
While we recognize that a fraud grounded in religious themes may pose an especially effective threat, ... membership in religious groups cannot, standing alone, make victims "vulnerable" for purposes of the enhancement, even where a fraud involves reliance on religious themes or imagery.... We have no reason to believe that evangelical Christians as a class are "unusually susceptible" to fraud.An Associated Press report yesterday gives additional background on the case.
Abortion Protesters Claim Arrests Violate Their Religious Freedom
3rd Circuit Backs Away From Its Narrow Interpretation of Title VII Ministerial Exception
Today's Inside Higher Education reports on the decision.
NY High Court Hears Arguments On Requiring Insurance Coverage For Contraceptives
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Bush's Speech On the War On Terror-- Has He Avoided A "Religious War"?
The terrorists who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001 ... kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology.... [They] ... are violent Sunni extremists... driven by a radical and perverted vision of Islam that rejects tolerance.... They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call a "Caliphate" -- where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology....
This caliphate would be a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.... We know what this radical empire would look like.... Under the rule of the Taliban and al Qaeda, Afghanistan was a totalitarian nightmare -- a land where women were imprisoned in their homes, men were beaten for missing prayer meetings, girls could not go to school, and children were forbidden the smallest pleasures.... Religious police roamed the streets, beating and detaining civilians for perceived offenses. Women were publicly whipped. Summary executions were held in Kabul's soccer stadium in front of cheering mobs....
The goal of these Sunni extremists is to remake the entire Muslim world in their radical image. In pursuit of their imperial aims, these extremists say there can be no compromise or dialogue with those they call "infidels" -- a category that includes America, the world's free nations, Jews, and all Muslims who reject their extreme vision of Islam....
[W]e also face the threat posed by Shia extremists... This Shia strain of Islamic radicalism is just as dangerous, and just as hostile to America, and just as determined to establish its brand of hegemony across the broader Middle East.... In 1979, they took control of ... the nation of Iran, subjugating its proud people to a regime of tyranny, and using that nation's resources to fund the spread of terror and pursue their radical agenda.
Two Interesting New Online Sites Created
I am tired of politicians, partisans, and preachers spelling God "G-O-P." But make no mistake — regardless of how wrong they are or how false their doctrine is, they have been frighteningly effective. Now many Americans think Jesus never rode a donkey and today rides only an elephant. The truth is, God cannot be held hostage by any political party. And American Christians should not be either.
The AP yesterday reported on the Democrats' new online initiative. [Thanks to Mainstream Baptist for the lead.]
The second entry into cyberspace is a new blog from the Alliance Defense Fund (news release), called ConstitutionallyCorrect.com. The blog has been created to focus on issues of concern to ADF, such as religious freedom in order to be able to spread the Gospel, the sanctity of human life and traditional family values. (See ADF's website.)Both sites have been added to Religion Clause's sidebar.
Little Rock Council Moves To Non-Sectarian Invocations
Air Force Academy Adds Secular Group To Extracurricular Program
Baltimore Prayer Garden OK'd Over Preservationist Objections
Russian Supreme Court Upholds Order To Tear Down Mosque
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Scholar In Yemen Says Presidential Election Violates Islamic Law
Israel To Appoint 10 More Rabbis To Conversion Courts
Azeri Women Call For Change In Rules On ID Photos
Chinese Police Bulldoze Unregistered Catholic Church
Monday, September 04, 2006
Jacksonville Sued Over Day of Faith Program
British Lord Proposes Faith Quotas In Religious Schools
Pope And Students Discuss Evolution, Sans Intelligent Design
Dutch Justice Minister Refuses To Bar Madonna's Concert
In Ohio State School Board Race, ID Proponent Faces Challenge
Sunday, September 03, 2006
California Judge Orders Revision of State Board of Education Textbook Review Rules
UPDATE: On Sept. 6, India-West gave a more complete account of the judge's opinion, making it clear that while the judge had problems with the BOE's procedures, he found that the textbooks themselves were not unfair in their treatment of Hinduism.
Ohio Implements "Civil Registry" As Compromise On Priest Sexual Abuse Claims
Recently the Ohio Attorney General's Office approved rules for implementation of SB 17. Last Tuesday, the Toledo Blade reported that the Ohio legislature's Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review took the final step to make those rules effective. On Friday, the blog Dispatches From the Culture Wars launched a tirade against the Ohio law.
A Personal Note In Defense Of A Blog Posting
The conclusion of the court-- that the circumstances surrounding the approval and erection of the monument do not demonstrate that the primary purpose or effect of the monument is religious-- is hardly unusual. What is unusual is the literate and amusing opinion written by federal district Judge Ronald A. White. The opinion, whose subheadings are inspired by Dante's Inferno, accomplishes the nearly impossible task of keeping the reader enthralled for 43 pages.Normally I do not use blog posts for rejoinders to those who have responded to something I have earlier let loose into cyberspace. So when Dr. Bruce Prescott-- whose views I often agree with-- posted an entry on Mainstream Baptist misconstruing my evaluation of Judge White's opinion, I let it pass, assuming that his failure to appreciate the humor in the opinion could be written off to his having been a witness for the losing side in the case. However today, Dr. Prescott's blog post was the text of much of his half-hour commentary on his radio show Religious Talk which was broadcast over Oklahoma City's KREF, streamed over the Internet and archived as an MP3 file on the show's website. So I thought that I should clarify my position.
Dr. Prescott said in his posting and on his radio show:
Friedman might be excused for finding White's decision so entertaining. Reading some legal decisions could easily be prescribed as a cure for acute insomnia. There is a reason, however, why many legal opinions make such dull reading. Justice is far better served by methodical adherence to the rules of logical thought and by impartial application of sound reasoning to legal precedent than it is by the rapturous lyricism and judicial blandishments of misplaced poets.My point was that Judge White was constrained by Supreme Court precedent which requires the examination of the circumstances surrounding the erection of a 10 Commandments monument to see if those circumstances indicate that the government's primary purpose was a religious one. So, while there was evidence on both sides, it was, in my words, "hardly unusual" that Judge White came out where he did. He was trying to follow somewhat murky Supreme Court precedent. What made the case worthy of note, however, was Judge White's flair in writing the decision.
In other words, a lawyer can admire elegant opinion writing even if he would not necessarily decide the case in the same way. I don't know how I would have decided the case within the confines of Supreme Court precedent since I did not hear all of the evidence. However, I believe that Dr. Prescott's quarrel is with the U.S. Supreme Court. It created the framework in which Judge White had to work. My posting-- perhaps not explicitly enough-- acknowledged that, and went on to examine what an interesting jurist did with the materials he had to work with. To borrow a tack from Judge White: The fault, dear Brutus is not in this decision, but in the precedents.
And, by the way, an editorial in today's Tulsa World, I think, agrees.
Some Iranian Clerics Press For Democracy
Presbyterian Churches Seeking To Leave Parent Body Have Precedent
These kinds of property disputes have a long history in American law and in the Presbyterian Church. An article in last April's issue of The Layman points out that four U.S. Supreme Court cases, beginning with the groundbreaking 1871 decision in Watson v. Jones, involved Presbyterian congregations seeking to become independent or change their affiliations.
New Books and Monographs
- Kent Grenawalt, Religion and the Constitution (Vol. I: Free Exercise and Fairness)
- Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, The Impossibility of Religious Freedom
- Michael Walzer (ed.), Law, Politics and Morality In Judaism
- John R. Bowen, Why the French Don't Like Headscarves
Michael Bonner, Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice
From Black, Inc.:
- Amanda Lohrey, Quarterly Essay: Voting for Jesus: Christianity and Politics in Australia
- Melanie Landau, Nathan Wolski and Michael Fagenblat, New Under the Sun- Australian Jews on Faith, Politics and Culture
- The Second Edition of Stephen G. Gey, Religion and the State has recently been published.
From Sophia Institute Press:
- David Carlin, Can A Catholic Be A Democrat?
Paper Covers Growth Of Religion In Politics
Saturday, September 02, 2006
WV School's Replacement For Jesus Painting Continues The Controversy
UPDATE: The Associated Press reports that early Friday evening, three and one-half hours after the mirror was hung at Bridgeport High School, the plaque with the religious inscription on it was removed. Counsel who had negotiated the settlement of the lawsuit advised the move. The school board could become liable for nearly $100,000 for plaintiff's attorneys fees if the terms of the consent order requiring the removal of all religious objects is not carried out. But not all school board members were happy about the superintendent's decision to remove the inscription.
UPDATE 2: The Sept. 4 Pittsburgh Post Gazette carries an excellent piece on the whole controversy, adding some interesting details, such as the fact that the Jesus painting was first hung in the school hallway years ago to hide graffiti, and that administrators at first did not even notice it had been stolen. Also, it reports that the school board may now consider authorizing a comparative religion class and may draft policies on displaying religious items in schools.
Christian Athletes Group In Florida Schools Questioned
Scott Kirschner, a pastor at Palm Coast’s Parkview Baptist Church, said that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes respected school district rules at the assemblies. He conceded, however, that the main goal of "The Freedom Experience," a national tour, is to introduce youths to Christ.
Milwaukee Diocese Settles With California Abuse Plaintiffs
A Flood Of Prisoner Free Exercise Cases This Week
In Runningbird v. Weber, (8th Cir., Aug. 28 2006), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of an inmate’s claim that his right to practice his Native American Religion was violated. Restrictions on tobacco and sweat-lodge ceremonies, and denial of a Lowampi ceremony were found to be constitutional. It also rejected complaints of denial of a religious advisor, denial of peyote, permitting women to occasionally handle religious objects and observe ceremonies, and denial of certain sacred food for ceremonies. The court also rejected the inmate’s equal protection claim.
In Alston v. Sanchez, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61515 (ED CA, Aug. 28, 2006), a California federal district court rejected as moot a challenge by a Rastafarian inmate to a prison’s regulation of hair length. California had changed its grooming policies in response to a 9th Circuit decision invalidating its former policy.
In VanDyke v. Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60325 (WD VA, Aug. 28, 2006), a Virginia federal district court rejected a series of claims by an inmate who alleged that while he was confined at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail his constitutional rights, including his right to the free exercise of religion, were violated. The court upheld the jail’s confiscation of the inmate’s chain and crucifix because it could be fashioned into a sharp object, and the jail’s refusal to write a check for $8 from the inmate’s account as a contribution to his church.
In Williams v. Ferguson, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61586 (ED CA, Aug. 28, 2006), a California federal district court held that prison officials did not violate an inmate’s rights under RLUIPA when they questioned him as to the authenticity of his claim that he was a practicing Muslim in order to determine whether or not he should be granted an exemption from the prison’s normal grooming standards.
In Kwanzaa v. Brown, 2006 U.S. Dist LEXIS 61703 (D NJ, Aug. 17, 2006), a New Jersey inmate sued alleging a wide variety of constitutional violations. The court permitted him to proceed on his allegation that he was denied his free exercise rights when he was not permitted to attend Ju'mah services in retaliation for his filing a grievance against a prison officer.
In Nelson v. Miller, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60654 (SD IL, Aug. 25, 2006), the court overruled a prison chaplain’s objections to various questions in interrogatories from an inmate who was suing to challenge the chaplain’s refusal to approve his request for a diet based on the Rule of St. Benedict that prohibits eating the flesh of any four-legged animal. The court held that the clergyman's privilege does not apply to requests made to the chaplain by an inmate for a religious diet.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Ohio Settles EEOC-Justice Suit On Employee Objections To Union Dues
Report Says EPA Right In Approach To Religious Use of Mercury
Plaintiff In Mt. Soledad Case Terminally Ill; New Plaintiff Added
While Paulson said he expected that someone would say that this is God's revenge on him, Charles LiMandri of San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial had a much more charitable reaction: "We'll certainly keep him in our prayers. We don't have any ill will toward anyone. We wish he would spend his time more productively than pursuing this lawsuit. We feel his time could have been better spent."
Suit Threatened Over High School Bible History Course
City Cannot Restrict Size of Anti-Abortion Signs On Parade Route
There is no valid basis for the argument that an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sign is the least restrictive alternative available to meet the goals of free pedestrian traffic, unobstructed views by parade goers and public safety.... The Court is hard pressed to think of a more public forum than a Labor Day parade full of local, state and even national politicians who will travel down a major city street. This is precisely the type of forum that the courts have recognized as a critical venue for the free expression of speech by citizens.
WV School Board Agrees Not To Replace Stolen Jesus Painting
Viet Nam Says Protestant Churches Are Increasing
Thursday, August 31, 2006
New EEOC Chair Named
Preacher Arrested For Decibel Level Of Revival
Some Russian Schools Introduce Courses On Religion
UPDATE: A Sept. 5 JTA story describes the troubled reaction of Russia's Jewish community to these developments.
Indian Catholics Returning To Hinduism To Get Benefits As Dalits
Another Church Zoning Suit Filed, This Time In Marietta, GA
Malay Muslims Must Sue To Get Change In Religious Status
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Group Has Standing To Challenge California Textbook Decision
En Banc Review Sought In Bible Monument Case
Is YMCA A Religious Organization?-- Colorado Tax Board Must Decide
Prayer For Rain Was Part of South Dakota's Call To Fight Drought
Religious Obedience To Husband Causes Problems For Muslim Woman
FLDS Fugitive Warren Jeffs Is Captured
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
New Mexico State Coach Sued For Religious Discrimination
California Governor Signs GLBT Bias Bill With No Religious Exception
Pakistani Muslim Lawmakers May Have Ripped Up Quran Verses
Ohio's Blackwell Thanks Pastors For Endorsement
I stand with you this morning as a defender, as an advocate, for religious liberty. I will fight for the right of the nonbeliever to non-believe, because we all have a right to be wrong. I, in fact, understand that we cannot strip God and faith and religion out of the public square and be the self-governing democracy that we've been for 230 years. From our first president to this president, there's been an innate understanding that a self-governing people must be a community or society that is built on a moral foundation.Blackwell's Democratic opponent, Ted Strickland, commented, "I think whenever the church allows itself to become a tool of a political movement, or a particular political party, that the church is in danger of losing its moral authority."
Church Members Bless Public School
German Chancellor Wants Christian Roots In EU Constitution
School Prayer Challenged In Missouri Law Suit
Monday, August 28, 2006
California Episcopal Diocese Lays Legal Foundation For Breaking Away
Fearing the impact of these moves on all California dioceses, four other bishops filed charges in an ecclesiastical tribunal against Bishop Schofield, seeking to remove him from the Church. A letter from one of those who filed the charges, San Francisco bishop William Swing, and a response from the Chancellor of the San Joaquin diocese, are available in full text from Virtue Online. Bishop Swing's letter argues that Schofield "has taken actions that put all Episcopal dioceses in the State of California in jeopardy" by undercutting the argument that ECUSA is an hierarchical church. In response, San Joaquin Chancellor Russell VanRozeboom argued that Canon IV.9. under which charges have been brought against Schofield only applies when there is an attempt to affiliate with a religious body that is not in communion with the Episcopal Church. He says that San Joaquin, if it breaks away, will remain in communion with the broader, more conservative world-wide Anglican Church.
VanRozeboom also argues that Bishop Schofield cannot be disciplined for action taken by the the Diocese Convention to amend its constitution, and that the October 2005 amendment only impacts the civil law issue of who is chief officer of the Diocese under California's Corporation Code, not the ecclesiastical issue of who should be Bishop.
Christian Century reports that meanwhile, the conservative Anglican Communion Network (ACN), that claims 900 parishes as members, has taken further steps toward its ultimate goal of becoming a separate Anglican province, with its own seminaries, churches and hierarchy. ACN was formed in 2004 after more conservative Episcopalians became upset with the ordination of a gay man as a bishop in New Hampshire.
Wife's Religious Spoofs Become Central In Custody Case
Early American Textbooks Filled With Christian References
Political Scientist on Islam and Christianity In Europe Today
To import in Europe the same Islam that has been structured in Arab countries would mean the suppression of present-day Europe to create another, radically different continent. This does not mean that we cannot have a Euro-Islam, an Islam adapted to Europe. But it presupposes on the part of Muslims respect for religious freedom, pluralism of thought and the distinction between religion and politics. It requires that the mullahs accept to live their faith along with the Jewish synagogues and Christian cathedrals. It is a process of transformation and maturation to which we must call Muslims, if they wish to be part of this Europe of ours.
Political and social participation ... becomes a responsibility that weighs on all Christians, especially in times such as our own, in which all withdraw in the first person from direct commitment. ... Christians are called to unite, to seek ties with others. It must never be forgotten that one of the factors that led to the affirmation of Nazism in Germany was the division between Catholics and Protestants, who were unable to form a common front.
The "secular" state is also in need of values expressed by citizens. It lives from the impulses and binding forces that religious faith itself transmits to its citizens. Hence the reason why it is good for the state to recognize the role of religion. And in Europe this means to be aware of the importance exercised by the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Alabama Dems Tell Holocaust Denier To Leave Party
India's Supreme Court Orders State TV To Show Controversial Film
Plaintiff In Landmark Church-State Case Dies
New Poll On Religion and Public Life
While the public remains more supportive of religion's role in public life than in the 1960s, Americans are uneasy with the approaches offered by both liberals and conservatives. Fully 69% of Americans say that liberals have gone too far in keeping religion out of schools and government. But the proportion who express reservations about attempts by Christian conservatives to impose their religious values has edged up in the past year, with about half the public (49%) now expressing wariness about this.
The Democratic Party continues to face a serious "God problem," with just 26% saying the party is friendly to religion. However, the proportion of Americans who say the Republican Party is friendly to religion, while much larger, has fallen from 55% to 47% in the past year, with a particularly sharp decline coming among white evangelical Protestants (14 percentage points).
The survey found that white evangelical Christians make up 24% of the population. While 32% identify themselves as liberal or progressive Christians, this group is split among themselves on many issues. The Associated Press and Blog from the Capital have discussed the poll's findings.
Recent Articles and Books Of Interest
- Thomas B. Colby, A Constitutional Hierarchy of Religions? Justice Scalia, the Ten Commandments, and the Future of the Establishment Clause, 100 Northwestern University Law Review 1097-1139 (2006).
- Frederick Mark Gedicks, Spirituality, Fundamentalism, Liberty: Religion At the End of Modernity, 54 DePaul Law Review 1197-1235 (2005).
- Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., The Religious Faith and Judicial Duty of an American Catholic Judge, 24 Yale Law & Policy Review 347-362 (2006).
- Christopher L. Eisgruber, Justice Stevens, Religious Freedom, and the Value of Equal Membership, 74 Fordham Law Review 2177-2185 (2006).
- Eduardo Moises Penalver, Treating Religion as Speech: Justice Stevens's Religion Clause Jurisprudence, 74 Fordham Law Review 2241-2257 (2006).
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Recent Books:
- Ann Coulter, Godless: The Church of Liberalism (Crown Forum, June 6, 2006).
- John Danforth, Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together (Viking Adult, September 19, 2006).
- Mel White, Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right (Tarcher, September 7, 2006).